What’s the classifieds channel for?
The Singletrack Classifieds is free for all private sales, although there are options to pay to enhance your ad. It’s there primarily to provide and opportunity for you to sell those unwanted bits and pieces that you have no need for that someone else may well be desperate to get hold of.
You should think of it as a car boot sale of bike parts.
Free ads are displayed for 90 days and then expire. Boosted ads are highlighted and stickied in the main index. They may also be displayed in other areas of the channel, for example the right hand column on desktop devices. Once an ad has expired it will no longer be visible in the main index but you have the option to relist your ad in your ‘Manage Ads’ settings page. Relisted ads are visible for a further 90 days. There’s no limit on how many times you can relist your ad, but please note that relisting and ad doesn’t ‘bouonce’ it back to the top of the main index listing.
NO!
- No more than nine active ads from the same user at any one time – the system will prevent you from posting more..
- Include a price in your ad. Ads with no prices will be deleted. Vague statements like, ‘make me an offer’ will result in your ad being removed.
- WANTED ads should state a reasonable price you are willing to pay.
- Links to eBay ads inside your ad are only allowed within the final 24 hours of an auction/sale.
- Include images. For sale ads without images are basically crap and will mostly be ignored by everyone. Wanted ads don’t need an image.
- NO FAKE GOODS – in almost all cases selling fake goods (even if you declare they are fake) is illegal.
- What you sell must be yours to sell. Sounds obvious, but, well, you know.
- Images you use must be yours to use or you must have permission to use them. We’ll take no chances – If we get a complaint about your use of images we’ll take your ad down.
- When your item has sold mark your ad as SOLD.
Adverts that do not follow the rules will be deleted without warning.
Let’s try and define what we mean by ‘private’.
The ‘spirit’ of our classifieds is one where users can turn their old, surplus or unwanted kit into extra cash to enable them to buy new bits to help them get out and continue riding. The Classifieds system is not a place where users can earn a living or supplement their income by buying and selling parts. Users who exploit our forum in this way will be considered to be trading. How we define trading is down to our judgement and we may ask you for an explanation of your sale in order to make this judgement. We will look at each instance reported to us or spotted by us on a case by case basis and then we will act at our discretion.
Businesses are strictly prohibited from using our Classifieds system.
If you try and advertise your business, not only will we delete your ad but we’ll mark your user account as spam, which will effectively block your account from accessing our site at all. We are particularly good at blocking spammers. Don’t be a spammer. Spammers are a bit shit.
eBay Auctions
Ads promoting Ebay auctions are strictly for private sellers only and even then are only allowed within the final 24 hours of an auction. Anyone posting links to auctions with longer than 24 hours to run will have their ad deleted and will run the risk of their account being suspended. even if you are promoting an EBAY auction you must still include a genuine price in your ad. Fake prices or misleading descriptions will result in your ad being removed.
Making Contact
Unless the seller has added public contact information in their ad (which we do not recommend BTW) then to make direct contact with a seller you need to login to your account. Once logged in you will see an envelope icon next to the seller’s name on their ad. Clicking this will take you to their profile where you can send them a direct message. Accounts are free and quick to setup. The hardest part is thinking up a clever username.
Ad Spoilers
Please respect users’ Ads. If you have no intention of buying an item then please refrain from posting comments on the ad. If you have genuine concerns about an ad then report it to us. Posting seemingly helpful comments about an item being cheaper elsewhere often upsets the original poster and spoils their ad. If you genuinely want to help the seller or potential buyer then contact them directly either by email (if they provide this) or by Private Message – These communication channels are included on the sellers ad automatically.
If you feel that your ad has been spoiled by a third party then contact us directly on classifieds@singletrackworld.com. The moderators will then look at the reported comment and decide if action needs to be taken. Moderators will not be proactive with this rule. They will only act if a post is reported to them and only if the report is from the seller.
If we agree that a comment is an Ad Spoiler then we will warn the user, delete their posts and any subsequent replies in order to do our best to return the ad to it’s pre-spoiled state. Repeat offenders risk a ban from the system.
Paying A Private Seller – Be Safe!
With all private sales you need to apply some common sense when arranging payment to another member. Paypal is the most popular method of making payment for a private sale but be aware that there are different services offered by Paypal with different associated risks. Sending a payment via Paypal is usually not cost free. Paypal take a commission from one party or the other. This commission payment does offer a limited amount of protection for the payer in the result of a dispute over the transaction. You can however, make a commission free payment by sending payment as a ‘Gift’. Be aware that in the case of a dispute Paypal will offer no protection at all if you choose this method of making payment.
Unless you know and trust the recipient we strongly advise against using Paypal Gift as a way of making payment to a seller. Paypal Gift transactions offer NO PROTECTION in the case of a dispute over a sale. Think of them as a cash transaction.
Your Responsibilities
If you are posting goods then understand that it is the seller’s responsibility to ensure the goods arrive at their destination. If it goes missing in the post then it’s the seller’s responsibility to deal with the situation.
Registered post, Special Delivery, Courier are good ways to ensure that you can prove the goods arrived. Ordinary 1st or 2nd class post offers very little protection or proof of delivery for the seller. We strongly advise that you at least get proof of postage of the item. However, please note that even with proof of postage, if the item goes missing or is damaged in transit then it is still the responsibility of the seller to either replace the items or refund the buyer. High value items sent via courier or standard post should always be insured against loss or damage.
Our Responsibilities
By participating in the selling or buying of any private sale you are entering into a contract with the buyer or seller only. Singletrack cannot take any responsibility for items that are mis-sold, go missing or are damaged. We cannot and will not arbitrate on sales between private individuals.
If It Goes Wrong
If something goes wrong then in the first instance contact the other party FIRST. Try to resist the temptation to go to the forum first and post details of your dispute – it rarely helps solve the problem and often causes the other party to entrench themselves in their position. Contact the other party and calmly explain your issue. The vast majority of buyers and sellers are reasonable people who will do everything they can to resolve issues with their sales if you give them the opportunity to put things right. Please also remember that you are dealing with a private seller (If you suspect they are otherwise trading then let us know and we will investigate) and not Amazon. Be realistic in your expectations on delivery.
Trade Ads
Our classifieds system is strictly for private sellers only. Ads representing goods or services from any commercial business are not allowed under any circumstances. Disregarding this rule is likely to attract a very lengthy ban.
For more details of advertising on our website contact ross@singletrackworld.com.
