Originally Posted by Nine Ball

Good afternoon Members,

First of all, I want to apologize to anyone that might have misinterpreted the threads that were posted yesterday, regarding our policy on dealing with non-sponsoring members that solicit business on LS1TECH.

Some of you might have mistaken that policy for targetting guys that help eachother out with trying to save a buck. Guys that do installations for beer and pizza, or maybe a couple bucks. We are all car guys/gals here, and LS1TECH does not have a problem with members helping eachother out. If you see someone asking for help, you are more than able to send them a private message and offer assistance. You can even recommend them a shop that you have had good experience with. You can also talk about products that are made by places that do not sponsor LS1TECH. We have always encouraged the spread of information and knowledge here.

We need to more clearly define our policy, so hopefully it will be understood without question.

1. Non-sponsoring vendors and individuals may not use LS1TECH with intent to generate income. If you are trying to sell items or charge for your services, we ask that you become a sponsor on this site. Our rates are only $175/month, very reasonable considering the amount of traffic we see.

2. We allow members to sell used or 1-of items and vehicles in the classifieds and regional forums. This has never been a problem, unless we get a vendor trying to use the classifieds to sell new products or products in quantity. Services (labor) is never permitted for selling in the classifieds or regionals.

3. We are specifically targetting individuals who frequently send private messages and emails through our site to members who might be shopping or asking questions to paying sponsors. These individuals are undercutting the sponsors, trying to sell parts and services privately on the the site. This is considered unwanted spam, and is not tolerated on LS1TECH. Violators will be placed in the "Restricted User" category:

Restricted User Group:
-no access to email anyone through the site
-no access to private messaging system
-cannot see member profiles or location info
-cannot edit or delete their own threads
-cannot update their signatures or profiles

4. We understand that in special circumstances or regions, there might be limited assistance available, or no site sponsors in the area. We have no problem with you guys using the PM system to discuss things in this situation. We want everyone to get the installation/repair help they need. If you do have an excellent resource, maybe you could talk them into signing on here.

5. We allow non-sponsoring manufacturers and vendors to come to LS1TECH and speak about their new products or answer technical questions about their products. This has never been a problem. Most of these vendors will often direct any business to their distributors who advertise here. We encourage industry people to visit and interact here. They can do so without soliciting products, this has been proven for years now. We only ask that non-sponsors make no attempt to post any form of pricing or contact information (email, phone, website, address, etc...) with intentions to solicit for business. We ask that they direct all sales through a current vendor, or become a sponsor to do so directly.

Hope this clears things up, feel free to ask any questions.

Thanks.