Short list. All of it comes down to the same thing: this only works if people
can be honest here.
1. Be straight with people
Give real answers. If you don’t know, say you don’t know. If a job went wrong,
saying so is more useful to everyone than another flawless before-and-after.
Disagreeing is fine and encouraged. Being unpleasant about it is not.
2. What’s posted in Shop Numbers stays in Shop Numbers
Shop Numbers is members-only and is not visible to the public or to search
engines. People post real revenue, real margins, and real mistakes in there.
Do not screenshot it. Do not repeat it elsewhere with a name attached. Do not
quote it into a public category. Breaking this gets you removed, first time,
no discussion. The category is worthless if it leaks even once.
3. No stealth selling
You can mention products you use and like. You can say you sell something if
it’s genuinely relevant to the question. You can link your own work.
What you cannot do is show up to promote. If your posts read like
advertising, they’ll be treated as advertising. Brand reps: say who you work
for in your profile and be useful, and you’re welcome. Pretend to be an
ordinary detailer and you’re gone.
4. Don’t post other people’s business
Customers, competitors, and former employers have not agreed to be discussed
here. Talk about the situation, not the name. No license plates, no addresses,
no customer names, no “avoid this guy” threads.
5. Put it in the right place and title it like a human
“Help” is not a title. “Coating failing after 3 weeks on a black F-150” is a
title. Six months from now somebody is going to search for exactly that, and
they will only find it if you wrote it down properly.
6. Price talk is welcome, price fixing is not
Comparing what you charge, discussing what a market supports, arguing about
whether someone is undercharging: all fine, and the whole point of Pricing
and Profit.
Agreeing with other detailers to set or hold prices in a shared market is a
different thing and is not allowed here.
7. Good answers get marked
In Ask a Detailer, if an answer solves it, mark it as the solution. It takes
two seconds and it’s how this place becomes worth something to the next person
with the same problem.
Moderation: flag it rather than arguing with it. Flags go to a real person.
If something gets removed and you think that’s wrong, message the moderators —
you’ll get an actual answer.
These rules will change. When they do, it’ll be announced here and the
change will be explained. If a rule seems wrong to you, say so in Site
Feedback.