These guidelines explain the behavior and content we expect from buyers, sellers, donors, and visitors. They supplement our Terms of Service and apply across listings, profiles, messages, reviews, transactions, disputes, and donation features.
1 Our shared standard
Use Faded Forward in good faith. Be accurate, communicate respectfully, honor your commitments, and consider how your actions affect other members. Do not use the marketplace to deceive, exploit, intimidate, or harm another person.
Do
- Ask questions and answer them truthfully.
- Disclose problems before a transaction.
- Ship, meet, or donate when and how you agreed.
- Resolve mistakes calmly and preserve relevant evidence.
Don’t
- Mislead someone to secure a sale or refund.
- Pressure others to leave Faded Forward or ignore safety tools.
- Retaliate against someone who raises a concern.
- Attempt to evade a restriction or enforcement decision.
2 Honest listings
A buyer should understand exactly what they may receive. Use your own current photos and put the item in the correct category. Titles, brand, size, color, condition, price, delivery method, and descriptions must be accurate.
Use clear, recent photos. Do not rely only on catalog images, hide damage, or edit photos in a way that misrepresents condition or color.
Disclose stains, wear, alterations, odors, missing pieces, defects, repairs, and anything else that could affect value or safe use.
List an item under a brand only when you reasonably believe it is authentic. Never use vague wording to disguise a counterfeit or replica.
Do not publish duplicates for one item, bait-and-switch listings, wanted ads, or items you do not possess or have authority to sell.
3 Prohibited and restricted items
Only list items that are lawful, safe, authentic, and suitable for the marketplace. The following are prohibited unless Faded Forward expressly introduces a compliant, category-specific program:
When in doubt, do not list it. Laws, carrier rules, recalls, and product-safety requirements can change. Sellers remain responsible for confirming that an item may legally and safely be sold and shipped.
4 Respectful communication
Messages, profiles, reviews, and other content must stay relevant, lawful, and respectful. Disagreement is allowed; abuse is not.
- Threats, harassment, stalking, bullying, or intimidation
- Hate speech or discrimination based on a protected characteristic
- Sexual harassment, exploitation, or unwanted sexual content
- Sharing another person’s private information without permission
- Spam, phishing, malware, repetitive promotion, or deceptive links
- Impersonation or false claims of affiliation, authority, or verification
Keep transaction conversations in Faded Forward whenever the feature is available. Never ask for passwords, verification codes, complete card details, government identification, or unnecessary personal information.
5 Fair transactions
Buyers and sellers must participate honestly throughout the transaction.
Do not purchase without intent to pay, accept an order for an unavailable item, or repeatedly cancel to manipulate availability.
Do not move payment off-platform to avoid fees, safeguards, transaction records, or account restrictions.
Do not file a false non-delivery, damage, authenticity, or payment claim. Preserve the item, packaging, messages, and photos while a problem is reviewed.
Do not buy, trade, threaten, coordinate, or fabricate reviews, favorites, offers, sales, referrals, impact points, or other marketplace signals.
6 Responsible giving
Donate only items the receiving organization can safely accept. Items should be clean, accurately described, packed appropriately, and available at the agreed pickup or drop-off time.
- Do not use donation features to dispose of hazardous, recalled, contaminated, or unusable goods.
- Do not falsely claim that you represent, partner with, or collect for a charity.
- Do not manipulate donation records, receipts, impact estimates, badges, or community points.
- Do not promise tax treatment or donation outcomes you are not authorized to provide.
Receiving organizations are independent and may apply their own acceptance, valuation, receipt, reuse, recycling, or disposal policies.
7 Content and intellectual property
Only upload photos, descriptions, logos, and other content you created or have permission to use. Do not copy another seller’s listing, misuse a brand’s intellectual property, or publish content that violates privacy, publicity, copyright, trademark, or other rights.
Reviews must reflect a genuine interaction and discuss the transaction rather than irrelevant personal characteristics. We may remove content that exposes private information, interferes with a safety review, or violates these Guidelines or our Terms of Service.
8 Personal safety
Stop communicating and leave the situation if you feel unsafe. For an immediate threat or emergency, contact the appropriate local emergency service.
- For local pickup, meet during daylight in a populated public place when possible.
- Tell someone where you are going and avoid entering a stranger’s home or vehicle.
- Inspect the item before confirming an in-person exchange.
- Do not share your home address unless it is genuinely required for an approved delivery or pickup.
- Use platform messages and payments so relevant transaction records remain available.
9 Reporting a concern
Do not engage with suspicious content or retaliate against another member. Preserve the listing URL, order number, messages, dates, photos, tracking details, and any other relevant evidence.
Submitting a concern does not guarantee a particular outcome. We may need additional information and may be limited in what we can disclose about another member or an investigation.
10 Enforcement and appeals
Depending on the circumstances, Faded Forward may educate or warn a member; reduce content visibility; remove content or listings; cancel a transaction; restrict features; pause or hold an eligible payout; or suspend or terminate an account. We may also preserve information or cooperate with payment providers, carriers, rights holders, or authorities when appropriate and permitted by law.
We consider context, severity, potential harm, intent, account history, repeated behavior, and available evidence. Serious safety, fraud, exploitation, or legal risks may require immediate action without advance notice.
If an enforcement notice offers a review or appeal, follow the instructions and provide concise, accurate information. Attempts to intimidate reporters, destroy evidence, or evade restrictions may result in further action.
These Guidelines are not exhaustive and do not replace applicable law. Our Terms of Service control if there is a conflict. We may update these Guidelines as the marketplace and related risks evolve.