What we promise
Why Castoffs exists, and the things we'll hold ourselves to.
Why this exists
Everyone who owns a boat knows what the hobby costs, and most of us have a corner of the garage that proves it.
Somewhere in there is a cleat that fits somebody's boat, a length of exhaust hose that's exactly what a stranger has been hunting for a month, a set of fenders that outlived the boat they were bought for. Meanwhile a chandlery two hundred miles away has last season's nav lights sitting on a shelf, taking up space and tying up cash, because nobody local needs them.
The sailing community is one of the most generous going. Most of us have lent a fender, swapped a shackle, or talked someone through a repair without thinking twice. Castoffs is the natural extension of that — a place where marine gear gets a second working life instead of a slow death under a bench.
What we promise
We don't charge you to list
Not to list, not to relist, not to leave something up while it waits for the right buyer. We charge the buyer one transaction fee, once, at checkout — and that is the only fee on a standard sale. If we ever need to change that, we'll say so plainly and in advance, not bury it in a terms update.
One fee, and you can see it
5% + £0.75 on the item price, shown at checkout before you commit. Not on the postage. Not skimmed off the seller. No listing upgrades, no promoted slots dressed up as features, no fee that appears only once you're halfway through.
Pirates sell your data. We don't.
We don't sell your information, rent it, or hand it to advertisers. Your phone number, if you give us one, is used to tell you about gear you asked to hear about — nothing else, and you can stop it with one word. Buyers and sellers can talk without either of them surrendering an email address.
Your money is held, not hoped for
Paying a stranger for something you haven't seen usually means sending the money and hoping. Not here. Your payment is held from the moment you make it, and the seller isn't paid until the gear is with you and you've said it's right. If it doesn't turn up, or it isn't what was described, the money comes back to you.
No balance, no wallet, no float
Money goes from the buyer, into escrow, and out to the seller's bank. We don't hold a balance for you, we don't issue credit, and we don't make money by sitting on your cash.
We answer
Email hello@castoffs.co.uk and a person reads it. While we're this size, that person is usually the one who built the thing.
Curated, not open
The easiest way to grow a marketplace is to let anyone list anything. We're not doing that, and it's worth saying why.
Marine sellers know exactly what happens when a site fills up with thirty identical drop-shipped stainless fittings from anonymous accounts. The good stuff becomes impossible to find, the chandleries leave, and what's left is a jumble sale nobody trusts. So listings here have to be secondhand, trade clearance, ex-demo, off-cut, or genuinely one-off. Bulk commodity importing is prohibited outright. Pro accounts are for registered marine businesses, and we can ask for proof and withdraw the badge if it isn't there. While we're this small, a person sees every listing that goes up.
All of that makes us grow more slowly. We think a smaller marketplace that's worth trusting beats a large one that isn't.
Also not here
No whole vessels — dinghies and tenders under five metres only. No flares or pyrotechnics, no banned antifouling, no damaged batteries, nothing weapons-adjacent. The full list is in the terms.
We are small, and new
Castoffs Marine Ltd was registered in Scotland in May 2026. There is no call centre and no investor deck. What there is: working escrow that really does hold the money, and a founder who sails.
At this stage candour is worth more than polish, so — if something on the site is broken or daft, tell us. It'll get fixed faster than you expect.
What could you cast off?