To help clear some things up, we did a little research on the matter as well as double checked with a gaia moderators to understand better the boundaries of what your allowed to do, and what your not allowed to do on gaia, regarding your real life shop.
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First off, we know TOS isen't quite clear on the matter, even after going through Tos, and gaias rules and regulations there was still a bit of confusion to what was acceptable. There for we suggest that if your interested in letting people know you have a RL shop here on gaia that you check out this thread first. As many of your basic questions will be answered.
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/art-shops/r-c-rules-updates-updated-01-05-2010/t.10111830/#2
So to break it down
Your allowed to:
- post a link to a personal web page, dev art, or email address in your gaia signature to let people know you have a Real Life shop thats taking commissions
- mention on the side of a conversation in a thread that you take commissions (so if your talking with other users in a thread, you are allowed to mention you have a RL shop and your even allowed to post a link to a personal web page, dev art, or email address for further information.
Your NOT allowed to:
- Make a thread for the sole purpose of advertising your RL shop
- list prices or carry out real money transactions in your threads or via PM (or anywhere else on Gaia)
So in a nut shell, gaia does not want you using gaia just to advertise your shop, your allowed to mention you have one, but they would like you to keep these kinds of buisness transactions and talks off gaia.
If you know a user is offering RL commissions and can't find the link to there shop outside of gaia, it is acceptable to pm them and ask for the link or email to talk with them outside of gaia, but the conversation on the matter should not exceed this. Do not talk about prices and transactions through your pms as this would be a solicitation, a violation of Gaia's Terms of Service.
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Q: Why doesn't gaia allow me make a thread specificaly to advertise my RL shop, but I'm allowed to mention it on the side of a converstion in a thread instead
A:
VegetasBabie
The reason a user can't have the sole point of a thread or a post be about their commission is that is considered advertising, as well as spam. If a user mentions their commissions in passing, it's really a part of a conversation, not really advertising. 3nodding
