Gumtree
Friday 8 January, 2021
Greater Brisbane Trading Update
We are encouraging all Gummies in the Greater Brisbane area to read the latest government guidelines before completing face to face trading through Gumtree. The health and safety of our community is our number one priority and we encourage you to check the QLD Government site for restrictions that may apply to your location as you conduct trading.
Please continue to be COVID safe and follow our safety tips as outlined below. We will continue to update our community with relevant guidelines and safety precautions as the situation evolves.
For further help with anything on Gumtree, please search our Help Centre or Contact Us online. We appreciate our community's cooperation in keeping everyone safe during this challenging time.
Monday 4 January, 2021
NSW Trading Update
The health and safety of our community is our number one priority. With the NSW Government continuing to update its COVID-19 restrictions, we encourage you to check the NSW Government site as you conduct face to face trading.
Please continue to be COVID safe and follow our safety tips as outlined below, with particular mention to Gummies trading within Sydney's Northern Beaches and Greater Sydney, Central Coast and Wollongong regions. We will continue to update our community with relevant guidelines and safety precautions as the situation evolves.
For further help with anything on Gumtree, please search our Help Centre or Contact Us online. We appreciate our community's cooperation in keeping everyone safe during this challenging time.
Gumtree Safe Trading Tips
Tip #1: Wash hands before & after you meet up to trade
If you need to meet in-person, wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap, or use an alcohol-based rub, before and after every Gumtree exchange. Check local government restrictions and consider wearing a face mask during the trade.
Tip #2: Clean items
Whether you're buying or selling, clean items as per product care instructions or with regular household cleaners. When holding a car inspection have the vehicle ready at a convenient location, cleaning the keys, steering wheel and console.
Tip #3: Do a video inspection
To reduce physical contact, offer or request a virtual inspection of an item. Avoid filters and aim for daylight.
Tip #4: Consider delivery
To help facilitate reliable and safe contactless delivery for trading on Gumtree during the pandemic, consider using Sendle to organise delivery of your goods. Sendle offers a door-to-door service and a free upgrade to premium membership to all Gummies looking for a convenient and safe delivery alternative. As an essential service, Sendle has ensured its operations are in line with COVID-19 measures implemented by the federal and state governments.
Tip #5: Schedule a personalised car dealer visit
To minimise physical contact, we encourage you to make a personalised appointment time with car dealers, or request a virtual inspection. Many dealerships are still trading with sales staff flexible to arrange alternative options, should you prefer not to attend the dealership in person.
Tip #6: Rate, don't shake
The best way to reduce the spread of germs and disease is to keep your hands clean, avoid direct contact and maintain 1.5m social distancing wherever possible. So instead of the classic handshake, rate your interaction on Gumtree, or simply give a wave or thumbs up.
Tip #7: Pay & be paid with PayPal
We recommend using contactless digital payments for Gumtree transactions where possible. PayPal is a Gumtree partner - it's easy to connect PayPal to your Gumtree account. Remember to inform your fellow Gummies you'd like contactless payment when negotiating the price.
Tip #8: Act responsibly
Consider the wellbeing of the community and stay home if you or one of your family/friends are sick. Simply pause your listing or delay your purchase until everyone in your household is better. We will continue to take the lead of the World Health Organization and the Australian Government and update our safe trading tips as needed.
Friday 18 December, 2020
NSW Trading Update
The health and safety of our community is our number one priority. As of Friday 18th December 2020, the NSW Government updated its COVID-19 restrictions advising that all people living in Sydney's Northern Beaches should stay at home and only leave when absolutely necessary. During this difficult time, we want to encourage our community of users who live in Sydney's Northern Beaches to do their bit and not arrange to meet face-to-face to trade at this time, however please feel free to continue listing items and browsing the site. For everyone else in greater Sydney, please continue to be COVID safe and follow our safety tips as outlined below. For more information and updates please visit NSW Health.
We will continue to update our community with relevant guidelines and safety precautions as the situation evolves.
For further help with anything on Gumtree, please search our Help Centre or Contact Us online. We appreciate our community's cooperation in keeping everyone safe during this challenging time.
Monday 14 December, 2020
SA Trading Update
As a community platform, the health and wellbeing of our community of users is our main priority.
We are encouraging all Gummies in South Australia to read the latest government guidelines before trading through Gumtree, available here https://www.covid-19.sa.gov.au/response. The South Australian Government is asking all citizens to maintain social distancing of 1.5 metres and whilst it is not mandatory, is recommending the community wear a mask when out in public.
It is important we all do our bit to keep the community safe when trading. We thank you for your continued cooperation during what was been a challenging time for many and encourage you to continue following COVID safety tips and guidelines.
If you need help with anything on Gumtree, you can search our Help Centre. If you can't find what you're looking for you can Contact Us online.
Tuesday 28 October, 2020
VIC Trading Update
The health and safety of our community is always our number one priority. As of 11:59pm 27th October 2020, the Victorian Government updated its COVID-19 restrictions for Metropolitan Melbourne. In order to do your bit to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we urge our Victorian users to read government guidelines before trading through Gumtree, available here. The Victorian Government states specific instructions such as: to wear masks in public; meet outside; wash hands regularly and maintain social distancing.
Gumtree wants to support and connect community members after this hard time so let's all do our bit to keep the community safe, when trading. If you need help with anything on Gumtree, you can search our Help Centre. If you can't find what you're looking for you can Contact Us online.
Friday 31 July, 2020
Gumtree Policy Updates
To ensure users aren’t capitalising on misfortune of the current health crisis or putting younger children at risk, we're temporarily banning the listings of toddler and baby face masks, including any mention of smaller sizing of children’s face masks for under two year-olds.
This follows as the Victorian Department of Health announced that children under the age of two shouldn't be wearing masks due to choking and strangulation risks. See further information here.
This is in addition to the temporary ban on listings for health care masks including N95/N100 and surgical masks, hand sanitiser/gel, disinfecting wipes and toilet paper which was implemented on Friday 20 March and the update of banning disposable medical protection gowns and gloves on Wednesday 8 April.
Updated list of banned items:
- Toilet paper
- Health care and surgical masks including N95/N100
- Children's face masks for under two year olds
- Hand sanitiser/gel
- Disinfecting wipes
- Disposable medical protection gowns & gloves
Monday 1 June, 2020
Important information regarding safely trading pets on Gumtree
Scamwatch has recently reported an increase in puppy scams in April 2020, noting it is currently five times higher than scams that took place in April 2019. At Gumtree we want to ensure we're providing a place for safe and successful trading within the community.
The pet scamming adverts to be aware of are targeting pet buyers. If you've seen or responded to a listing that is deemed suspicious, unlawful or goes against our posting policies, please report it immediately via our Help page here.
Providing a safe platform for the responsible trading of pets is a priority for Gumtree. Whilst most users have a positive and successful trading experience on Gumtree, it is important to understand how to avoid a pet scam.
The first signs of a scam to be aware of include:
1. Vague descriptions or generic imagery or strange website URL
2. Request for money immediately or a deposit for new costs due to COVID-19 animal treatments needed
3. Poor seller history, lack of proof of identity or low rating on Gumtree profile
4. Links to third party payment from a BulkSmS or unknown email address, especially through electronic transfer such as MoneyGram
To understand more about safely trading pets at this time, read our Safe Trading tips here.
Update: To better protect animal welfare and support responsible trading under our Gumtree Pets Code of Practice, Gumtree will be testing a mandatory insertion fee across all pets and animal listings on our platform from 1 July 2020. As a significant and deliberate shift away from Gumtree's 'free for all users' model, the insertion fee will help filter out irresponsible buyers and sellers, including frivolous posters, while ensuring that serious and considered trades can still be carried out.
Bidet-related listings associated with COVID-19
The current COVID-19 pandemic has seen an increase in demand for plumbing products including toilet seat bidet douches, handheld bidet sprays and trigger sprays, and other bidet type products that are connected to toilet water supply outlets.
We want to remind our community of the legal requirements when selling bidet products:
- The bidet product being listed on Gumtree, or its packaging, needs to be marked with the WaterMark certification trademark and a licence number.
- Listings relating to bidet products cannot be false or misleading suggesting they are suitable for Do It Yourself (DIY) installation if they are not and require installation by a licensed plumber.
DIY installations of plumbing and drainage work, including bidet products, could put the health and safety of you and your family at risk and are illegal.
We encourage users to continue to flag any ads they deem incorrect, misleading or deceptive to our Help Desk including those that breach our Policies or Terms of Use.
