FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Even though the safety measurements are easing up, we’d like to ask you to be mindful and protect yourselves as much as possible.

• Be home: minimising travel reduces your risk of being exposed and exposing others – walking to your local Post Office is a good way to maintain your body moving if exercising is allowed by the Government, and posting is an allowed essential service. There are social distancing measures at the Post Offices, we’ve checked !
• Be smart: Agree a contact-free collection, or check out a courier service option. We like MyHermes to get courier quotes – we found it to be much cheaper than Royal Mail and the company can come and pick up the item from your doorstep ! Just put in your postcode, put in any other UK postcode for the buyer (same price for whole of mainland UK so just put a postcode in that you know – for someone as far away from you as possible), choose if you want it signed for, insured, etc, and they give you an immediate price. We give more details further down this page.
• Be thorough: sellers –please clean your products before sending them off. Buyers you should also clean your items as soon as you receive them, and always wash your hands.

If you stick to the above, sorting (and selling) your things is still a great way to declutter your home, and get the extra benefits of cash in, and knowing you’re helping someone out too. It makes a great habit or past-time too if you’re getting bored ! The risk of catching the virus that causes Covid-19 from a package or letter is low. (Read all relevant information here).

In order to calculate shipping you need to know the size and weight if your parcel. That’s simple to do with a tape measure and weighing scales. In fact it doesn’t have to be exact, you just need to know which weight band it falls into ( under 1 kg, 1-2kg, 2-5kg, etc etc ).

Then, in the UK you can use this Royal Mail web page to calculate your shipping. If you are using a courier, we recommend  MyHermes where you can get quotes for different services. You can drop it off at their nearest parcel store points (where you can usually print your label too ), or locker drop-offs, or print your own label and have a courier come to your door to collect.

We found that sometimes it is cheaper and more efficient to get a courier like this because they pick up from your doorstep, you just need to label and pack it ! They even have a handy guide on how to wrap it !

To calculate the cost, just put in your postcode, put in any other UK postcode for a typical buyer ( put in a postcode of someone you know – and lives as far away from you as possible ) It’s the same price for whole of mainland UK so it doesn’t really matter what you enter here. Choose if you want it signed for, insured, fast delivery or not, and they give you an immediate price.

Hermes have a great website telling you exactly how to send, wrap, return etc. They even work with Google assistant and Alexa so you can just ask Alexa where your parcel is! They have their own Hermes mobile phone app. So download it now !

Buyers – the website is completely free.

 Sellers – our commission is 23%, which is only paid if you sell the item.

 We charge sellers using Stripe 23% for selling and we pay your stripe fees for you. You can receive payment from credit card and debit cards and the cash comes straight into your bank account once the buyer has marked the transaction as complete – i.e. they have received the item.

 You can create your buyers or sellers account here.

Usually, scammers are buyers who try get you to communicate via email and pay via Paypal (all outside of our platform). To avoid getting messed up with scammers, do all transactions through our platform.

If anyone sends you a message similar to the one below, they are scammers. Please let us know immediately and refrain from communicating with them.

“Is this still available? If yes kindly get across to me via my email address below as I’m not always on here and because its a temporary profile which belongs to my niece. I’ll be waiting to hear from you as soon as possible.”

It can also look like this:

“Oh that’s great! please consider it sold and please cancel every other appointment regarding it as i am willing to pay your full asking price because i need to buy it for my cousin as a gift, i have read through the advert and I’m totally satisfied with it, sadly i would not be able to come personally to collect due to covid-19, and mostly due to my hearing loss and me being in wheelchair, the courier will do it. I will use PayPal to effect payment please send your PayPal email address. I have a courier agent that would help me to pick it up at your preferred location after you have received your money. Where is the pick up location so that i can inform the courier agent about it now?. Meanwhile you can send me your PayPal email and registered name so that i can send the money right away and choose a good time for the pick up after payment has been received and also please confirm the exact amount i will need to pay in order to avoid mistakes.”

We only recently launched the European marketplace in December 2021 and so we need you all to get listing your items so that we can advertise and get the ball rolling!

Just as in the US marketplace, we started with a lot of listing submissions that didn’t get past the approvals team but the good toys do get past the line. So it’s just a matter of time and word of mouth – look at how fast the US marketplace has grown to 1000 members and well over 300 listings always available.

You can help us by spreading the word.  You can easily send an invite to your friends here. Thank you!

The buyer has to state if the item is in full working order, a little patchy, or needs repair. So you know where you stand from the beginning and if the item is delivered in a different state, then you can dispute the sale and send it back.

Are your photos clear, bright, in focus? Has the item been shot without any distractions around? Is your price attractive? Are you offering postage?

 We have a guide on how to take good photos here.

 Freshen it up – we know that good photos help A LOT

Once you hit the buy button, you can send an optional message to the seller – this will take you to our secure messaging system. Only you and the user (as well as the SQUEAKY moderator) can see these messages. If you want to get back to the conversation later on, go to Your Profile / Inbox  and there you will find all your message threads.

If you want to ask questions about the listings before you get to the buying stage, you can write the questions in the listings but do be aware that everybody can see this conversation – it is public.

We use Stripe to ensure all transactions are as secure as possible. Sometimes there are delays in the transfer and it can take several days for money to reach the seller’s account. Speak to your buyer via the secure messaging system on our website to discuss any payment issues. Stripe takes the money from the buyer on day 1, but Stripe only releases the cash to you once the buyer has marked the transaction as “complete” i.e. they have received the items.

We can see if there is an issue with Stripe, and if so, we will let you know. Do contact us if you have any queries and we will do our best to help you out.

You need to check with the seller if that is something they accept before buying. It is up to each individual seller to make that an option and explain their terms (postage, refunds, etc).

Sometimes things take a bit longer than expected. However, you can always contact the seller to check the status of your order. If needed, we can also talk to the seller if you are having trouble, but we cannot be responsible for what happens to your item.

If you received an item that’s wrong, damaged or otherwise not as described, you should contact the seller so he or she can quickly help you with the issue. To do so go to the seller´s profile page and contact them to explain the issue. When you contact your seller this way we open a case so we can track your seller’s response and help when needed.

An item is not as described if it is materially different from what the seller described in the listing for that item. This includes for example

• You received a different item or different version.
• The condition of the item is wrong. For example, the listing said “new” and the item has clearly been used.
• The item is missing parts or components
• The item was defective during first use (e.g., even with new batteries it did not turn on).
• The item is a counterfeit.
• The item is missing major parts or features, and this was not disclosed in the listing.
• The item was damaged during postage.

On the listing page there is a public discussion where you can ask questions about the item – this is PUBLIC. Once you hit the buy button, you can send a PRIVATE message to the buyer – do remember that we can also see these messages so we can try to help if there is a problem.

You can always edit your listings. To do so, follow these steps:

 On desktop: click on your PROFILE PICTURE (top right corner), then select YOUR LISTINGS, then underneath the listings you click on EDIT LISTING.

 On mobile: click on the MENU (top right corner), scroll down and click on YOUR LISTINGS, then underneath the listings you click on EDIT LISTING.

People like to feel as comfortable as possible when buying from somebody they do not know, especially online. The more information you are able to give so that people feel comfortable dealing with you, the better your results will be.

Sometimes when we take photos with our smartphones they automatically rotate. What you need to do is to open the images on your phone and edit them (rotating to the straight view), save them, delete the old photos and upload the new photos.

Check out our guide here and get in touch if you still have questions.