The rules are absolutely useless, these people who keep on requesting too much for too little a budget should also be warned, banned, whatever.

From what I've seen there'll be no web hosts posting on here at all the way they are treated by the Mods, like this snide comment shows:

HartServer, if you don't like the rules then make some suggestions for better ones.

Posting offers on this forum is a privilege not a right. If people choose to post offers then they are expected to abide by the rules which are clear.

If you are unable to meet a request then don't post. Very simple.

I don't see why you have a problem with a post suggesting that people avoid a host that can't follow simple rules. It seems obvious to me that the abililty to read would be high on the list of requirements for a web host.

I think hosts that respect the rules are treated rather well. I am not immune and have been caught up in them once or twice, but I immediately remedied the problem by correcting my problem post.

I personally prefer forums with active moderation than forums with a total lack or hardly any of it. From what I have seen, those forums that lack moderation tend to attract more questionable hosts than not, and these such hosts usually post too-good-to-be-true offers making it likely that some buyers go with them only because of the lower price.

I don't mean to irk you, but I give an A+ to the moderators here for fast response times and keeping up a quality message board. If I did something wrong that broke the rules I expect to be warned about it and so should you; and as such, it should not make you upset. Granted, when I had to retype a post I made because it was edited out, I was irked, but not upset with the moderators because it was their job to do so.

Thank you! This is what is frustrating. I matched his exact requirements, all I didn't match was his exact price. My post was removed, because my price wasn't ridiculously low. Therefore I believe the rules of this forum are only aiding the problem of low-cost hosts offering the world for $2 a year.

There are ways to communicate that. Instead of posting an offer, ask the poster if he/she could be more flexible with their budget. Could you imagine if every host on the forums posted in every thread with their "best" offer? The poster wanted to find a host for HIS requirements. If a host cannot meet those requirements, they should not post.

Hmm, fair point I suppose. And it's not that I'm intentionally trying to annoy the mods of this forum or anything (as for all I know they could be assisting on here voluntarily in their own time). I guess I'm just extremely frustrated with the state of the hosting industry at present, as probably most other hosts are (hosts who stay around longer than 3 days).

Actually, this has gone very off-topic, so I think I should now shut up.

They shouldn't be banned because there are other places who could offer such hosting at a low price. If you can't offer it at that price doesn't mean they should be banned. They could find hosting from other places, since you aren't the only one who is able to offer hosting to them.

I don't see anything wrong here, if you can't match the exact requirement, don't post it ~

The thing to keep in mind is that if an OP sets a required budget, that is pretty much set in stone. If you feel otherwise, ask. The OP may be willing to increase their budget slightly if needed, but without asking, the best method is to stick to their listed budget.

Space and bandwidth are a little wider in variation when it comes to offers.

Typically, you should try to match their space/bandwidth request, without going too far over (basically no more than reasonably over). For example, if an OP requests 1GB and you have a package that meets their budget and has 1.5GB, I don't think much will be said. However, if you post an offer for 5GB, even though you feel you're doing the OP a favor or benefiting them, you'll most likely get your post edited out.

The key is to always ask questions if you're unsure. Not only will it help you follow the rules a little better but it will also allow you to 1. Meet the OP's request a bit closer, and 2. allow you to gain a little more insight into what the OP wants exactly, how far they're willing to bend, etc.

Actually it's just the opposite.
We can't tell a client what their requirements or budget are. They make that determination. If they have requirements that a host can fulfill then fine. If a host can't fulfill it then they shouldn't reply.

What we can control is having every startup host in the world lowballing in every request thread. That is why it is required that you have to meet the request, not exceed the request. The reason requests are not allowed anymore on WHT for instance is because of companies who would try to underbid everyone else in every request thread.

Some of those companies as we now know gained hundreds of clients using that method and ultimately found out they couldn't keep up with their promises.