Babywearing Buy Sell Swap Guidelines

If you have any queries or concerns about these guidelines please PM a member of Admin or email bwbss1@gmail.com

Baby Wearing Buy Sell Swap Group Ethos

The purpose of this group is to promote safe, comfortable babywearing. We aim to provide babywearers with an easy platform from which to buy, sell and trade their no longer needed carriers, as well as link in with other babywearers in their geographical area. Although we are primarily a trading group, we have a strong focus on babywearing education and welcome questions from members about finding the perfect baby carrier for different situations.

We welcome families of all parenting philosophies to participate here – we are not here to judge your parenting choices but to support you to make the best selection(s) of carriers to continue on your babywearing journey. We welcome all on topic questions to the group wall, so if your query relates in any way to babywearing feel free to post it!  If you have questions about baby sleeping, vaccinations, breast or bottle feeding, introducing solids, etc, we can link you to other communities where you can seek the support and information that you need.

Please remember to be courteous and use common sense in all interactions, this page is used by experienced babywearers, brand new babywearers and babywearers of all levels in between. All trades carry a degree of risk and while we will attempt to assist, the owners and Admin of this group accept no responsibility for trades which go bad. We do welcome you to contact Admin privately with any queries or concerns, in particular any suspicions about rogue traders or those known to be scammers elsewhere.

Trading Safely – Quick Reminders

TRADE AT YOUR OWN RISK:  Buyer Beware/ Buyer Be Aware

 Buyers, sellers and traders do so at their own risk. The onus is on the buyer to check that the seller is genuine.

1. Ask to see current photos of the carrier, including documentation of any known flaws. Don’t accept stock photos or written descriptions only, or offers to sell via Personal Message from group members that you do not know personally.
2. Ask to view feedback on eBay or elsewhere, or use the group search function to look for the sellers name in the BWBSS group feedback documents and banned members doc.
3. Trade publicly where possible, have some record of the transaction within the group wall or keep your messages.
4. In order to receive buyer protection from PayPal you must not choose gifted PayPal as your payment method. Direct deposit also will not offer any protection to the purchaser.
5. Remember to use registered (or express at a pinch) post when negotiating purchases. Buyers can also ask for a signature at delivery, there is a small addition cost to utilize this service however this is the only way to ascertain who exactly has received the parcel.

General Membership Rights and Responsibilities

1.  We request that members follow the principle of “treat others as you would like to be treated”. We do not tolerate trolling, nor the posting of bullying or inflammatory comments. In such situations you will be given a warning and asked to remove the offending post, or your post may be removed by a member of Admin if it’s considered against the best interests of the group to leave it on the wall while we await a response from you. The BWBSS board primarily operates with self-moderation as our aim, and we require members to self-moderate accordingly. A great policy to remember while interacting online is ‘Read Twice, Respond Once’.
2. The BWBSS group has a “No Naming and Shaming” policy. In the event of a member needing to pass on information to the group (a known scammer, or info about a transaction gone awry), please message a member of Admin privately via the facebook messages system or to bwbss1@gmail.com so that we may assist and assess the situation. In urgent cases it is appropriate to tag a member of the Admin team on the group wall, alerting us that the message has been sent. Likewise if you have an issue with a vendor, brand of carrier or baby store, please notify Admin prior to detailing on the group wall.
3. We aim to be thoroughly supportive of the WAHM maker/reseller babywearing community. We require vendor members to be active in the BWBSS community, prior to contributing commercially. Please see the Vendor section at the bottom of this doc.
4. BWBSS Group requires that no comments or posts are removed from the board. Once a photo or post has been replied to it is extremely impolite to delete the written words of another member of the group, and threads will only be deleted by Admin when deemed necessary for legal reasons or otherwise, or potentially at the request of the opening poster. We prefer that all photos of sold carriers are also kept as a history of the group’s sales, however if for privacy reasons you prefer to delete photos of yourself or your children, Admin will copy the text of the sale into a separate folder and the photo will then be deleted. Likewise, with threads which have become contentious, we will archive a copy and then delete. Only Admin should delete threads.
5. We are building an inclusive community here, and members from all walks of life and with all kinds of babywearing experiences are welcome to join us! We request that carriers such as the Baby Bjorn and Snuggli are not referred to as ‘crotch danglers’ or other such derogatory terms. All carriers which can meet the TICKS guidelines for babywearing (see picture at bottom of this doc) are welcome to be sold via our group. Any carrier which has been recalled or is clearly a dangerous design will not be permitted to be listed, nor any carrier which is a fake or unlawful knock off of another brand.
6. We request that no ’causes’, non babywearing related competitions or fundraising drives are posted to the group wall. Our community is limited in its capacity to support these types of posts and some are alienating to sections of our membership. We do have the ‘fabbo facebook pages of our members’ doc where you are welcome to post links to your own non-babywearing related business or special interest group. Check it out here.
7. In the case of babywearing related competitions, these may be posted to the group wall – only one post per comp please. You may not link to your own entry, as we are likely to have many members entered into this type of competition! All members of the community are welcome to bump these posts as frequently as they like, however if you are an entrant please be respectful and refrain from begging for votes.
8. For ease of communication within the group, we request that no members of the BWBSS group have any member of the Admin team ‘blocked’. This is perhaps our most controversial request of our members, and if for any reason you do not feel that you are able to agree to this please contact your choice of Admin to discuss a workaround. After much discussion we come back to this point, that for the safety of all members every interaction made within the group must be visible to all. At the same time, we are trying to build an inclusive community so do not wish for anyone to feel that they are being forced to leave.

Guidelines for Sellers

1. When you decide that you’re ready to sell a carrier, please upload a current photo of your item to the appropriate album (accessed via the ‘photos’ link at the top of the group homepage).
2. If you are posting to the group via a mobile phone or tablet device and cannot access the albums, you may post directly to the group wall. Please be aware that Admin do not have the power to move your photo.
3. We do not permit the use of stock images on this group, except when used in conjunction with a personal image for the purpose of clearly identifying the carrier (often helpful when the carrier has been made as a custom creation). All information for buyers should be listed on the personal image with a note along the lines of ‘stock photo for display purposes only, no comments on this image please’ added to the stock or multiple image. If you can paste a link back to your original listing please do so. If you would like to link to a previous owner’s photo of a carrier please do this via copy and pasting a link to the comments of your own listing, and only after seeking permission from the person whose photo you are wanting to use. Please don’t directly ‘bump’ the ex-owner’s photo.
4. Please list only one item for sale from any photo. Stash sales are welcome, however please take a separate photo for each item! ‘Help me shake up my stash’ threads are also encouraged, we are expert enablers here! Take note of any dibs requests from these threads and tag those members when you post your image and info about carriers which didn’t make the cut 😉
5. Consider using the listing information guides as shown on the cover pic for the appropriate album. This guide is intended to assist both buyers and sellers.
6. The item you wish to sell must belong to you and be in your possession. We do not permit 3rd party sales on this group, with the intention of permitting ease of communication between the buyer and seller.
7. As a seller you must be able to link buyers to examples of positive trading feedback. This may be via eBay or other auction sites, links to feedback in our feedback threads, or via forum trading rooms (eg The Baby Wearer forum).
8. Admin recommend that all items sold via the group are posted either registered or express post. Sellers are not permitted to restrict payment methods only to bank deposit and Gifted Paypal as this denies buyers the right to PayPal protection. We recommend building the expected PayPal transaction fees into your listing price (usually around $3 per $100).
9. It is discouraged for sellers to post ‘is there any interest in this carrier’ questions to the wall. This creates confusion for buyers once the image of the carrier is loaded, and there are suddenly two threads of comments to follow. Please only list items for sale when you are certain that you are ready to sell, and always be upfront about your asking price.
10. It is up to you as a seller to set the price that you would like for your item, not up to buyers to tell you what your item is worth. Feel free to browse through the albums (current and archived) to get an idea of what your carrier may be worth. We do not permit ‘make an offer’ or ‘best offer’ sales at BWBSS.
11. We also do not permit sales via auction at BWBSS. You must name a price at the time of posting your photo. If you would prefer to sell via auction you are welcome to link to your own listing on another site (eBay most commonly). This link should be bumped by yourself no more than once in any 12 hour period. We also do not permit ‘lottery’ sales, where multiple buyers pay a % of the value of a carrier and go into a lottery style draw to win. We do however encourage random.org style draws when one winner pays the full amount after adding their name to the draw – this is particularly encouraged when selling popular limited edition carriers and wraps.
12. Sellers are encouraged to check the appropriate ISO (In Search Of) documents for a possible match for their carrier. We realize that this is a tricky thing to remember, it’s not a requirement, rather a suggestion.
13. State clearly in your listing description if you need funds immediately or if you are happy to consider a payment plan. Newer buyers may wish to ask further questions about your carrier, it is up to you as a seller whether you are willing to hold the sale of your items while these questions are answered or if you’d prefer to follow the ‘first to ask for payment details’ option.
14. As a Seller, it is your responsibility to list items thoroughly and honestly. Please check your carrier fully prior to listing, making note of any wear, flaws, stains, alterations to include in your description. The safety of your carrier is your responsibility. Ensure all hardware is functioning as it should and seams are secure.
15. If your item has not sold quickly, we encourage no more than two ‘bumps’ a day, eg. one morning and one evening. These bumps should be roughly 12 hours apart.
16. Once your item has sold, please remember to go back to the description of your photo and mark it as SOLD. You should also add a post to the bottom of the comments indicating that the carrier has SOLD – yay!
17. As a community, we do not permit the sale of counterfeit baby carriers via our group.  These carriers are illegal, immoral and potentially dangerous both to unsuspecting parents as well as to the Babywearing community in general. This concern is especially high with regards to ERGObaby and Beco carriers. Please do not take offense if you are asked to provide proof of purchase from an authorized reseller for your carrier, or photograph the batch and id number located in the pocket of your ERGObaby. See this link for more information about the dangers of fake carriers and this link for details of the BWBSS guidelines related to the sale of known faked brands.

Guidelines for Buyers

1. Items listed for sale are committed to the first member to request payment details. You should comment publicly on the photo as well as sending a PM offer to buy, for transparency and to avoid disappointing other buyers. If you intend on purchasing an item please request payment details promptly, or you may miss out. See link for discussion.
2. Please be courteous and timely when making payments, sellers needing immediate payment may not be able to hold an item for you, or wait for a delayed payment. Many people are selling their current carriers to fund replacements, and could miss out on their ISO carrier if you aren’t able to pay promptly. Please keep this in mind when committing yourself to a purchase.
3. Any delayed payments/payment plans are at the seller’s discretion. As a buyer you have the right to ask, and sellers have the right to accept or decline. If you commit to a payment plan and find yourself with changed circumstances part way through, please keep communication open with your seller. For the most part these plans can be altered or cancelled and part payments refunded, however, again, this is at the seller’s discretion.
4. Asking questions is never discouraged. Bear in mind, there are occasions when items will be listed to fund an ISO, in such cases sellers may be looking for immediate payment. Asking questions doesn’t place you ‘in line’ for an item, and the item can be sold to the first member to ask for payment details. If you are very interested in a carrier but need to ask questions, please ask the seller to hold it for you while you find out the information you require.
5. We require that members don’t delete comments posted on For Sale threads. This requirement is for ease of communication. Having a complete record of each For Sale thread helps to create a safe trading environment. This includes a record of people who have expressed a desire to purchase and then changed their mind.
6. Buyers have the right to security when purchasing an item. We encourage the reference of previous seller-feedback (on the group, another forum or eBay) and strongly encourage that payment be made through non-gifted PayPal. We recommend the use of registered post; as such, buyers have the right to request a tracking number.

Random Act of Kindness

If you are kind enough to offer an baby carrier free to the group please follow these guidelines:

1. Title post:        ROAK – (item name).
2. We suggest leaving the post up for 24h before announcing the receiver.
3. Either choose a receiver at your discretion or use Random.org
4. No money is to change hands for the item.
5. Gifter is entitled to ask for the exact cost of post (or pre-adressed satchel) however this should be specified in RAOK post.
6. Commenting first does NOT claim the item.
7. There is no comeback from claimants not being chosen, or if the receiver isn’t 100% thrilled with the carrier they’ve been given.

Items received through a RAOK offer should NEVER be sold on, they should rather either be re-offered through RAOK or donated to a sling library or charity.

DIY Carriers

BWBSS group aims to support sewers, and welcomes active participation by those involved in the making of their own carriers. Please become familiar with our DIY guidelines, located here.

When selling a DIY carrier we require that you post into the DIY Carrier Album, located here.

Vendors

We are very fortunate to have an active and passionate collection of vendors widening our babywearing options here in Australia and New Zealand 😀 The vendor participation guidelines and list of active vendors can be found here. If you ever have an concern about the behavior of any vendor here at BWBSS please contact a non-vendor member of Admin. The list of current Admin and their best contact can be found here.

TICKS guide for Babywearing Safety

Download your own full size copy.