Reporting & moderation
How to report a listing, a user, or a problem, and what MerkatoHQ's moderation team does about it.
MerkatoHQ works because the marketplace stays clean. Reporting is how you help, and how we catch what automated checks miss.
When to report
Report a listing or a user if you see:
- A prohibited or illegal item.
- A listing that’s clearly a scam, or a counterfeit passed off as genuine.
- Anyone asking you to pay outside MerkatoHQ. That defeats your protection and is against the rules.
- Harassment, abusive messages, or spam.
- A fake or misleading listing (wrong photos, impossible prices, bait-and-switch).
How to report
Use the report option on the listing or in the conversation. Tell us what’s wrong in a sentence or two. The clearer the report, the faster we can act. If you can, include a screenshot or the order reference.
Reporting is confidential. The person you report isn’t told who reported them. Report honestly. Misusing reports to harass sellers is itself a violation.
What moderation does
Reports go to MerkatoHQ’s moderation team, who review them and can:
- Remove a listing that breaks the rules.
- Remove a review that’s abusive or fake.
- Restrict or ban an account for serious or repeated violations. A ban ends that account’s access to the marketplace.
Privileged actions taken by our team are recorded in an internal audit trail, so moderation decisions are accountable.
If a deal itself went wrong
Reporting is for rule-breaking and bad actors. If your specific order went wrong, meaning the item was not received or not as described, that’s a dispute, not a report. Don’t confirm receipt; open a dispute instead. See Refunds & disputes.
Staying safe
- Keep all communication and payment on MerkatoHQ. Off-platform deals have no protection.
- Never share passwords or one-time codes. MerkatoHQ staff will never ask for them.
- Trust your instincts: if a deal feels wrong, report it and walk away.