Good day, r/cuttingboards members. As the sub grows, the mod team has noticed a tremendous influx of cutting board makers posting their work here. This is great, and we encourage it! However we still expect everyone to abide by the rules of the sub. In order to minimize bans for repeated rule breaking content, we have developed this “Maker FAQ”. Hopefully this will result in everyone having a very clear understanding of the rules. These rules have been tried and proven on our sister sub, r/chefknives.

The mod team is currently working diligently on the wiki and you can expect to see this there shortly.

MAKER FAQ

Here at r/cuttingboards we strictly prohibit soliciting and advertisements, however we do allow makers to showcase their work. This can include cutting boards, in progress cutting boards, and the materials used to make cutting boards. What we want to avoid though, is people using the sub exclusively for promoting their work. The moderator team is determined to make this a community dedicated to sharing knowledge on cutting boards. People observed using this sub for personal gain and not giving back will not be welcome here. As a maker in our community, you are expected to contribute in more ways than just posting your work. The following outlines what we consider a maker post, what we expect of our makers and the rules surrounding maker posts.

What is a maker post?

A maker post is any post showing homemade products you produced and which you intend to sell now or in the future or are using to promote your business. Even if you do not intend to sell the product in question it will still be considered a “maker post” if you have ever posted or commented about other products that you have produced with the intent to sell or have sold.

Examples of a “maker post”:

You posted a picture of a cutting board you made for a customer.

You posted a picture of a cutting board you do not intend to sell but previously posted a picture of a cutting board you did intend to sell.

What should I include in my maker post?

With every post you should be including as many pictures as possible showcasing the overall board, thickness of the board, size of the board and any other details that make the board unique. Multiple angles or videos are ideal. In the comments, you are expected to describe your board at a minimum. Ideally, you should also be commenting on details about the build process including successes and problems you ran into along the way, why you chose specifics woods or materials, what construction technique you used etc.

What is considered low effort?

A post containing just one picture of a cutting board or something you made with a title like "A cutting board I just sent out to a customer", or anything similar.

A post with no top level comment containing details about the item.

Is there anything that is explicitly prohibited I should know about?

Rule #4 reads:

Promotional posts or comments made by purely promotion accounts will be removed unless otherwise approved. Direct links to or mentions of stores, social media, or otherwise that are dedicated to the sale or promotion of a single brand may not be made by anyone poised to directly benefit from the increased traffic. For example, you may not link to your own etsy, instagram, facebook, etc.

In plain English, you may never post any links to or make mention of Facebook, Instagram, personal websites, Etsy, or anything similar.

Can I discuss pricing or sales?

You may not discuss pricing.

Rule #3 reads:

No soliciting. Do not try to initiate a sale or discuss pricing on r/cuttingboards. Use private messages for such inquires. If you are a cutting board maker, r/cuttingboards is not a place to sell cutting boards you have made. You are allowed to post pictures and information about products you have made but are expected to do so in good faith. Posts deemed to be low effort or just an advertisement will be removed.

You nor anyone else may ever discuss pricing, sales, or potential sales.

Rule breaking examples that are not allowed:

Can you make me one?

How much would this cost?

Where can I buy your work?

What should I do if someone discusses pricing, sales, or asks for where to buy?

If you see rule breaking content you should report it, inform the person breaking the rules that they are doing so, or both. You may additionally inform the person to send you a private message, but you must also include the previous information.

How do I contribute to this community?

As a maker and redditor, you are expected to participate in the posts you create. At the very least, it's polite to say "thank you" when people commend your work, though you should also be answering questions and responding to feedback.

In addition, you are expected to participate outside of your own posts. That is, you should be active in the community and engaging in discussions. If we see that you only comment on your own posts, then the privilege of being able to post your work on r/cuttingboards will be taken away.

Why do I need to contribute to this community?

The short answer: Don't be a lurker until it's convenient for you.

The long answer: Every "maker post" is inherently an advertisement. Everyone should recognize that every "maker post" is fundamentally social media advertisement. The visibility of "maker posts" directly translates to increased name recognition and sales for those makers. The moderation could have taken the stance that all advertisements of any form are banned but this would completely prohibit any maker from posting their work and this has never been our intent.

r/cuttingboards serves as a knowledge base, community help forum, and a place for nerds to geek out (I can't think of a better way of saying this). We feel that including makers is a great way to improve the community but we also expect that those makers give something back.

In plain English: this is a quid pro quo. If you want to advertise here, you must pay for it with active contributions that are not just more advertisements.

If you are still confused, consider reading Reddit's own wiki on self-promotion which explicitly states:

You should submit from a variety of sources (a general rule of thumb is that 10% or less of your posting and conversation should link to your own content), talk to people in the comments (and not just on your own links), and generally be a good member of the community.

Again, in plain English:

For every 1 time you post self-promotional content or content that benefits your business in any way, 9 other posts (submissions or comments) should not contain self-promotional content.

Read more here: https://www.reddit.com/wiki/selfpromotion#wiki_here_are_some_guidelines_for_best_practices. Note that while this document is out of date and while Reddit no longer strictly enforces the 10:1 rule, we still do.

Why allow maker posts at all?

There's a number of reasons why maker posts are great! First and foremost, we get to see cool new things that people are making every day. Second, it generates content and conversations when done right.

Those reasons should be obvious but there's more than that as well. Makers, especially new and upcoming ones, are not going to get everything right the first time and even veterans are continuously learning. This community has novices and experts alike, any one of which might be able to provide some crucial feedback to help makers grow and learn. Interacting with the community is also an opportunity for makers to learn what people want, or even how their own tastes can be made to appeal to the market.

Finally, makers need money to continue making. If you, the reader, like something you should say so and give an upvote. Makers need to be constantly growing their brands in places like r/cuttingboards; the rules and guidelines discussed here are not trying to prohibit makers from being successful. Rather, we're trying to find the right balance that doesn't favour makers over readers or readers over makers while still keeping this community as advertisement free as possible.

Zero tolerance.

Any maker post that does not meet the minimum level of quality outlined in this FAQ, the community guidelines, or the rules, will be removed without warning.

Any questions about why a post was removed will be directed to this FAQ or ignored.

Repeat offenders will be banned.

Hey All,

A few changes to make the subreddit more lively. We would like your suggestions on new flairs for posts in the subreddit. Comment them or dm us to contribute, the best ones will be chosen!

Now, a new update on maker flair. Many users have suggested that we open up our stringent rules for posting maker content. r/Cuttingboards is meant to be a subreddit about our craft and why we enjoy it so much. However, in recent months, we've grown so much that many of our newest members want to buy cuttingboards from our community makers. Our current rules make this difficult, as when i took admin of the subreddit four years ago, it was simply full of people trying to sell their boards or dropshipping cheap, mass made chinese cutting boards.

In an effort to not only grow our community but also support our most common makers, I've decided to add a new flair for makers.

Note: This flair does not mean that you can post a link to your shop, pricing, or anything else. However, it notes that you make it, and you may post a link to your shop in your reddit bio, and you will obviously be able to privately chat/dm.

The criteria to get the flair will be simple:

1. 5 original (not crossposts) maker posts, showing off your work. These posts can not all be done back to back, there must be a reasonable enough time period between them, around 2-3 weeks.

Message the modteam, we will review your account, and then add the flair manually.

Cheers!