Trust & safety

How lots are verified

A lot card is a claim about what is in the trays. Here is who checked that claim, how, and what each badge lets you rely on.

Create your free account Next: How disputes are decided

Photos on every lot: 10% of modules; Legible labels; never fewer than 5 photos
Part numbers: Read, not typed; On AI-checked lots the labels are read from the photos
Review: Within 8 hours; By a person, on business days, before a lot goes live
Inspected lots: Our count; Counted and graded on the bench; the report is attached

The three tiers

The tier is the badge on every lot card and a filter in search. Buyers price the tiers; we make sure each one means what it says.

PhotosPhotos

The photo rule is met and a reviewer looked at the photos.

The seller photographed at least 10% of the modules (never fewer than 5 photos) with legible labels and a reviewer looked at them before approval.

What it means for you: The baseline. Every lot on the site clears this bar or it does not list.

AI-checkedAI-checked

An automated check read the labels and counted modules across the photos; the claim matched what was seen.

Our automated check read the labels, counted modules across the photos and compared the result with the seller’s claim. Any warning was resolved by staff before approval.

What it means for you: The part numbers on the page were read from the labels, not typed.

InspectedInspected

Counted and graded piece by piece on our bench. The inspection report is attached.

Consigned to our bench, counted and graded module by module. The inspection report is attached to the lot.

What it means for you: The count is ours, not the seller’s. Short-count disputes on inspected lots are our problem.

The photo rule

The floor every lot clears, or it does not list.

A seller photographs at least 10% of the modules with legible labels, never fewer than 5 photos and no more than 60 photos per lot. A tray photographed straight down with the labels up counts every module in it, so most sellers meet the rule with one photo per tray.

The photos are the evidence in a dispute. A buyer compares what arrived with what was photographed; a reviewer compares the labels with the spec. Blurry labels, modules out of trays or a stack that hides half the lot do not pass review, however good the spec looks.

What the automated check reads

An automated check looks at every photo before a person does. Here is exactly what it does, and what it does not claim.

Reads the part numbers off the labels
Each one is normalised and matched against our part-number knowledge base. A number we have never seen is filed for review, not invented.
Counts modules across the photos
Counting distinct trays when the tray fronts are visible, otherwise reporting a range. Counts are a lower bound per photo, never summed blindly.
Compares the read with the seller’s claim
Generation, capacity, speed and module type. A mismatch is a warning the reviewer must resolve; non-memory objects or illegible labels fail the lot.
Does not test the modules
A read of the labels says what the modules are, not whether they work. The condition grade and the test method are the seller’s claim and are graded on the bench for Inspected lots.

When the check is unavailable

Nothing waits on it. The lot goes to a person for manual review and lists with the Photos tier, and the page says “manual review” rather than pretending a check ran. A knowledge-base entry written by the check stays marked pending until a person verifies it.

A person approves every lot

The check advises; a reviewer decides, usually within 8 hours on business days.

The reviewer sees the photos and the check’s report side by side: the part numbers it read, the count it reached, the warnings it raised. They approve, send the lot back with a note (a photo to retake, a grade to correct, a part number to confirm), or decline it. Every override of the check is recorded with a reason.

Reviewers are staff of the company that runs the bench. Staff accounts cannot bid or list, so a reviewer never approves a lot they could buy.

Inspected lots and the report

Consigned lots are counted and graded module by module on our bench. The count is ours.

An Inspected lot carries an inspection report: modules counted by tray, grades assigned against the published scale, part numbers read, any functional test run and its result. The report is attached to the lot and is what a dispute is settled against. A short count on an Inspected lot is our problem, not the seller’s.

Sellers earn the Inspected tier by consigning; three or more consigned lots with a clean count also lift the account to Level 3, which removes bidding deposits and puts a badge on every listing.

Reading a lot card

Every card on the site carries the same six things, in the same places. None of them is a number you have to take on trust.

What buyers see5+

Quantity × capacity, generation, module type, grade

Top part number · manufacturer mix · trays · ships from

Label photos of at least a tenth of the modules
Part numbers read from the labels, not typed
Count confirmed before the lot goes live
Price, $/GB and the clock on every card

Protected payment on every lot

A card with the numbers left blank. Real cards carry the live spec, count and price.

Tier badge
Photos, AI-checked or Inspected: how the count on this card was established.
Quantity × capacity, generation, module type, grade
The headline is the spec, so you can price it per gigabyte before you open it.
Top part number and manufacturer mix
Read from the labels by the automated check on AI-checked lots; typed by the seller and reviewed on Photos lots.
Trays and ships from
Trays tell you the packing; the state drives the landed-cost estimate for your postal code.
Photo count
How many label photos back the count. The rule sets the minimum.
Protected payment
On every lot, whatever the tier: you pay the platform, and the money waits for your count.

Questions people ask

Does someone actually look at the photos?

Yes. Every lot is reviewed by a person before it goes live, usually within 8 hours on business days. The automated check reads labels and counts modules; the reviewer decides.

What does "AI-checked" promise, exactly?

That an automated check read the part numbers from the label photos and counted modules across them, and that the result agreed with the seller’s claim or any warning was resolved by staff. It is a read of the labels, not a functional test.

What if the automated check is down?

Nothing waits on it. The lot goes to a person for manual review and lists with the Photos tier. The page says "manual review" rather than pretending a check ran.

How many photos does a seller have to post?

Label photos of at least 10% of the modules, never fewer than 5 photos and no more than 60 photos, with legible labels. A tray photographed straight down with labels up is read in one pass.

Who is responsible if an Inspected lot is short?

We are. Inspected lots were counted on our bench, so the count is ours, not the seller’s. A short-count dispute on an Inspected lot is settled against our report.