By joining Spavin' Mavens, you agree to abide by the following group rules:

1. Members who fail to pay for spave items, shipping by the due date, send an abusive e-mail or commit an offense that negatively affects our board's relationship and/or members with a retailer will receive a warning notice. Following 3 warnings, a member will be removed from the group for a period of 3 months.

1a. Although rule 1 is a guideline, the moderators reserve the right to issue warnings for inappropriate/offensive behavior, or to be deemed blatant disregard of common courtesies.

2. This is a closed board, we work with mystery retailers and companies directly. Posting of, advertising, etc, our special offers/discounts and mention of our group in general can and will result in immediate removal from membership. This includes notifying a company or competitor about a deal's price or retailer's or company involvement in a deal. Discussing a product is okay, just don't mention you got it here or at a discount!

3. Deals may only be offered by moderators. This is to protect our membership from scams. If you have a product idea that you would like to offer to the group, please contact the moderators. We may run the deal, or pair up with you on deal responsibilities. Posts from those other than the moderators that offer deals to the group will be deleted. Do feel free to suggest ideas in the appropriate forum.

4. Discounts (discount codes, etc.) should be cleared with the mods before posting to the group. Posts announcing discount codes not cleared in advance may be deleted unless they are posted by retailers in the retailer section.

5. Information on all deals will be contained in the forum for that deal. Questions that duplicate information in the original thread will be deleted by the mods and will not be answered.

6. Order payment is due on or before 11:59pm EST on the due date specified in the file, unless a different time is specified by the host. E-checks, if allowed, must be cleared by this time. If your payment is not received by the deadline, your order will be dropped and you will receive a warning.

7. Shipping payment is due on the date specified by the host. If you would like to insure your package, it is your responsibility to ask and pay for insurance in addition to the regular postage rate given. If you fail to respond to three successive posts/emails asking for shipping to be paid, the host may, at their discretion, offer your items up to the list for sale. If the items are successfully sold to someone else, you will be refunded the price for the item only, not the otherfees or any costs of shipping to the host.

8. Abusive emails to moderators or other group members will not be tolerated. If you send an abusive or flaming email or post you will receive a warning.

9. Please note that although we have a "warning system" on this group, any particularly egregious offense not otherwise specified within the rules may result in immediate dismissal at the express discretion of the moderators.

10. Signatures: Signatures should be brief and unobtrusive to those reading posts. Pictures are allowed in signatures, but must be no larger than a "thumbnail" or "avatar" size (depending on the provider). Those with on-line businesses are ENCOURAGED to put a link to their business in their signature. All signatures have a 500 character limit.

11. Payments are only accepted from Spavin' Mavens Membership.

12. Once an item is ordered and paid for, it will be shipped to the purchaser. Items may be sold only AFTER the items have shipped and been received by original buyers. Once they are in the hands of the original buyer, one is free to do what she wants with it and may offer it for sale. Mods may waive this rule under special circumstances.

13. All FS items not posted in the Marketplace will be deleted.

Spavin' Mavens List Etiquette

1 - Please keep on topic, and keep topics on the relevant forums. Conversations should be limited to potential deals, and status on ongoing deals. Other discussion belongs in the "Chatter" forum.

We also do allow our group members to post special discounts their business may be offering to Spavin' Mavens members, but those posts are only allowed in the "Retailer" section.

FSOT items may only be listed in the marketplace. If you received them through a deal and no longer need them, it is proper etiquette to sell them for the price you paid or less. Please make sure that discounts and FSOT items are posted in the appropriate forums.

2 - Be kind. Before you post a message, ask yourself if you would feel comfortable saying the same thing in person. The hosts put a lot of personal time and effort into helping everyone get a great deal, and should not be “flamed.” If you have a concern that a deal isn’t going well, and want to elevate it above the host, please email/PM one of the mods. Members who continually flame hosts or other members will have their membership privileges revoked.

3 – Order early. A deal can be very difficult to manage, but becomes even more so when dozens of orders come in at the last minute. Some deals may close early if the minimum is met, so waiting can also result in you being left out. Alternatively, the host may not think the deal has generated sufficient interest and cancel it if there aren’t enough orders to meet the minimum shortly before the deadline.

4 – Read up on deal information before asking questions regarding the deal, including deadlines, websites, prices, paypal addresses, etc. The host took the time to summarize the details for everyone – please use it!

5 - Please refrain from quoting entire messages. Snip replies down to the relevant portion of the original message (highlight and delete irrelevant parts). While it is important to see a small portion of the original post so others understand what you are talking about, it is inconsiderate to leave entire messages in your reply. There is no need to quote a message if your post immediately follows it.

6 – Before sending your message...read it to determine the following: Is it of general interest to the entire group, or is it a personal reply to that member? If it’s the latter, please PM that member, or send an email to the member’s email address, instead of posting to the group.

Thank you!