How It Works
How It Works
Buying and selling used paragliding gear means trusting a stranger with either your money or your wing. ParaBuyer is built so neither side has to. Here's exactly what happens at every step — for buyers, for sellers, and for the package in between.
- 1
Find the right gear
Browse or search the marketplace, filter by size, certification, condition, weight range, and more. Save searches and we'll tell you when matching gear is listed.
- 2
Ask the seller anything
Message the seller in-platform about hours flown, porosity checks, repairs, or reserve repack history. You can also send an offer if the price isn't quite right.
- 3
Choose pickup or shipping
At checkout you pick how you want the gear delivered. If shipping, we price the real carrier rate to your exact address using the seller's package details — no estimates, no surprises after the fact.
- 4
Pay into escrow, not to the seller
Your payment is captured and held by our payment processor. The seller does not receive it at checkout — it stays protected while your gear makes its way to you.
- 5
Track your package — actively
As soon as the label is created, tracking appears in your order and status updates (shipped, out for delivery, delivered) are posted to your message thread. Follow it and plan to be there when it arrives.
- 6
Inspect the moment it lands
Your inspection window starts at the carrier's delivery scan — not when you get around to opening the box. Unpack it right away, lay the wing out, check lines, fabric, risers, and serials against the listing.
- 7
Accept, or raise an issue
If it matches the listing, tap accept and the seller gets paid. If it doesn't, raise an issue in-platform before the window closes and the funds stay frozen while we review it.
You are expected to watch your delivery
Monitoring tracking isn't optional — it's how the process works. The inspection clock runs from the carrier's delivery scan, so a package left on a porch while you're away is still a delivered package. If you'll be travelling or flying, arrange a secure delivery location before you buy. Being unavailable doesn't extend the window, and losses caused by not collecting or inspecting your order in time can't be reimbursed or covered.
- 1
Create your listing
Choose a category, add photos, describe condition honestly, and disclose repairs, age, and hours flown. Accurate listings are the single biggest factor in a smooth sale.
- 2
Choose how the gear changes hands
Pickup only (buyers come to you), shipping only, or both — your call. If you offer shipping, you enter the packed weight and box dimensions once, and shipping is priced automatically for each buyer's address.
- 3
Field questions and offers
Buyers message you in-platform and can send offers. Accept, counter, or decline. Keeping the conversation on ParaBuyer is what allows us to step in later if anything goes wrong.
- 4
Get paid into escrow — then ship
When a buyer checks out, their payment is secured in escrow and you are notified that the order is confirmed. Only then do you pack the gear.
- 5
Your prepaid label is emailed to you
For shipped orders, we buy the label for you and email it directly to the email address on your account. It also stays available in your order details. Print it, tape it to the box, and drop it with the carrier — there is nothing to buy at the counter.
- 6
Ship within 7 days
You have 7 days from payment to get the package moving (or complete the local handover). If nothing happens in that window, the order cancels automatically, the buyer is refunded, and the listing goes back up.
- 7
Delivery, inspection, and release
Tracking updates post to your order automatically. Once the carrier confirms delivery, the buyer has a short inspection window — after they accept, or the window closes quietly, escrow releases and your payout is on its way to your bank.
Packing matters
Use a sturdy box, protect risers and hardware, and pack the wing so it can't shift in transit. Damage caused by poor packing is the seller's responsibility, so give your gear the same care you'd want as the buyer.
The oldest problem in used gear sales is simple: someone has to go first. Send money to a stranger and hope the wing shows up, or ship a wing to a stranger and hope the money shows up. Escrow removes that gamble for both sides — neither party has to trust the other, because neither party holds the other's value.
1. You pay ParaBuyer, not the seller
At checkout your payment is processed by Stripe and held against your order. The seller can see that the order is funded and confirmed, which is what gives them the confidence to ship — but they cannot touch the money.
2. The funds stay held through transit
Shipping, delays, a package sitting at a depot — none of it moves your money. The funds remain held until the gear is actually in your hands and you've had the chance to look at it.
3. Delivery starts your inspection window
Shipped orders: 48 hours from the carrier's confirmed delivery scan. Local pickup: 7 days from payment. During that window the decision is entirely yours.
4. Release happens one of three ways
- You accept — the gear is as described, and the seller's payout is released immediately.
- The window closes quietly — no acceptance and no issue raised means the order is treated as accepted and funds release automatically. This is final, so don't let the clock run out on a problem.
- You raise an issue — the release is frozen on the spot and nothing moves until we've reviewed it.
If something isn't right
Raise it in-platform before your window closes. We pause the funds, ask both sides for evidence — photos, serials, the listing itself, delivery records, and where relevant a qualified third-party assessment — and reach a decision. Outcomes range from releasing to the seller, to a partial refund reflecting real repair or replacement cost, to a full refund. Because the money never left escrow, a refund is a straightforward reversal rather than a chase.
This only works on-platform. Payments or shipping arranged privately sit entirely outside escrow, and we have no funds to protect and no record to arbitrate.
Escrow protects the money. Shipment protection covers the other half of the risk: the box itself. Every shipped order on ParaBuyer moves on a label we buy and manage, which means nothing about the shipment is improvised.
A managed, prepaid label — emailed to the seller
We generate the label through our carrier partner as soon as the order is funded and email it straight to the seller, with a copy in their order details. Sellers never buy postage themselves and never guess at a service level.
End-to-end tracking on every shipment
Tracking is attached the moment the label exists, and both parties see the same live status. Carrier milestones post automatically to your order and message thread, so a stalled or misrouted package is visible rather than a mystery.
Supplemental cover for transit loss and damage
Shipments move with the carrier's standard liability, which on a used wing can fall short of its real value. Where a shipment warrants more, ParaBuyer arranges supplemental cover on a case-by-case basis — so a high-value loss in transit isn't left resting on a carrier's default cap.
Anything arranged this way applies to loss or damage that happens in transit, up to carrier-confirmed delivery. It does not extend to:
- theft, weather, or deterioration after the package has been delivered;
- damage caused by inadequate packing;
- a package that was delivered but not collected or inspected in time.
If a package is lost, damaged, or returned
Raise it in-platform. Escrow is already holding the funds, so nothing has been paid out while we work the carrier claim with the tracking record and packing evidence. A shipment the carrier sends back to the seller is caught automatically and handled as a cancelled order rather than left in limbo.
Both halves depend on the same habit: sellers pack well and ship on the label we send; buyers watch tracking and inspect on arrival. Do those two things and almost nothing can go sideways.
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