So much to unpack here. Most threads about B&B get locked but this one is running so I am jumping in before the door closes.
Have you seen my signature?
First off, this is the original Hallows from the first batch from B&M. Made for a "Scent off". I knew from the second I opened the tin, it was very special.
http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz61/...92f141.jpg
https://damnfineshave.com/thread-hallows?page=2
Over at B&B in the early days they were pretty happy go lucky. Then Joel realized how much traffic the site generated and decided to maximize profit in any way he could. Vendor fees, Panjo seller fees, buying those stupid badges. Advertising for products from big box sellers etc. Then the rules began to change to make sure they were a closed community to ensure traffic stayed on B&B. Posting links to outside forums (or anywhere else) stole their traffic and your posts were deleted.
I stepped away during the PANJO grift timeframe and when that went down in utter failure and brought the old BST back with new rules I thought I might try it again. After an ad went for 5 days with no issue just one person cried that the price was a little high, Jim pulled my ad and told me BST was only for "active" members and wiped my account back to day 1 status. Then I posted in the feedback section...and was banned.
I created a second account with a screenshot of Joel as my profile pic. I literally cut and paste 2 non-descript questions from 2013 and was banned for TOU agreement infractions. Still am mystery as to what those infractions were.
Here is the screengrab of Joel at a tech conference interview i found on u-tube. Does he look like a well groomed gentleman that owns the biggest shaving website on the net?
About Stirling,
First a Mod renamed all the posts (misspelling it on purpose) so Rod wouldn't get the notoriety he deserved. Then they collected all posts and responses mentioning Stirling and put them in one monster thread. 2 things happened at that time. First obviously they wanted to get their cut out of the vendors prompting all new fees. 2nd, there was another soaper with multiple accounts he used to build enthusiasm for his own line. This other soaper pulled some dick moves that cost Rod alot in the business world. And I will leave it at that as it is not entirely my story to tell. Needless to say Rod has done very well in moving his product without interaction from B&B. If there is a grift to be had or way to skim from members or vendors, B&B will do it. The user is the product.
I did some other looking and found that B&B is registered as an actual business and the owners house is VERY lavish. B&B is quite the lucrative business (ie money making) venture. Joel leaves it to his Mods to ban indiscriminately because he knows he gets the clicks and the vendor extortion pays handsomely. You have to remember that Joel started B&B because the the owner of Straight Razor Place (sp?) kicked Joel out for acting a fool over there. So in Joel's mind, anyone that is a member of another forum is not one of his "marks". Scraping a member's online activities at other sites is fair game to him.
The ONLY thing B&B has that I wish DFS had is the razor dating shave wiki. I am a vintage only user and do scrounge antique stores and non-ebay auctions for finds in the wild. If there was a way to build a razor dating shart for Gillette, Gem/Eveready, and Schick here at DFS, I would be sooo happy about that.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. (hopefully I don't look like I am blowing smoke up their shorts) DFS is quite special with Andrew, Freddy, and Marko running the show here. No matter your tiff with other members, DFS is one helluva place to be.
So as a fond farewell from B&B, here are my goodbye gifts from them.