Safety & Scam Advice
Practical steps for safer local buying, selling, payment and collection.
Operator details recorded: Your Shop Local is operated by Grzegorz Wojtowicz, sole trader, trading as Your Shop Local, from 37 Browning Close, Blacon, Chester, CH1 5XD, United Kingdom. Contact: graffcraft@outlook.com.
1. Before you buy
- Check the description, photos, seller details and price carefully.
- Ask about defects, ownership, receipts, serial numbers, recalls and safety instructions.
- Be cautious when a price is unusually low or the seller creates urgency.
- For branded goods, inspect authenticity and proof of purchase.
- Do not rely on advert approval as proof that an item or seller is genuine.
2. Payment
- Inspect the item before paying whenever practical.
- Do not send deposits merely to “hold” an ordinary local item unless you independently accept the risk.
- Never share one-time passcodes, banking passwords or remote-access control of your device.
- Do not trust screenshots claiming payment. Check your own bank or payment account.
- Avoid payment methods that provide no meaningful trace or protection where the circumstances are suspicious.
3. Collection and delivery
- Tell someone where you are going and arrange daylight collection where possible.
- Use a public, well-lit location for small portable items.
- Do not enter a home or vehicle if you feel unsafe.
- For large items, take another adult and plan safe lifting.
- Keep children away from meetings with unknown buyers or sellers.
4. Common scam signs
- a courier or “agent” will collect after an overpayment;
- a buyer asks you to pay an insurance, release or upgrade fee to receive money;
- a seller refuses inspection but demands immediate transfer;
- links ask you to sign in to receive payment;
- messages move quickly to pressure, secrecy or a story that cannot be checked;
- the person asks for verification codes or copies of excessive identity documents.
5. If something goes wrong
Stop contact, preserve screenshots and payment evidence, contact your bank or payment provider promptly, report the advert through the process in Complaints & Reports, and contact police or Action Fraud where appropriate. In an emergency or immediate danger, call 999.
6. Product safety
Check official recall information and manufacturer instructions. Take particular care with electrical goods, chargers, lithium batteries, children’s products, furniture with tip-over risks and anything intended to protect life or health. Do not use an item that appears damaged, altered, recalled or unsafe.