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Referring to: Where can I buy bear banger launcher and ammunition and have them shipped to US?.

This question is not price shopping assistance. It is, at the core, a question of how to get something in the U.S. There are multiple examples of similar "where can I find" questions on the site.

Examples:
Where can I find an iodine crystal water purification product?
Where can I find good topographical maps of Peru?
Where to get replacement parts for a Ugly Stik GX2
Refillable camping stoves for use in the UK
Where can I get long but light bottoms for water?
Where to buy ethanol in Canada?

Other shopping questions:
What Rope to purchase?
Why shouldn't I buy an ultra light tent?
The list goes on...

Price shopping means price shopping, not anything that can be shoe-horned into the broader category of shopping.

"Sourcing hard to find gear" may be a topic the community wants to ban. If so let's start that meta and have that discussion.

I suggest before anyone does they read Robert's answer to basically that exact question: https://outdoors.meta.stackexchange.com/a/588/127 -- "Gear talk is usually the mainstay of any half-way decent outdoors site. Let's not lose sight of that. I wish there was more of it on this site." (emphasis mine)

Also consider in our general outlook for flagging - Should we be more critical of questions (and closing many more than we do) to maintain quality of site?

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    I think, rightly or wrongly, asking where to source items is perfectly fine - even though sometimes the answers maybe as time limited as an actual price on a website (eg, websites may not sell them anymore, item has been updated to a new model etc). Perhaps in this case it would be better to supply multiple sources in an answer - or if you DO post an answer and notice that the product has changed, revisit it and maybe update it? - you see this on SO when code is deprecated or a framework changes.
    – Aravona
    Sep 2, 2016 at 7:41
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    Take it there's not way to re-word the "price shopping" close reason? It does seem to confuse many people
    – user2766
    Sep 2, 2016 at 7:59
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    @Liam -- I'm not sure to what extent we can get that, but if we had better wording, I'd be happy to kick it up the line to the larger SO.
    – Russell Steen
    Sep 2, 2016 at 11:24
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    Knocked something up, sure it's far from perfect so please amend if you want
    – user2766
    Sep 2, 2016 at 13:11
  • Thanks for bringing this up. The whole issue is confusing, especially because it's different than some of the other sites. I agree that re-wording that reason would be very helpful, both to users and reviewers. Sorry I don't have a good suggestion, just wanted to say I appreciate seeing the topic raised!
    – Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL
    Sep 2, 2016 at 15:08
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    @Sue -- Thank you. I have seen it said a number of times that TGO is unlike typical SO both in culture and rules.
    – Russell Steen
    Sep 2, 2016 at 16:53
  • I'm curious about Are there any low sodium meals?, a post you made wiki in March, 2013. It asks "if" there are low-sodium dinners, which seems on-topic, but also for a price range, which might fall into the close reason? Some answers list brands, which I think is okay, but also prices, which I imagine are obsolete by now. It's a wiki post, so does that mean it's still on-topic? Should prices be edited out? It had a format edit yesterday, so people are still seeing it. Clarification would help me know what I can ask. Thank you!
    – Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL
    Jan 14, 2017 at 18:32
  • @Sue I definitely think your comment above would be better served as a question on meta or as an experiment where you ask the question you want on the main site and see what happens. My take is a price range is reasonable requirement, so including prices to show it is within the range feels appropriate. Of course the price should always include a disclaimer of something along the lines of "currently the price is generally between X and Y which fits your budget of A and B." Just my opinion though. Bottom line though if you want more feedback you need to do more than ask in a comment.
    – Erik
    Jan 18, 2017 at 16:59
  • The link may not have been there when this was posted.
    – paparazzo
    Jun 13, 2018 at 19:32

1 Answer 1

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The current text is a little vague and confusing. Currently it reads:

Questions seeking price-shopping assistance are off-topic because they tend to become obsolete quickly. Instead, describe your situation and the specific problem you're trying to solve.

For me the issue is the term price-shopping. People tend to read this as shopping advice. Regardless of whether it's for a product recommendation (which is on topic) or a price recommendation (which is off topic).

Asking for advice on where is the cheapest place to obtain a product or service is off-topic. They tend to become obsolete quickly. Instead, describe your situation and the specific problem you're trying to solve. If you want advice on which product you may need for a particular scenario, define what your requirements are for this product carefully and highlight what functions you wish it to perform

I've knocked this up above. Please feedback any amendments. I think we need to keep it quite short and pithy, so please we don't want to over describe the problem. If anyone can shorten this I think it could be welcome?

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  • I'll see about how (and if) we can get this changed in the coming days.
    – Russell Steen
    Sep 2, 2016 at 16:52

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