THE GYM MARKET

COMMUNITY STANDARDS POLICY

Last Updated: 13/06/2026

1. PURPOSE

The Gym Market is committed to creating a safe, fair and trustworthy marketplace for buyers and sellers of fitness, gym and sports-related equipment.

These Community Standards apply to all users and all activity taking place through The Gym Market, including listings, communications, transactions, payments, reviews and disputes.

All users must comply with these Community Standards, the Terms & Conditions and all other applicable Platform policies.

2. RESPECTFUL CONDUCT

Users must treat one another respectfully.

The following are prohibited:

  • Harassment;
  • Abuse;
  • Threats;
  • Intimidation;
  • Hate speech;
  • Discrimination;
  • Offensive or inappropriate content;
  • Unwanted or excessive contact;
  • Personal attacks;
  • Attempts to intimidate another user into completing or cancelling a transaction.

Users should communicate professionally and respectfully, particularly when resolving disagreements or disputes.

3. HONEST SELLING

Users must provide accurate and honest information when listing items.

Sellers must:

  • Use genuine and reasonably current photographs;
  • Provide accurate descriptions;
  • Accurately describe the condition of equipment;
  • Disclose known defects and damage;
  • Disclose relevant modifications or repairs;
  • Provide accurate measurements and specifications;
  • Avoid misleading statements;
  • Ensure they have the legal right to sell the item.

False, deceptive or materially misleading listings are prohibited.

Sellers must not intentionally conceal information that could materially affect a buyer's decision or the safe use of an item.

4. GENUINE TRANSACTIONS

The Gym Market is intended for genuine transactions between legitimate buyers and sellers.

Users must not:

  • Create fake listings;
  • Create listings for items they do not possess or have authority to sell;
  • Conduct scams;
  • Accept payment without intending to provide the item;
  • Misrepresent their identity;
  • Use stolen or fraudulent information;
  • Manipulate reviews;
  • Create fake accounts to manipulate Platform activity;
  • Engage in fraudulent activity;
  • Falsely claim that an item has been dispatched, delivered or collected.

Users must not use The Gym Market to facilitate transactions that are illegal or prohibited under our Prohibited Items Policy.

5. PAYMENT INTEGRITY

Where The Gym Market's integrated payment functionality is available, users must use the payment process honestly and accurately.

Users must not:

  • Provide false payment information;
  • Attempt to make fraudulent payments;
  • Use stolen payment methods;
  • Falsely claim that payment has been made;
  • Provide manipulated screenshots or other false evidence of payment;
  • Attempt to obtain an item without paying;
  • Attempt to obtain both an item and a refund fraudulently;
  • Abuse chargeback or payment-dispute processes;
  • Attempt to manipulate the timing of seller payouts;
  • Circumvent payment-provider verification requirements.

Sellers should rely on the payment status shown through The Gym Market or the applicable payment provider rather than screenshots, emails or messages claiming that payment has been made.

Buyers should not be asked to provide unnecessary financial information to sellers.

6. PROTECTING PLATFORM PAYMENT FEATURES

The Gym Market's integrated payment functionality is intended to provide additional protection for eligible buyers and sellers.

Users must not intentionally circumvent or abuse these protections.

This includes:

  • Falsely reporting an item as not received;
  • Falsely reporting an item as materially different from its listing;
  • Deliberately damaging an item to obtain a refund;
  • Returning a different item;
  • Providing false evidence;
  • Making duplicate claims through multiple payment or dispute channels;
  • Encouraging another user to abuse Buyer or Seller Protection.

Where a buyer and seller voluntarily agree to complete payment outside The Gym Market, they should understand that the transaction will not benefit from The Gym Market's payment protection or applicable Buyer/Seller Protection processes.

7. OFF-PLATFORM TRANSACTIONS

Buyers and sellers may communicate directly and may agree to arrange payment outside The Gym Market.

However, users must not use off-platform payment arrangements to:

  • Commit fraud;
  • Avoid Platform restrictions;
  • Circumvent account restrictions;
  • Avoid legitimate Platform fees where applicable;
  • Manipulate Buyer or Seller Protection;
  • Conduct prohibited transactions.

Where users choose to complete payment outside The Gym Market, they do so at their own risk and should understand that The Gym Market's payment protection and applicable Buyer/Seller Protection processes will not apply.

The Gym Market may still take action against users where an off-platform transaction involves fraud, prohibited activity, harassment or another breach of these Community Standards.

8. PLATFORM INTEGRITY

Users must not:

  • Interfere with Platform operations;
  • Attempt to bypass security measures;
  • Use bots or automation without permission;
  • Spam users;
  • Scrape Platform content;
  • Circumvent Platform protections;
  • Attempt to gain unauthorised access to accounts or systems;
  • Attempt to manipulate Platform functionality;
  • Exploit technical vulnerabilities;
  • Attempt to interfere with payment processing or seller payouts.

Any suspected security vulnerability should be reported to The Gym Market rather than exploited.

9. SAFETY

Users must not:

  • Encourage unsafe use of equipment;
  • Conceal dangerous defects;
  • Promote harmful modifications;
  • Sell prohibited items;
  • Provide deliberately misleading safety information;
  • Encourage another user to use equipment in an unsafe manner.

Sellers remain responsible for accurately describing the condition of their equipment and disclosing known safety issues.

Users should report potentially unsafe equipment or listings to The Gym Market.

10. DISPUTES AND CLAIMS

Users are expected to communicate honestly when resolving disputes.

Users must not:

  • Make knowingly false claims;
  • Submit fabricated evidence;
  • Manipulate photographs or videos;
  • Falsely claim an item was not received;
  • Falsely claim an item was damaged;
  • Deliberately damage equipment after receiving it;
  • Attempt to obtain a refund while retaining an item improperly;
  • Threaten or harass another user during a dispute.

The Gym Market may request evidence from buyers and sellers when reviewing an eligible dispute.

Users must cooperate honestly with reasonable requests for information.

11. REVIEWS

Reviews must:

  • Reflect genuine experiences;
  • Be truthful;
  • Remain relevant to the transaction;
  • Not be deliberately misleading.

Users must not:

  • Create fake reviews;
  • Review their own listings;
  • Pay or offer incentives for positive reviews;
  • Threaten another user with a negative review;
  • Manipulate reviews to unfairly damage another user's reputation;
  • Use reviews to make unrelated personal attacks.

The Gym Market may remove reviews that are:

  • False;
  • Abusive;
  • Misleading;
  • Irrelevant;
  • Fraudulent;
  • In breach of these Community Standards.

12. COMMUNICATIONS AND PERSONAL INFORMATION

Users should only share information that is reasonably necessary to complete a transaction.

Users must not:

  • Request unnecessary sensitive personal information;
  • Share another user's personal information without permission;
  • Publish private information about another user;
  • Use information obtained through The Gym Market for harassment, spam or other inappropriate purposes.

Users should exercise caution when sharing:

  • Telephone numbers;
  • Addresses;
  • Financial information;
  • Identification documents;
  • Other sensitive information.

The Gym Market will not ask users to provide passwords or unnecessary payment credentials through messages.

13. MANIPULATION AND ABUSE OF THE PLATFORM

Users must not attempt to artificially manipulate Platform activity, including:

  • Views;
  • Enquiries;
  • Favourites;
  • Reviews;
  • Transactions;
  • Listings;
  • Account activity.

Users must not create multiple accounts for the purpose of manipulating Platform activity or circumventing restrictions.

14. ENFORCEMENT

The Gym Market may take action where we believe a user has breached these Community Standards.

Depending on the circumstances, action may include:

  • Warnings;
  • Removal of listings;
  • Removal of content;
  • Removal of reviews;
  • Temporary restrictions;
  • Transaction restrictions;
  • Suspension of payment functionality;
  • Suspension or delay of applicable seller payouts where permitted;
  • Account suspension;
  • Permanent bans;
  • Referral to payment providers;
  • Reporting suspected unlawful activity to relevant authorities.

We reserve the right to take action without prior notice where reasonably necessary to protect users, the Platform, payment systems or third parties.

The severity of the action may depend on:

  • The nature of the breach;
  • The user's history;
  • Whether the behaviour was deliberate;
  • Whether financial or physical harm was caused;
  • Whether the user cooperated with an investigation;
  • Whether the breach is repeated.

15. REPORTING

Users may report suspected violations through the Platform or by contacting The Gym Market Support Team.

Reports may relate to:

  • Fraud;
  • Unsafe equipment;
  • Prohibited items;
  • Misleading listings;
  • Payment abuse;
  • Harassment;
  • Suspicious behaviour;
  • Fake reviews;
  • Other violations of Platform policies.

The Gym Market may investigate reports at its discretion.

Users must not knowingly submit false or malicious reports against another user.

16. NO ENDORSEMENT

The Gym Market does not endorse, guarantee or independently verify every:

  • User;
  • Seller;
  • Listing;
  • Review;
  • Item;
  • Transaction.

The availability of integrated payment functionality or Buyer/Seller Protection does not mean that The Gym Market has inspected, certified or approved the equipment or seller.

Users remain responsible for conducting appropriate due diligence before entering into transactions.

17. POLICY ENFORCEMENT AND PAYMENT PROTECTION

Where a user breaches these Community Standards in connection with an on-platform transaction, The Gym Market may take appropriate action to protect other users and the integrity of the Platform.

Where permitted by the applicable payment provider, this may include:

  • Delaying or suspending a seller payout;
  • Restricting payment functionality;
  • Suspending a transaction;
  • Reviewing a Buyer or Seller Protection claim;
  • Providing relevant information to the payment provider;
  • Restricting the user's access to future payment-protected transactions.

The Gym Market does not guarantee that funds can always be withheld, recovered or reversed.

18. ACCOUNT RESPONSIBILITY

Users are responsible for activity conducted through their accounts.

Users must:

  • Keep account credentials secure;
  • Not share account access unnecessarily;
  • Notify The Gym Market if they suspect unauthorised access;
  • Ensure information associated with their account remains accurate.

The Gym Market may suspend an account where we reasonably believe that it has been compromised or is being used fraudulently.

19. LEGAL COMPLIANCE

Users must comply with all applicable laws and regulations when using The Gym Market.

Nothing on The Gym Market should be used to facilitate:

  • Fraud;
  • Theft;
  • Money laundering;
  • Sale of prohibited goods;
  • Other unlawful activity.

The Gym Market may report suspected unlawful activity to appropriate authorities where required or reasonably considered necessary.

20. POLICY CHANGES

The Gym Market reserves the right to update these Community Standards from time to time.

Where material changes are made, we may notify users through the Platform or by email.

The latest version will be published on the Platform.

21. RELATED POLICIES

These Community Standards should be read alongside:

  • The Gym Market Terms & Conditions;
  • Buyer Protection Policy;
  • Seller Protection Policy;
  • Returns & Disputes Policy;
  • Marketplace Safety & User Protection Policy;
  • Safety & Equipment Disclaimer Policy;
  • Prohibited Items Policy;
  • Privacy Policy;
  • Cookie Policy.

In the event of any inconsistency between this Policy and the Terms & Conditions, the Terms & Conditions shall take precedence.

22. CONTACT

If you have concerns about another user's behaviour, a listing, payment activity or another potential breach of these Community Standards, please contact:

Email: info@thegym-market.com