To help make the buying and selling experience enjoyable for everyone, all users are expected to follow these rules when posting items on our marketplace.
OfferUp has the sole discretion to remove any content that violates any of our guidelines and policies or which we believe is in violation of our Terms of Service. In cases of severe or repeated violations, we may deactivate an account or take other actions.
Accounts
OfferUp users are expected to strictly adhere to the following expectations:
- Use your true identity and honestly represent yourself in your user account and in all communications with other OfferUp users.
- Represent yourself in a respectful way when creating your account and custom profile link.
- Have one account per user or business (not multiple accounts per user or business).
- Don’t create accounts designed to impersonate someone else.
- Don’t use a throw-away email address. This signals to us that you might not be here for the right reasons and we will consider this fraudulent behavior.
- Don’t use emulators or third-party sites to post on OfferUp. You must be the owner of your item.
Photos
To allow buyers to get a true feel for the items you’re selling, OfferUp users are expected to meet these guidelines for posting photos:
- Always include a photo of the item. Listings with no photos, including those with photos that contain text only, are not allowed.
- Include high-quality, well-lit photos.
- Keep photos clean by not adding extra stickers or text.
- Don’t add any writing, phone numbers, email addresses, or physical addresses to photos. Exceptions apply for verified businesses, verified auto dealerships, and garage/yard/estate/moving sale listings.
- Post a photo of the actual item, not a catalog or stock photo.
- Use your own photos. Don't use photos that infringe on the intellectual property rights of others.
Duplicate posts
Multiple posts showing identical items from the same seller can be confusing to buyers, and difficult to manage for sellers. Even if you have more than one of the same item, please list one at a time. Don't post the same item in more than one listing or in multiple categories.
Item location
You should list an accurate geographic location so that your local buyers can arrange to meet you for pickup. If you want to sell outside your area, make your item available for nationwide shipping. To learn more, see About nationwide shipping.
Titles, descriptions, & prices
Titles and descriptions should give buyers a clear, honest, and accurate description so they can tell if the item is what they're looking for. Here are some things to avoid:
- Don't add keywords or price points intended to manipulate search results.
- Don’t set prices that are clearly inflated above standard market value.
- Don’t include finance pricing in the Price field. You may include financing information in the Description field as long as the price listed is the full price for the item.
- Exceptions apply for verified businesses and verified auto dealerships.
- Don't solicit risky payment methods such as Western Union or Moneygram.
- Don't link to websites or post URLs.
- Don't provide personal information, such as a phone number, email address, or physical address.
- Exceptions apply for verified businesses and verified auto dealerships.
- We also permit listings for garage/yard/estate/moving sales to include a location and time for their event. However, phone numbers and email addresses cannot be included.
Messaging & communication
OfferUp messaging lets you communicate with others without sharing personal information or leaving the app. While it's not necessary to respond to every message received, unwillingness to message with OfferUp users (for example, stating in your listing that you will not reply to messaging), use of automation for messaging, using listings as an advertising platform, and/or messaging that directs users away from the OfferUp platform, is directly in violation of the OfferUp Terms of Service and may result in item removals or account suspensions. To learn more, see our Tips for messaging.
Prohibited items
Most items are allowed on OfferUp, but there are specific types of items that are not permitted on our platform. Some may be dangerous or present legal issues, while others may be offensive or not in line with the spirit of our community. For detailed information on what is and is not allowed, please see our Prohibited Items Guidelines.
Prohibited jobs
We allow employers to post job listings on OfferUp. However, to ensure that our jobs marketplace is a safe and trustworthy space, we prohibit certain kinds of jobs and industries. For more information, see our Prohibited Jobs Guidelines.
Fee avoidance
Sometimes fees may be incurred when posting certain kinds of items or during shipping transactions. Any action by a seller to avoid paying a fee is strictly prohibited. It's important to remember that if you don't pay these fees, whether intentionally or by mistake, your listings may be removed.
Maintaining a safe marketplace
Our teams are working hard to ensure the safety of our marketplace and enforcement of our policies. We do our best to review posted content to ensure that transactions for buyers, sellers, job seekers, and employers are ethical, safe, and protected.
While we understand that our work here is never done, here are the steps we take to try to keep our marketplace safe:
- We remove listings and take action on accounts that violate our policies.
- We work with law enforcement to do our part in supporting their investigations.
- We’re continuously updating our product features to create a more trustworthy marketplace experience.
Help keep our community strong
As a member of the OfferUp community, you can help us build a safer, stronger marketplace by reporting suspicious or offensive content. For more information, see How to report a listing.
For additional restrictions on behavior such as profanity and harassment, see our Community Guidelines.