1. A Review is an opinion about a listing. Reviews that include anything other than a Review the listing will be edited or removed. In other words, you are not allowed to add comments about a seller in any way shape or form. You can post your opinion about the a listing but you cannot post your opinion about a seller. Simply put, you can post opinions but you cannot post allegations.
2. Keep in mind that the goal here is to help buyers make better buying choices and help sellers improve the quality of their listings. Your review should be informative and offer ways to improve the listing. For example, do not simply write 'this stamps has been reperfed'; instead add specifically which perfs or margins look suspect to you. Suggest that if the seller were to simply add an additional line to his listing it would be greatly improved for both the buyer and the seller.
3. Skip any hyperbole, rhetoric and sarcasm; Reviews should be factual and objective. Avoid the use of adjectives, state your reasoning simply and clearly. Read your comment before posting and ask yourself how you will feel if you happen to be proven wrong (and this will happen on occasion). Give a seller the benefit of doubt and keep in mind that you do not have the stamp in hand.
4. Do not accuse sellers of shill bidding; It is very difficult to prove. Stick to the reviewing only the listing content.
5. Do not post any replies from a seller unless you have their approval to do so. In other words if a seller is notified and they reply in an email in a rude or unprofessional way, do not copy their reply and post it into the database record. Simply enter that the ‘seller responded but was not willing to make any changes to listing’ and move on.
6. You can offer an opinion about any ‘grading’ that a seller declares but be sure that you frame it with “It is my opinion…’. Note that grading issues make it difficult to find common ground on and is often a source of a lot of friction. And again, we do not have the stamps in hand. Additionally many times a listing will not call out the grading standard which is being used. In these cases it is often best to contact the seller and simply ask that they clarify or elaborate more on the grading description.
7. Reviews are members personal opinions and they are responsible for their content. If a member violates the rules we reserve the right to remove their membership and prevent them from posting more Reviews. We reserve the right to remove or edit any Review or content which we deem inappropriate.
Any Member who does not follow these rules will have their Reviews removed and may also lose their Membership and right to post Reviews in the future.