This FAQ includes some basic information to help you get started in our online forums.
Participation in the Overstock.com Community is reserved for registered users who are currently signed in to their account. Additionally, there may be private forums or user groups designated as "invitation only".
Joining the Overstock.com Community is simple and FREE. To join, click here.
You will only remain logged in to the forums for a short time if you should leave the forums or become inactive. This helps to prevent misuse of your account by anyone else when you are using a shared computer and forget to manually log out of your session.
WYSIWYG (wizz - ee - wig) is an acronym for 'What you see is what you get.' The WYSIWYG editor is present when you are creating a post and features a collection of buttons used for formatting and styling your text, allowing you to see content exactly as it will appear when uploaded to the Internet or printed. For those who are not savvy with html code, the WYSIWYG takes the guesswork out of simple tasks, such as creating bold and italic text or inserting images and links.
We do not currently allow files to be attached to posts. We do so to ensure that you are not intentionally or accidentally exposed to anything malicious that can harm your computer while participating in the Forums.
Yes, you can insert images into your posts. While composing your post, place the cursor where you want the image to show and click the icon in the WYSIWYG that looks like a little tree. You will be prompted to find the image on your computer and upload it to the site. Note: You must either own the image or have express permission to distribute it.
While viewing the post you wish to quote, click "Reply to this post." The text editor will automatically format the quoted text for you.
Some forums have been designated so that only moderators have the ability to create new topics within them. For example, the Announcements forum is set up this way to ensure that the staff's announcements to the community do not get upstaged by irrelevant content.
An avatar is an image used to visually represent your personality or presence on the forums. You may use your own avatar by clicking "Edit Profile". You will be prompted to upload an image from your computer, which will be automatically resized to 60 pixels high by 60 pixels wide
If you do not choose to use your own avatar, you will be represented by the default avatar for a registered user.
Yes. Click on "Edit Profile" and enter your signature within the box titled "Forums Signature". Signatures are most commonly composed of your name, nick-name, personal tag line or favorite quote. When you change or update your signature, it will be automatically inserted into all your existing and future posts
Note: Signatures must be text-only. Any HTML will be stripped out.
While reading the forums, you may come across users whose posts (in your opinion) do not add to the quality of the discussion. At your discretion, you may click the "hide posts from this user" link located at the bottom of the user’s posts. Upon doing so, all of that particular user’s posts throughout the forums will be collapsed from your view, so that you can easily bypass them. (This function only applies to your own experience; the collapsed posts are still visible to all other users who wish to read them.)
If at any time, you wish to read that user’s posts again, you may click "Show Posts".
If a moderator should find a discussion for which the subject seems off topic to the forum in which it was created, he or she may choose to move it to another, more suitable forum. When a discussion is moved, a place holder is inserted where it originally resided. The placeholder indicates that the discussion has been moved and when clicked, re-directs the reader to the new location of the discussion.
If you should happen across a discussion that you think would be more appropriate in another forum, you may report the first post of the discussion and ask the moderator to move it elsewhere. (Reporting the discussion does not guarantee that it will be moved by the moderator.)
For the sake of discretion and the privacy of our members, we do not discuss specific order/auction details within the Overstock.com Community Forums. Only general questions about Customer Care, as outlined in our help pages, can be addressed within the forums.
For personalized assistance related to your order or auction, please contact the appropriate department using one of the methods provided below:
For support related to an Overstock.com shopping order or account, click here.
For support related to an Overstock.com Auction or Auctions account, click here.
This is a tough one, because there are situations where we would like nothing more than to see a victim vindicated, in public, in front of their peers. However, if we open up the forums for this kind of behavior, we also leave it wide open for many innocent individuals to be falsely accused.
Since Overstock.com staff are the only ones privy to the details from both sides of a dispute and since our staff cannot comment on those details publicly, we ask that you do not make direct allegations of fraud against others in these forums. Posts of this nature will be removed and warnings may be issued to the authors.
Notwithstanding, we realize that experience is often a great teacher. If you have had a negative buying or selling experience, you are permitted to post general details about it for the sake of gathering advice from or educating your peers, but you cannot include any identifying factors. This includes names, physical addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, auction numbers, auction titles, email or instant message conversations, etc.
Note: It may take up to an hour for your new information to update automatically on your Community account.
A link to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy can be found at the bottom of each page within the Community, or you can click here.
Author G. K. Chesterton said "The thing I hate about an argument is that it always interrupts a discussion."
As stated in the Forums Policy, our Community is intended to be entertaining and helpful. In order to accomplish that, we rely on your participation to be constructive and inoffensive. Before posting a reply to something that gets your knickers in a bunch, consider your approach and how it might play out in the conversation that follows.
Constructive: "I don't agree with your view, because..."
Offensive: "Only an idiot would think that."
It's important to recognize that disagreeing with another user's ideas or opinions is different from attacking that individual for their ideas or opinions. It's natural to disagree with others in a large public setting where several points of view intersect. How we conduct ourselves in stating our differences sets the trolls apart from the adults. If you're participating here, you're assumed to be an adult since only an adult can register for an account. Please conduct yourself as one.
A troll is any individual whose primary purpose for using the forums is to interrupt the discussion, start a fight and create chaos. Their self worth is often viewed in relation to how much trouble they can provoke, thus they win their battle when everyone is either focused completely on them or no longer discussing the original topic at all.
If a troll should rear its ugly head in a discussion, the best thing you can do is fail to give them the attention they desperately desire. Ignore them and report their behavior to one of the moderators.
Remember, if you "feed the trolls", it's just as much a reflection on your behavior as theirs.
Note: Just because someone (especially a newbie) makes a post with a harsh tone does not automatically qualify them as a troll. Consider these people to be innocent until proven guilty and first try encouraging them by politely pointing out their error, directing them to policies, offering assistance, etc.
As stated in our Terms of Service, our site is intended for viewing by those 18 and over. Those who choose to view or participate in our Community may be subject to language that is considered adult in nature. However, out of respect for the diverse audience we host, we proactively filter and block certain words automatically with our Forums software (e.g. vulgarity and hate speech). Additionally, we reserve the right to remove any content deemed offensive based on context.
Note: Attempts to creatively circumvent the word filters will result in a warning or further action as necessary.
The Overstock.com Community Forums are intended to be an enjoyable and educational venue. For the sake of avoiding an unfairly competitive atmosphere among its members, promoting of one's own onsite or offsite sales is not permitted, except as designated by the Community Forums Policy or the employees and management of Overstock.com.
The Product Reviews & Recommendations Forums are intended for detailed discussions of products and not for promotion of those products as available on other sites.
Overstock.com employees, partners, affiliates and members may post in reference to or discuss products and promotions offered on the shopping site.
If your behavior should deviate from the , you may be issued a warning and/or have your posts deleted. As a show of good faith, the administrators and moderators may extend a "3 Strikes" policy for those whose behavior has been overall constructive up to the point of their offense. However, such a courtesy may not always be warranted, depending upon the offense.
Warnings are issued as a courtesy, to encourage better conduct. The Overstock.com Community staff is not required to issue warnings and reserves the right to suspend, ban or disable any user as they deem necessary, without notice to the offender.
Absolutely! Overstock.com Auctions servers use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology, an encryption technology that works with Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer, AOL's browser, and many more. Only a few high security departments of Overstock.com will be able to read customers' credit card information.
A note about online safety: Although we have taken steps to ensure your safety, our Community is host to a diverse group of people. Any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of Overstock.com and its staff. We encourage you to use discretion when taking advice from peers and conduct your own research before following it. Be wary of anyone trying to sell you offsite goods or services and report them accordingly.
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