THE MARKET
How The Market Operates
The Market, as stated on our home page, is a place intended to bring buyers and sellers together in a manner that allows both parties to remain anonymous until such time as a buyer expresses interest in what a seller has to offer. Anyone can be a buyer. However, an individual must register to be a seller.
Communication
Buyers and sellers initially communicate via email when a (potential) buyer fills out a form (i.e., name, email address and a brief message) adjacent to an item they wish to purchase. Once submitted, an email is sent to the seller. This email tells the seller which item a buyer is interested in, the name of the buyer and any additional information the buyer shared in their brief message. At this point, it is up to the seller to contact the buyer. The seller can do this using the email address provided by the buyer or, if included in the buyer’s brief message, a phone number. The responsibilities of The Market are done at this point! It is up to the buyer and seller to agree on a price and a payment method (i.e., cash, check, etc.) as well as the method by which the seller will transfer the item to the buyer (e.g., ship to address, meet in person).
Registration
In order to be a seller, an individual must register. Registration is quite simple. The process only requires an individual to provide their first and last names, a phone number, an email address and a username. The only caveat is that an individual cannot use either an email address or username already in use by someone else. Before submitting a new registration, an individual must read and agree to the terms and conditions and the rules and regulations of The Market. After submitting a new registration, The Market will display the Logon page.
Change Your Password
As soon as an individual successfully completes registration, The Market sends an email that contains a rather cryptic password. Upon receipt of this email the newly registered individual is encouraged to logon, go to their Profile tab and change their password to something far less cryptic yet still secure and memorable. Password resets are also possible if a password is forgotten.
Hide Your Identity
When a newly registered individual changes their password, worth noting is a box titled “Hide Identity” accompanied by a brief description of what checking this box does. By default, The Market does not expose the name or phone number of registered individuals to others merely browsing the website. On the other hand, and again by default, The Market does expose both the name and phone number of registered individuals to other registered individuals who are logged on. Should a registered individual wish to hide that information from all others, whether logged on or not, they should check this box and click the “Update Account” button further down on the page.
Complete Your Profile
It is suggested that all newly registered individuals go to their Profile tab and enter their home address (i.e., street, city/town, state and zip code) and upload a photo (note: Photos are optional and only seen by the registered user.). By providing a home address, registered users save time when listing an item for sale since this required information is prefilled for them.
Navigation
No GPS needed! When not logged on, a user can find every approved listing on The Market by selecting Listings from the Main Menu and then selecting either View All Listings or View All Categories. Additionally, by selecting My Account from the Main Menu an unregistered user may select Register and go through that process. This option is not available to logged on users for obvious reasons. When logged on, a user can update their Profile, view their Listings or contact the website administrator by selecting My Account from the Main Menu and then selecting Dashboard. Logged on users will quickly learn that their Dashboard is the home of all their personal Profile and Listings.
Listing an Item for Sale
Once logged in, a registered user sees their Dashboard as well as tabs for Listings, Profile and Contact. To list an item for sale, go to the Listings tab. Under the Listings tab select the “Add New Listing” button. Once you do, you will be asked to select a Listing Type of Buy, Sell or Exchange (i.e., trade). Next you will be asked to select a Category from a list of predefined boating-related categories. At this point, you are asked to enter a Title (e.g., Child’s Life Jacket) for your Listing, a Price Type (i.e., Fixed or Negotiable) and Price. Once entered, add a Description sufficient to draw buyers to the item you are listing. To whatever degree possible, include in each description the following: make, model, manufacturer’s part number and condition (i.e., new, very good, good or fair). Also, it is strongly recommended that you upload an image (5 MB or less) of the item you are listing. If no photo accompanies the description of an item for sale, a photo of a magnificent blue heron perched atop a work platform at Bohemia Bay Yacht Harbour will accompany the description of the item for sale. Once your description is complete and image uploaded, review the Contact Details that follow. If you completed your Profile as previously recommended, these are prefilled for you. If not, you will need to enter them at this time. Additionally, should you wish to change your Contact Details you are free to do so. Finally, you will need to check the boxes indicating that you have read and agree to terms and conditions and the rules and regulations of The Market at Bohemia Bay. After doing so, press Submit (or Cancel).
Upon submission of a new listing you may encounter an error message. If that occurs, please revisit the description of your item. Every description undergoes scrutiny for your protection as well as that of others. You may find that replacing a common symbol (e.g., a single quote) with an alphabetic alternative (e.g., ft.) is all that is needed to make an error message go away. So, if you encounter an error message, make small changes and press Submit again.
Once you submit a new listing, it must be reviewed by an individual charged with that responsibility. This review serves to ensure that only listings that comply with the terms and conditions and the rules and regulations are seen by other users. This same individual may make minor edits if helpful or send an email to you if more substantial changes are necessary. In any case, only after a successful review will a listing be published for other users to see.
Should you sell an item listed for sale, it benefits all users if you delete the item from your Listings. Whether you do or not, any item listed for sale is deleted automatically 90 days after it was published (i.e., listed and reviewed).
Buying an Item for Sale
Whether logged on or not, the process of expressing interest in an item you wish to buy is the same. Locate the item, select it and then email the seller using the “Contact” form on the page and the link captioned “Email Seller”. In some cases, there may be an option to call the seller. As previously mentioned, the responsibilities of The Market are done at this point!
To find items of interest, The Market offers robust search functionality which allows you to filter listings by Category, Type (i.e., Buy, Sell, Exchange) and/or Keyword.
Leaving The Market
Should a registered user wish delete their account on The Market, they should follow these steps. After logging on, go to the Listings tab and delete any listings that remain. Next, go to the Contact tab. Write and submit a message asking the website administrator to delete the account with the name, email address and phone number associated with the account.
Handling Technical or Functional Problems
Only registered users may contact the website administrator should they encounter technical or functional problems. Under no circumstances should anyone attempt to contact the staff at Bohemia Bay Yacht Harbour. They are not available to answer questions nor are they prepared to do so. Your cooperation with this simple request is greatly appreciated.
Personal Safety
Inevitably a seller will encounter a buyer unknown to them. When this happens, a seller can always decline the buyer’s offer. Alternatively, if interested in completing the sale, the seller should consider the following safety tips.
- Meet in a public place and bring a friend.
- Tell others where you are going and why.
- Avoid inviting strangers into your home.
- Require a secure form of payment (e.g., cash, digital wallet).
- Carry a mobile phone.
Tracking
Many commercial websites track individuals in order to target their advertising. The Market does not track individuals for this purpose. Any tracking by The Market only serves to help the website Administrator understand how individuals make use of the website.
Our Sponsor
The Market, as stated on our home page, is sponsored by and affiliated with Bohemia Bay Yacht Harbour. As such, and as a courtesy, you will find at the bottom of each page information on the hours of operation of their facilities as well as the means to contact them by either phone or email. Be sure to follow them on Facebook too!