The noticeboard is where members sell their own things to each other. G3M is not the seller, and no payment for anything on this board passes through us — you arrange the money and the handover directly with the person selling.

That is not a detail. It changes what you are buying, and what you can do if it goes wrong. The rest of this page explains both, in plain terms.

If you are buying

Almost everything that goes wrong in second-hand selling goes wrong for the buyer, and almost all of it is avoidable.

• See it before you pay for it. If somebody will not let you, that is your answer.
• Pay when you collect, not before. Never send money in advance for something you have not seen. A bank transfer cannot be undone, and nobody can get it back for you — not your bank, and not us.
• Meet somewhere public where you can, and take somebody with you if you would rather. If you must go to a house, tell someone where you are going.
• Keep the conversation on the site. Somebody steering you onto another app early is a warning sign, and it leaves you with nothing to show us if you report them.
• Be wary of anyone in a hurry, anyone who will not answer a plain question, and anyone whose story keeps changing.
• You are never obliged to go through with anything. Walking away at the door is always allowed, and you never owe an explanation.

What buying privately actually gets you

Buying from another member is not the same as buying from a shop, and it is worth knowing the difference before you hand over money rather than after.

• The item must match how it was described. That much you can hold a private seller to.
• There is no fourteen-day right to change your mind. That right applies when you buy at a distance from a business, and it does not apply here.
• It does not have to be perfect or last a particular length of time — only to be what the advert said it was. “Sold as seen” does not excuse a description that was untrue.
• If the seller is really running a business — buying things in order to sell them on — then consumer law does apply to them in full. If you think that is what you are dealing with, say so when you report it.

Because no money passes through G3M, there is nothing for us to refund. We can take a listing down, we can remove somebody from the board, and we will — but we cannot get your money back, so the moment to be careful is before you hand it over.

If you are selling

• It must be yours to sell, and you must be able to hand it over.
• Describe it honestly, including what is wrong with it. Photograph the marks as well as the good side. Almost every dispute starts with something the advert left out.
• Use your own photographs of the actual item — not the manufacturer’s, and not one off the internet.
• Give your town or area, never your street or house number. Share the exact address privately once you are actually talking to a buyer.
• Any location saved inside a photograph is stripped when you upload it. Even so, treat a photograph as public the moment it goes up.
• Price it yourself and stand by it. You are free to refuse an offer, and free to change your mind before money changes hands.
• Adverts run for six weeks. We ask you once near the end whether it is still going. Mark it sold whenever it goes and it comes straight off the board.

If you are buying things in order to sell them on, you are trading — and consumer law applies to you, including the buyer’s right to change their mind. Which of the two you are is for you to judge honestly, and it is your responsibility rather than ours.

What may not be listed

• Anything illegal, stolen, or not yours to sell
• Weapons — firearms and imitation firearms, and knives beyond ordinary kitchen or work tools
• Alcohol, tobacco, vapes and e-cigarettes
• Medicines, prescription items, supplements, and anything sold with a health claim
• Live animals
• Counterfeit or copied goods, and anything infringing somebody else’s rights
• Anything subject to a safety recall
• Electrical goods you cannot vouch are safe and working, and any gas appliance
• Second-hand car seats, cot mattresses and crash helmets — you cannot know their history
• Fireworks, and fuels or chemicals that are not safe to hand over in a car park
• Anything you would not be comfortable explaining to the person you are handing it to

You must be eighteen or over to buy or sell here.

What we do

• Every advert is read and approved before it appears.
• We can take any advert down at any time, and we will say why.
• We never take payment for anything on the board. There is no G3M money involved, and so nothing for us to refund.
• Your messages stay on the site. That protects you, and it means there is a record if you ever need to report somebody.

If something is wrong

Every advert has a Something wrong with this listing? link at the bottom. It comes straight to us and we act on it. Tell us what you saw rather than what you suspect — it is far easier to act on. If it is urgent, or it concerns something outside the noticeboard, use the contact page instead.