How to buy and sell airsoft safely

Check the other member

• Look at their profile: feedback, items sold and how long they have been a member.
• Be careful with new accounts selling expensive items cheaply.
• Members who have verified their ID show a badge. It confirms their ID, not that a trade will go well.

Agree everything in messages

• Keep messages on Airsoft Exchange so there is a record.
• Agree the item's condition, what's included, postage and payment in writing before anyone pays.
• Screenshot the listing and anything important that was agreed.

Paying

• For an eligible item and transaction, PayPal Goods & Services may offer Buyer Protection. Check PayPal's current terms before paying.
• Never use PayPal Friends & Family for a purchase. Personal payments are not eligible for PayPal Buyer Protection.
• Credit cards may give extra protection, depending on the card issuer's terms.
• Avoid anyone who insists on crypto, gift cards or any other payment you cannot reverse.
• Sellers: wait until the payment has cleared before posting or handing over the item.

Your payment provider decides which items and payments it covers. Some airsoft items are excluded, so protection is never guaranteed.

Meeting in person

• Meet somewhere public and busy, in daylight. An airsoft site or shop works well.
• Tell someone where you are going, or take someone with you.
• Inspect and test the item before you pay. If there is a chrono, check the FPS.
• Carry guns in a closed bag or case. Having an imitation firearm in public without a reasonable excuse is an offence (Firearms Act 1968, section 19).

Posting

• Use tracked, signed-for delivery, insured for what the item is worth.
• Remove batteries and gas, and take magazines out of the gun.
• Photograph the item and the packing before you seal the box.
• Check that your courier accepts replica firearms before you send one.

Checking a gun

• Body and barrel: cracks, damage or anything blocking the barrel.
• Trigger, safety and fire selector all work.
• Magazines feed, and gas magazines don't leak.
• The hop-up adjusts.
• Everything in the listing is there.

The law

• Selling a realistic imitation firearm needs the buyer to have a defence, usually UKARA. Two-toning a gun after sale or calling it a gift is not a defence.
• Airsoft guns must not exceed 1.3 joules if they can fire full auto, or 2.5 joules if single shot. Above that they count as firearms (Firearms Act 1968, section 57A).
• Selling any imitation firearm to someone under 18 is an offence.

If something goes wrong

Payment problems

• Contact your payment provider promptly and follow its dispute or fraud process within its deadlines.
• Airsoft Exchange cannot recover, reverse, or decide entitlement to a buyer-to-seller payment.
• Keep the listing, messages, payment receipt, shipping evidence, and item photos.
• For cyber crime or fraud in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland, use Report Fraud. In Scotland, contact Police Scotland on 101.

Reporting a member or listing

• Use the report control on the relevant listing, profile, or message when signed in.
• If you cannot sign in, use the public illegal-content form below to report content or complain about Airsoft Exchange’s safety process.
• A report is an allegation. The number of reports alone never determines an outcome.
• Airsoft Exchange may review content and marketplace access, but does not decide refunds, transaction liability, or criminal guilt.
• Do not publish accusations or another member’s personal information. Give the relevant information privately to the platform or appropriate authority.
• Describe what happened and provide relevant evidence without presenting an allegation as a proven fact.

For anything else, contact Airsoft Exchange.