Your first day
- Pick a username that reveals nothing about you. No real name, surname or birth date. Something random is safest.
- Turn on 2FA for your OGU account. OGU's databases have leaked before, so a password alone isn't enough.
- Use a mainstream email you control. OGU's handbook advises against Protonmail, which has disabled accounts used to sign up to forums. Losing that email makes recovering your account very hard.
- Add an avatar and set your options (time zone, date format, theme) in the User Control Panel.
- Read the rules and Terms of Use. See Rules for a plain-language summary.
Warning points
Breaking a rule, or posting low-quality ("LQ") content, can earn you warning points. They're temporary and expire if you don't repeat the behavior. Reaching 100% gets you a temporary ban, usually for 1–2 weeks. If you're unsure whether something is allowed, ask a staff member first.
How the marketplace works
- You'll find it under the Marketplace tab on the home page. There's a subforum for almost everything, so post in the one that matches what you're selling, or staff will move it.
- All deals are your own responsibility. Staff take no responsibility if you're scammed.
- Deal with caution with everyone, whatever their rep or vouches.
- Use a Trusted middleman wherever possible. Someone who refuses one is probably trying to scam you.
- Selling stolen or illegitimately obtained accounts, methods or products isn't allowed.
- Tools and programs must be approved by staff before they can be sold (see below).
- Middlemen charge for their work, typically 5% of the deal with a minimum of $5–$8 depending on the middleman. See Middlemen.
Confirming on-site, properly
Impersonators are everywhere on Discord and Telegram. Confirming on-site is the only way to be sure the person you're talking to off-site is the OGU member you think they are. Real members, middlemen and staff never refuse.
- Ask them to send you an OGU private message that includes: the deal taking place, their off-site contact, your off-site contact, and a screenshot of your off-site conversation.
- Open the PM, click their name, and check the profile is really the member you expected.
- Keep that PM. If they scam you, it proves the person you dealt with off-site was them and not an impersonator.
Posting your first sales thread
- Go to the right subforum and click New Topic.
- Say exactly what you're selling, the price or how you take offers, what's included, and how to contact you. A thread that doesn't say what's for sale gets ignored.
- Format it with MyBB code (BBCode). The Sales thread builder writes it for you.
- Click Post Thread, or save it as a draft and find it later in your Control Panel.
Bumping
You can reply to your own thread to bump it every 31 minutes, or right after someone else replies. Paid auto-bumps do it for you. Don't bump more than 10 threads at once.
You need an upgrade
Posting in the marketplace and having a signature both need at least the Fortune upgrade. See Upgrades.
Alerts & private messages
Alerts (bell icon)
Replies, likes, mentions and rep on your threads show up here. Use "Mark all read" to clear them, and change which actions alert you in your settings. Keeping them all on is best while you're selling.
Private messages (envelope)
The only way to talk member to member on-site. Vouches and system notices arrive here too. You can make group conversations with the + icon.
PMs delete after 45 days
Export any conversation you might need as evidence, especially on-site confirmations and deal terms, before it disappears.
Building rep & vouches
| Reputation | Vouches | |
|---|---|---|
| What it shows | How active and helpful someone is, not how trustworthy | Completed deals, the better measure of trust |
| Who can give it | Upgraded members only | Anyone with more than 15 posts |
| When | After a deal, or when someone helped you | Only after a real deal, usually with the deal value in the comment and the sales thread linked |
| Banned | Asking for rep, "rep4rep", giving rep randomly to get some back | Asking people who haven't dealt with you, buying or selling vouches |
Spotting vouch farming: lots of vouches that are nearly all small credit deals (usually under $10), with few real trades. Always read the comments on someone's vouches, not just the count.
To give rep or a vouch, open the member's profile and press the + under the matching box.
Fitting into the community
- Be "HQ" (high quality): polite, helpful and professional. Most respected members got there by running their business that way.
- Stay out of drama. Sales trashing, spam, invalid rep and childish arguments only hurt your reputation.
- Don't arrive acting like the biggest fish. People mirror the energy you bring.
- Make friends. Talking to experienced members is how most people learn the market.
- Post at least once a month so your account counts as active (see Inactivity).
Giveaway rules
Must
- Be genuinely free: no selling, trading, auctions or raffles
- Have a set end date, at most one month away
- Pay winners within the stated time, or the host gets banned
- Monetary giveaways must be at least $5
Can't require
- Likes on marketplace threads
- Rep or vouches
- Joining a Discord or Telegram community
- Referrals, or social media follows
- Mass tagging users
A comment is the normal, allowed entry requirement.
Not allowed at all
- Fake giveaways (ban)
- Giving away other forums' accounts
- Freebies with referral links
- Promoting marketplace servers
Selling a tool or program
The Tools/Programs section is only for safe, useful tools you made yourself or fully own the rights to. Every thread is held until staff approve it.
Allowed
- White-hat tools useful to the OG community, like username checkers, turbos or stat bots
- New ideas get approved faster
Not allowed
- Anything on the disallowed activity list, or anything malicious
- Tools you don't own the rights to
- Leaked or stolen source code, even in part
Approval steps
- Post the thread. It's held for approval automatically.
- PM your full source code (.zip) to the staff member in charge. Single-use file links are recommended.
- Answer any questions and wait. Pestering staff gets you denied.
Swappers and autoclaimers need a live demo with speed tests, plus proof of past valuable swaps or claims (for example timestamped logs). Members with deal disputes against them may be refused.
Making a suggestion
- Search first, because it may already have been suggested.
- Explain who it helps and why it's worth doing before other ideas.
- Keep it short: one clear sentence on the change and its benefit, plus screenshots if they help.
- When you comment on other people's suggestions, disagree politely.