Trading Board Guidelines - Very Important

Brass Goggles has always and shall continue to portray the "lighter side of steampunk" as coined by our retired founder Tinkergirl. To that end we have a few general rules which apply to all sections of the forum:

1. Please keep all posts within a Safe For Work (SFW) Policy. This means is that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. Posts may contain, some strong language and innuendo, humor, mature themes, historical and fantasy firearms of the "Victorian Era", and some historical-political themes within the context of our 19th century speculative fiction genre. If your post contains partial (upper body) nudity or other visual elements which may not be approved for viewing within an office setting the post must be flagged Not Safe For Work (NSFW). This nudity clause is written in specifically for historical photographs and Steampunk art.

2. You are expected to maintain decorum and behavior appropriate for adult cultural discussion. This means that things which have been dubbed by the internet community as "trolling" are not allowed. Other behavior such as Ad Hominem arguments (attacking someone's argument based on the character or physical trait of the subject) and assuming one or many persona with the intention to deceive (what we've dubbed a 'sock puppet') are expressly prohibited. Bad or disruptive behaviour not listed here may also be identified by the Brass Goggles staff and dealt with accordingly.

Enforcement:
These rules are interpreted by our moderation staff and rule-breakers will be dealt with as the moderator sees fit. Punishments like a private reprimand, temporary ban, or a full ban are handed out based on the scope of the violation and at the discretion of the moderator.

Purposefully seeking grey areas between rules and their wording and/or experimenting by seeing how far you can stretch a rule are seen as rule violations in themselves and may be acted upon as a rule violation. If you are ever in doubt about your particular post, please send it in a PM to the moderator for the section you are using for a ruling before you make it public!

Trading specific guidelines:
This is a very special board opened as a space for the discussion of those posters who wish to arrange exchanges, trades, buying and selling of things to do with Steampunk. Of most importance is the understanding that anyone who takes part in these transactions should take all sensible care with their personal and financial details - this is the internet, and predators do exist.

We, at The Steampunk Forum, cannot take responsibility for anything that should happen as a result of a trade or transaction that is initiated here - please use caution.

Do not post addresses. Do not post telephone numbers. Definitely do not post financial details.

I'd recommend that if you follow up on an transaction, then the use of PM's and preferrably your own personal email, would be advisable. Sorry for all the scare mongering, but you hear horror stories, and I'd hate for anything untoward to happen to a Steampunk Forum member.

Posts on this forum should be questions for the seller only. We have Tactile for critiquing and giving of praise. Keeping the treads clean makes it easier for buyers and sellers to navigate.

Competitions
Contests and competitions whose prizes are items etc you normally sell should be placed in Trading. This includes, but is not limited to, items you sell here, through other online trading sites such as Etsy and eBay, and in actual physical shops, market stalls etc. This also includes items you intend to sell (ie if you are using the contest as a means of bringing attention to something new). Please note that we don't object to such contests but feel they are more in line with Trading than the discussion areas of the forum.