[PSA] a discount code in a first comment is an instant ban and here is why

Putting this at the top of the board where it belongs: a discount code in a first comment is an instant ban and here is why.

The checks I run before sending money anywhere new, in order, and none of them cost anything.

Domain first, character by character, pasted rather than typed. Then registration age against the claimed trading history. Then a request, in writing, for a batch-specific certificate for the lot they would ship — not the catalogue document.

Then a small order, tested independently. Only after that a real one. This sequence has cost me a handful of small orders and it has never once cost me a large one, which is the whole point.

Why this board insists on dates and documents rather than names.

A report that says "X is a scam" is unfalsifiable and unactionable. A report that says "ordered on this date, paid this way, asked for a batch document on this date, received this reply, nothing since" can be checked, corroborated, or corrected by somebody with a different experience.

The second kind has repeatedly turned out to be a shipping problem, a payment window, or a misread email. The first kind never turns into anything except an argument, and when it is wrong the cost falls on somebody real.

The group-buy structure, described neutrally, because the arguments here always get personal.

One person collects money, places one order, receives it, splits it and forwards it. That structure concentrates payment, custody and communication in a single point with no contract, no escrow and no recourse designed in. It is not an allegation about any organiser to say so.

What follows from it: the failure mode is silence rather than dispute, the people exposed have no visibility, and there is nothing to escalate to. If you take part, take part knowing the shape of what you have agreed to.

I will update this if the picture changes rather than quietly leaving it up.