As a Buyer or Service Seeker on Collabotrade, we respect your privacy and provide you a secure environment for online transactions. Before you begin your journey on Collabotrade, make sure that you have glanced at the following points to ensure that you have a safe and secure shopping experience apart from boosting your relationship.

Here are a few suggestions to make your trading experience safe, secure, simple and as enjoyable as possible

1. The best way to make sure you get the right item is to do a bit of research before you close the deal. The Internet offers a platform for retailers to provide detailed information that empowers buyers to research the items they are interested in. There are a lot of online resources, where users post items reviews. You may post your query and request other members’ views on it.
2. Ensure that you have done an exhaustive research on the item in other stores as well. This will help you to judge the critical aspects of the item before committing to purchase.
3. You need to ensure that the item you are buying is of the best quality since it’s you, who is completely responsible for the purchase.
4. There could be several lucrative advertisements by different sellers, but you must use your judgment to compare them and choose the best one.
5. Be very careful with the electronic items with respect to the following points:
1. How old is the item in case of used item?
2. Is the item of a reputed brand?
3. Is it cheaper than the market price?
4. How is the physical condition of the item?
6. Be careful if a seller is using images available on the Internet (stock photos) for an item. In case of any doubt, right click on the images and check the source.
7. Knowing the item features will enable you to tell if the item is genuine and you are buying the item at a fair price. Read the description carefully and do not make assumptions about details that aren't included in the item description.
8. Make sure the item is legal and allowed for purchase
9. In most cases, the payment is due only after you have received the items. Meet the Seller in person and discuss the payment methods to avoid any fraud.
10. Check different sellers for the product you are planning to buy to ensure that you get the best deal

1. Ensure that you have done an exhaustive research on the service you are looking for. This will help you to judge the critical aspects of the service being provided before committing yourself.
2. You need to make sure that the service being offered matches with your requirement in all respects like
1. Cost
2. Time-frame in which service would be available
3. Location constraint, which can require you or the service provider to travel
4. Complexity (such as legal or financial)
3. There could be several lucrative advertisements by different providers but you must use your judgment to compare them and pick up the best one. Talking to them over phone or meeting them in person is highly advisable before you commit for the service.
4. Be very careful with certain services, such as Financial and Legal services, which can involve complexity. In such cases, you need to ensure that you are clear with your requirement of services

1. Collabotrade.com helps protect its buyers and service seekers against potential online fraudulent attacks by promoting local trade and simple guileless transactions. We encourage face-to-face meetings before you close the deal.
2. Ensure that the seller or service provider belongs to one of your communities so that the transaction is more secure, reliable and trusted.
3. Read thoroughly all the terms and conditions imposed by the seller or service provider with respect to the item or service delivery and price.
4. For Items - do not hesitate in asking the seller questions to get all required information you need about the item. You may also ask about the refund and return policy offered by the Seller.
5. For Services - even if the provider belongs to your community but if you don’t know him directly, do not hesitate in asking for references. Make sure you call the providers’ references to ensure the quality service.
6. If you are interested in an item or service classified advertisement, click “Contact Member” to ask a question about the item or service. For faster response, you may also provide your phone number in the message but we discourage releasing your contact information that early in the transaction cycle.
7. To negotiate the price with the seller or service provider, write your best offer in the message. This will save you from communicating with a seller or service provider, who is not willing to sale items or providing services in your price range. Negotiation is an art; hence we recommend you to not quote too low price since some sellers or service providers are not willing to negotiate and avoid buyers or service seekers, who initiate with a low number.

1. Collabotrade.com has devised new ways to build local communities so that members could trade used stuff or services in a socially responsible and ethical manner. It does not encourage usage of any of the online payment mechanism like
1. Credit Card
2. Wire Transfer
3. Cash Transfer over the Internet
2. Collabotrade.com has devised new ways to build local communities so that members could trade used stuff or services in a socially responsible and ethical manner. It does not encourage usage of any of the online payment mechanism like
3. In case of any eventuality, try to cancel the transaction. Work with seller or service provider and decide common terms and conditions for the same.
4. Keep all the records of the correspondence between you and seller or service provider. This will help in case of any dispute.
5. If you are not convinced about the item or service details, ask a lot of questions from seller or service provider via e-mail. This will ensure that items or services meet your requirements.
6. Do not commit to buy the item or service until you understand all rules associated with it.
7. We believe, only awareness and good observation can help buyers and service seekers to avoid scams. We distribute weekly newsletter to keep our members up-to-date with new online scams, frauds and tips to avoid them. You may subscribe to our weekly newsletter by clicking here.

If you have any questions about ensuring a safe transaction, or smell a scam, please contact us as soon as possible. For more information, you may also visit The Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Information section.