Marketplace Forums Terms & Guidelines

Marketplace Forum Guidelines and Tips to Avoid Fraud. Always use good judgement and due dilligence.

The Boat Design Forum Marketplace Forums were created as a dedicated space for wanted- and for-sale posts to keep such threads from overwhelming the main boat design and boatbuilding discussion forums and keep them together and easier to identify and navigate.

The Boat Design Forum Marketplace Forums can be useful for members who know one another offline and who know each other well from forum discussions and offline communications and wish to post boatbuilding tools, drafting tools, boat molds and tooling, and other professional equipment they either want or have for sale or trade.

However, caution and good judgement should always be used. Especially when considering any business with anyone not already well known to you, due diligence must be used to confirm details and identity and be sure the transaction is safe before any money or property changes hands. Please use good judgement and sufficient care when dealing with anyone online.

In the following sections are guidelines and tips which should always be followed to avoid fraud and stay safe when considering buying or selling any item online.


As a potential buyer

  1. Discuss details of parts or equipment by phone in addition to email or online so you speak with the person selling the tool or part.


  2. Get any questions answered in writing and be sure all details, specifications, licensing, and legalities are made clear in writing before any money changes hands.


  3. Request a company email and phone number for the seller and check the company name. Be more cautious of sellers using free email accounts as these can be used by overseas scam-artists and then discarded as they are reported. Ask for a company name and email and verify.


  4. Use extreme caution when buying items located a long distance from your location. Since this website is available to people around the world, we allow equipment to be posted from around the world. However, buying a tool or part that is located a great distance from you increases the risk to you exponentially. Use appropriate caution and increase your level of caution with increased distance.


  5. After discussing the details, inspect or have the equipment inspected by an agent working for you if the value of the part is significant.


  6. Please always use good judgment and due diligence when considering the purchase of any part of equipment.


  7. Never give out personal financial information. Use a payment method such as a credit card that offers you protection unless you are 100% satisfied with the company’s trustworthiness and history that is selling the item.


  8. For a large item, use an escrow service that you choose that provides protection to your satisfaction. For a smaller item, if you are not 100% confident based on your research or don’t already have a business relationship with the seller to be 100% confident, you can ask that the item be placed on a service such as ebay that offers buyer- and seller- protection services.


As a potential seller

  1. Please always use caution and your best judgment if presented with a deal which doesn't seem logical, and be sure to talk with your bank to be sure all checks and transactions have been completed, cleared, and verified before releasing any property.


  2. Make sure any questions have been answered and get all details of the transaction in writing before releasing any property.


  3. Fake cashier checks & money orders are common. Unfortunately banks will cash them and then hold you responsible a week or more after the fact when the fake cashier's check or money order is discovered to be fraudulent. Requests to overpay for equipment and have excess money returned or given to a shipping company are almost always fraudulent -- never do this without consulting with your bank first.


  4. Be especially careful of any transactions from overseas where such transactions might be reversed after some time due to fraud.


  5. Be very careful of buyers using free email addresses (hotmail, yahoo, etc.) – always request a company name and company address and verify the company and location.


  6. Always be sure payment is legitimate and that it has fully cleared and is non-fraudulent and won’t be reversed before releasing any property.


  7. If you don’t already have a business relationship with the buyer to be 100% confident or if there is any doubt, you can place the item on a service such as ebay that offers seller- and buyer- protection services and refer the potential buyer there to complete the transaction.