Community Guidelines for how to share honestly, communicate clearly, respect one another, and help keep Community Gearbox safe, trustworthy, and useful.
Community Gearbox is built to make sharing easier, clearer, and more sustainable.
It is a tool for lending, borrowing, and coordinating shared use with people you
know, trust, or are in community with.
These guidelines exist to help protect that trust. They are meant to support a
sharing culture that is honest, respectful, and practical. Our goal is not just
to help items move from one person to another, but to help people share in ways
that reduce friction, protect relationships, and care for what already exists.
By using Community Gearbox, you agree to participate in ways that help keep the
platform safe, welcoming, and useful for others.
Community Gearbox works best when people use it with care, honesty, and common
sense. It is not designed to encourage reckless sharing or transactional behavior.
It is designed to support real-life relationships, community accountability, and
clearer coordination around shared items.
We ask everyone who uses Community Gearbox to help build that culture.
Community Gearbox is designed first for sharing among friends, family, neighbors,
households, and groups with some basis of trust. Use your judgment when deciding
who to lend to, borrow from, or meet up with.
You are never obligated to share with someone, continue an interaction, or meet in
person if something feels off.
If you list or lend an item, describe it as accurately as you can. This includes
the item’s condition, whether it works as expected, whether anything is missing,
whether it has quirks or damage, and whether it requires special care or safe handling.
Worn, imperfect, or partially functional items can still be shared. Honesty matters
more than polish.
If you borrow something, treat it with respect. Use it responsibly, follow any
instructions provided, and return it in the agreed condition and timeframe.
If an item is damaged, lost, or returned late, communicate clearly and take
responsibility for helping make it right.
Most sharing problems come from unclear expectations, not bad intent. Clear
communication helps prevent tension and confusion.
Be proactive about availability, pickup timing, return timing, delays, changes of
plan, and anything else that affects the exchange.
No one owes anyone access to their belongings, home, time, or attention. Each
person has the right to decide what they share, with whom, under what conditions,
and for how long.
Respect people’s decisions. Do not pressure, guilt, manipulate, or repeatedly
message someone after they have declined or stopped responding.
Trust is the foundation of Community Gearbox. Do not misrepresent yourself, your
intentions, or the condition of an item. Do not impersonate others, create fake
accounts, deceive people, or use the platform to exploit trust.
Do not post, offer, request, or coordinate anything illegal, prohibited, recalled,
or unreasonably dangerous. Follow all applicable laws, use caution when meeting up,
and use borrowed items only if you understand how to use them safely.
If an item seems unsafe, misleading, stolen, or otherwise inappropriate to share,
do not post it.
Community Gearbox depends on people feeling safe and respected. Harassment,
intimidation, threats, hate speech, discrimination, stalking, and abusive behavior
are not allowed.
We expect people to engage with empathy and basic respect across differences in
identity, background, experience, and communication style.
Treat personal information with care. Do not share private details, contact
information, photos, screenshots, or messages that are not yours to share.
Do not collect, use, or distribute information about other users without their
consent.
Community Gearbox is for coordinating sharing. It is not for spam, scraping, data
harvesting, scams, advertising, or using people’s networks and contact information
for unrelated promotion or recruitment.
If you are using Community Gearbox as part of a group, project, or organization,
do so transparently and in a way that matches the spirit of shared use rather than
extraction.
To protect the Community Gearbox community, the following kinds of behavior are not allowed:
Not every exchange will go perfectly. People forget things, schedules shift, and
misunderstandings happen. When possible, we encourage people to start with direct,
respectful communication.
If something goes wrong, try to clarify expectations, communicate early, and work
toward repair. A healthy sharing culture depends on accountability, patience, and
the willingness to resolve small issues before they become larger ones.
If someone’s behavior makes you feel unsafe, appears intentionally deceptive, or
repeatedly violates these guidelines, report it.
Community Gearbox may review reported behavior or content and may take action when
needed to protect the community. This can include removing content, restricting
features, suspending accounts, or removing users from the platform.
We reserve the right to act when behavior undermines trust, harms other users, or
violates our Terms, policies, or these Community Guidelines.
Community Gearbox helps people coordinate sharing, but it does not inspect items,
guarantee quality, verify every user, or eliminate the risks involved in lending,
borrowing, transporting, or using shared items.
Each user is responsible for their own decisions, their own judgment, and their own
precautions. Please use care, especially when meeting in person or using tools,
equipment, or other items that could cause harm if used incorrectly.
Community Gearbox is built on a simple idea: sharing works better when generosity is
paired with accountability.
Be honest. Communicate clearly. Respect boundaries. Care for what you borrow. Use
good judgment. Help build the kind of sharing culture you would want to be part of.
We are currently invite only. But sign up to our waitlist to join the next round of early access!
*If you know someone already on the app they can invite you via email.
