Forum Ethics

FORUM ETHICS

When we consider the subject of ethics while posting to MEXIMAIL, we need to be reminded of the ‘Golden Rule’, i.e. do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Originally, on MEXIMAIL, there were only a couple of rules when it all began in the Spring of 2003. The first rule was to keep the focus on the philately of Mexico. The second rule was that a person should not flame the character of another philatelist, especially one that is on the roster or a known collector/dealer of Mexico. The first rule has been loosely applied and has more to do with keeping our forum on topic, but the second was devised for ethical reasons.

It is important to have a forum running with free flowing ideas and members and their friends outside of the forum should not be dragged through the dirt. There are many other organizations that deal with civil suits and problem collectors and dealers. Our main philatelic societies can handle these much better than a bunch of guys emailing each other, one out topping the other trying to tell who did what to whom. So it is easy to recognize that the second rule should be applied without much leeway. So, unless you are just reporting that Mr. X has just been arrested for stamp forgery or some other news worthy philatelic event, comments about their character has no place on the MEXIMAIL forum.

Speaking of ethics, on the forum we have the opportunity to offer items to sell or trade directly to other forum members, or to let people know we have listing material on eBay or other auctions. So, it is important that we also follow standard ethics in our dealings with other members and other stamp collectors regardless of affiliation with MEXIMAIL or any other society.

Offering faulty or fake material as legitimate, is another ethical break that may lead to a collector abandoning both Mexican philately and possibly collecting stamps in general. So cheating others either in sale or trade of our material is indeed unethical. And if anyone uses this forum in order to facilitate what is deemed an unethical practice, it is ultimately punishable by loss of privilege.

An important benefit of MEXIMAIL has been identifying fraudulent material being offered. If a collector or dealer spots such an item, notification to the list can be done in a manner that simply advises others to be careful of this material. There is no need defaming the seller, since it is seldom that the seller will knowingly sell such material and often times they are as ignorant of the fake as the prospective buyers.

As a dealer, pricing our material is also an important part of ethics. Use your common sense when setting your reserves. After all, it is assumed that you really want to sell it. Let the auction be the vehicle that finds the items true level.

So create your forum posts with consideration and respect in a manner that you would like others to when they are speaking about you, and MEXIMAIL will become one of the most rewarding parts of your philatelic life.