I've had quite a few guys come in with G Loomis blems, that I'm not sure who really made them. They weren't anything close to the Loomis products I'm familiar with in weight, action, or dimensionally. I've bought a few reelseats that were no longer available, the rest I buy from the sponsors.

According to Loomis, they do not sell blems. So most likely the guys were buying very cheap oriental made blanks being sold as Loomis blems by an unscrupulous @#$%&.

..........

Raymond,

I do not frown upon @#$%& sellers because I want to protect the sponsors. I frown upon them because they do not help me foot the bill for this site. Why should they get a free ride here? I certainly don't.

A guy who sells his product on @#$%& pays @#$%& a fee to market and sell his product there. If he wants to advertise his @#$%& @#$%& here on this site, he should be willing to pay a fee here as well. I've yet to meet one who was willing to do that.

Besides that, I have control over who is a sponsor here. If a company turns out to be cheating people, I can get rid of them easy enough. But I have no control over who sells on @#$%&. I don't want to see links to a dishonest @#$%& seller popping up here over and over, defrauding builders who read about the great "deals" from links on this site.

So for the record, no, @#$%& links are not allowed here. I appreciate your understanding.

.............

I'm sure what started this thread is that there is a guy on @#$%& currently selling "Loomis blems" - I would imagine everyone on this board has the good sense to steer WELL clear of that guy!! The reason St. Croix stopped selling their seconds/blems is due to unscrupulous types buying seconds and selling them as firsts, or building up the blanks and selling them as a first quality custom rod. It was a bummer for me, I live very near the St. Croix factory - not that I would want to build on seconds, but the first rod I built was on an SCII "second" that the only thing wrong with was a tiny little finish blemish halfway up the blank. They were a good source for "learning" blanks, and close to home :-) They have started selling their "second" fly rod tips again - lots of people build those up into ice fishing rods - they had even stopped selling those for awhile.

That's the problem - you really don't know what it is he's selling. Loomis says they don't sell blems and even if they did, how did this guy manage to get hold of them? The Loomis name sells, and sellers know that. So you stick the name on a dime store blank and reap the profits. Maybe. He could be legitimate, but then again...


...........

I bought some cork from @#$%& from a seller with a 100% feedback rating. It was not the quality that he showed on the photo. I complained and was told "tough." I added negative feedback but the seller then turned around put negative feedback on my own 100% positive feedback score. Said I was an "unreasonable customer and did not suggest doing business with me."

The feedback ratings are not something you can totally trust. For me, no more purchases on @#$%&. For every truly good deal there is a stinker just waiting to bite you.

Buying something on @#$%& is really a common sense issue. You always have the option of checking the sellers feedback and while there checking what kind/type items that they have been selling. That can give clues if they are knowledgable about the item that you are interested in. You always have the option of contacting the seller and questioning them about the item, which often can give you clues from their answer.

There is a fair possibillity that rod building components originally came from one of the sponsors prior to falling into the hands of the @#$%& seller.

Is it more fair to slam @#$%& as a whole over an undesireable seller than if you were confronted with an overzealous clerk in one of the sponsors stores and were sold a bill of goods. I suspect that you would report it to the store owner/manager instead of posting on all of the available forums that "Jim Bobs Tackle Supply" is a piece of _____!

Is it morally wrong to buy components from a sponsor that also sells custom rods, Make a rod and sell it, as opposed to taking it back to them so they can sell it?

ADDENDUM TO PREVIOUS POST:

I wholeheartedly agree that links to @#$%& sellers should not be posted here. They should not get a free ride, plus if someone wants to check there for an item, it"s their responsibality to do an @#$%& search for it, not sit on their duff and wait for someone else to find it and provide the info.

Hi Tom,

I understand completely and aggree whole heartedly!



Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

The problem is buying a blank being advertised as a particular model, then either using it of trying to pass it off as such.

If I treat them as cheap no name blanks that I personally warrant, then I see no problems with buying ANY blank on @#$%&.

Lou

@#$%& is great........but you have to use common sense.

As mentioned above look at the sellers feed back from other buyers and the number of transactions. If the sellers has many transactions and all good feedback the chances are they are very reputable.

Sometimes you get what you pay for....If I am getting a blank for 5.00 w/o a warrantee or manufactures sticker I would assume it is not a first quality blank.

You can also ask questions about an item for the seller...if you are not sure or want more detail ask.

If @#$%& didn't work it wouldn't be so popular......while I don't buy many things from @#$%&....I wouldn't hesitate on certain things. While on the other hand I don't think blanks would be my first choice of items I am going to use @#$%& for.