I run an online business that no way competes with this site, and do well enough that I make my living off of it. It is not as easy as you many may think... The cost of stocking enough inventory can be extremely expensive, knowing what to stock is also interesting as things always seem to change very quickly in this business or most other businesses.
Personally I have never ordered from this site, but I have and continue to do so from other sites (mostly hardware and salt). I agree the stock list here leaves a lot to be desired, but that is their business. It is winter time and cold throughout most of the U.S and maybe the reason the stock is down now is due to winter shipping problems in the past, or the expense / availability of the merchandise SWF wishes to carry.
I understand the links to competitive sites being banned, although I doubt it will decrease their business much. The problem with allowing links is that some people will abuse the privilege and use it to promote their own sites or sites for others.
If you are not happy with what SWF offers, you can always go to another site and purchase it there. SWF setup guidelines that they want followed for those that use their forums and that is their right. I totally understand the frustration of those that wish to support SWF, it is a wonderful community, but their business is theirs, let them run it the way they want to. They probably will anyways.
I think by now they probably have seen this post, and know how some of us feel, if they decide to make changes, great, if not, then they can continue to do what they are doing. I am sure they have some sort of business plan, and they need not make it known to us.
I continue to wish them the best of luck at what they are doing and hope they continue to provide these forums for us. It is a great opportunity for those of us within this hobby to share information with each other.
