TheGoodDeal.co.uk answers your questions

It is easy, fast and free to advertise on TheGoodDeal.co.uk. Just click on "Post a Free Ad" to access the posting form.

My Location:

Enter the city or postcode where you want to sell your items or services. For your safety, the chosen location will be approximately indicated by a coloured circle on the map at the bottom of your ad page.

My information:

It is essential to provide a phone number so that TheGoodDeal.co.uk can contact you in case of problems with your account. Entering a Skype username is optional. You can choose not to show your phone number to other website users by selecting "Hide phone number" when posting your ad or at any time on the section "My Personal Details" of "My Account". A special number will be provided for you to be contacted.

When writing the title of your ad, be sure to use words or phrases that describe exactly what you are offering or looking for, and avoid general terms such as 'Purchase' or 'Sale'.

TheGoodDeal.co.uk advises you to add as much detailed information as possible in the text of your ad. Try to answer in advance any questions that interested users may have. Attention: also make ensure that the content of your ad meets our General Conditions of Sale available at the validation stage of your ad or here.

TheGoodDeal.co.uk protects your email address from spam, allowing you to be contacted via a response form. It is therefore advisable not to include your email address in the description of your ad.

Any content type code or HTML tags will automatically be deleted.

By selecting "I accept swap proposal", you agree to be contacted by other users to offer goods in exchange for the items you advertise.

You can add up to 3 pictures in GIF, BMP, PNG or JPEG format to your ad in our categories. On the 'Post a Free Ad' page, click the button "Choose File", then select "Add this photo". Professional advertisers can upload up to 5 free pictures. You can increase the visibility of your ad by subscribing to 'Extra Picture Package'.

Click on "Edit" or "Back" from the second page of the posting form to change the information on the previous page. If, due to the use of certain browsers, the content of the form was deleted, try clicking again on "Next" to find your information.

Posting and ad on TheGoodDeal.co.uk is completely FREE.

An ad posted on TheGoodDeal.co.uk will be live for a period of 90 days before being removed from the list of results. You will be able to remove your ad at any time during its publication. After these 90 days, your ad will remain in your Showcase under 'Expired'. You can then republish it by simply clicking on "Renew this ad."

Any subscription to an option or paying Pack on TheGoodDeal.co.uk will extend the 90-day duration of the ad from the purchase date, with the exception of the Holiday Rental Package which will be of six months from the date of purchase.

When you post your first ad, we will send you an email to the address you signed up with. This email helps us check we have the correct address. This is important to make sure you receive the responses to you ad. If you don't receive this email, check your spam or junk filters. You can also check your sign up form to make sure you there's not a typo in the email address listed for your account.

Registration is automatic when you post an ad on TheGoodDeal.co.uk.

It is also possible to create an account before posting your first ad by selecting "No account yet" after clicking "Connect " or " My Account".

Then you just need to provide an email address, create a password and accept the General Conditions of Use on TheGoodDeal.co.uk also available here.

If you have a Facebook account, you can automatically create your account on TheGoodDeal.co.uk by selecting "Connect with Facebook". After you click 'Accept' your account on TheGoodDeal.co.uk will be created with the same email address and the same password as your Facebook account.

You will receive an email with an activation link. By clicking on this link, your registration will be confirmed. If this link is not validated within 7 days, your account will not be activated.

You can then add or modify your personal information on the section 'My personal details' of your TheGoodDeal.co.uk account.

A Showcase is a free and customisable space that you can access after posting your first ad on TheGoodDeal.co.uk.

A Showcase allows you to:

For your display to appear on the results list, you 'll need a minimum of 8 active ads in your account (excluding ads posted in the "Free Personals" category).

Then simply complete the profile for your display (description, choice of profile picture and background). It will be published after completion of 100%.

You can see a preview of your Showcase by clicking on "View". Only your active ads will be public.

On the section ‘My Showcase’, you can change the status of your ads or subscribe to options to promote your ads. To perform the same action on multiple listings, simply select the ads of your choice before specifying the action you want to perform.

An ad may appear in five different states: In Moderation, Online, Sold, Exchanged or Expired.

Can I change the status of an ad In Moderation?

To change the status of an ad recently posted, you must wait until it has been validated by our moderation team.

How do I indicate that my item has been sold?

Change the status of your ad from "Online" to "Sold". Then fill in the selling price of your item to add this amount to your total sales.

How do I indicate my item has been exchanged?

Change the status of your ad from "Online" to "Exchanged" to update the total of your traded items.

An ad posted on TheGoodDeal.co.uk will remain online for a period of 90 days (except Holiday Rental Package ads). After 90 days it will disappear from the list of results.

Your ad will be stored in your account, on the section 'My Showcase' until you choose to delete it. To repost your ad for free for a period of three months without having to edit your ad, simply select "Renew this ad." You can repeat this action as many times as desired.

After selecting the ad you want to delete, go to 'Status', then select 'Delete'. Warning: when selecting 'Delete' the ad will be permanently removed from your account.

To increase the visibility of your ad, you can subscribe to paid options to promote your ads. Any subscribed option will extend the life of the ad for 3 months from the date of purchase (except Holiday Rental Package and Mechanical Warranty). A payment confirmation will be sent by email.

The prices for options to promote your ad vary according to option and category. You can find the prices while completing the posting form or here.

You can edit the title, the description and you can change or add photos to your ad and repost it just as a new ad by clicking on "Modify" and then proceeding to checkout. Your ad will then be posted by our moderation team as soon as possible.

The modification of an ad does not remove the options purchased for the ad.

To make your ad stand out from the crowd on the results list, you can add a background colour for 30 days by selecting "Highlight" when completing the posting form, modifying or renewing your ad. To select this option at any time while your ad is live, go to 'My Showcase' and then click on "Manage".

You have three option to bump up your ad to the top of the list:

- "Immediately", your ad will be reposted upon payment confirmation;
- "For 7 days", your ad will be reposted twice daily for 7 consecutive days;
- "For 14 days", your ad will be reposted twice daily for 14 consecutive days;
- "For 30 days", your ad will be reposted twice daily for 30 consecutive days;

To subscribe to this option select "Bump Up" when completing the posting form, modifying or renewing your ad. To select this option at any time while your ad is live, go to 'My Showcase' and then click on "Manage".

You can place your ad in a prime position on our page for a duration of 7, 14 or 30 days. This option is only available when selling items and must include at least one photo. The promotion of these ads in this space varies depending on the number of ads that subscribed to the same option.

To purchase this option, click on "Featured" when completing the posting form, modifying or renewing your ad. To select this option at any time while your ad is live, go to 'My Showcase' and then click on "Manage". You will need to also choose for how long you want your ad to benefit from this option.

You may upload up to 10 photos by subscribing to the Extra Picture Package which offers you the possibility of buying 7 extra photos on top of the 3 free photos already available when you post an ad. Professional advertisers receive 5 free pictures and may buy 5 additional pictures by subscribing to Extra Picture Package.

To purchase this option, click on "Extra Picture Package" when completing the posting form, modifying or renewing your ad.

You can subscribe to the option "Holiday Rental Package" when posting and ad on the category Holiday Rental and it will be valid for a period of six months from the date of purchase. It includes up to 10 photos (3 photos for free when you post an add plus 7 extra photos offered in the package), and unlimited changes and automatic weekly reposting for six months.

To purchase this option, click on "Holiday Rental Package" when completing the posting form, modifying or renewing your ad. If this package is purchased when editing your ad, the change fee will be added to the total charged.

The options 'Bump Up' (7 days, 14 days or 30 days), 'Featured' and 'Highlight' can be combined with the 'Holiday Rental Package'.

If the option 'Extra Picture Package' or 'Bump Up' have already been purchased, the validity period of the ad will be extended until the end of the 'Holiday Rental Package'.

The 'Good Deal' option is available only from the 30th day after posting an ad for Sale. You can subscribe to this option for a period of 10 or 20 days. This option specifies that the item you offer is now cheaper than its initial value. The initial price 'crossed', the new price and the percentage of reduction will be displayed on your ad.

To purchase the 'Good Deal' option, go to 'My Showcase' and then click on "Manage". Then you will need to choose the duration for this option and select the appropriate percentage reduction among those that are available.

You can also subscribe to this option by clicking on the link in the email that will be sent to suggest that you take this option after a month of your ad being 'live'.

The option 'Mechanical Warranty' ensures cars or vans for sale for a period of 6 or 12 months from the date of purchase by the buyer. A 'Mechanical Warranty' logo will be displayed on your ad for 4 months, extending the duration of your ad for an additional month. This option is only available for vehicles that meet certain criteria (brand, age, mileage and fiscal power of the vehicle). The vehicle will be sold in the United Kingdom. You can check the compliance of your vehicle here.

If the vehicle you are selling meets the eligibility criteria for the Mechanical Warranty, you will be asked to subscribe to this option when completing the posting form. You must choose for how long you want to insure your vehicle and accept the General Conditions of Sale.

To subscribe to several options for the same ad, simply select the options you want (among those available for your ad) when completing the posting form, modifying or renewing your ad. You can also select this option at any time while your ad is live, simply access the tab ‘My Showcase’ and then click on “Manage”. 

To subscribe to an option for several of your ads, simply check the option of your choice ("Featured", "Bump Up" or "Highlight") from "My Showcase" on your account.

The options available for an ad depend on the category and duration of the ad.

Putting credit on your TheGoodDeal.co.uk account will allow you to make convenient one-click payments safely: you will receive FREE credits proportional to the number of credits purchased and will not have to re-enter your bank details each time you make a payment. Credits are valid on the TheGoodDeal.co.uk only, for a period of 12 months after the date of purchase.

To purchase credits log in to your account, go to 'My Showcase', then select 'Purchase Credits'; or access the tab 'My Purchases' and then click on 'Purchase Credits'. Then simply select the amount of credits you want to purchase from the options available.

After confirmation of payment, the balance of your credits will be updated and the invoice for that purchase will be available in the tab "My Purchases" in your account.

To pay with credits, simply click on "Pay with credits" to access the summary of your order and confirm your payment. The amount of your order will be deducted from your credit balance.

If your current balance is less than the amount of your order, you will be offered two choices:
- to buy credits by purchasing one of the available credit packs (Packs containing only enough credits so that you can pay for your order will be available);
- to pay the remaining amount by credit card.

By default, the images displayed in your Showcase are the photos of your first three ads. Any photo taken from an ad that expired will be automatically replaced by another picture of your ads.

You can change these images for free by clicking anywhere on the images displayed and then selecting the desired image you want to display on your Showcase. It is also possible to customise your Showcase with different backgrounds, to do so simply click on "Customise Your Showcase."

There may be one or more ads in your account that have expired or have been removed and your account do no longer contain enough 'active' ads for your display to appears in the results list. In this case, an email will be sent to you and you will be able to post or renew enough ads to make your Showcase active again.

Please note that ads in the category "Free Personals" cannot be counted among the eight ads required for the publication of a Showcase.

You can subscribe to paid options to promote your Showcase. For all your subscribed options you will receive a confirmation email after payment.

Options subscribed for a Showcase do not affect the duration of the ad associated with it. So be sure of the validity period of your displayed ads before purchasing an option.

The prices for options to promote your Showcase will be indicated at the time of subscription to the option.

You can place your Showcase in a prime position on our page for a duration of 7, 14 or 30 days. The display of Showcases in this space varies depending on the number of Showcases that have subscribed to this option.

To subscribe to this option, click on 'Promote Your Showcase' from the tab 'My Showcase' of your account, then select 'Feature My Showcase' and choose for how long you want your Showcase to benefit from this option. You will be able to subscribe to this option once your Showcase is 'live'.

You can highlight your Showcase by adding a colour background for a period of 30 days.

To subscribe to this option, click on 'Promote Your Showcase' from the tab 'My Showcase' of your account, then select 'Highlight My Showcase'. You will be able to subscribe to this option once your Showcase is 'live'.

To make your Showcase stand out you can customise it with three different backgrounds: Free, Premium and Artistic. To customise your Showcase simply click on 'Customise Your Showcase' from the tab 'My Showcase' of your account, then select the background of your choice.

To subscribe to a number of options for your Showcase, simply click on 'Customise Your Showcase' from the tab 'My Showcase' of your account, then select the options you want to subscribe to.

If your Showcase contains ads in different locations, the 'location' displayed on your Showcase will correspond to the locations indicated on your first ad.

The tab "My Personal Details" allows you to:

- edit your personal and/or professional information
- change the location of your ads
- change your password
- add or delete payment methods
- delete your account on TheGoodDeal.co.uk

The tab "My Alerts" allows you to:

- create an email alert to be notified of new ads posted on the site matching your chosen criteria by clicking on " Create a New Alert";
- view the new results of a saved search by clicking on "View All" or new ads posted by a specific seller by clicking on "View This Showcase";
- to manage how often you receive email alerts (daily, weekly, monthly or never if you want to keep the search without receiving emails);
- remove an alert by selecting "Remove this alert".

After posting and ad type 'Wanted', an alert with the search criteria entered in your ad is created by default. You will be able to manage this alert from the tab "My Alerts" of your account.

The "My Favourites" tab allows you to:

- Access items and Showcases previously saved by clicking on the link "Add to Favourites" of any ad or Showcase;
- Delete a favourite item or Showcase from this list using the link "Remove from favourites".

It may be that the item or Showcase added to 'Favourites' has expired or has been removed by the advertiser.

From the tab "My Purchases" you can:

- add credits to your TheGoodDeal.co.uk account by clicking on "Buy credits";
- view the history of your purchases of options or credits on TheGoodDeal.co.uk;
- view and print invoices of your purchases.

TheGoodDeal.co.uk offers you the opportunity to earn credits by referring your friends. Simply send an invitation to the people of your choice. They will receive £20 in credit after posting their first ad on TheGoodDeal.co.uk (£10 welcome offer plus £10 referral offer). You will also receive £10 on your account.

There are several ways to send a Refer a Friend invitation from the 'Refer a Friend' tab in your account:

- via social networks: click on "Refer a Friend via Facebook", "Refer a Friend via Twitter " or "Refer a Friend with Google+", then log in to one of these social networks to select the friends you want to send an invitation to;
- via email: click "Refer a friend by email" and fill in the details of the person you want to send an invitation to;
- with the link provided by any other mean of your choice.

You can access a summary of your referrals at the bottom of the page. Upon sending an invitation, the name and email address of your referral will be added to your referrals list under the status "Unregistered". Those referred via other methods (other than Facebook, Twitter, Google+, email) will appear on this list once they have signed in to TheGoodDeal.co.uk site. The number of credits earned by your referrals will be also updated here.

On your list of referrals, click the link "Send email again" appearing at the end of the line corresponding to the friend you want to contact again. Your friend will receive a remainder via email.

For your referral to be successful, your friend must have registered using the referral link sent to him.

TheGoodDeal.co.uk credits earned through the Refer a Friend programme are valid for a period of 30 days. However, the duration will be reset each time your account will be credited.

The tab "Social Media" allows you to:

- link your TheGoodDeal.co.uk account to social networks: Facebook, Twitter and Google+;
- share via social media your posted ads (after validation by the editorial team), any Showcase added to 'Favourites' and/or published Showcase on TheGoodDeal.co.uk.

You can access your account by entering your TheGoodDeal.co.uk password in the authentication form accessible from the link "Log in" or "My Account" present on each page.

You can log out of your account by clicking "Log out".

Click on "Forgotten your password?" from the log in window and send us your email address. An email containing a link to your account will be immediately sent to you. Then you will be able to create a new password.

To delete your account simply click on "Delete my account" at the bottom of "My Personal Details" tab on your account and then click 'Okay'. Please note that the deletion of your account will disable the ads in it.

It is possible to perform an accurate search through ads following different criteria:

- by location: city or postcode, department, region or all UK;
- by category, then you'll select more specific criteria;
- by keywords that will be targeted in the title and content of ads. To do a more specific search by keyword, limit your search to the terms present in the ad titles by checking "Search title only".

You can also filter or sort the search results:

- by product type: properties for sale from the link "Buy", rental properties by clicking "Rent", property for which the seller has accepted the proposal for exchange by clicking "Swap";
- by type of publisher (professional or private);
- by Showcases by clicking on "All Showcases" or selections by clicking on "Selections";
- by options subscribed by the advertiser for the announcement;
- by release date, popularity or price, in ascending or descending order.

You can contact the advertiser from his ad or Showcase:

- by phone, by clicking on "Display Number";
- by email, by clicking on "Send Email" (then fill out the form and write the message you want to send to the advertiser);
- via Skype (if available) by clicking on the link to initiate the call from your registered TheGoodDeal.co.uk Skype account. If you do not have a Skype account, you will be offered to create one.

To send an advertiser an offer to exchange one of its items or services with one of your own items advertised on TheGoodDeal.co.uk click on "Propose a Swap" and select one of your ads before submitting your proposal.

You can compare up to four items by clicking on the link "Compare" displayed on the ad. Attention: you can compare only items belonging to the same category.

If you want to empty the comparison tool, simply click the link "Empty Comparison Tool".

TheGoodDeal.co.uk only uses Internet files stored on your computer after your visit in order to help you use the site. It is possible to deny the conservation of these cookies by managing the security settings of your navigator.

If the content of an ad appears suspicious, please let us know by clicking on the link "Inappropriate Content". TheGoodDeal.co.uk will then contact the advertiser to verify its reliability and take appropriate action.

To share your ad or Showcase via email, simply click on the link "Share via email" displayed on the ad or Showcase page. Then fill in the contact form adding the email addresses of the recipients of your choice (separated by commas) and your message.

Simply select the ad or Showcase you want to share and then click on the logo of the social network of your preference. The ad or Showcase will then be displayed on your Facebook, Twitter or Google+ page.

Click on one of the five stars that appear on the Showcase page, the first star is the lowest rating, the fifth the highest. Warning: you will only be able to rate the Showcase once.

Some posted ads are selected to be highlighted in the "Selections" section. If your ad is selected, you will be notified by email. If you do not want your ad to appear in our Selections, you can just let us know by contacting us at: .

• An email allegedly from us asking for your personal details - logins/passwords/credit card details. You get an email that claims to be from us (or another company) and requests that you reply or follow a link to provide personal information. We will never send out such emails. If you get an email alleging to be from us asking for your personal information, don't follow any links provided in the email.

• Requests to use money transfer services like Western Union or MoneyGram. These services are not meant for transactions between strangers. Any requests by strangers to use these services in any way should sound off alarm bells and shouldn't be followed. Always meet face to face to exchange cash and items.

• Payment or protection services allegedly offered by us or other well-known sites such as eBay or PayPal. You get an email that claims to be from us, eBay, PayPal (or another company) and offers buyer protection or an online payment system. These are fake and are known as 'spoof' or 'phishing' emails. We don't offer any form of payment scheme or protection.

• Request to use Ukash. Ukash is a payment service for online transactions between customers and merchant sites and not for transactions between private individuals who have connected through a classifieds website. Always meet face to face to exchange cash and items.

• Cheque overpayment. A buyer, prospective tenant or even an employer will send you a cheque worth more than the value of the items/rent/job. They'll then ask for the surplus money to be returned to them or a third party, for example 'to pay for shipping'. The cheque will clear into your bank account, only to be refused weeks later. At this point, the bank/building society will take the full cheque amount back out of your account. This would then leave you out of pocket for the amount on the cheque and the amount you passed on as the difference.

• Fake escrow sites. A buyer/seller or prospective tenant/landlord suggests using an escrow service to complete the transaction. They'll take your money and never send you the product.

• Payment for brokerage/importing. A seller claims that there are brokerage fees, import duties or similar fees required to get an item into the country. Don't pay these fees. Always remember, our site is designed for meeting up to deal with people in your neighbourhood face to face.

• Work from home. Some work from home opportunities are fronts for money laundering. A key warning sign should be any 'job' that involves you receiving cheques and cashing them. These jobs are sometimes referred to as 'money mules'. Other work from home offers can be pyramid schemes which require you to recruit other members to get paid.

• 419 scams. You get an email saying that your help is needed to take money out of a country and that you'll be paid a commission for your help. Eventually the fraudsters will ask you for money to help them take the large amount of money out of the country. Once you pay, you'll never hear from them again.

• Pet shipping scams. A seller will claim to have a pet and will offer to ship them from an overseas location, or even get you to book seats on a plane. These are usually sought after dog breeds such as English Bulldogs, Yorkshire Terriers and Chihuahuas. These ads are usually accompanied by staged pictures. The pets don't exist and the fraudsters are simply trying to get you to pay money upfront.

Allopass is a free service that allows you to hide your phone number and thus protect you from possible scams. 

Professionals are honoured through our Pro account. The Pro account is completely free, including specialised in real estate sales, employment and vehicles.

In addition, Pro account members will be given a 'Showcase'.