I am very uncomfortable with any postings that are or appear to be promotional, and especially, any that link to eBay listings. I posted a message on the Civil War Navies site, asking if the items being discussed and linked to were items you were selling. I did not receive a response within approximately 12 hours, so I removed the listings that appeared to be promotional.

The message boards are visited by "newbies" and non-experts who feel that they are communicating with experts and that any item listed or linked to on these sites "must" be authentic or as represented in the eBay offering. I would prefer that any such discussions, be taken off of the message boards.

I do allow some discussions on the Civil War Flags message boards and others which deny the claims of sellers on eBay; however, I generally do not allow posters to authenticate offerings. It is one thing to cause a buyer to more thoroughly investigate a purchase or to warn, it is something quite different to validate and encourage a buyer to purchase an item at the risk of suffering loss.

If any or all of the apparent promotional postings were removed in error, please accept my apology. Unfortunately, I can not restore the postings.

For a period of time your postings will be delayed in appearing on the message boards, so that I can review and assure myself that no commercial or "for sale" offerings are being posted.

With best regards,

Jim Martin