Clarification on "Please don't advertise other yo-yo stores" rule

YoYoExpert Site Improvements
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Because yoyoexpert pays the bills around here, prohibitions on linking directly to a competing yo-yo store has historically been one of the house rules:

Please Don’t Advertise Other Yo-Yo Stores

While this is a general Yo-Yo forum, it is officially owned and operated by YoYoExpert and that should be respected.

Do not post direct links to any other on-line store that sells yo-yos. If you feel that someone needs a link to another yo-yo store or someone is asking for it, please PM them the link.

Also, please avoid posting yo-yo pictures that have prominent store logos in them

@Malachi asked about this and I think it’s good to have official voices weigh in.

I am more of “technical support” or “hi-tech janitor” here, I am not a moderator or owner, so it’s not my place to decide these things. That said, as a domain expert on community and community software (look me up on Wikipedia :wink: ), I do have opinions. My opinions are these:

  • It is NOT OK to ever direct link to any competing third party yo-yo store, that is, a company that does not manufacture anything itself but only resells yo-yo products.

  • It is OK to link to manufacturer info pages, for example a direct link to the G2 page describing their Banshee yoyo model specs and info. This is doubly OK when that manufacturer sells through YYE anyway. Yes, their store is a click away at that point, but technically everything on the web is two clicks away through Google anyway; what we care about here is direct links.

  • It is NOT OK to direct link to the G2 store purchase page where you can buy a Banshee. Well sort of, good luck on that drop :rofl: .

  • It is PROBABLY OK to link to long defunct store pages for informational purposes that haven’t sold anything in 3+ years. For example anti-yo (though now that page is inaccessible anyways sadly).

This also strongly implies that manufacturers should have “model” pages where they describe their current and past yo-yo lineup outside their store, if they have one. To be honest, I think this is good for everyone in the yo-yo ecosystem, no matter what! (Also it occurs to me that the yo-yo wiki fulfills this important role for older yo-yos!)

It is my personal opinion that this rule is fair, because YYE pays the bills around here, and without their continued support this community could not exist.

Anyways @AndreBoulay and @jhb8426 and other officials should weigh in. Anyone else that has any examples they’d like clarified or anything else to add, please do!

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Well said, but one point needs further comment…

In general, do not post yoyo pictures from other stores, ever. This has occurred in the past and has led to charges regarding unauthorized posting of intellectual property by the images owners. So just don’t do it.
Thanks.

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When was the last charge, what year was it?

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To clarify: It wasn’t a charge in the legal sense. A store owner was incensed that his catalog pics ended up on another site a few times. The fact that they were used w/o his permission was the issue and he made a big deal of it. We don’t need that drama here.

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What year was this?

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Don’t remember. It was awhile back.It became a general rule at the time not to use other store’s pics. There was a lot of animosity between forums then. All of the yoyo forums involved at one time or another are defunct now.

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Are we talking 2010 or earlier?

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I do think this is less of a problem now with the way the internet has evolved, etc. I don’t see images as a problem.

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Thanks for typing this up!

I think overall we are always trying to just keep a balance between being a resource that also supports what we do versus being just a place for people to come and advertise their stuff without actually supporting what we do.

The hard part is rules are rules you have to make and we acknowledge people didn’t intend to break a rule by posting a link (they just didn’t know about it) - so when/if an edit happens please don’t take it personally. We are just trying to ensure we can keep doing what we are doing here for the long run! :heart:

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Yeah, I think that happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I typed the URL for ■■■■■■■■■■ in reference to the Sage, not realizing it would get turned into an active hyperlink by the forum software. Doh!

It is also easy to link to a competitor’s site in an effort to point to their learning content, rather than their e-commerce content, and inadvertently wind up violating the rules without realizing it.

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I’m working on my own 1-off proto run - is it ok to offer that for sale here? I guess in the BST it’d have to be fine, right?

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If you’re making yo-yos to sell then we prefer you don’t sell them in the BST. You should make a post in the “Up and Coming Manufacturers” section.

Here’s the basic rules for manufacturers:

What you can do

  • You can post pictures, share ideas, promote your company name and products.
  • Link to any social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

What you cannot do

  • This is not a place to ‘sell’ your product directly either on the forum or via PM.
  • You cannot link directly to another store or place to directly purchase your product somewhere else.
  • You cannot advertise releases of your product at other stores (either directly or subtly).
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