uTRADEuk Help Centre

Swapping Procedure

Dear Member!

This article should help you to understand how the swapping process works and what you should do to make it safe. We will guide you step by step through the swapping process between two users, Stephen and Jane

Suppose that Stephen has listed his swap item 'Nintendo ds game' and Mary came across this item in the listings. Jane has a spare 'ps2 game' - and she decided to make an offer to Stephen to swap it for his ds game.

The safe swapping process between Stephen and Jane can be broken down into the following stages:

On the page for Stephen's swap, Jane enters the details of what she wants to offer and clicks 'Make Offer'.
Stephen receives an email informing him that Jane has made an offer to swap her ps2 game for his Nintendo ds game. Stephen goes to his swap page and sees the new proposal. If Stephen agrees to swap his ds game for Jane's ps2 game, he clicks 'accept'.
After accepting Jane's offer, Jane is sent an email informing her that her offer is accepted. Stephen is then given Jane's email address so he can trade delivery details with Jane.
Once Stephen has contacted Jane to trade delivery details, both parties can post the items.
Once both parties have received their part of the swap, they go back to Stephen's swap page and leave feedback for each other.

If these simple rules are abided by then:

Jane will be able to trace Stephen if he sends a wrong item
Either Stephen or Jane can track down an item if it is not delivered or delivered to a wrong address.

How Feedback works

Every member has a Feedback Profile, which includes basic information about the member and the Feedback that their trading partners have left for them. Learning to trust a member has a lot to do with what their past buyers or sellers have to say.

For each transaction, buyers and sellers can rate each other by leaving Feedback. Each Feedback consists of a positive or negative rating, and a short comment.

Leaving honest comments about a particular member gives other Community members a good idea of what to expect when dealing with that member. Once it's left, Feedback becomes a permanent part of the member's Feedback Profile.

Once a trade is completed (i.w. an Offer is accepted ont he trade) then both the owner and winner of the trade will be asked to leave feedback for each other.

With this Feedback approach, buyers can reward their favourite sellers not only with sales but also with helping spread the word about the seller's services. And sellers can return the favour by leaving similar Feedback for favourite buyers.

Feedback scores and stars

Feedback ratings are used to determine each member's Feedback Score. This is displayed as a set of stars on the user's Feedback Profile.

Each user has two ratings: A lifetime rating which takes into account all of their feedback, and a recent rating which only looks at the last three months.

The Feedback Rating is simply a percentage of positive feedback. For example, if a user has 100 feedback comments, of which 95 are positive, their feedback rating will be 95% (5 stars).

The various ratings are shown below:

- Gold Stars indicate a feedback rating of 100%
- 5 Stars indicate a feedback rating of 90% or over
- 4.5 Stars indicate a feedback rating of 80% or over
- 4 Stars indicate a feedback rating of 70% or over
- 3.5 Stars indicate a feedback rating of 60% or over
- 3 Stars indicate a feedback rating of 50% or over
- 2.5 Stars indicate a feedback rating of 40% or over
- 2 Stars indicate a feedback rating of 30% or over
- 1.5 Stars indicate a feedback rating of 20% or over
- 1 Stars indicate a feedback rating of 10% or over
- 0.5 Stars indicate a feedback rating of less than 10%
- 0 Stars indicate a feedback rating of 0%
- Unrated indicates a user does not have enough feedback to calculate a rating.
- Warning indicates a user has been banned or suspended.

Know Your Rights

Shopping on the internet and on uTRADE is great fun, but it's important to learn how to shop safely and to know your rights if things go wrong.

General Advice

Consumer Direct provides general advice about safe online shopping including top tips for trading on online marketplaces like uTRADE.

For advice on general precautions to take when shopping online, have a look at the Safe Internet Shopping leaflet produced by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), which replaced as the Department of Trade and Industry.

The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) has also produced an advice guide specifically aimed at online consumers. Which? also have some advice on their website which may be useful.

Selling Safely

Selling on uTRADE is quick and easy, and you'll soon get the hang of it. We've listed some top tips below, as well as the main Selling dos and don'ts, to help you sell safely.

BEFORE YOU SELL

Submitting your credit card details

You will never need to submit your Credit Card details to uTRADE. You will only ever be asked to do so by our secure e-payment partners when paying for your trade listing (when applicable)

PayPal will ask you to enter credit card details if you choose credit card as one of the ways to transfer money to your PayPal account. PayPal uses the latest technology to keep your details safe, uses them only when you say so and will not share your details with anybody else.

Don't Misuse Brand Names

You cannot use brand names for items that are not of that brand. For example, you could not say a purse was made of "Burberry-type material" or that a shoe was "in the Jimmy Choo style".

Companies spend a lot of time and money building up their brand loyalty, and take this kind of use of their brand name very seriously. They are able to report sellers who misuse their brand names, and we will investigate all such reports. This may result in a listing being ended, or a seller being suspended.

Don't Keyword Spam

Keyword spamming is when sellers use words that don't describe an item correctly, but are put in the title or description so the item will attract attention or rank higher in search results. Some sellers use keyword spamming to fool buyers by misrepresenting what they are selling.

Keyword Spamming results in a poor experience for buyers, who are often angry and disappointed when they learn the truth. It also creates an un-level playing field for honest sellers, who do not take part in Keyword Spamming. For those reasons, we take Keyword Spamming seriously, and if we find items that are using this technique, we may end the items or suspend the seller.

Describe the Item Clearly and Carefully

Inspect the item carefully; take a clear and representative photo, or more than one if the item is large or complex; be honest about condition or defects; and write a comprehensive, clear and honest description in your listing. If you do your best to be detailed, clear and open from the beginning, you can avoid misunderstandings with buyers further down the line.

OFFERING PAYMENT METHODS

Offer PayPal

PayPal is the preferred payment method on uTRADE for most buyers and sellers. It offers buyers an easy, secure and free way to transfer money with the minimum risk. In some instances, buyers are also offered Purchase Protection.

What to Consider When You Offer Other Payment Methods

If you do offer other payment methods, such as personal cheque or postal order, make sure the cheque clears or cash the postal order before you dispatch the items. Make it clear that there will be such a delay if buyers choose these payment methods, then nobody will be disappointed.

Don't Accept Payment by Western Union or other Instant Cash Wire Transfer Services

Instant Money Transfers are risky because they aren't traceable, and it's difficult to identify the recipient of the money.

Don't Accept Payment by Cash

uTRADE recommends that you never accept payment for an item by cash because of the risks involved. While buyers may offer to pay with cash, they cannot require you to accept this.

Cash isn't traceable, there is no way to prove payment was or wasn't made and it can get lost or stolen in the post.

DURING THE TRADE

Know Your Buyer

We want to help you make all your sales safe and successful. One of the best ways of ensuring things go smoothly is to get to know your buyer well.

While users are making offers on your trade, you can review their feedback and user information in their member profile.

Once the trade is over, you will be given the winner's email address so you can contact them to arrange the trade.