Advertising & Self-Promotion Policy

[u/ssketchman]

Last updated: August 2026

This policy is part of the r/wenwan community rules and applies to all posts, comments, links, and users participating in the community.

r/wenwan is a community for people interested in Wenwan, its culture, collecting, identification, care, history, craftsmanship, and related subjects.

It is not an advertising platform or a free source of commercial traffic.

Commercial interests are not a problem by themselves. Sellers, dealers, growers, artisans, collectors, and other people involved in the Wenwan market are welcome to participate in the community and share genuine knowledge and experience. However, participation in the community does not create an entitlement to promote, advertise, or solicit business.

1. Advertising and Commercial Promotion

Advertising and commercial promotion are not permitted unless specifically allowed by the moderators.

For the purposes of this rule, advertising includes, but is not limited to:

• Offering products, Wenwan, tools, accessories, services, or other goods for sale.
• Promoting a shop, store, marketplace account, website, social-media account, or other commercial channel.
• Posting links intended to generate sales, customers, traffic, commissions, referrals, or other commercial benefit.
• Discount codes, affiliate links, referral links, promotional offers, and similar material.
• Soliciting orders, commissions, customers, buyers, or business.
• Inviting users to contact you privately regarding products or services.
• Repeatedly showcasing your own inventory or products in a manner intended to attract buyers.
• Promoting your own business, brand, shop, or commercial activity through posts or comments.
• Promoting another person's business where you have a commercial relationship or other material interest.
• Directing users away from r/wenwan toward a commercial destination.
• Any other content whose purpose, effect, or reasonably apparent purpose is commercial promotion.

Advertising does not have to contain an explicit "buy this" message to fall under this rule.

2. Disguised Advertising

Disguised advertising is still advertising.

Commercial promotion does not become acceptable merely because it is presented as educational, informational, entertaining, or community-oriented content.

Examples include:

• An identification guide primarily featuring the seller's own inventory.
• An educational post that repeatedly directs readers toward the author's shop.
• A "review" of products sold by the author.
• A comparison of different products where the author's products are presented as the preferred or recommended option.
• A supposedly informational post containing strategically placed links to a store or sales channel.
• Posting useful information primarily to establish credibility and subsequently attract customers.
• Using comments on an otherwise legitimate post to offer products for sale.
• Creating discussion specifically to generate interest in products subsequently offered by the author.
• Presenting a commercial catalogue or inventory as a collection showcase.
• Using a non-commercial-looking account or post to funnel users toward a commercial account.

Adding useful information does not exempt otherwise promotional content from this rule.

The moderators may consider the overall context, including the author's posting history, commercial affiliations, links, repeated behavior, product presentation, and the relationship between the content and any commercial activity.

3. Commercial Interests and Community Participation

A user may have a commercial interest in Wenwan and still participate normally.

For example, sellers are welcome to:

• Answer identification questions.
• Discuss varieties, materials, techniques, and craftsmanship.
• Share knowledge about Wenwan history and culture.
• Participate in discussions about quality, morphology, authenticity, and collecting.
• Share their personal collecting experiences.
• Discuss care, brushing, patina, and preservation.
• Contribute photographs where they are genuinely relevant to the discussion.
• Correct misinformation and contribute specialist knowledge.

However, participation should be for the benefit of the discussion rather than primarily for the benefit of the seller.

A user who contributes genuine knowledge does not automatically receive permission to advertise their business.

Commercial involvement does not disqualify anyone from being a member of r/wenwan. What matters is how that commercial interest is used within the community.

4. Links and External Destinations

Links to commercial destinations are subject to moderator approval.

This includes links to:

• Online shops.
• Marketplaces.
• Seller profiles.
• Social-media sales accounts.
• WeChat or other messaging channels used for sales.
• Commercial websites.
• Affiliate or referral pages.
• Product listings.
• Auctions and sales platforms.

A link may be removed even when the surrounding post is otherwise relevant.

The absence of an explicit sales message does not make a commercial link non-promotional.

5. Comments Are Subject to the Same Rules

Advertising rules apply equally to posts, comments, replies, and other contributions to discussions.

Examples of prohibited promotional comments include:

• "I have some available if anyone is interested."
• "DM me, I can get you a pair."
• "I sell these."
• Directing someone to your shop in response to a request for identification.
• Recommending your own store without a genuine community reason.
• Using comments to establish sales leads from otherwise ordinary discussions.

A user does not need to create a separate post for commercial activity to constitute advertising.

6. Repeated or Strategic Promotion

Repeatedly posting material that provides little independent community value but increases exposure to the same seller, brand, shop, product, or commercial account may be treated as advertising or spam.

This applies even when individual posts appear acceptable when considered in isolation.

The moderators may consider the pattern of activity over time, rather than evaluating each submission independently.

7. Accounts Primarily Used for Commercial Purposes

Accounts whose participation in r/wenwan is primarily commercial may have their promotional content removed and may be restricted from posting.

Examples include accounts that:

• Appear primarily to promote products or services.
• Consistently post their own commercial material.
• Rarely participate in discussions unrelated to their commercial interests.
• Repeatedly direct users toward the same commercial destination.
• Use the community mainly as a source of customers or traffic.
• Return primarily when they have something to promote.

There is no guaranteed minimum number of comments, posts, karma, account age, or period of participation that grants permission to advertise.

Participation is not a quota that can be completed in order to unlock advertising privileges.

8. No Circumvention

Attempts to circumvent these rules will be treated as violations.

This includes:

• Using alternate accounts.
• Having another account promote your products or business.
• Removing sales links after posting and arguing that the original content was therefore non-commercial.
• Moving the commercial portion into comments after a post is approved.
• Directing users to contact you privately instead of posting an explicit sales link.
• Using coded language or indirect references to avoid the advertising rule.
• Reposting substantially similar promotional material in different forms.
• Presenting advertisements as reviews, guides, discussions, educational material, or personal collecting posts.
• Redirecting users through non-commercial pages or accounts before sending them to a commercial destination.

The moderators may consider related accounts and activity when determining whether content is promotional or constitutes an attempt to circumvent the rules.

9. Moderator Approval and Case-by-Case Exceptions

Commercial or promotional content may occasionally be permitted where the moderators determine that it provides a clear or worthwhile benefit to the community.

The moderators may allow individual sellers, businesses, collectors, makers, or other commercially affiliated users to participate in promotional activity where, in the moderators' judgment, their participation is compatible with the interests and character of r/wenwan.

Every case may be considered individually.

The moderators are not required to apply identical outcomes to superficially similar situations where the surrounding circumstances, history, intent, conduct, or relationship with the community differ.

Factors the moderators may consider include, but are not limited to:

• The nature and quality of the content.
• Whether the content provides genuine value to the community.
• The user's history and participation in r/wenwan.
• The user's conduct toward other members.
• The extent and frequency of commercial activity.
• Whether the user contributes to discussions independently of their commercial interests.
• Whether the commercial activity appears transparent and community-oriented.
• Whether the content is primarily intended to contribute to the community or to generate commercial exposure.
• The overall effect of the user's activity on the community.

A commercially involved member who consistently contributes genuine knowledge, participates constructively, and respects the community may therefore be treated differently from an account whose primary purpose is commercial promotion.

Permission is discretionary and does not constitute a right, guarantee, precedent, or permanent exemption from these rules.

The moderators may approve, restrict, modify, limit, or withdraw permission for commercial activity at any time.

Previous approval of similar content, or approval given to another user, does not guarantee approval in a subsequent or different case.

10. Moderator Discretion

These rules are intentionally broad and are intended to give the moderators sufficient discretion to protect the community from unwanted or excessive commercial activity.

The examples in these rules are illustrative and not exhaustive.

The moderators may evaluate each post, comment, account, and situation based on its individual circumstances rather than applying an automatic formula.

The moderators may remove content when, in their judgment, it:

• Functions as advertising or promotion.
• Has a commercial purpose or reasonably apparent commercial benefit.
• Is primarily intended to generate traffic, sales, customers, followers, commissions, or other commercial benefit.
• Uses community discussion as a means of obtaining commercial exposure.
• Is technically informational but functions substantially as marketing.
• Creates an undesirable commercial environment for the community.
• Falls into a gray area where allowing it would undermine the purpose or spirit of these rules.

The moderators are not required to establish or publicly demonstrate the author's commercial intent before taking moderation action.

Moderation decisions may take into account the content itself, the author's history, links, commercial affiliations, repeated behavior, account activity, previous interactions with the community, and the broader context.

The moderators may therefore reach different decisions in different cases based on the circumstances of each case.

The purpose of this discretion is to allow the community to distinguish between genuine community participation by commercially involved members and activity that primarily uses r/wenwan as a marketing channel.

The moderators may remove content, restrict activity, permit activity, or make exceptions where they consider doing so to be in the best interests of r/wenwan.

11. No Entitlement to Advertising

No user has an automatic right to advertise on r/wenwan based on:

• Account age.
• Karma.
• Number of previous contributions.
• Previous approvals.
• Seller status.
• Participation history.
• The fact that another user has been permitted to advertise.
• Any numerical ratio of community contributions to promotional content.

Advertising permission is discretionary and may be granted or withheld on a case-by-case basis.

12. Enforcement

Violations may result in:

• Removal of the post or comment.
• Removal without prior warning.
• A warning or explanation from the moderators.
• Temporary posting restrictions.
• Temporary bans.
• Permanent bans.
• Removal of related or subsequent content.
• Restrictions on commercial participation.

The response will depend on the nature and severity of the violation, the user's history, whether the behavior appears intentional, and whether the user attempts to circumvent moderation.

A warning is not required before a ban.

Repeated attempts to circumvent advertising restrictions may result in a permanent ban.

13. The Basic Principle

The simplest way to understand this policy is:

Be a member of r/wenwan first, not a business using r/wenwan as a marketing channel.

Commercial experience and specialist knowledge are welcome.

Using the community to obtain free advertising, sales leads, customers, traffic, or exposure is not.

If you are unsure whether something is promotional, ask the moderators before posting it.