Standards for what constitutes self-promotion

[XXnarg]

I wonder if "self-promotion" is defined adequately so that members can know how to stay within SD rules, and so that moderators can consistently apply these standards.

For example, see this post (http://forums.slickdeals.net/showpost.php?p=1927382&postcount=1) concerning "200 beautiful, exotic, mint-condition doors" which the poster wants advice on how to sell:I purchased a lot of 200+ purpleheart wood doors a while back and am now looking to offload this as I need some cash. They are very solid doors, it takes two grown men to pick the door up.

They are paneled, some 6 panels, some 8 panels and some 4 panels. There are no holes in the doors (for windows or door knobs). Full and solid, beautiful doors. If you have never seen the coloring and grain of exotic purpleheart wood doors, you're in for a treat.

Doors like this (because the wood is so exotic and rare) go for north of $2000.00 each. I'm just looking to get my money out of them @ ~850.00 each.

All the doors are in mint condition and are standard door size (7 foot tall).

They would make absolutely beautiful study walls or ceilings or a builder could buy the whole lot of them and have a great margin on resell.

Anyone have any ideas on what I can do with these?IMHO, the post could be construed as a form of self-promotion, because of the:
Detailed description of the products the member clearly wants to sell
"Salesy" language
A specific price is mentioned ($850/each)I think that non-infringing wording might be more like:
"I have a number of heavy, high-quality interior wood doors to sell. I don't think eBay is the right approach because the market for such items is limited and shipping is expensive. How else could I sell them?"This approach omits details and superlative, salesy language. It makes the product vague enough that it would not have clear sales appeal to a potential buyer.

I believe that some moderators use as a primary criteria something like "Does the post specifically ask for offers?" However, I don't think this fully addresses the problem, because obviously if someone posts details in sales-type language, it's a veiled request for offers.

For the OP of the post cited, please don't take this personally, this is more of a request for rule clarification and consitency.

[kel_be]

In my terms:

if the OP makes any type of a profit/gains some type of benefit from the post or people signing up under a specific link, it's a self Promo.

[XXnarg]

In my terms:

if the OP makes any type of a profit/gains some type of benefit from the post or people signing up under a specific link, it's a self Promo.Are you saying that a link is required? IMHO, it's implicit that if someone is interested in the merchandise being discussed, he can PM the OP. That in itself is a form of link, as this poster (http://forums.slickdeals.net/showpost.php?p=1928505&postcount=15) suggests.

In the post cited above, does it appear to you that the OP stands to profit?

[lowpro]

I totally agree with what you are saying Xnarg...I deleted the original thread and I edited the name of the OP since you quoted him. When I come across threads like these I carefully read them and try to figure what they are up to. I also check out their ip to see if they have been banned before using a different username for self promotion. I also read their other posts to see if the poster seems more of a business person. In regards to thread in question...yes, I do think that it is self promotion and that's why I deleted that thread. If something seems fishy to you guys please feel free to mod alert the thread and include your reason as to why you are mod alerting. Thanks Xnarg.

[XXnarg]

I totally agree with what you are saying Xnarg...I deleted the original thread and I edited the name of the OP since you quoted him. When I come across threads like these I carefully read them and try to figure what they are up to. I also check out their ip to see if they have been banned before using a different username for self promotion. I also read their other posts to see if the poster seems more of a business person. In regards to thread in question...yes, I do think that it is self promotion and that's why I deleted that thread. If something seems fishy to you guys please feel free to mod alert the thread and include your reason as to why you are mod alerting. Thanks Xnarg.I did mod alert the thread. The mod who responded indicated that he felt that the thread was not inviolation of the policy against self-promotion.

I'm thinking that it might be helpful if the parameters were spelled out more clearly, so that the enforcement would be more consistent and so that members would know what to expect.

[big1]

i was going to vote no now i am torn on which way to vote, when i first read the post i didnt take it as self promotion but after reading what Xnarg had to say i also see his point.

i think i will vote no. but believe it is a fine line between what he wrote and actual self promotion.

[XXnarg]

Mods, any chance for a clearer definition of what constitues self-promotion?