RE: A Simple Plea

[Joe Elliott <jee@domain.elided>]

At 11:11 AM -0400 10/15/01, alfa-digest wrote:
>Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 11:09:52 -0400
>From: "Brian Shorey" <bshorey@domain.elided>
>Subject: RE: A Simple Plea
>
> > Gonna put on my Fred hat for a bit here:
> >
> > IF YOU HAVE A CAR FOR SALE, TELL US WHERE THE HELL IT IS!!!
>
>Just curious why people get so worked up over this.  If the seller leaves
>out this basic piece of information, then he's only limiting his own
>potential market.  If somebody is seriously interested in what is for sale
>they can always ask.
>
>In an international forum such as this one, there are pretty much three
>possibilities for items for sale:
>
>1) Within easy driving distance,
>2) Somewhat remote,
>3) In a different country.
>
>It's probably safe to assume that 90% of the time the item falls into
>category #2 or #3, so if something comes up on the digest that you're
>interested in there's probably going to be some travel or shipping involved.
>So why get worked up over it?  Chances are you have additional questions for
>the seller anyhow, is it such a big deal to tag on one additional question -
>location?
>
>Consider that this is a simple oversight on the part of some sellers.  Does
>it really warrant yelling at them over it?  And having just raised the
>location issue to all current digesters, how does this help the individual
>who joins tomorrow and forgets to note his location..
>
>We just had a long time Alfa person join the digest.  His first official act
>was to try to find a good home for a car, he left out the location and got
>yelled at as his reward.
>
>Not an ideal welcome to our community, is it?  We'll be lucky if he sticks
>around.
>
>bs

Well, here's my reasoning for getting ticked off when someone offers 
stuff for sale w/out listing a location--at any given time I'm on the 
lookout for cars for any number of people all over the continent (and 
I'm sure I'm not the only digester in such a position), and it just 
isn't worth my time to email every seller of every car (or part) to 
see if it happens to be in a location that corresponds to someone I 
know that's seeking that car or part.  Likewise, I'm not going to 
forward every "FS: 2.5 Milano" post to everyone I know that's ever 
wanted a Milano.  Add to this the fact that desirable cars get 
snatched up quickly and I'm frequently behind on my reading, it's 
nice to have all the pertinent information up front at once when I 
read an ad on the digest.

Just my 40 lira,
Joe Elliott

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