YES YES YES and again YES!!!!!
If you were creating your own forum..
- Thread starter Webbs Billiards
- Start date
YES YES YES and again YES!!!!!
Wow really?
You do realize that this forum allows American makers a window to the world as well don't you? I personally knwo several people here in China that have purchased many American made items directly from AZ members. Some directly from the makers who are active here and others from dealers and private offerings.
Looking at the sales on AZB I think that the flow of AMERICAN products into the pool world outside the USA is FAR HIGHER in my opinion than the flow of foreign made products INTO the USA through activity on this forum.
I will bet you if we take a poll that of the makers here that most of the American ones would NOT want to cut off the foreign buyers. And what you are suggesting is probably not feasible anyway. And if it were do you support purity in labeling to allow the consumer to determine where all the parts in the products came from? Say for example someone were an American cue maker but they were using blanks and parts from China where would that go on your chart?
Furthermore, once again I will give you a basic economic lesson Bobby. When someone in the USA does buy a foreign made product directly from a foreign seller the dollars used are ONLY accepted because the bank in the foreign country knows that SOMEONE will want to buy those dollars at some point. Which is exactly what happens when someone walks in and needs to have dollars to go to the USA for vacation, business trips, to buy high end cues, send their kid to college, buy machines, etc....
We live on a globe whether you like it or not. When I went to the Super Billiards expo in March my wife and I ended up spending around $15,000 for our two month trip to the USA. That entire $15,000 came from customers who spent their money on cue cases we made. So they bought cue cases that were made in China, each customer getting what I feel is an excellent value, spending less and getting more case, and we got revenue to pay for airfare with Continental, $4500 to Greyhound for Ameripass tickets, $1200 in rental cars, $2000 in hotel bills, $1200 for booth space, about $500 in clothes, maybe another grand in food, $700 in phone bills, and so on.... all money that went to American businesses and American employees.
I know that I am your primary target when you make these statements and that you truly hate me. But Bobby the facts are against you. When someone purchases a case from me they pay far less than they would from a competitor which means that they retain much more money in their pocket to spend on what they want. I turn around and spend some of that money on American goods and services and when I travel even more of it goes into American cash registers.
Last trip we also bought a $2000 Prada handbag on 5th Avenue in NYC. This was purchased for Chinese woman using her money. She earns about $850 a month working as a bank teller. Yet she handed us $2000 to buy a high end bag from America. And other Chinese friends have asked us to purchase similar things for them from cosmetics to jeans.
I honestly don't understand the idea that you would want to segregate people based on where they make their goods. Why not simply embrace the global market place and understand that just as Chinese person can buy a Whitten or a Justis that any American ought to have the right to purchase a case from China or the Phillipines or from Germany or Japan or wherever?
Let the product go to whoever wants it based on the merits of the product rather than the patch of Earth it was made on.
Honestly, segregation is so 1950s.
The only thing about NPR is that it pollutes the results for those of us who like to browse the forums based on NEW posts. Instead of cruising to each individual forum it's much nicer to be able to hit the new posts and see what's been posted across the forum. If you are here primarily for the billiards content then it's annoying to see a dozen or more posts a day with political content bashing someone. If there were a way to put an entire forum section on ignore that would be really nice for those of us who don't really care AT ALL about the NPR section.
And sometimes I see something that bugs me in an NPR post and I just have to say something and when I next look around me two days have passed and I feel queasy from lack of food and dizzy from reading too much wikipedia.
So on a personal level I'd like to be able to see ONLY the billiard-related stuff and only the forums I am interested in if possible using the new posts function.
The only thing about NPR is that it pollutes the results for those of us who like to browse the forums based on NEW posts. Instead of cruising to each individual forum it's much nicer to be able to hit the new posts and see what's been posted across the forum. If you are here primarily for the billiards content then it's annoying to see a dozen or more posts a day with political content bashing someone. If there were a way to put an entire forum section on ignore that would be really nice for those of us who don't really care AT ALL about the NPR section.
And sometimes I see something that bugs me in an NPR post and I just have to say something and when I next look around me two days have passed and I feel queasy from lack of food and dizzy from reading too much wikipedia.
I get your point and your humor. Seems like an added filter is in order.
Gonna get rid of my npr.
If I were running a similar pool forum...
- It might sound too politically correct, but a lot of subjects are just guaranteed to turn into flaming arguments that pretty much wreck a topic. I'd clamp down on politics, "us vs foreigners", gay/lesbian comments, religion, pot legalization, whatever. That would include sigs and avatars.
- No nudie pics, it gives the place the atmosphere of a dirty garage full of throwbacks who love to say WOO TITTIES, and is not that friendly to the occasional female who wanders onto these forums.
- Of course, while I do want to see women participate, I don't really care about getting young children on my forum, so I'm not going to ***** the cuss words.
- Not too many subforums. I think three is a good number. Pool related, NPR, for sale. That structure might not apply if the whole forum's purpose is buying and selling.
- Being a computer guy, I'd probably take a stab at fixing all those little annoyances you get with the vbulletin software. It's pretty solid but... "Find all new posts" is a feature I've seen elsewhere and really miss. Scale pictures automatically so you don't get huge pics that force you to scroll horizontally. Sigs are limited in height, avatars can't spill over their container, and so on.
- Revamp or remove the rep system, so it's more relevant... and maybe show iTrader in a way that's similar to rep, with some visual graph that shows whether someone has a lot of sales, good feedback, etc.
- If a user wants to post a certain ad, they can, but they have to check some box indicating it's an ad. Then forum regulars will know before they even click if they are about to get an eyeful of marketing, and they should have an option to hide all ads (maybe if they've paid for the privilege).
- It might sound too politically correct, but a lot of subjects are just guaranteed to turn into flaming arguments that pretty much wreck a topic. I'd clamp down on politics, "us vs foreigners", gay/lesbian comments, religion, pot legalization, whatever. That would include sigs and avatars.
- No nudie pics, it gives the place the atmosphere of a dirty garage full of throwbacks who love to say WOO TITTIES, and is not that friendly to the occasional female who wanders onto these forums.
- Of course, while I do want to see women participate, I don't really care about getting young children on my forum, so I'm not going to ***** the cuss words.
- Not too many subforums. I think three is a good number. Pool related, NPR, for sale. That structure might not apply if the whole forum's purpose is buying and selling.
- Being a computer guy, I'd probably take a stab at fixing all those little annoyances you get with the vbulletin software. It's pretty solid but... "Find all new posts" is a feature I've seen elsewhere and really miss. Scale pictures automatically so you don't get huge pics that force you to scroll horizontally. Sigs are limited in height, avatars can't spill over their container, and so on.
- Revamp or remove the rep system, so it's more relevant... and maybe show iTrader in a way that's similar to rep, with some visual graph that shows whether someone has a lot of sales, good feedback, etc.
- If a user wants to post a certain ad, they can, but they have to check some box indicating it's an ad. Then forum regulars will know before they even click if they are about to get an eyeful of marketing, and they should have an option to hide all ads (maybe if they've paid for the privilege).
I've removed the npr, added a VIP section that only paid subscriber can see or contribute to. And members and dealers are color coded.
Yet you likely have a cue or two with Canadian maple ... SEND IT BACK !
Dave <-- wondering what a "premium American dollar" might be
Right now I have no way to force that issue with real names, but I'd bet a community could make it happen by avoiding those that hide behind avatars. Though a business name would necessarily be treated different.
Yet you likely have a cue or two with Canadian maple ... SEND IT BACK !
Dave <-- wondering what a "premium American dollar" might be
I understand that cuemakers and casemakers have to use material from other countries howeer the final product is what im talking about.Jeez Im not against foreigners just saying try to support your country as much as you can.I was in the Billiard retail for 20 years and the products made and completed in other countries all but destroyed the billiard industry in america and now look at the tournaments in America.America could use more effort from its own people.
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I am sorry how did the products from other countries all but destroy the billiard industry?
That is completely wrong. The billiard industry thrives or slows down based on the amount of people playing the game. The last two big booms we had were following the Hustler and The Color of Money movies.
The biggest brands in pool have continually supported the sport throughout the years.
When was it ever better in the USA for tournaments than it is now? The Camel Tour? That ended for two reasons, the ban on advertising for the tobacco industry and the actions of some pros and the MPBA commissioner Don Mackey. Had ZERO to do with imported products.
You act like imported products are something new. Billiard products have been imported to the United States in mass quantities since the 1800s.
Once again I ask you if your advice to citizens of other countries is to NOT buy American made cues and cases and other stuff? Would you want for American makers to NOT sell their stuff to people outside the USA?
So no more Aramith balls if you have your way ... somehow I doubt they are going to move to the USA.
http://www.saluc.com/html/about-saluc.php
Dave
I see your point so let me simply alter my comment.Personal cues and cases not balls,cloth etc. is more of what im speaking of.Some cues and cases may have materials made in different parts of the world however finally assembly is what matters most.
Added live chat for those that just want to talk.
TheThaiger
Banned
On a related topic, there's been a rather large shit-storm here in the UK recently. Apparently, some companies have been selling billions of pounds of goods and services and paying next to no tax to the British government.
Oh yeah, they're American companies, like Starbucks, Google & Amazon. Thanks American companies!
