I am posting to update and inform members who wish to become B&B vendors of our new policy.
In the past, I have implemented several different policies in an attempt to limit the number of vendors on the site. I tried a 100:1 ratio of registered member accounts to vendor accounts. I also tried an auction system.
In order to remain fair to those vendors who won an auction, the price for
new vendor subscriptions will match the highest winning bid we had for a vendor subscription auction, which was $360.00 for an annual vendor subscription. This is approximately $1 a day over the course of a year (slightly less, actually).
Existing vendors will be "grandfathered" and may renew their annual subscriptions at whatever rate they paid when they signed on.This change was necessary to streamline the process for vendor subscriptions, to limit the number of new subscriptions, and to keep the system fair for everyone involved. The price is admittedly high, but that will serve to limit the number of new subscriptions in as fair a way as any other system.
Below is a revised list of rules and expectations we have for vendors on the site. For those of you wishing to become vendors, please read it carefully before contacting me for a subscription.
As of today I am no longer limiting the number of vendor subscriptions to the 100:1 ratio, or auctioning spots. If you want a vendor sub, and you agree to the terms below, then contact me via PM to make arrangements.
I need to go over some of the details of the vendor subscriptions in order to clarify some things and make it easier to understand the relationship vendors have with the forum, and vice versa.
First and foremost, as vendors you will have your own personal board on the forum, along with moderator privileges for that board. This is important for vendors in order to allow them to lock and unlock threads as needed, edit and delete posts as needed, and just keep things tidy in general. The forum default editing window is 48 hours, but your moderator privileges will allow you to edit threads in your board indefinitely. Additionally, vendors' personal message storage size is tripled from 200 to 600 messages. This will allow you to store more PM orders from forum members, and keep them longer before needing to clean out your storage folder. You also gain access to the private vendor discussion board. This allows you to "talk shop" with other vendors on the site, and discuss possible collaborations (i.e., knife maker and sheath maker get together to make a set).
Another benefit of a vendor subscription is the ability to place a link in your post signatures to your commercial website, and/or your vendor forum here on B&B. We do not allow links to commercial sites for members who do not have vendor subscriptions. And, while it is not required, if you do have a website or blog, we would very much appreciate a link back to bladesandbushcraft. com on your site. The more sites we have linking in, the better our search engine ranking, and the more traffic we will see (which translates into more potential business for you).
With your moderator privileges, comes some added responsibility. B&B members are aware of the account warning system and how it operates. You will be able to see certain tags on members' posts in the event that member is being "watched" for rules violations. This watched status is invisible to regular members, including the member being watched. We require our vendors to keep this information private. A watched tag on a member's account becomes visible to moderators when they have made a rule violation that generates a complaint from another member, whether that comes in the form of a reported post or PM to the staff. Everyone has a bad day sometimes, so we try to give members the benefit of the doubt instead of outright banning them. The warning system allows us to keep track of a problem while also allowing members a chance to show they can get along. If any member contacts you to inquire about the warning status of theirs, or any other account it is understood that the information is confidential and you will not share it.
Bladesandbushcraft. com reserves the right to terminate a vendor subscription at any time, for any reason. In the event it becomes necessary to do so, the cost of your subscription will be divided by the number of months in a year, and you will be refunded an amount equal to the unused months remaining for the 12 month period from the month you subscribed. For example, if you bought a subscription in July, and it was cancelled in August, you would be refunded an amount equal to 10/12 of the initial cost of your subscription. Bladesandbushcraft. com will not refund vendor subscriptions unless the subscription was cancelled by Bladesandbushcraft. com. In layman's terms, if we cancel your account we will refund you the time you haven't used. If you cancel your account, we will not refund it.
Advertising policy:
It is your responsibility to comply with all applicable laws regarding the products you sell, ship, and transfer to your customers, and the advertising content you post here. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless bladesandbushcraft. com, its owners, members, staff, and administrators for any liability or damages resulting from your use of this forum, and assume all liability for any damages resulting from your use of this forum. In layman's terms, if you break the law, or are sued by a customer or other party, you agree that you will not sue us, and agree that we had no knowledge of, or participation in, any illegal activity.
If we determine that any of the content you post is in violation of the law, or our forum rules, or presents serious liability concerns we reserve the right to remove that content and/or terminate your account. However, we are under no obligation to do so on your behalf.
As a vendor, you have the right to post images, links and threads in your vendor subforum to products and services you offer. The rest of the forum is off limits to promotional content. In order to make it fair for all of our vendors, we cannot allow some of them to post threads in the regular sections of the forum showing off products and services. The pricing for vendor subscriptions is subject to change. But it is a good value for the amount of page views you receive. A small banner ad can cost up to and exceeding $1 per click. Considering the number of views the threads in our vendor subforums receive, this is a tremendous value. Please don't abuse it by making promotional posts outside of your vendor forum. A post about a product you have sold or plan to sell would only be appropriate in your vendor forum. A post about a product that you made for personal use and will never sell is ok, providing it is not for promotional purposes. If a forum member asks about it, you may respond to their question via PM and direct them to your vendor forum for additional information.
That said, as the founders of this forum, Red and Petrifiedwood, reserve the right to promote products on the open forum. We have very rarely if ever done so, because the vendor forums here appear to get plenty of traffic and attention.
Any vendor who wishes to do a promotional giveaway on the open forum may do so, and may put any stipulations on the entry requirements that they wish. Giveaways are a great way to get your brand noticed, and they have the added benefits of attracting new members to the site, and rewarding members with a chance to win something nice. For this reason we make an exception to the restriction on promotional materials outside of vendor forums for promotional giveaways. If you plan to do a giveaway here on the site, it would also help to promote the giveaway elsewhere online in order to attract new members to the site and grow your potential customer base. We reserve the right to link your giveway thread(s) on other social media sites for promotional purposes (this is a good thing), but we are under no obligation to do so on your behalf.
Sales Tax, Income Tax, Insurance, Business Licensing:
Vendors are responsible for compliance with any local, state, and federal laws regarding licensing and taxation. You may be required to get a business license, collect sales tax, carry insurance, or report income. Check with your local, state, and federal business laws to ensure you are in compliance.
