[Fred]

Leon,

I guess I'll post my view on the BST.

Perhaps I'm in the minority here but I look at N54 as a community that shares the same enthusiasm for collecting pictures of dead guys on card board. It's understood that everybody's different and that some are more blessed with resources than others and others want to pay for the hobby by bartering, etc. However, just my opinion - if a board member wants to offer something up at a decent price (pay it forward) to another board member, then it'd be nice to allow anther collector that may not have the same financial means as others to pick it up for their collection. My guess is that most probably don't care what happens to a card after it's sold, but some may be hoping the card can help move someone move forward in their collecting goals. That said -

1) Don't ask for a discount on a card if you're going to flip it right away. That's just poor form.

2) If you don't care about someone flipping it right away, then just state (as many do) - "first post reply or IM takes it".

3) As Leon mentioned- don't make comments in a thread about any deals other than to say "nice card" or "sold" (or something like that). Believe me, there are times when I think people are imbibing (what ever it is that makes them happy) a bit too much when they set their prices, however rather than comment, I just refrain from typing that they're high (on price or in that imbibed state).

If I ever decide to sell anything on the BST, it's going to be full retail, but if someone really needs it for their collection, then I will probably discount it because I'd rather see the item go to someone that could use it to fill a hole in their collection.

It will be sad if this board ever gets to the point that it's collector eat collector and the only thing that drives a hobbyist is $$$. I guess it should come as no surprise that this thing that was a hobby many decades ago has become more business and less hobby.