Rules The Trading Post: General Rules & Guidelines

[Zwielicht]

Trading Post Version 1.5​

Welcome to the Office Outlaw Trading Post! In our Trading Post, you can submit service listings (subject to approval), form partnerships, start Tribunal proceedings against another outlaw, and post wanted threads for goods and services.

If you're interested in submitting a listing, then ensure you read chapters 1 and 2 as well as whichever chapter pertains to your specific service. For instance, if you want to list your web hosting service, chapters 1, 2, and 10 are what you would want to read.

Be aware that we're still developing our Trading Post procedures as we work our way to Trading Post 2.0. This includes how the reviews are formatted and rejection reasons.

Index

1. Basic Information
2. General Rules
3. Signature Rentals
4. SEO Services Rules
5. Web Design Services Rules
6. Software Services Rules
7. Social Media Services Rules
8. Content Services Rules
9. Proxy Services Rules
10. Hosting Providers Rules
11. Domain & Website Listings Rules
12. Graphic Design Services Rules
13. Miscellaneous
14. Partnerships
15. Trading Post Review Copies
16. The Tribunal Rules

 

[Zwielicht]

Chapter 1: Basic Information​

There's some basic information you should about The Trading Post before you submit a listing.

Section 1: Requirements To Submit a Listing For Pre-Approval
The requirements to submit a listing to the Trading Post is as follows:

• Be Sapphire Eligible (30 trophy points and a 60 day old account).
• Have no active notice points for rule violations on your profile

It's done this way to ensure that only our community members can submit a listing. You'll know when you're Sapphire Eligible when you receive a trophy for it, which you'll be alerted of. If you believe you missed the alert, there's a trophy section on your profile that you can search.

Section 2: Requirements For a Listing To Go Live
If your listing is pre-approved, you'll need one of the following membership levels before our staff will set it live in the Service Listings section:

• Sapphire Status: This costs $100/annually and requires you to have a 60 day old account with 30 trophy points to be eligible to purchase. OR...
• Founding Member Status: This was only given to a handful of people who helped build up this forum.

Section 3: Trading Post Listing Fees
The Trading Post has a simple $20 annual listing fee for every listing.

Section 4: How To Submit a Listing
To submit a listing for pre-approval, you must go to the Pre-Approval Listing Submissions section. Listings submitted to this section can only be seen by you and the moderators. In other words, you cannot see listings created by other members.

In the editor, create a title for your listing and select the best prefix that fits your type of sales listing. If none of the options fit your sales listing, simply select "Other" and the staff will create a new prefix if your listing is approved.

Next, fill out the details for your listing going over your pricing, how to order, etc. All of the fields above "How to Order" will appear in your sales listing if it's approved. However, the fields below this are three simple questions regarding your product or service for the administrators to review. These fields will not show up in an approved listing and are simply there for the review, as explained in their descriptions on the new thread page.

Section 5: Review Process
The pre-approval review process is quite simple! After you submit your listing for pre-approval, all you need to do is submit a portfolio showcasing your work.

We do have an expectation that your portfolio is representative of every package or item you offer in your sales listing. If a Trading Post staff member requires more information, they'll let you know in the approval thread.

Be aware that no service is guaranteed approval. If your service is not approved due to not meeting our standards, you will be unable to submit any new listings for review over the next 1 week. Note that this does not reject any other current listings you have in the queue.

Section 6: Escrow Required For Specific Services
For services we've identified as being high-risk or one-off expensive transactions (i.e., whole websites), we'll require the trader to use an escrow service to complete the transaction.

Unfortunately, we can't do escrows ourselves at this time, so you'll need to find one on your own.

Section 7: No-Tell Registry & Prohibited Services
Any products or services in our No-Tell Registry are prohibited in The Trading Post.

 

[Zwielicht]

Chapter 2: General Rules​

Section 1: Prohibited Products & Services
Before you submit a listing, you should know that products and services mentioned in the No-Tell Registry are automatically banned from The Trading Post.

Additionally, the following types of products and services are prohibited from The Trading Post:

Product/Service​

Reason​

TrustPilot/Google/Yelp/Other Review Platform Reviews	2024 FTC Ruling banning fake reviews.
Any Services You Don't Own	This means you can fully manage orders, deliveries, and transactions.

Section 2: Basic Listing Requirements

1. All content must be in English.
2. Services must be completed; please do not submit half-finished products and services to The Trading Post to get us to beta test them.
3. We allow reviews from third-party review sites (i.e., not your own website) and reviews from Office Outlaw.
4. Any joint venture partners who are members of this forum must also have Sapphire Status and be mentioned in your listing.
5. Related services can be lumped together, but garage listings filled with unrelated services are not permitted.
   • Example: Reddit accounts and graphic design services should be separate threads
6. You may not create duplicate listings for the same product or service that you offer.
   • This includes duplicate listings across any alt accounts you have here.
7. You may not copy the listing of another trader.
8. Traders may not request IDs or legal documents to fulfil their service.
9. Please do not resubmit a listing that has already been rejected.
   • This includes listings that were rejected for quality issues.
10. You may not use brand names, celebrity names, or other copyrighted or trademarked material in your thread titles or sales copy in a promotional or misleading way.
    • Permitted exceptions include neutral, factual use such as “Instagram accounts for sale.”
    • This rule exists to reduce the risk of secondary liability under Safe Harbour provisions.
11. At no point can listings make claims about staff or Office Outlaw itself.
    • Example 1: statements such as being the most trusted, most popular, or best-rated service on the forum are prohibited.
    • Example 2: claiming that the service is loved or vouched for by specific staff members.

Section 3: Review Requirements

1. Any downloads must be uploaded to an approved file hosting site and scanned with an approved virus scanner.
2. Traders may not request IDs or legal documents from staff or members.

Section 4: Rules For Customers

1. You may leave up to 1 negative review or 1 positive review per listing
2. You may not hijack a listing by attempting to sell your own product or service in a listing you do not open.

Section 5: Rules For Managing Listings

1. You may post a promotional advertisement or a grouped quote response in your listing once every 24 hours.

Section 6: Recommendations For Traders
The following are not strictly rules, but rather recommendations to ensure that you provide the best experience possible to prospects.

1. Check your sales copy against both the light and dark theme.
2. Ensure that your sales copy does not have any text that's difficult to read (this includes text that's the same colour as the background)

Section 7: Listing Bumping
Our listing bumping rules in The Trading Post are simple:

1. All members can only create three posts in the entire Service Listings section once every 24 hours. This is set up this way to prevent spam from both traders and "customers".
2. This is an automatic feature, so there's no need to worry about violating this rule.

Section 8: Sales Listing Closures
Sales listings can be closed for one of three reasons. Regardless of the reason, all closed sales listings are moved to the Archived Service Listings.

Section 8.1: Expired
These listings simply expired as the trader didn't pay the renewal fee.

These listings can be reopened by paying the renewal fee so long as it's the same service. To do this, just submit another thread for the same service to the pre-approvals section.

Section 8.2: No Longer Available
These service listings were closed early by the request of the trader.

As long as these services haven't expired, they can be reopened by sending a support ticket into our support desk.

Section 8.3: Permanently Closed
These listings have been permanently closed by staff either due to the service going down or complaints about the quality of the service. They cannot be reopened.

Traders with closed listings cannot submit a new listing for the same service to this section. In other words, this service is permanently banned from the platform.

Section 9: Pre-Approval Rejection Reasons
The Office Outlaw staff reserve the right to reject a sales listing for any reason. We value the integrity of our Trading Post and expect only quality services that are as advertised to be submitted.

For all but rejections by request, a 0-point, 1-week notice will be applied to your profile, preventing you from submitting any new sales listings during the time it's active. Any active sales listings submitted before this notice will still be reviewed.

• Quality Issues: If the service simply is not as advertised.
• Professional Issues: If the trader behaves unprofessionally (i.e., insults staff, rushes the review, etc).
• Unresponsive: If a seller is unresponsive during the pre-approval process, such as by taking long that 3 days to respond.
• Duplicate Service: If you already have a sales listing for this service in The Trading Post.
• Prohibited Service: If a service is prohibited on our platform (e.g., illegal services).
• Incomplete Service: If a service is incomplete or it appears that a trader is attempting to beta test their service using our review process.
• By Request: If a trader requests that the review be cancelled for their own reasons, they can do so and this will be the rejected reason. A notice will not be issued for sales listing rejection.

 

[Zwielicht]

Chapter 3: Signature Rentals​

Section 1: Signature Rental Listings
We allows members to rent out their signatures here on Office Outlaw. Some members simply advertise this in their signature spaces, but others like to create listings in order to attract advertisers.

Pre-approvals for this are simple: just don't violate any rules in our TOS.

1. There are no extra rules for signature rental threads.

 

[Zwielicht]

Chapter 4: SEO Services Rules​

Section 1: Guest Posting Services
These types of services consist of doing outreach to other websites to get a customer a backlink.

1. If you advertise a list of potential guest posting websites, we will need to see the full list during the pre-approval review process in addition to your portfolio.
2. Do not disguise a private blog network as a guest posting service as your service will be rejected if we see tell-tale signs of a PBN.

Section 2: Niche Edits
Providers of niche edits reach out to other websites to have an aged or existing article on the site edited to include a link to a customer's site.

1. Injected links are not permitted. If we see any signs of injected links, your listing will be rejected.
2. We must be able to verify that the article existed prior to the service being delivered (e.g., through web caching services).

Section 3: Private Blog Networks
Private blog networks, or PBNs for short, are networks of blogs owned by a single person or company. People who own these blog networks allow customers to buy link placements on their blog network.

1. We thoroughly scrutinise PBNs, especially if you advertise it as "footprint-free". If your PBN is not as advertised, your listing will be rejected.

Section 4: Third-Party Metric Services
These are service to increase third-party metrics such as domain authority, page authority, or site speed.

1. We need to see evidence that the metric has increased and that it was a result of your service in your portfolio.

Section 5: Web 2.0s
These services offer backlinks built using quickly-made blog sites like Wordpress.com.

1. We expect Niche-relevant claims to actually be relevant to the niche of the websites in your portfolio

 

[Zwielicht]

Chapter 5: Web Design Services Rules​

Section 1: General Web Design Services
If you build WordPress, bespoke websites, Wix, Weebly, or other types of sites; then your services fits under this category.

1. Websites in your portfolio cannot have any plagiarised content. This is a liability for the customer, and is therefore not allowed.
2. Websites in your portfolio cannot use any copyrighted images or logos. This is a liability for the customer, and is therefore not allowed.
   • Bespoke web design services must be made from scratch and not use themes.

 

[Zwielicht]

Chapter 6: Software Services Rules​

Section 1: General Software
If your software doesn't fit under any other category, then follow these rules.

1. In your portfolio, we need to be able to see how your software works and that it does indeed work.
2. Your portfolio should include a virus scan of the latest version of your software.

Section 2: Link Indexing Software
These are the rules for linked indexing software.

1. Your portfolio should include a virus scan of the latest version of your software.

Section 3: Social Media Account Management Software
Some traders offer social media account management software to schedule posts or simply to just easily access the accounts.

1. We need to see evidence that your software can manage social media accounts from the sites you advertise.
2. Your portfolio should include a virus scan of the latest version of your software.

 

[Zwielicht]

Chapter 7: Social Media Services Rules​

As a general rule for social media accounts, accounts cannot be cracked/hacked or compromised in any way. This will result in an automatic rejection.

Section 1: Facebook Accounts
No extra rules.

Section 2: Instagram Accounts
No extra rules.

Section 3: Reddit Accounts
No extra rules.

Section 4: YouTube Accounts
No extra rules.

Section 5: Social Media Growth Services

1. You must state somewhere in your sales listing whether or not you're building the account with real or fake followers. If you're using a mixture of both, you can also just state that.

 

[Zwielicht]

Chapter 8: Content Services Rules​

Section 1: AI Content Writing Services
If your services uses AI to write content in any regard, then it's considered an AI content writing service.

1. Even if your content only partly uses AI, we expect it to be listed under this category.
2. Excluding quotes, we expect a plagiarism score of 99%+ for articles in your portfolio and we will check this ourselves.
3. You are welcome to use your favourite AI detector tool to show that this content passes any checks.

Section 2: Human Content Writing Services
If your service is written by a human and AI is not used during any part of the writing process, then it's considered human-written content.

1. If any part of your content is written with AI, it should not be advertised as human-written content.
2. Excluding quotes, we expect a plagiarism score of 99%+ for articles in your portfolio.

Section 3: Spun Content
Spun content takes existing content and "spins" it into what comes across as unique content by swapping synonyms and sentences, among other tactics.

1. Your sales listing must state if your content is spun by hand or through software.

Section 4: SEO Content
This is content written with SEO in mind. There's usually a keyword that's the focus on the article, optimised headings, etc.

1. Excluding quotes, we expect a plagiarism score of 99%+ for SEO content in your portfolio.

Section 5: Copywriting Services
Not to be confused with content writing services, copywriting services focus on writing content for sales copies and ads.

1. Excluding quotes, we expect a plagiarism score of 99%+ for copywriting content in your portfolio.

 

[Zwielicht]

Chapter 9: Proxy Services Rules​

Section 1: Proxies
Proxies servers act as intermediaries between the user and a website, making it appear as if a user is browsing from a different IP and location.

1. Proxies must not leak the real IP of the user.
2. If specific use-cases or websites are advertised as working with these proxies, then we need to see evidence of this in your portfolio.

Section 2: VPNs
VPNs function similarly to proxies, although they also have an added benefit of encrypting your internet traffic as well.

1. We expect to see evidence that the VPN to be fully-functional.
2. VPNs must not leak the real IP of the user.
3. If specific use-cases or websites are advertised as working with your VPN, then we need to see evidence of this in your portfolio.

 

[Zwielicht]

Section 10: Hosting Providers Rules​

Section 1: Shared Hosting
Shared hosting have multiple websites on the same physical server, and these websites all share the same resources.

1. The OS of the server must be specified in your sales listing.

Section 2: Dedicated Hosting
Unlike shared hosting, dedicated servers are physical servers that server a single client.

1. No additional rules

Section 3: Virtual Private Servers
VPS' create a private server environment on a physical server. Multiple customers may use the same physical server, but resources are not shared and are instead allocated virutally.

1. If managed, the OS of the server must be specified in your sales listing.

 

[Zwielicht]

Chapter 11: Domain & Website Listings Rules​

Section 1: Single Domain
Sometimes, someone wants to sell a single domain. In this case, there isn't a website that comes with the domain.

1. Proof of ownership over the domain must be provided during the pre-approval process.

Section 2: Bulk Domains
If you're selling more than one domain, it counts as selling bulk domains.

1. Proof of ownership over the domains must be provided during the pre-approval process.

Section 3: Full Websites
If you're selling a domain that comes with a website, then it falls under this category.

1. Proof of ownership over the domain must be provided during the pre-approval process.
2. Proof of monetary claims must be provided during the pre-approval process.
3. Proof of traffic claims must be provided during the pre-approval process.
4. Images, videos, and content must be original; ownership must be demonstrated for any images or videos that have been purchased.

 

[Zwielicht]

Chapter 12: Graphic Design Services Rules​

Section 1: Logo Design
If you design logos, then your service should follow the rules below.

1. You must have created the logos in your portfolio.
2. Text logos must use non-copyrighted font, such as Arial.
3. If you use AI to design the logo, this must be stated in your sales listing.

Section 2: AI Image Editing
If you're using AI to edit an image, then it falls under this category.

1. We expect these to be of professional quality. Streaks or other obvious errors will count against you and may result in a rejection.

Section 3: Human Image Editing
If you're editing an image yourself or with a team, then it counts as human image editing.

1. We expect these to be of professional quality. Streaks or other obvious errors will count against you and may result in a rejection.

 

[Zwielicht]

Chapter 13: Miscellaneous​

Section 1: Affiliate Programs
If you're looking for affiliates for your website, product, or service; then the rules below must be followed.

1. Access to affiliate tools must be provided during the pre-approval process.

Section 2: Business Listing Optimisation
These services improve the way business listings read or appear in search results.

1. We must see a before and after in your portfolio of how you optimised the business listing.

Section 3: E-mail Lists
Some people sell e-mail lists, and if you're one of them, then please read the rule below.

1. Because of the CAN-SPAM act, we legally require you to have explicit permission to sell the list from every individual on your e-mail list.

Section 4: E-mail List Cleaning Services
E-mail list cleaning services remove bad or invalid submissions from e-mail lists.

1. No extra rules

Section 5: GPL services
These services offer plugins, themes, or software that have GPL licensing.

1. No extra rules

Section 6: Google Business Pins
If you offer to create pins for Google business listings, the rules below apply.

1. No extra rules.

Section 7: VCCs/VBAs
VCCs and VBAs are useful when someone doesn't want to use their regular card numbers or banking information. If you offer this kind of service, read the rules below.

1. These cannot use real people's information in any regard. This is identity theft and against the rules here.

Section 8: Video Services
If you make or edit videos, the rules below apply.

1. No extra rules

Section 9: Virtual Assistants
Whether you set people up with a VA or you act as a VA yourself, the rules below apply.

1. Be sure to state if you're the VA or if you have a team of VAs.

 

[Zwielicht]

Chapter 14: Partnerships Rules​

Howdy, partner!

Are you looking for an outlaw to team up with for your next project? Then the Partnerships section is the right place to post.

But before you post in this section, we just have four simple rules we want you to keep in mind.

1. Please do not sell in this section.
   • This includes charging someone to be a partner.
   • If you want a sales listing, you need to post one in The Trading Post.
2. Please do not use this section to look for goods and services.
   • We have a section for that already called Wanted: Goods & Services.
3. Financial investments are prohibited.
   • This means asking you cannot ask others to invest in your product or service.
4. Ensure you use select the correct prefix out of the 3 options we have.
   • Skills Trade: If you're looking for someone with specific skills, choose this prefix.
   • Resource Collab: If you're looking for someone who has a resource you need (e.g., they have a lot of proxies and you have a lot social media accounts), choose this prefix
   • General Collab: If it doesn't fit anywhere else or you're looking for multiple things in a partner, choose this prefix.

That's it! Now get on out there and find yourself a partner! Yeehaw!

 

[Zwielicht]

Chapter 15: Trading Post Review Copies​

1. Authentic Feedback Only
   • Requests for fake reviews or any form of dishonest feedback are not allowed. All feedback should be genuine and based on actual experience with the service or product.
   • Additionally, if you're taking this and are required to leave feedback, you must leave feedback. Otherwise, expect the Trader to leave negative feedback on your profile.
2. Respect and Professionalism
   • Maintain a respectful and professional demeanor in all interactions. Personal attacks, harassment, or offensive language will not be tolerated.
3. Compliance with General Forum Rules
   • All general forum rules apply to feedbacks. Please make sure any content in here adheres to our Terms and Rules.
4. Delivery Is Required
   • If you're sending someone something for a review, you must deliver what you say you're going to deliver and nothing else.
   • Non-delivery or abuse of offering feedback may result in action being taken against your account or sales listing.

 

[Zwielicht]

Chapter 16: The Tribunal Rules​

The Tribunal section here on Office Outlaw is a place where you can submit a thread to ask our moderators for help in settling a dispute.

When you start a tribunal thread, please title your thread "Your Username v. Their Username". Don't worry if you forget to do this as a moderator will adjust the thread title for you.

Aside from the title, there are required fields to fill out with each submission:

• A summary of the issue. Just briefly describe what the issue is. There's a 500-character limit applied to the field.
• Has the other party been informed of your intentions to submit a tribunal thread?
• What do you need to consider this dispute as resolved?

If you forget to fill these out, a notice will simply appear letting you know that they need to be filled out before the thread can go into our approval queue.

As for the thread content itself, we don't have a strict format here, just let provide us with any additional information that you feel could help us resolve the issue faster. Just be aware that you should stick the facts and avoid overloading our moderators with hundreds of screenshots as this will only slow down the process.

The Tribunal Process
Our Tribunal Process is quite simple!

1. You submit a thread to The Tribunal, which then goes into our queue.
2. A moderator will review your Tribunal thread. If more information is required, the moderator will send a direct message to you to inquire about this.
3. If enough information is present, a moderator will start a conversation between you, the other party, and the themself.
4. If the issue is resolved, The Tribunal will go into The Tribunal Archive, which only moderators and above have access to.
5. If the other party is unwilling to resolve the case, we will unfortunately have to ban them from Office Outlaw and The Tribunal thread will go live in this section to alert the community.