Just Hams or Businesses in Disguise?

[K6TLA]

Qth has long been my favorite venue for ham radio equipment sales. It's a great source for the average ham who might be looking for something or have something to pass on. The site has largely been taken over by what appears to be businesses using QTH as a free advertising venue for what is in reality a commercial operation. Let's look at the callsigns associated with these businesses. All are frequent, repetitive posters and have far more equipment to sell than any private ham could ever have. Callsigns of the obvious businesses include W8EK, K3DUA, W4JST, KK4WS, K4WSB, W8CRH, WY4A, WB2IMH and several others. W8EK gets the all time award for most frequent, repetitive, overly spacious, unreasonably descriptive, and overall annoying blather of ads. A person must also question whether these volume dealers are paying state and federal taxes on the proceeds of their businesses. The shear volume of what they offer would make one think they should be. Maybe the answer here is a separate section for dealers. Personally I wouldn't touch anything from the above named callsigns and others with a ten foot pole. It would be nice to have the option of seeing or not seeing what they are pushing and leaving the rest of the site to the private hams it should be intended for.

[n3ab]

Well said and so true. The sad part is there is no way to filter these sellers to avoid reading the ongoing repetitive ads. What's worse is the lack of photos.

I like to browse the ads on a regular basis, but when I hit the "W8" ads, I just move to another category. Anyone who listed before "W8" lost a potential sale.

[K6TLA]

What's interesting is that the W8 mentioned can and does post pictures of some of what he sells. Take a look at the Craigslist ham radio ads for Ocala, Florida and the postings listed under Northwest Marion County. There you will see photos from the W8 of some of what is listed on QTH. You know it is the same poster because the item descriptions used on QTH are identical in the Craigslist posts.

[kw3u]

while I still like qth and use it, it is sad to see your posting buried under a 100
posts from these dealers in a day, resulting in few if any responses .
QRZ now has verified only for posting and a pix required plus a limit on posting.
really nice but i prefer the format here.
and yes i would never buy from the dealers that have no shame and continue to do this.

[n3ab]

Easy night tonight. Went to the "miscellaneous" section. First thing I hit was the ongoing W8 ads. Moved on to eHam. Sorry to anyone who had listings. You may have lost a sale

[WY4A11]

I like to buy and sell radios online and I'm well known here in fla and all over I attend hamfests when im able to ,Shelby nc and stone mt ga are some favorites .... I DO PAY TAXES PayPal/ebay---I have an eBay store- wy4a ham radio sales -sends me a 1099 every year .im also a business owner of a cleaning company here in fla and I donate to qth.com as well thanks Pedro wy4a all my ads have pics and I have great feedback on the internet

[n3ab]

Pedro, I wouldn't get too upset over this topic. You sell nice gear at fair prices, and you always have good pictures. I think I may have purchased from you before, and I would not hesitate to purchase from you in the future.

I feel the same way about WB2IMH. He and I did business with no issues.

In my opinion, the core of the problem is the W8 station.

[WY4A11]

thank you JOHN I understand what he means I've shifted most of my sales to my bay store and qrz but still posting here on qth only a few ads , I do sell good equipment and stand behind everything I sell and NO as is or part swappers in my ads . I only have 2 radios in my shack a pristine drake b line and an icon ic 7600 far less than what most people have an a alpha 76a 2 tube amp very modest station . thanks again Pedro WY4A

[wb2imh]

Just a short note to let everyone here understand that I am not a business. I have been collecting radio equipment for over 50 years and I have an extensive collection that I must sell due to an anticipated move to another state. Everyone who has visited my home to purchase equipment can attest that I am not a business and that I never was. I would think someone would be sure of his or her accusations before posting this falsehood.
And a thank you goes out to everyone who has helped me thin out my collection. 73, ~Ernie~ wb2imh

[n3ab]

Ernie is a good guy. Good old fashioned ham trader!

[k9vt]

I seldom ever react to any of the non sense that goes online. K6LTA this is non sense. First off W8EK does have a lot of listings but is doing a service to widows of silent keys. I have known WY4A personally for years. You could not find a more decent honest man ! I am sure there are stories behind each of the call signs you listed. Don't you think if Scott thought there something shady going on it would have been addressed? Thinking back to the days of the Yellow sheets i really don't care who posts what on the sight. It's up to the buyer to do the due diligence . Social media has given us all a platform to grip and moan. Personally I would rather use that plat form to uplift a thought process and not get into other peoples lives.. SO my suggestion is radios have on / off buttons use yours.

[WY4A11]

FYI IM JUST A NORMAL HAM OPERATOR THAT HAS BEEN BUYING AND SELLING RADIO EQUIPMENT SINCE I GOT MY TICKET IN 1980 GOING TO HAMFESTS BUYING /SELLING AND HAVING FUN .I HAVE A MODEST STATION LOOK ON QRZ.I SELL GOOD RADIO EQUIPMENT AND BACK UP ALL MY SALES 100% AND I DO PAY TAXES EVERY YEAR ON MY SALES TO THE TUNE OVER 2000 DOLLARS A YEAR SO NEXT TIME SOMEONE WANTS TO POST FALSE STATEMENTS ABOUT WY4A PLEASE GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT !!! DE WY4A

[ko4ma]

So what if they are a business? Is the pull your self up by your bootstrap America completely dead, where people ran small businesses to put food on the table or gas in the truck?

Now, posting the same HT antenna for 20 years in a 40 column post with no pics that you fished out of the trash can at the last swapmeet does get a little old.

[wb4yal]

I have known Pedro WY4A for a long time. I have bought ham gear from him and HE IS NO DEALER. Like myself, he gets stuff, enjoys it for a while and then sells it and moves on. And Pedro is an HONEST person who you can be confident in dealing with.

73, John WB4YAL

[Bear]

One of the listed Sellers is Ken Simpson and I want everyone to know that yes Ken does list a lot of stuff for sale. I also know He is a decent person who is dedicated to our hobby and sells stuff that we seek out. He is a straight shooter and nice person also His prices are fair and not inflated like many "Rip Off Bay" Sellers are
Yes we are seeing our site being slowly invaded by "Rip Off Bay Sellers" who think if it is Ham Related it is worth ten times the actual value. We need to ignore them. If there is something being listed way too high by them let them eat it. I have actually seen these poor souls get in actual fist fights at thrift stores over something they think they can con someone into paying more for it used, than a new identical item sells for. They state it is OK and the Buyer needs to Beware ! These folks we will unfortunately have with us always.

[N2ZD]

I know I’m late to the party. I have no problem with anyone selling, but put all your stuff in one or two ads and post once or twice a week. We all have the ability to scroll. It’s called having respect for fellow ops. We don’t need to see the same ads every day.

[Bear]

Now that I agree with fully. You are correct that it is irritating to look at what is supposed to be new listings and see the same things from yesterday and the day before in the newly listed section. yes I guess that can do it but once a week or every two weeks is about right. We can use the "Search" section and look up a listed item.

[kw3u]

Ham Radio Items on Ebay - No Reserve
Ham Radio Items on Ebay - No Reserve! w4jst seriously???

[N2ZD]

I’ve never seen it so bad as it is now. Not only are they bumped up EVERY SINGLE DAY, they are repetitive, annoying and disrespectful to fellow hams. Now some are posting individual items one after the other instead of putting a header for the same type of stuff in one post. Look at todays posts for example. It’s “Ham Spam” at its finest.

[NK7Z]

Who cares if someone is running a business out of their home... If the equipment is well represented, and the seller is honest, what difference does it make?

[N2ZD]

Did you bother to read? I don’t care who or what anyone posts here. But the lack of respect for their fellow hams bothers me. Every day I have to wade thru the same 50 or more ads posted or bumped just a day before because some hams choose to abuse this board and have little or no respect for others.

Bumping your ad once a week is fine, but the same people bump them every day or other day. Or better yet, post one of the same or similar item per ad and create 20-30 ads per day when one ad with ALL of the items listed would suffice.

If you don’t find that annoying, you’re a better man than I.

[W3ESE]

.
I don't have a horse in this race, but after reading a few of the recent posts on this subject, being curious, I decided to peruse the ads that were posted yesterday, Monday, March 7th.

One ham had eighty-five...(85)...ads posted.
.

[NK7Z]

N2ZD,
The activity you describe is not the issue, (it is horrid BTW), the subject is, "Just Hams or Businesses in Disguise?", not hams that bump their ads too often... Bumpers, business, or personal should be removed.

As I said, I don't care if a business, or an individual ham posts gear for sale, as long as it is correct, and the gear is clean... Your concern is valid, just not matching the subject of this discussion...

[N2ZD]

Yes it is,

Most of those I speak of appear to be commercial
Entities. That’s not what bothers me, what does is the incessant reposts over and over by both the commercial sellers and some “regular” sellers. Not all do this, many post different items often, which is ok even if they fit a commercial profile as long as they aren’t abusive. But the abusers seem to have a
Commercial air, hide behind non profits or post 40 things in 40 posts when a few posts with several or more items of the same nature will do..

I can’t see the purpose of posting the same stuff, same
Prices, same junk EVERY DAY, Over and over.. Let’s face it, every day is excessive, commercial or not.

[NK7Z]

N2ZD,
Respectfully these are two different issues! One issue is incessant reposint by anyone, business, or person. The other issue is a business posing as a single individual. Here is a way to test your assertion-- imagine for a moment you could get rid of all businesse postings, would the incessant posting end? Your last posts admits the reposting would continue... Thus seperate issues...