Swapping Kit with Other Groups on the Marketplace

Most groups have kit they no longer use: an old tent, a spare stove, a trailer nobody tows. Other groups often need exactly that. The Marketplace lets you list your spare kit for other Scout groups to buy or take away. You can also post what your group is looking for, and let other groups come to you.

This feature is currently in beta. Turn it on in Settings → Beta Programme.

Where to find it

Open Marketplace under Resources in the left-hand navigation. Group admins and leaders can see it.

The page has four tabs:

Tab	What it shows
For sale	Kit that other groups are selling or giving away
Wanted	Kit that other groups are looking for
My group's listings	Everything your group has posted
Messages	Your conversations with other groups. A number shows how many have unread messages

Who can do what

Action	Who
Browse listings and wanted posts	Group admins and leaders
Ask another group about their listing	Group admins and leaders
Post, edit, renew or withdraw your group's listings	Group admins and quartermasters
Reply about your own listings, reserve an item, mark it as sold or given away	Group admins and quartermasters

If you can't post, ask a group admin to give you quartermaster access.

Before you start: add your postcode

Other groups see how far away your kit is, so your group needs a postcode. Add it in Settings → Group.

Other groups see only the first half of your postcode (for example, "BR1") and a distance in whole miles. They never see your full postcode or address.

Posting a listing

Click New listing. Everything goes on one sheet:

What are you posting? Choose Selling or giving away, or Looking for. Your choice changes the questions below.
Photos. Add up to 8 photos of the kit. Photos are optional for a wanted post. Show the kit only, with no young people in the shot.
About the item (or What you need). Give a title, a short description, a category and, for kit you are selling, its condition.
Price and collection (or Budget and collection). Set the price, how many you have, and how the other group can collect it.

Click Post listing (or Post wanted). The listing goes live straight away.

Price options

Option	For kit you are selling	For a wanted post
Price / Budget	A fixed asking price	The most you can pay
Open to offers	An optional guide price, shown as "or nearest offer"	An optional rough budget
Free / Donation	You are giving it away	You hope another group will donate it

The other group pays you directly, by bank transfer or cash. Money does not go through Scoutworks, and Scoutworks takes no fee.

Categories include tents and shelters, camping and cooking, pioneering, water activities, climbing and adventure, uniform and badges, hall and furniture, and trailers and vehicles.

Browsing other groups' kit

The For sale and Wanted tabs show other groups' live listings, nearest first. Your own listings are on My group's listings, not here.

You can narrow the list:

Filter	What it does
Search	Finds listings with every word you type in the title or description
Distance	Shows only listings within 5, 10, 25 or 50 miles, or Anywhere
Category	Shows one category only
Condition	Shows one condition only (For sale tab)
Free only / Donations only	Shows only kit that costs nothing

If nothing matches, click Clear filters. Click Show more at the bottom to load more listings.

Asking about a listing

Open another group's listing and click Ask about this. Type your question and send it. This starts a private conversation between your two groups. If you already asked, the button says Open conversation.

Each message shows the group and the person who sent it, for example "3rd Eltham Scout Group, Priya, group admin". Nobody sees your email address or phone number. If you want to swap contact details, you can do that in the conversation.

The other group's admins and quartermasters get a notification in the app and an email. To stop too many emails, Scoutworks sends one email per conversation. It sends the next one only after someone has read the conversation. The email does not quote the message, so open Scoutworks to read it.

Marketplace emails come under your Equipment email preference. You can switch them off there.

Reserving and handing over an item

When you get enquiries about your listing, open it from My group's listings. The Enquiries section lists every group that asked. Open a conversation to reply.

In a conversation about your own listing, you see these buttons:

Button	What happens
Reserve for [group]	Holds the item for that group. Other groups see it as Reserved
Release	Cancels the reservation. The item is free for anyone again
Mark as sold or given	Records that the item went to that group, and closes the listing

When you mark an item as sold, enter the amount you agreed. This is your record for the trustees. Choose Given away if no money changed hands.

When the item goes, every other group that asked about it sees "This item has gone". Only your group and the group that took the item see who got it and the price.

Managing your listings

Open any listing on My group's listings to see its details. From there you can:

Edit the title, description, price or collection details.
Add photos or remove them. You can remove a photo at any time, even after the listing closes.
Renew a listing to keep it up for another 60 days. The sheet shows when the listing expires.
Withdraw a listing that you no longer want to show. If the item is reserved, withdrawing releases it first.
Relist a withdrawn or expired listing to put it back up.

Listings that are sold or given away stay on your tab as a record. You can't relist them.

Status	Meaning
Live	Other groups can see it
Reserved	Held for one group. Other groups can still see it
Sold / Given away	It went to another group
Withdrawn	Your group took it down
Expired	Its time ran out. Renew or relist it to put it back up

What's next

Managing Your Equipment Inventory — keep track of the kit you still have.
Group Settings — add your group's postcode.
Joining the Beta Programme — how to switch beta features on for your group.