Selling is only permitted to established members of the community. This requires that you've already made 5 posts to the forums and have been a member for at least 45 days. People who sign up just to sell something can go elsewhere. Spam-post to get access and your forum access will be removed permanently.
All threads require moderator approval at all times. New threads wont show up until they've been approved. Threads will be approved if they meet the rules. If not, they will be deleted. So make sure your thread meets the requirements before you post it. This make sure for sale threads are clear and no-one gets confused.
Items must be second hand (or unwanted gifts/prizes if new, but please state this in your thread). The trading forums are not a commercial market place. This includes the wanted to buy forum. If someone posts a wanted to buy thread then only reply if your item is second hand or unwanted gifts/prizes.
The item must be yours and in your possession - no selling for friends/customers etc. This is to prevent people being stuffed around if the friend/customer/whoever sells it elsewhere.
Items must be legally sellable. Installed commercial software without the original disks and any serial numbers (eg: Mac OS X, MS Office etc) has no value and is not legal. No things like guns, other weapons, drugs, stolen items and the like. If you have any doubts, contact us.
Digital Items cannot be sold on MacTalk. Sales on MacTalk must be of physical items. Things such as digital licenses of software, game characters or currency, e-tickets for sports events or concerts cannot be sold here. Due to the grey area surrounding transfers of licenses, and some event companies not allowing tickets to be transferred we would rather not run the risk.
Items must only be advertised for sale here and not elsewhere at the same time. No links to eBay sales or other forums are permitted. We do check. If selling here doesn't work out, you can always contact us to close your thread and try elsewhere instead - just don't sell here and elsewhere at the same time.
Your post must have a photo of the item. Not a generic one off the, an actual photo you took of what you're selling. If you don't have a camera,
too bad - go get one. Don't know how to post a picture?
Learn how.
Include if you will allow pick up of the item. If do you allow pickup, please put in the vague area of where you live (Hawthorn, Melbourne for example).
Include your asking/ballpark price. Don't say "make an offer" - put in a price you would like to sell it at so people don't insult you with offers you will not sell at.
Include detailed information about the condition of the item. State if there are any major scratches, damage or failing components, whether you have the original box, manuals and accessories and their condition too.
You are permitted to make not more than one sequential post in a row, per 24 hours, as making a post "bumps" the thread to the top of the For Sale forum. If the last post in the thread currently is one you've made, not until the next day are you permitted to make another post to "bump" the thread. Examples of bump posts are things such as "Bump", "Bid noted", "PM sent", "Price lowered" or replies to buyers.
Comments in For Sale threads from anyone other than interested buyers are strictly forbidden and will be deleted immediately. The Trading Area is not a discussion forum. So no posts like "Oh wow I have one of these and they're awesome!". If you have a comment for the seller (and you're not buying) please send them a private message or email, especially regarding their asking price. You sound pathetic when trying to argue you can get it cheaper elsewhere when you aren't even buying it. It is not anyone's problem but the seller's if they are asking an insane price for something. We occasionally allow helpful comments regarding compatibility and suitability if requested by the seller when they don't know answers themselves. We much prefer people send a private message to the seller, so they can update their original post.
Get the details of who you are dealing with before handing over money! If you can get the phone number, name and address of who you are dealing with (particularly with large sums of money), you can contact them if something goes wrong. It is rare for people to be scammed on MacTalk, most of the time the seller is just lazy and just needs a reminder - phone calls work well. At the end of the day, if you are doing a big deal, I strongly recommend picking it up in person to avoid misunderstandings. You can also use escrow services for added security. Asking for things like receipts and serial numbers helps too.
If something is too good to be true, it is! Please be careful on the trading forums. Even though it is rare and 99.99% of MacTalk forum members are honest, there's always a rotten Apple in the basket. MacTalk hates seeing people be ripped off, but unfortunately, there's not much we can we can do to help and we hate that.
