What we check, and why.

A signed ownership declaration

Before we can pay you, you confirm in writing that the item is yours to sell, that you've told us the truth about how you came to own it, and that no one else has a claim on it.

This is a standard, legally-binding declaration, the same kind of confirmation any reputable buyer of second-hand valuables asks for.

Verifying your identity

We confirm who you are with a photo ID document and a quick selfie, checked against each other before payment. This is the same kind of identity check you'd expect from a bank opening an account.

We only ask for this once, it's reused across future sales for up to six months rather than repeated every time.

Paying the right account

We only ever pay into a bank account that's confirmed to be in your own name, the same name on your ownership declaration and your identity check. We never pay a third party, whatever the reason given.

If the name on your bank account doesn't quite match, for example a shortened or misspelled version of your name, you can correct it once. A payout to a genuinely different person is never something we can accept.

A short holding period

Every item we buy is held for at least seven days after we receive it before it's processed further. This gives a short, standard window for any query to be raised before the item moves on.

Why we do this

These checks are quick, routine, and designed to be as unobtrusive as possible for the vast majority of honest sellers, most sales complete without any friction at all.

They exist to protect sellers as much as anyone: a market that's easy for stolen items to pass through is a worse, riskier market for everyone selling in good faith. Being open about our checks is part of how we keep it that way.