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Responding to my posted ads on Sturm


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OK, it seems we've arrived at a point where it's become necessary to post a "how to respond to my Sturm ads" instructional guide.

I've had a number of people respond to my WTS ads with just "send pics", no name, no introductions, no I'm interested in buying, no phone #...nothing, zip.

How rude is that? Very in my book.

And the reason I should send pics to you is ....?

You are; a serious buyer, a troll, a pic collector, Dana Reed, or one of the other various and sundry scammers, idiots and crank yankers that troll these boards? 

Sorry, I have neither the time nor inclination to answer anonymous requests of this nature. I don't care if you have a board moniker or not, I want a real name and contact #.

I want to know who I'm communicating with.

Is it asking so much to post your name at least?

When I list an item for sale I post my name and contact info and I expect you to do the same in your emails to me about the ad.

Has it evolved to a time where no-one has the time, nor good manners to identify themselves in a potential transaction?

Sorry not in my world. 

When you respond to one of my ads with merely "send pics" with no name, no contact info, no way to identify who I'm entering into a conversation/potential sale with, you won't be getting a response from me.

If you identify yourself in an email to me with a name and contact number or email address, I'll be glad to answer any questions you have about what it is I'm selling, and if you are a serious buyer with cash in hand, that wants to buy what I have listed...I'll send you all the pics you want.

But.....

If you're a pic collector, a tire kicker, have insufficient funds to buy what I have listed, a troll, or that fat ass whale turd Dana Reed, please don't bother!!

And now a BIG thank you to all of the recent buyers I've done business with, while selling off my C3 collection. This venue has been invaluable to me with these sales, a source of great information over the years, in addition to the great friendships that have developed from Sturm over the last 16 years.

Thank you again David and Andy.

I

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RL,

I couldnt agree more.  I would like to add that if someone wants to offer 70% of my asking price, please dont bother.  If you do and I ask are you serious, dont cuss and rant at me because of your inability to communicate in a professional manner.  Try acting like an adult and not hide behind the anonymity of the internet.  I.E. dont say crap you wouldnt say to my face.  I like the new layout, but it seems to have attracted an inordinate amount of trolling douches like you find on other boards.

 

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On 5/4/2016 at 10:25 AM, R.L. said:

I've had my pics stolen on a number of opccasions and reposted on other sites. No way to stop it unless I send them directly to the buyer.

Yeah, it does make sense to not post pics of high dollar items without at least a huge watermark.

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On May 4, 2016 at 10:25 AM, R.L. said:

I've had my pics stolen on a number of opccasions and reposted on other sites. No way to stop it unless I send them directly to the buyer.

Watermark your name or bidness name directly over the posted pic...

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If you search for water marking tools online, you can come up with some ( http://www166.lunapic.com/editor/?action=watermark is one that popped up).. 

If you use Adobe Photoshop/Lightroom or many of the other editing packages it is an option in the output to place watermarks in the image as part of an export.

Here is an example of a watermark from Lightroom of a simple text overlay - you can get fancier.

IMG_9292.jpg

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Depends on where the watermark is placed... 

1) If you have it in a corner, then it can be cropped out

2) If it appears over a large area of continuous tone / pattern, it can be cloned out by replacing it with clean pattern from somewhere else in the shot... This takes a bit more time, and skill

3) If it appears over critical / varied parts of the gun, then it is really hard to remove.

 

Anybody making a big purchase should run the images they have been provided through google image search or tineye ( http://darktips.com/search-image-using-an-image-to-google-alternative/ ) to see if they show up elsewhere .. it isn't 100%, but it is helpful. 

Personally I would just watermark in a corner or two, and if you have the option shoot the image over some poster board etc. that identifies your username / phone / whatever, or toss the piece of paper on there (ideally not a perfectly flat piece, as it can be edited) with something like "Sturm 2016 PT Ad".

Some commercial sellers have known backgrounds - Dealer NFA  for instance is a high key white, and I have seen others use various setups, which after a while board regulars recognize as having come from X dealer / individual. 

 

There is always a risk of image theft, but images do help a sale move along faster, and weed out some questions that are answered by the "A picture is worth a 1000 words".

 

 

And while we are on the subject, here is a simple photo setup, in addition you can see where parts of the background were replicated (which is also how watermarks can be removed).

IMG_8041.jpg

IMG_8049-Edit.jpg

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Andy:

Thanks for the information - really appreciate it! I would definitely place a watermark over the critical parts of the item but was under the impression that there are programs used to specifically edit out watermarks... More confident now that, properly placed, watermarks would be difficult to defeat. Thanks again!

Edited by Precision Technology
Added my favorite color
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Looks Great ...... Andy can this Sturm Logo be added to all photos stored here at Sturm ..... So posters can protect their photos ?  Would this be an option when guys post their photos here ?  ..... Could it be moved around or always bottom right corner ?

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Currently I could enable the behavior your see in the examples above for all photo uploads, , but I am working with a developer to see if the watermark can be made optional for the user to select - I don't want  to apply it to all photos by default, since there are times it would interfere with the content or existing watermarks.

 

 

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On May 8, 2016 at 1:55 PM, aalbert said:

Currently I could enable the behavior your see in the examples above for all photo uploads, , but I am working with a developer to see if the watermark can be made optional for the user to select - I don't want  to apply it to all photos by default, since there are times it would interfere with the content or existing watermarks.

 

 

I mean some dealers might not like it, say like Ruben for example who always has high quality photos and has his own water mark. But then again it would make it simpler if anyone who uploads photos here to the site has the sturm watermark like you are showing. If it can be made optional that would be even better, but for a lot of guys the tech stuff isn't high on their list of strong suits, myself included, but that would be a neat feature seeing as how often we run into scammers on this site. 

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The current development path is to see if it can be made optional per post; if not then the fallback is to have it be a feature that you enable/disable by default under your user profile.

Anyway, we are pressing on.. Unfortunately the value of the items we have here attract a different element than a forum for Sunflower enthusiasts, so we have to come up with extra methods to safeguard things, that other types of discussion / ad sites don't have to consider.

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44 minutes ago, RON IN PA said:

yes would like it on selected pics only,,TKS

We will see what the developer comes up with - my preference was per post, but a lot of this is driven by the core forum software, and templates and what they allow ... anyway, tomorrow will tell us more.

 

* BTW the Sokolov mount in the above shots will be listed in the near future .. if interested, contact David Albert here on the boards (ideally for local pickup in southern Ohio).

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7 hours ago, aalbert said:

 

Unfortunately the value of the items we have here attract a different element than a forum for Sunflower enthusiasts,

Is it weird that sunflowers freak me out?

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6 hours ago, IGC said:

Is it weird that sunflowers freak me out?

Yes.. But I suggest you go to a flower shop, buy the biggest Sunflower there... Take it to the range, and repeatedly shoot it until your system is normalized... I do not however suggest watching the movie "Little Shop of Horrors".

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Watermarking has been enabled on the system.  Each user would need to enable it (you can disable it too once enabled, so you can have your image left unmolested), and then select an image file (recommend transparent PNG, GIF, etc).. Once you do that, it will watermark all new attachments, until the feature is disabled ... 

Screen Shot 2016-05-11 at 2.28.43 PM.png

Screen Shot 2016-05-11 at 2.28.57 PM.png

Screen Shot 2016-05-11 at 2.29.02 PM.png

 

 

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