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The Cap Faction

jhe888

One of the Regulars
Messages
265
Location
Texas, United States
Perhaps the problem is that no one knows what the rule is.

It seems not to require actually selling caps. But how close would one have to be to selling caps to be promoting a business? And how would anyone know - the potential seller would seem to be the only one in a good position to know whether that was going to be tomorrow, a month from now, six months, or never.

And what if someone sold a cap occasionally, but didn't make a regular thing of it?

I know it won't be my rule, but if I was to make the rule, it would require actually offering items for sale. That has the undeniable advantage of being pretty clear and not too subject to interpretation.

The lawyer in me thinks a clearly articulated rule would be good. Then everyone knows how to behave.
 

Stuffsmith

Fedora Lounge Artisan
Messages
808
Location
Sydney
Thanks for your feedback, guys. I think their flag was raised because I asked some questions about the merchants page recently.

While I do plan on offering some caps for sale in the relatively near future, I'm a jeweler and educator for a living so I will not be doing it full-time by any means.

I agree that we shouldn't be posting caps to sell in this forum. In point of fact, the green one that I just posted last week is the first cap that actually sold as a result of being shown here, and only the second that I've ever sold at all, period, discounting swaps for clothing.

I was sad to see my most recent post pulled, as it was a nice project I'm doing where I make the same cap for my father, my son and myself. So a weird one for the mods to deem unsuitable. Anyway, you can see it over at Cap Department if you're interested.

Of course I won't stop posting to the group here. I owe you guys a debt of gratitude for really getting me into the whole subject in a big way. I'll give a shout when my merchants page is up at some point.

Keith
 

Garrett

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,782
Please do keep posting, Keith. I enjoy seeing the innovative ideas you come up with :cheers1:
 

DJH

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,355
Location
Ft Worth, TX
I agree - I don't post in the Caps thread that often, but I always enjoy your posts (and caps) Keith.

Odd that some people seem to only be here at all so they can sell their stuff to the members, but never seem to have a problem.
 

Two Types

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,456
Location
London, UK
It seems unfair that Keith has been asked not to post caps that he isn't selling yet. Whilst i appreciate that there have to be rules, these need to be applied fairly across the FL. Both Barry and Johnny were allowed a period of grtace, in which they operated openly in this area and built up a client base. It would only be fair if Keith was allowed the same period of time in which to use the forum as a springboard for launching a business, if and when he decides to do so.

I am sure that Barry and Johnny would not consider that Keith is sneaking onto their territory. he has always been honest about his intention to eventually start offering caps for sale. I, for one, have purchased two caps each from Barry and Johnny and would hope to buy caps from Keith when he gets things going. I am sure that others among us are in the same situation.

So i would request that Keith continue to be allowed to use this thread to show his work (just as Johnny and barry were) and prepare for the day when he inevitably has to move to the Merchants Forum.

This is one of the most vibrant and interactive areas of the FL, with people posting cap designs that get quickly copied by our resident cap makers, leading to an amazing community of cap fans. Just compare the available cap styles now to those available two or three years ago. And that is due to the hard work, enthusiasm and cooperation of people like Barry, Johnny and Keith - and the contribution the rest of us have made to coming up with cap designs.
 

Flat Foot Floey

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,220
Location
Germany
Agreed on all points. The cap faction would lose half of it's content if all cap makers emigrate to facebook. Do you want to kill the forum? The cap makers also happen to be the main contributors to the cap faction who share a lot of research and love for the subject. They always comment on other caps too and encourage members to show theirs. It's not just self promotion.

I totally agree about restricting links to webshops and talk about prices and "my fabric is the best in the world" but I would still allow to post pictures. The volume of sales is quite another league than what leather jacket manufacturers have. (who also never seem to contrubute to anything else)

Last but not least Stuffsmith is not a vendor so the whole thing shouldn't affect him anyway.
 

DamianM

Vendor
Messages
2,055
Location
Los Angeles
I was just also made a vendor, yes I do make them for sale but I don't Advertise here.
Just show of my work and contribute to the thread, and not just this one mind you.
The moderators want to kill the thread.
It doesn't matter, the party here is over.

The fedora lounge has being limping its way to death.
 

Rudie

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,069
Location
Berlin
I don't get the intention behind this. I don't think anybody complained. So what is the rationale behind chasing some of the best contributors away to Facebook? It certainly makes the Lounge less fun. A statement by one of the moderators would be welcomed.
 
Messages
17,549
Location
Maryland
There are custom hat maker threads on this forum. Why not individual cap maker threads? As long as they are not directly selling product here what is the difference?
 
The custom hat makers pay for those maker-specific threads. As do the leather jacket maker for their threads (affiliate or otherwise).

It's a tough situation, and one that the mods think about a lot, I think. With the FLounge having such a large membership now, it could become a horrid place full of supposed members who are actually just shilling for companies, basically getting free marketing to their target audience through FLounge threads. I don't think any of the cap producers in this thread are in that category, but in order to maintain an effective policy of monetisation for FLounge, there can't really be any exceptions.

Does the current policy basically mean that Simonds or JohnnyJ or any of the other cap makers can't post pictures of the caps they're working on here?
 

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