Carousell

Verification of seller identity

Carousell users must verify their accounts with a local mobile number before they can list items or start a chat. 

Verified Users 

Users who complete Singpass verification are marked with a blue tick verified badge, making it easy to identify them

Protect Yourself When Transacting 

To ensure a safer transaction, always look for the blue tick verified badge when dealing with sellers on Carousell. If a seller doesn’t have this badge, exercise extra caution. You can:

• Check the seller’s reviews

• Request to pay via the ‘Buy’ button using Carousell’s secure on-platform payment service.

• Consider in-person transactions and only pay after receiving the items. When meeting in person, choose well-lit, public places and avoid bringing large sums of money.

Know Your Customer (KYC) Verification Checks 

Carousell aims to balance strict trust and safety policies with providing a seamless buying and selling experience. To help mitigate scams, Carousell is exploring more targeted KYC verification checks for high-risk scenarios. Starting in June 2024, Singpass verification will be required if we detect behaviour similar to known scam patterns or policy violations. 

Singpass verification is already mandatory for all new listings in the Property category as well as the Tickets and Vouchers category. 

Introducing the New ‘User Badge’ Feature 

The new 'User Badge' feature provides additional information about each user during interactions, helping you stay alert when chatting with new or unverified users. When starting a new chat with buyers or sellers, you’ll see badges like ‘New User,’ ‘Not Verified,’ and ‘Verified Business’ displayed on user profiles. 

For more details on the ‘User Badge’ feature, please visit: Understanding User Badges and Indicators in Chat – A Guide to User Profiles. 

Carousell's Programmes

Sell to Carousell

Users can now sell fashion items, luxury bags, mobile phones and cars directly to Carousell for instant cash. For example, Sell to Carousell Mobiles uses a proprietary diagnostic tool to ascertain the phone condition and provide a competitive and objective offer price. Additionally, the phones also have their data securely wiped.

Carousell's Certified programme

Users can buy secondhand luxury bags, mobile phones and cars under Carousell's Certified programme, with the peace of mind that the item has been thoroughly checked for quality. Certified listings are either from Carousell Official Stores managed directly by Carousell, or from authorised Carousell Certified Partners. You can easily identify Carousell Certified listings in the Cars, Mobile  and Luxury categories by looking for the 'Certified' tag.

Use of in-platform secure payment solutions

Transact using the ‘Buy’ button

Users can make purchases directly on the app with the ‘Buy’ button via secure on-platform payment methods, and enjoy Buyer Protection if their item doesn't arrive or is significantly not as described.  

 Carousell Official Delivery also allows buyers and sellers to arrange and pay for delivery within the platform, and track delivery status.  

Additionally, only eligible sellers who meet Carousell’s strict criteria will be allowed to continue listing with the ‘Buy’ button

Maintenance of transaction records and user data

It is important to keep all transactions and communications within the platform.  

Carousell maintains records of transactions and communications performed within the platform, which can help to facilitate subsequent investigation and dispute resolution should the need arise.   

Where appropriate, information may be made available to regulators, law enforcement or others who are investigating.

Reporting and dispute resolution mechanism

Users can report a suspicious user or listing easily through the Carousell App and website for Carousell’s investigation. When faced with an issue with any transactions (i.e. item not received, item not as described), you should promptly report to Carousell via the Carousell Help Centre: https://support.carousell.com/hc/en-us

For transactions done through the ‘Buy’ button, when you make the report to Carousell, your payment will be held by us until your issue has been resolved. Carousell will help to reach out to both sellers and buyers to take the appropriate follow-up action. Hence, Carousell strongly encourages the use of the ‘Buy’ button.

Other features

Carousell takes an active stance in addressing the safety of its marketplace. Scams are a global challenge across all industries, and constantly shapeshift and evolve in their modus operandi. As a predominantly open marketplace with peer-to-peer transactions, there is a need to balance strict policies for trust and safety without compromising on providing a conducive selling and buying experience for anyone.  

Continuous user education is a key piece to ensuring that users transact safely on Carousell.  

If a seller is under investigation for any unresolved transaction, Carousell alerts prospective buyers by displaying a dispute banner. Likewise, users will also see a banner informing that the particular user is suspended. This is why Carousell strongly encourages users to deal within Carousell instead of bringing the conversation outside of Carousell, so that prospective buyers remain alerted of any issues relating to the seller they are chatting with. 

Carousell has been constantly iterating our message blocking filter on Carousell Chat to adapt to the latest trends in scams and trigger relevant warnings to users of the risk of sharing personal details. Carousell also blocks users from sending emails and website links in chat due to phishing risks. 

For more information on how Carousell works to keep users safe, please visit Carousell’s Trust and Safety centre.

Safety Policy

Aligned with the Online Criminal Harms Act and its Codes of Practice, Carousell has published a Safety Policy to better educate our users on risky behaviours on the platform, effective from the end of June 2024.

If you’re dealing via delivery, you must use the ‘Buy’ button’ to collect payment, or make payment. If a listing does not have a ‘Buy’ button, you must only deal via a meet-up.

Sellers must not ask buyers to pay before meet-ups without using the ‘Buy’ button. Likewise, buyers must not pay their seller directly before receiving their item.