Buyer Safety

Browsing and buying on Off-Grid Market is free. Here's how we protect buyers and what to watch out for when you're contacting sellers.

How OGM protects buyers

Verified Pro Seller badges — paid members go through identity verification before getting the badge.
Listing moderation — listings flagged by users get reviewed within 24 hours. Repeat scammers are banned and their accounts terminated.
Encrypted on-site messaging — your messages to sellers stay on OGM. We never share your contact info publicly until you choose to.
Honest seller history — every seller profile shows account age, total listings, response rate, and reviews so you can judge for yourself.
Report button on every listing and message thread. Reports go to our moderation team.

Smart buyer checklist

✓ Always do this:

Confirm the seller's contact info matches the listing (location, name, business).
Ask for video walkthroughs on land or cabin listings before sending money.
Use escrow or a title company for any real estate transaction (we recommend, you arrange — OGM is not a brokerage).
For marketplace purchases via on-site checkout, your card processor (Stripe) handles fraud protection and chargebacks.
Trust your gut. If a deal feels too good to be true, it usually is.

Red flags to watch for

🚩 Walk away if:

The seller asks you to pay via wire transfer, gift cards, crypto, or Western Union — these are unrecoverable.
The seller pressures you to "act fast" or "wire today or lose the deal."
The seller refuses to do a video call or in-person visit on a high-value listing.
The listing photos are obviously stolen (reverse-image-search them in Google Images).
The seller wants to move the conversation off OGM "to save fees" — we have no fees on your transactions, so this is a manipulation tactic.
The land "title is too complicated to share until after deposit" — never. Walk away.

For high-value purchases

Real estate, vehicles, boats, RVs, large gear — anything over a few thousand dollars — should ALWAYS use a third-party escrow or title company. OGM connects buyers and sellers; we don't process those transactions because the right financial controls happen offline (escrow, title insurance, county recording, etc.). This is standard for real estate, the same way Zillow connects you to listings but doesn't process the sale.

If something goes wrong

Report the listing, the seller, or the message thread using the Report button. Email us at safety@offgridmarket.net with details. We investigate every report and ban bad actors permanently. For on-site marketplace purchases that went wrong, contact Stripe via your card statement — they handle chargebacks on payments processed through our platform.