Can we trade?

I'm fairly new to this forum but I do know we aren't suppose to sell items on the board but can we trade????? I thought about the Swift I bought that comes with 3 nose pieces. I only use one, medium. There must be others who use the large or small? Could this be done??? Would be nice to have 2 unused spares of the size one needs!
Bonnie

I'm not positive, but I'm thinking no beef if you list what you've got for sale. I've sold my APAP and some masks on here. I'd PM the moderator 2 ask for sure though.

The only time I saw a problem was when an online vendor recently posted information about their site. Since this site is sponsored by cpap.com and billmyinsurance.com that would be a real no-no.

But private sales have not been a problem apparently.

Trading seems very fair. Using cpap.com's own web facilities to sell gear is problematic.

If we agree that the odd sale is ok, who decides what is 'just the odd sale' ? - is it 1 a month, 1 a week, 1 a day - 10 a day ?.

Am sure it is not hard to see the conundrum ...

- the site is provided & funded (paid for) by cpap.com a good commercial and innovative enterprise
- cpap.com can probably tolerate some minor sales activity but at what level (see comments above)

just suppose that 2 people a week point out xPAP sales on ebay or Yahoo or from themselves, what do we think cpap.com must feel about such activity here - happy ?, enthusiastic ?, pissed off ?

I know what I would feel if I were paying for cpaptalk.com & the redirected sales activity started to grow

It is fair to say that minor sales of gear may be tolerated, but there is a line that can be crossed. I for one love this place and really appreciate what cpap.com put up with in keeping it funded & resourced. I would be very pissed off if the plug ever gets pulled here because we took cpap.com's commitment and generosity for granted & we began to abuse the facility.

Thus far I would say it has been under control but there have been several direct plus borderline cases of biting the hand that feeds.

Personally you will never see me refer publicly to ebay or yahoo or a private sale other than in general or generic terms.

DSM

Trading is cool..I've done it on here. If they pull this forum due to selling, it could easily be back up hosted by someone on here in a few hours. I could see if every other post is a "for sale", but unless they allow vendors to start posting, that's not likely to happen.

You have 2600 + members of which maybe 50 are actively posting. Many will show up, get what they need and disappear into the ether. Most don't have anything to sell.

I appreciate this forum and the people that host it, but it would be a simple matter to duplicate it witout the ads and such. Forum software is free and the hosting is no biggie if you have the right conections.

Just an FYI

Thanks to all that make this thing work.

I use the large and that's it. i have a medium and small that I would have no problem trading with others for replacements. i would like to have backups as well.

Slpyhed

biggziff wrote:Trading is cool..I've done it on here. If they pull this forum due to selling, it could easily be back up hosted by someone on here in a few hours. I could see if every other post is a "for sale", but unless they allow vendors to start posting, that's not likely to happen.

You have 2600 + members of which maybe 50 are actively posting. Many will show up, get what they need and disappear into the ether. Most don't have anything to sell.

I appreciate this forum and the people that host it, but it would be a simple matter to duplicate it witout the ads and such. Forum software is free and the hosting is no biggie if you have the right conections.

Just an FYI

Thanks to all that make this thing work.

Have you had the chance to look at other xPAP forums compared to this one, & also how long they survive ?

Cheers

DSM

Have you had the chance to look at other xPAP forums compared to this one, & also how long they survive ?

I have. I've seen some drop by the wayside, and I've seen others (two older, one newer) going along just fine.

I personally like cpaptalk the best, both for the amount of posting activity and for its openness in allowing discussion of subjects that are squelched to one degree or another on other "big" apnea boards. If cpaptalk were ever shut down, however, there are other good boards. PM'ing is allowed on the ASAA board, for example, so even a tighter hand on the steering wheel there doesn't have to pose a problem for people to get whatever info they need, if they really want to find it.

I understand what you're saying about a slippery slope, dsm. But while we're grateful for cpap.com making a cool board like this available and operating it with a laissez faire style, a successful message board works both ways. Without people being willing to post here, cpap.com would not have much of a message board. It's a two way street. One of the many things that makes this a nice wide smooth street to travel on is that Johnny has set it up well AND people feel comfortable talking openly on cpaptalk.com about virtually anything -- from setting machine pressures to trading, selling, or even giving away something that didn't work.

I think Johnny Goodman has been doing a great job drawing the line on obvious spam advertising posts, yet allowing "real" people to help each other with things like, "I've got an Activa I can't use...anyone need it?" "I don't need the small pillows for my Swift - anyone have a large they want to trade?" "The Aura didn't work for me - anyone want to buy it?" "I found an inexpensive place to get a card reader." I see nothing wrong with that.

Nor do I see such posts as biting the hand that feeds it. Posters actively posting on this board are feeding cpap.com just as surely as cpap.com is feeding the users by keeping this board up. It takes both.

Actually, as biggziff points out, any message board needs the people posting a lot more than the people need any one particular message board. Run a board that the people enjoy posting on or just reading and they'll keep coming to it...and seeing the cpap.com ads...no problem.

I think it's very smart on Johnny's part to keep the board users happy by exercising little or no censorship over genuine users' swaps, giveaways and even the sale of something not needed. The good will that cpap.com builds up through running this forum with a light hand pays off in increased business in the long run, I would think.

Johnny's obviously a good businessman. He's shown several times that he has a keen sense of when a post or a poster is crossing the line. I think he can easily deal with spam posters without interfering with genuine users simply helping each other out from time to time.

Bonnie,

The operators of this forum will have no problem with you offering to exchange extra interface parts with other forum members.

rested gal wrote:
I think it's very smart on Johnny's part to keep the board users happy by exercising little or no censorship over genuine users' swaps, giveaways and even the sale of something not needed. The good will that cpap.com builds up through running this forum with a light hand pays off in increased business in the long run, I would think.

RG, you are absolutely right... Johnny is brilliant in this regard. This is an issue near and dear to my heart. The ASAA forum, with regard to my posts, have excerted a very heavy hand. Parts of posts just go missing without any indication that they have been moderated. If I try to rebutt misrepresentations by a certain moderator, my post just gets deleted. IMO this is no way to run a "forum." It's not supposed to be run like a highly produced reality show in which the comments of real people are edited and manipulated to serve the interests of the forum operator. The "powers that be" there claim thay have no bias, but the actions of the moderators heavy hand suggest different to me. The head honcho has offered to look into the matter and I trust him to do so... we'll see.

BigZ, this forum is much more than a matter of hosting the site. There are a number of cpap forums out there... some get visited and some are quiet for weeks at a time.

I had checked out other sleep forums, posted a few times, received some answers but until I found this one I thought I would spend an eternity searching for answers to questions I had as a total, complete, in the dark newbie. Anytime your hit with something like sleep apnea or cancer or any one of a hundred other life altering problems, you need to learn real fast about a subject you may or may not have heard about. There are some people happy to turn their lifes over to the medical professionals but I want knowledge so I can make informed choices for what is best for me. This forum has been such a blessing, people willing to spend time explaining a number of things we newbies have no clue about. And usually with answers the same day! As it had been said in posts I've read, "not everything works for everyone", but at least this forum provides an outlet to talk about what has or hasn't worked. I am truly grateful to have all you wonderful people at the click of a mouse when I am in dire need of advise. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. (which now that I am sleeping again should keep me going for a long time)
Bonnie

RG obviously got my message perfectly. These forums are great, but when the people running them begin to think that we're here for them...well..lets just say that that's the line for me.

The people *are* the forum. My point is simply that the software only facilitates the conversations. Moderators that have a clue and users that are open and genuine make it all come together.

I'm no newbie to online discussions. Been doing it since 1991..long before the internet really had anything on it to look at. I admin more than a few forums and lists and they're doing quite well so I'd like to think I have at least half a clue!!

Anyway...this group is a keeper...very high signal to noise ratio, good Mods and nicely on-topic. I'm a happy hosehead.

rested gal wrote:
<snip>

Nor do I see such posts as biting the hand that feeds it. Posters actively posting on this board are feeding cpap.com just as surely as cpap.com is feeding the users by keeping this board up. It takes both.

<snip>

Johnny's obviously a good businessman. He's shown several times that he has a keen sense of when a post or a poster is crossing the line. I think he can easily deal with spam posters without interfering with genuine users simply helping each other out from time to time.

RG,

The bite-the-hand that feeds was actually my reference to the two people who came to cpaptalk.com and one in particular kept up a barrage of critical posts that appeared quite clearly to be an attempt to get cpap.com to do something that was clearly a vendor problem to solve. Johnny stated at the time the angst that was causing cpap.com management & how he had to justify why they should allow it to occur and the effect it had on management attitudes to cpaptalk.com. To say Johnny dealt easily with it may be possibly be making light of it.

I do think we need a reminder every now & then as to what makes a good place great and who funds it.

Cheers

Doug

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[quote="biggziff"]RG obviously got my message perfectly. These forums are great, but when the people running them begin to think that we're here for them...well..lets just say that that's the line for me.

The people *are* the forum. My point is simply that the software only facilitates the conversations. Moderators that have a clue and users that are open and genuine make it all come together.

I'm no newbie to online discussions. Been doing it since 1991..long before the internet really had anything on it to look at. I admin more than a few forums and lists and they're doing quite well so I'd like to think I have at least half a clue!!

Anyway...this group is a keeper...very high signal to noise ratio, good Mods and nicely on-topic. I'm a happy hosehead.

So.....does anyone want to trade nasal pillows?

As you pointed out...the personalities are what make a forum. For me, the data is secondary to learning about the people. Seems like this group is very well behaved and show true kindness to each other. Again, as you pointed out...very refreshing compared to most other groups I frequent.

I'll agree that self monitoring is best, but isn't that true in just about all things? I've been on lists where the censorship got really heavy. Usually caused by a handful of individuals who were eventually banned and things fell back into a state of normalcy. I don't see that happening here.

Well....just about time to warm up my HH and slip into bed.

nite