What happens when something sells — and why G3M never takes the money

When a noticeboard advert or an auction finds a buyer, G3M introduces the two of you and then stands back. You arrange the money and the handover between yourselves.

No payment passes through us

Nothing is taken, held, escrowed or released here. That is a deliberate position rather than a missing feature: the seller is a member, the goods are theirs, and if the money came through G3M then Rodrigo would become the seller of record for second-hand things he has never seen.

The consequence has to be said plainly, because it is the part that matters when something goes wrong. Because no money passes through G3M, there is nothing for G3M to refund. We can take a listing down and we can remove somebody from the board, and we will — but we cannot get your money back. The moment to be careful is before you hand it over, not after.

Which makes the handover the whole thing

The noticeboard rules set out what is worth doing before you hand any money over — when to pay, where to meet, and the warning signs that somebody is not what they seem. It is two minutes, and it is the two minutes that matter. Read it there rather than a shortened version of it here: that page is kept up to date and this one would drift.

After an auction ends

The winner and the seller are put in touch, and afterwards the seller records what actually happened — handover done, or it fell through. That is a note that two people say they are finished, not a receipt, and recording a sale that never happened as having fallen through is the honest thing to do.

The page that governs

This guide explains. The noticeboard rules govern — including what you can hold a private seller to, what a private sale does not give you, and where consumer law does still apply. Where this guide and that page differ, the rules page is the one that counts. Read it before you buy or sell anything.

Next: the noticeboard rules in full.