Terms of use

These are the rules for using Thanet Market. They’re written to be read. By using the site, or by creating an account, you agree to them, along with our prohibited items list. Our privacy notice explains how we handle your data.

Last updated 15 October 2026.

Who we are

Thanet Market. You can reach us at hello@thanet.market.

What Thanet Market is

Free local classifieds for Thanet. People post ads, buyers message sellers, and they arrange the rest between themselves: they meet, look at the item and pay in person or on collection. Nothing is bought, sold or paid for through the site. We don’t take payments, hold money, arrange delivery or offer buyer protection, and we’ll never ask you to pay through a link.

That means we’re not part of any sale. The contract is between the buyer and the seller, and it’s up to them to check the item, the price and the person before money changes hands. Our safety tips and meet-up spots help with that.

Who can use it

You must be 18 or over to create an account, post or send messages. Anyone can browse.
Ads must be for things or services in Thanet, in the CT7 to CT12 postcode districts.
One account per person. Don’t share it, and keep access to your email address secure, because that’s how you sign in.
If we’ve suspended or banned you, don’t open another account.

Private sellers and businesses

If you sell in the course of a business, including buying things to sell on, making things to sell regularly, or offering paid services, you must use a business account and show your trading name and contact details. Pretending to be a private seller is a criminal offence under UK consumer law, and buyers from a business have rights a private sale doesn’t give them. Our trader information page explains more.

Your ads

Describe things honestly: what it is, its condition, any faults, and a real price. Use your own photos.
Only advertise things you own or have the right to sell, that are in Thanet and available now.
Don’t post anything on the prohibited items list, or anything else that’s illegal to sell or advertise.
Post each item once, in the right category. Don’t repost the same thing to stay at the top.
Mark an ad as sold, or take it down, once it’s gone.
If you use “Fill it in for me”, the suggested title, description and price are only a starting point. Check them before you post: what the ad says is your responsibility.
Job ads must be for real vacancies in Thanet, name the employer, and follow employment law (no discrimination, and at least the minimum wage).
Property ads from landlords and agents must follow the law on lettings, including the rules on fees and deposits.

Community notices and the Garage Sale Trail

The community board is for what’s on, clubs and groups, volunteering, lifts and lost and found. Selling things belongs in the ads.
Lifts are for sharing the cost of a journey, not for running a taxi service.
If you add a garage sale to the trail, its address is shown publicly on the trail map until the trail ends. Only add an address you live at or have permission to use.

Messages and meeting up

Use messages to arrange a sale. Be polite, and don’t send spam, threats, abuse or anything sexual.
Never ask someone to pay a deposit, use a courier, or pay by bank transfer before they’ve seen the item. These are the patterns scams use, and our checks look for them.
To protect people from scams, messages from brand-new accounts that include a phone number, email address or link may be held until one of our team has looked at them.
Only share your address if you’re happy to. You can suggest a public meet-up spot instead.
If someone makes you uncomfortable, block them and report them.

Keeping the site safe

We have a legal duty under the Online Safety Act 2023 to protect people from illegal content, and we take it seriously. In particular:

Every ad and message goes through automatic checks for signs of scams and illegal items. The checks flag things; a person makes the decisions.
Anyone can report an ad, a profile or a message, with or without an account, from the ad, from the conversation or with the report form. Safety reports are looked at within one working day.
We remove illegal content as soon as we know about it, and anything else that breaks these terms. We can also hold a message, warn, suspend or ban an account, and pass information to the police, Trading Standards or the National Crime Agency where the law requires it. Anything involving the sexual exploitation of a child is always reported.
When we remove something of yours or restrict your account, we tell you why. You can appeal, and a different person looks again. See complaints and appeals.

What you let us do with your content

You keep ownership of what you post. You give us permission to show it on Thanet Market and to share it in ways that help it get seen, such as in emails and alerts, on our social media, on Google and other search engines, and, for job ads, on Google Jobs. This permission ends when you delete the content, except where someone has already shared it or we need to keep a copy for a report or a legal reason.

Ending your account

You can delete your account at any time from your account page. We can suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, puts others at risk, or that the law requires us to act on. Unless that would put someone at risk or the law stops us, we’ll tell you why and you can appeal.

Scams, disputes and your own judgement

Thanet Market is a noticeboard. We don’t sell anything, buy anything, check items, hold money or take part in any deal. Every sale, let, job or service arranged through the site is between the two people involved, and it’s for them to satisfy themselves about each other, the item and the price before anything changes hands.

We don’t verify who people are, or what they’re selling. Badges such as “phone checked”, “ID checked”, “met in person” or a reply-speed figure show that a step was completed; they’re not a guarantee that someone is honest, that an item exists or is as described, or that an item isn’t stolen or unsafe.
Our checks and warnings are help, not protection. Automatic checks, scam warnings beside messages, watched phrases and moderation reduce risk but can’t catch everything. A listing or message that wasn’t flagged isn’t one we’ve vouched for.
If you pay before you’ve seen an item, send a deposit, pay by bank transfer, use a courier, share a verification code or go off the site to deal, you do so at your own risk. We tell you not to, on every ad and in every conversation, and we can’t recover money for you.
We don’t offer buyer or seller protection, refunds or compensation for a scam, a no-show, a faulty item, a dispute over a sale, a job or a let, or anything someone did after meeting through the site. If you’ve lost money, contact your bank straight away and report it to Action Fraud; if you’re in danger, call 999. Tell us too, so we can act on the account.
Suggestions aren’t advice. “Fill it in for me”, price guidance, “What’s it worth”, meet-up spots and safety tips are offered to help; the decisions, and what you post, are yours.
Other people’s sites and businesses we link to, including sponsors, markets and traders, are nothing to do with us. Dealing with them is on their terms.

Your responsibility to us

You’re responsible for what you post and do on Thanet Market, and for keeping to the law and these terms. If someone makes a claim against us, or we suffer a loss, because of something you posted or did in breach of these terms or the law, including selling something you weren’t entitled to sell, a scam, a fake or stolen item, or a breach of consumer, employment or lettings law, you agree to cover the reasonable costs and losses that result.

Our responsibility to you

Thanet Market is free. We work hard to keep it running and safe, but we can’t promise it will always be available or free of mistakes.
We check what’s posted, but we can’t check every item or every person. We’re not responsible for what members post, say or sell, for whether they turn up or pay, or for anything that goes wrong in a deal between members. As far as the law allows, we’re not liable for any loss, damage or injury arising from using the site or from dealing with someone you met through it.
Nothing in these terms limits our responsibility where the law doesn’t allow it to be limited, including for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for our own fraud. Nothing here affects your rights as a consumer.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the site and the law change. If a change matters, we’ll tell you by email or on the site before it takes effect. If you keep using Thanet Market after that, the new terms apply; if you don’t agree, you can delete your account.

The law that applies

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales can deal with any dispute. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can also bring a claim in your local courts.

Contact

Questions about these terms: hello@thanet.market. About your data: privacy@thanet.market.