Thinking of Buying or Selling [Lenses]?
Hi Lensmasters!
I’m here today with a helpful tip about buying and selling lenses and lensmaking services through Squidoo.
Just like any service that can be generated on the behalf of a client, Squidoo has become a popular place for “experts” to generate lenses on behalf of others. Maybe you bought a Squidoo lens that was already made, or hired someone to build one for you. Maybe you’re thinking of getting into the business, and making lenses for others. Like any business transaction, there are a few things to consider before buying or selling lenses. Here are a few notes on our official stance on this, plus some tips for making a buying or selling experience successful.
1. We don’t encourage or discourage the act of buying and selling lenses on Squidoo. Many a lens has been successfully transferred; the first sales and auctions were milestones of our early history. We’re mostly laissez faire on this, unless something goes wrong.
2. If something goes wrong and we get a complaint, we’re not responsible for moderating it. Simply, we’ll lock the account in question and refer the owner to the complainant for resolution. We don’t like doing that, though. We’d rather see you work it out.
3. If you’re buying or selling a lens, or a house, or a car, take the time to develop a reputation with the other party first. Know what you’re getting into, and don’t jump into unfamiliar territory.
4. If we find a lens that violates our TOS or SquidDon’t policies, or has actively spammed a network or individual, we’ll lock it, probably for good. So regardless of which end you’re on, be aware of our policies. Know what isn’t kosher to write about, and review our rules on junk and uncurrated content.
5. When in doubt, don’t do it.
There are plenty of great lensmasters who, over time, have helped others get a head start on their Squidoo account by building lenses for them. Or they’ve built lenses for their local businesses, their brother’s garage band, their niece’s class project, or their best friend’s wedding. Genuine lenses, with authentic content and solid social connections, that have performed well.
Unfortunately, there are also plenty of lensmasters whose purchased lenses ended up getting locked, because they were on movie downloads, or ten duplicate lenses on dental care in Boston, or hosted copyrighted material, or redirect scripts.
Bottom line? We’re hands off, but we won’t let you abuse the system, either. So play nice, play fair, know the rules, and everyone wins!
Make it a great day!
~Kimberly Dawn Wells
YOUR Community & Charity Organizer
PS - Curious about our stance on unofficial ebooks and tutorials?
