Out of Character Shops
Out of Character Shops are just that, placed where players can offer their services to other players be it sharing their artistic skill, making unique encyclopedia formats or some other creative service. For the most part this is a player-driven activity but there are some very basic restrictions.
You simply start a thread in this forum. Players can make (1) shop each. The reason for this is because the front page is "premium" space so if a single user has three shops, they are pushing 2 other users to the second page. This ends up reducing their ability to get customers and encourages spamming.
Your first post in the thread would be your "shop" and it would explain the services that you offer as well as prices. The posts that follow would be the players that make their orders. Most shops have a form of some sort that they ask users to fill out. This streamlines their process and makes them appear more professional.
When you complete a project, it is not required but many shop owners will post what they have completed. This serves as advertising for the shp, people can see the great work that is done and they can show their speed and professionalism.
You have specials, you have changed what your shop offers, you gained a shop partner, etc. Many find it tacky to write a post in the shop thread announcing that they have made (a possibly minor) change but the want to communicate that they have made a change professionally. The best way of doing this is #thread-sharing on discord and the Advertisements Thread, a thread where players can advertise (please don't double post) their services or changes to their shop.
Please do not spam.
Please do not beg for purchases in OC chat threads or help threads.
Payment is entirely player-driven. Every user Year 2 and above has access to the Donation option in their profile. You would find the payee's profile and click on the GIVE button to the right of their "total wealth".
When you click on this, you will be brought to a donation page that looks like this:
You would give the amount of money you wish to pay to the shop owner. We recommend writing a reason for your own paper trails. The shop owner will be alerted to payment in their Remembrall. The administration can also see all transactions.
First years do not have the option of sending money, but they can trade items. This will open up for them at the start of their second year. Shop owners will often have instructions for what to do in terms of payment. A common form of payment is to trade them an item because trading is open to first years. Please be aware that the sell-back price for items is roughly 80% of the purchase price.
The shops are player-driven, meaning the administration does not oversee trades. Purchases done here are done at your own risk. Meaning, a shop owner that does sub-par service or underperforms is something that will be managed between the user and the shop owner. The administration will not hunt down a shop owner because something was ugly or not timely. The administration will also not force a player to pay for something that they ordered. If they are using the item, they will be forced to take it down because they are using the art or code or work without permission (and that is considered plagiarism) but we will not police accounts or deals. The consequence of running a shop poorly, being a rude/demanding or demeaning customer is that nobody will work with you. Players get (1) shop, they can look back at your work (or purchases) and see your attitude. People talk. The administration will not mend the bridges that you burn.
The administration will intervene if we discover a shop is being used to harass someone or a group of people. We take complaints of harassment seriously but we also take false complaints seriously also. If someone creates a product in good faith that is ultimately underwhelming, that is not harassment. So please no political memes, no anti- religious or gender, or region works here please. No porn. No using the real life images of other site members without their expressed permission.
In the rare instance that a single user is repeatedly making orders that they cannot afford and fails to pay, admin might remove their access to this forum area.
1. Real life information and real life money should not be exchanged. This is for your safety. If someone is asking for real-life money for work, please solicit elsewhere (Deviant Art or Etsy for example) because we cannot serve as a platform for actual monetary exchanges. Any shop that is requesting real life money or is being used to advertise products that they sell for real money will be removed without warning.
2. Illegal or morally questionable offers. Illegal being in-game currency in exchange for a real-life item (drugs, clothes, jewelry), sexual favor, or assistance cheating on exams or doing someone's papers/homework in exchange for real life or in-game currency. Shops that offer this will be shut down without notice and if there is an illegal aspect, we will notify the proper authorities.
3. Post writers. We are a roleplay site, you are free to offer them inspiration (I have seen shops that offer services such as "I will describe your character's appearance or scent" for example) but we will not accept shops that offer services where a user will write posts for another user. This would be considered plagiarism when the user uses the post so the post would be taken down, if the post was used to gain an ability or earn a spell (prodigal learners) then the ability or spell will be removed even if previously accepted in error and the user will be expected to re-write the post. The shop would be closed without warning. The administration will not offer refunds for purchased works that are plagiarized.
4. Plagiarism. It is against site policy to plagiarize (take another person's work and claim it to be your own. If you are caught selling products on here that are not yours but claiming that they are, we will shut down your shop and if it happens ever again you will no longer be able to use the shops on site any longer (we will block your access). You can find online art work as a search service for users but you need to be honest that the work is not your own.
5. Lying. Do not claim a product is one thing when it is something else. This is not "he claimed to be a good artist and he is terrible" but rather "I made this by hand" when in truth they used several filters to make the product. Both are valuable services but you need to be honest when you make any claims. Your customers are entitled to being able to make an informed decision regarding the purchases that they make.
6. Permission. Players donate code, templates for banners, sometimes even images. These donations were made as a 'gift' to the community. Donors have the right to refuse resale. Resale is basically you taking their donated work and selling their work (even with the credit attached) to other users. This would be 'resale.' Donors are able to state (and are asked to on their donations) if they are ok with resale of their work. If they have said nothing their work is considered free-use, so you are able to re-sell it. If they have explicitly said that their work is not for resale, then you do not have permission to use their work and we would expect your compliance.
How Do I Make A Shop?
You simply start a thread in this forum. Players can make (1) shop each. The reason for this is because the front page is "premium" space so if a single user has three shops, they are pushing 2 other users to the second page. This ends up reducing their ability to get customers and encourages spamming.
Your first post in the thread would be your "shop" and it would explain the services that you offer as well as prices. The posts that follow would be the players that make their orders. Most shops have a form of some sort that they ask users to fill out. This streamlines their process and makes them appear more professional.
When you complete a project, it is not required but many shop owners will post what they have completed. This serves as advertising for the shp, people can see the great work that is done and they can show their speed and professionalism.
How Do I Advertise My Services?
You have specials, you have changed what your shop offers, you gained a shop partner, etc. Many find it tacky to write a post in the shop thread announcing that they have made (a possibly minor) change but the want to communicate that they have made a change professionally. The best way of doing this is #thread-sharing on discord and the Advertisements Thread, a thread where players can advertise (please don't double post) their services or changes to their shop.
Please do not spam.
Please do not beg for purchases in OC chat threads or help threads.
How do I Pay for Services?
Payment is entirely player-driven. Every user Year 2 and above has access to the Donation option in their profile. You would find the payee's profile and click on the GIVE button to the right of their "total wealth".
When you click on this, you will be brought to a donation page that looks like this:
You would give the amount of money you wish to pay to the shop owner. We recommend writing a reason for your own paper trails. The shop owner will be alerted to payment in their Remembrall. The administration can also see all transactions.
First years do not have the option of sending money, but they can trade items. This will open up for them at the start of their second year. Shop owners will often have instructions for what to do in terms of payment. A common form of payment is to trade them an item because trading is open to first years. Please be aware that the sell-back price for items is roughly 80% of the purchase price.
I Have Complaints.
The shops are player-driven, meaning the administration does not oversee trades. Purchases done here are done at your own risk. Meaning, a shop owner that does sub-par service or underperforms is something that will be managed between the user and the shop owner. The administration will not hunt down a shop owner because something was ugly or not timely. The administration will also not force a player to pay for something that they ordered. If they are using the item, they will be forced to take it down because they are using the art or code or work without permission (and that is considered plagiarism) but we will not police accounts or deals. The consequence of running a shop poorly, being a rude/demanding or demeaning customer is that nobody will work with you. Players get (1) shop, they can look back at your work (or purchases) and see your attitude. People talk. The administration will not mend the bridges that you burn.
The administration will intervene if we discover a shop is being used to harass someone or a group of people. We take complaints of harassment seriously but we also take false complaints seriously also. If someone creates a product in good faith that is ultimately underwhelming, that is not harassment. So please no political memes, no anti- religious or gender, or region works here please. No porn. No using the real life images of other site members without their expressed permission.
In the rare instance that a single user is repeatedly making orders that they cannot afford and fails to pay, admin might remove their access to this forum area.
This is the "Game Master" account. Please do not owl this account, unless specified. This account is not moderated actively and therefore, you may not receive a response.
Contact a Head of House or the Headmaster if you need anything.