Charter for ca.forsale

This is a proposed charter for ca.forsale. Please post comments and suggestions in ca.news.group and ca.forsale. This does not currently deal with net abuse - upcoming policy discussions in ca.news.group will deal with that and then the result of the discussion will be added to all the charters.

ca.forsale is for posting items for sale in California only. Acceptable topics for ca.forsale include

offers of sale/barter/giveaway of goods/services
notices of auction

The following items do not belong in ca.forsale. Use ca.wanted instead.

desire to purchase/barter goods/services
inquiries about the existence or location of goods/services

Articles posted in ca.forsale should be one-time announcements, not recurring solicitations. Recurring ads should be on web pages - then make a one-time announcement about the location of the page. However, it is OK to post an article about the same item up to once a month while it remains unsold, as long as the re-posting is temporary. Articles for the same item should be posted no more often than every 4 weeks because local news sites tend to keep local news articles longer than mainstream (and higher-traffic) UseNet groups. (Also, readers have good memories and don't want to see the same article repeated.)

Articles and the items they discuss must have a direct tie to California. In particular, this requires that the item is

relatively immobile/unshippable (couches, cars, grand pianos),
located exclusively in California (apartments, real estate),
of particular interest to area residents or visitors (books such as "Yet Another Vacation Guide to California"),
the seller does not want to deal with shipping out of area (perhaps preferring to deal face-to-face),
mobile but more convenient to sell nearby (vehicles, boats, aircraft), or
for anything else, it must be for sale from and to California.

If the item does not meet these requirements, it does not matter if the poster thinks that people in California might be interested. One person posting from outside the area may not see how their article adds up, but the non-local articles do add up to make it difficult or impossible for local readers to find local articles.

As with the rest of the ca.* newsgroups, ca.forsale is specific to California and is not appropriate for articles that can fit for larger or smaller distributions. For example, the following newsgroups may be better choices depending on your circumstances.

Items to be posted for sale nationwide may be appropriate for us.forsale.
For a worldwide distribution, misc.forsale.* may include a more appropriate newsgroup.
In Los Angeles and Southern California, la.forsale may be a better choice.
In the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California, ba.forsale.* may include a more appropriate newsgroup.
In the San Diego area, sdnet.forsale may be better.
In the San Jose/South Bay/Silicon Valley area, sbay.forsale may be a better choice.
Or ask your site news admin if your city or county has a regional newsgroup hierarchy.

Always check for charters and/or guidelines before posting in any newsgroup. Do not cross-post to regional newsgroups for areas you are not in or near. Do not use more than the minimum number of newsgroups necessary. If one newsgroup fits best, use only that newsgroup.

[Idea credits: this borrows from the charters of dc.forsale and sbay.forsale.]

Newsgroups file entry:

ca.forsale              Items for sale in California. (regional articles only)

Rules in common among all the ca.* newsgroups:

The ca.* newsgroups are only for discussion of subjects related to California. They were made for residents of California and others interested in California. They are intended for topics directly relevant to residents of California. The general policy is that any topic not at least partly related to California is considered off-topic, though the specific newsgroup charters may list exceptions.