Is it ok to post in coop thread for someone else?

[dpitts]

I have no objection to posting for someone else. If fact if it is ok to post for someone else I plan to do it in future coops. I just don't want to be slammed by RJ.

[keitha43]

I would think not. How would the coop manager know whether the person still wanted the item and agreed to pay for it unless they post themselves?

[Steve Gase]

In our earlier discussion

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We discussed the idea, and there didn't seem to be a huge objection to posting for someone else.

Today for the Aether2 coop I "saved a place in line" for the others in that discussion, and fortunately they came in later with their own posting.  (so i removed each entry as they were replaced...)

For the one remaining entry I noticed the coop manager skipped over it.

Is this a good idea? or not? 

I think there should be allowances for others to act in someone's behalf.  If it wasn't for an office job in front of the computer I think I'd miss each and every coop.  So, I do feel for people who are traveling, on the road, with their kids in the park, or working in a field -- until a better coop system emerges, why not allow someone else to post?

[Steve Gase]

I would think not. How would the coop manager know whether the person still wanted the item and agreed to pay for it unless they post themselves?

The person should confirm their order.  Paying for it would be a good indication.

[charles59]

To me it isn't a good thing, posting for others. For a variety of reasons:

1. How does one know if they still want it? If they later delete it, a person who did, but say the coop full, may have missed a chance by not posting, and now lost a chance if later the one who was proxies says they don't want it.

2.  It slews the field.  One can now get the right "connections", and get into a coop over others who don't know as many people.

Just my opinion.  Not really an issue for me, as I haven't done coops, but from an academic perspective, it seems wrong to me.

[RJ]

I would frown greatly on this    for the reasons already posted.

RJ

[chrisatpsu]

something that should be acceptable would be if you're going to get together (as in watch each others back for when they start) for coops, then create a call list amongst yourselves so that the ultimate liability of getting on the coop still rests with the individual.

[Rod R]

I would agree with RJ because it would be like running your own coop before a coop gets started.  The whole reason that coops are run they way are are is to give everyone an equal chance at getting in.  If one starts saving a place in line for others then its not fair for the new person that does not know anyone or hasn't made "connections".  We already have the notifications in place on threads.  I think everyone needs to realize that RJ is not the only one running the coops now he has help and because of that coops are now coming faster and more frequent allowing him to do more development and more kist available to more members.  Look at the number of coops that have started since the beginning of 2012.  We have had 12 and into the 13th.   Things are getting better, give it a chance before undermining the system and other fellow members.  The one thing I hate the most is people getting inline and saving a place for others who just show up after the fact.  Think movies, amusement parks, BLACK FRIDAY or anywhere there is a line.  You will get the equipment that you need as long as there is interest on the site.  I believe all the coop managers including myself with help fill that need.  If you want to call your friend or email them and tell them "Hey it's on" then go ahead its fine with me.

[lonewolf41]

I know it won't apply to all coops, but I will say that for the current Aether coop, I made it basically as large as I could based on part availability.  One of the reasons for this was so more people could get what they wanted.  Heck, we're into the 3rd hour now and there are still around 100 left.  I think that is some kind of record lately.  If it was the same as the last one, it would have closed in the first hour again.  I knew there were some from the last one that wanted in and there are a lot that were in the last one that are in this one too.  Hopefully more people can take advantage of the cool equipment RJ designs.  Of course I had the advantage of this not being my first coop so I was able to increase the quantity to help more people out.

I will say this from the coop manager perspective...like others have commented, I really did not know whether to add the other people or not.  What if they didn't want them anymore.  What if they couldn't afford them now, etc, etc,.   I started out with confusion, then panic, then frustration.  Not sure where I went from there.  Plus, if the person comes on and posts later, now they have double quantities or wrong quantities.  Definitely a big can of worms.  I would only take orders from actual individual posters for what they themselves wanted.  It IS the only way. 

If you know someone wants some, give them a call and let them know, but they should be the only one to post.

Thanks,
-Keith

[FlashG]

I totally agree with Ron R.  Could not have said it better. 

The flip side is if you had reserved some for someone else and they did not want them, you may have locked out someone else who would have wanted it. Causes bad feelings to be locked out.  I know, because I have missed some of the current coops because they filled up so fast, but realized that when a coop gets huge, it places a major burden on the coop managers. 

I really want to thank them for what they do.

FlashG




 

[Steve Gase]

Good points, everyone!!
And I do appreciate the hard work that the coop managers put into making all of this happen. 

There are obviously no easy answers to making everyone happy, and having a clear process is certainly better than something filled with loopholes. 

You've convinced me that this was a bad idea.