Marketplace rules
These are the rules every buyer and supplier account agrees to by using Sparehawk. They are enforced through the same reports and disputes tools described here — not a separate, hidden process.
Who can use Sparehawk
Buyers
Any business or individual sourcing spare parts can send a request for quote without an account. Creating an account (a valid e-mail, confirmed by sign-in link) is only required to track past requests, save searches, message a supplier directly, leave a review or open a dispute.
Suppliers
A supplier account requires a real legal company name and, for an EU company, a VAT ID we can validate against VIES. One account may not represent more than one legally distinct company, and one company may not run more than one storefront.
Listings and quotes
Accuracy
An offer's manufacturer part number, condition (new, new-surplus, refurbished or used) and quantity must be truthful. A quote sent through the platform is a real, honorable offer to sell at that price, lead time and ship-from country — not a placeholder to be renegotiated upward after a buyer commits.
No counterfeit or misrepresented stock
Listing counterfeit, stolen or knowingly mismarked parts is grounds for immediate account termination, not just a hidden listing — see the counterfeit policy on the Trust & Safety page for exactly what we check and what happens on a report.
No circumventing the platform
Soliciting a buyer or supplier to complete a deal off-platform specifically to avoid Sparehawk's reporting and dispute tools, before any deal has been made through the platform, is not allowed. Ordinary business contact information exchanged after a deal is placed (invoices, shipping coordination) is fine.
Conduct
Messaging
Messages between a buyer and a supplier must relate to an actual or prospective deal. Spam, harassment, or a first message consisting mainly of links gets held for review automatically and can lead to the sending account being suspended.
Reviews
A review must be the honest account of a real, completed deal. Soliciting, buying, or faking reviews — on either side — is a violation; the full review policy lives on the Trust & Safety page.
Reports and disputes
Reporting a listing, review, supplier or wanted request
Anyone — signed in or not — can report an offer, a supplier's storefront, a review or a wanted request, with a reason and optional details. A review reported by three separate people is automatically hidden pending an admin's decision; every other report lands directly in an admin's queue, oldest first.
Disputes over a specific deal
A dispute is for a deal that has already happened and gone wrong — the wrong part, a no-show, or anything else a report alone doesn't resolve. Opening one starts a threaded conversation with the supplier; if they do not reply within 7 days, it escalates automatically to an admin. Resolving a dispute can hide a review, block the supplier, or suspend the account that opened it, if the claim itself turns out to be false.
Enforcement
Most issues are resolved with a listing correction, a hidden review, or a released message. Repeated or serious violations — counterfeit stock, harassment, faked reviews, a false dispute claim — lead to account suspension: sign-out everywhere, and the account cannot sign back in until an admin lifts it. Suspension is never automatic on a single report; it always follows a human decision.
See what each badge means and how the review policy works: Read Trust & Safety