The BlackHat World ® Marketplace Rules

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BlackHat World ®
Marketplace Rules
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Advertise on BHW
Quick overview of the sales thread approval process and management​


⚠️Disclaimer⚠️
  • All products and services listed in the BlackHat World ®'s Marketplace must be related to Digital Marketing.
  • Non-digital marketing products are not permitted and will not be approved.

1. Account creation
  • Register a free BHW account if you don't already have one.
  • Your account must be warning-free and remain so throughout the entire process.

2. Account upgrade
  • You must purchase either Jr. VIP membership ($147 annually) or Marketplace Seller membership ($749 annually) from the Account Upgrades page.
  • To be eligible for Jr. VIP, you must have been a member for at least 60 days and have made a minimum of 100 quality posts.
  • Marketplace Seller membership has no eligibility criteria and can be purchased immediately.

3. Rules and content standards
  • Before submitting your sales thread, read all Marketplace rules and content standards.
  • Understanding the requirements helps you avoid common reasons for rejection.
  • You must treat our staff like customers throughout the entire process.

4. Sales thread preparation

5. Sales thread submission
  • Submit your sales thread to the appropriate Marketplace subforum for review.
  • You will receive a DM confirmation from our shared Marketplace @iModBot account.
  • The sales thread ends up in our approval queue and will be reviewed by staff usually within 3 business days.

6. Pre-check stage
  • Wait for initial contact from the Marketplace team.
  • If your thread passes the pre-check stage (no rule violations found), it proceeds to the full review stage.
  • If it gets rejected, you'd receive a DM with an update, including the rejection reason(s).
    • Ensure that you address all issues the staff has pointed out in the rejection notice before resubmitting it.
    • Once you're confident all issues are fixed, repeat step 5 to submit a new sales thread.

7. Review process
  • A Marketplace moderator will conduct a comprehensive review of your service.
    • Note: This may include FRC testing if staff requests it.
  • The approval thread is fully confidential - only you and staff can view the content and reply.
  • You must provide your top-level package free of charge, and everything else the staff might need to review your service.
    • Failure to do so will result in rejection of the sales thread.

8. Response requirement
  • Once you receive review details, you must respond within 72 hours by liking the details post or posting in the approval thread.
    • Note: The approval thread is private - only you and Staff can view the content.
  • Failure to respond within this timeframe results in rejection.

9. Communication, updates, and service delivery
  • If you have questions related to the approval process, ask them in the approval thread itself. Do not DM staff. For transparency reasons, keep all the communication within the approval thread. For other non-related queries, please Contact Support
  • If the service delivery takes more than 7 business days, we expect you to provide us with frequent updates (once every few days).
  • You must deliver the service within the same time frame listed in your sales copy.
  • Failure to provide updates and/or deliver the service on time results in rejection.
  • Every time one of our staff members replies in the thread, you'd be notified via DM.
    • Note: We highly recommend turning on email notifications for DMs in your account settings as well.

10. Review of the service
  • Once the final service and all related materials are delivered, our staff will review them within ~72 business hours.
  • If we have questions, we'd leave them in the approval thread.

11. Payment processing
  • Upon approval, you'll receive payment instructions for the $30 annual Marketplace listing fee via DM.
  • Payment must be completed within 30 days of approval.
    • Failure to do so will result in the rejection of the sales thread, and the review process will have to be restarted if you resubmit it.

12. Thread goes live
  • After payment via Chargebee, a clean copy of your sales thread, containing only your opening post (sales copy) and staff approval message, will go live instantly. No other content (replies) will be included.

13. Sales thread management
  • Maintain active participation in your sales thread, respond to customer queries regularly, and comply with all Marketplace rules and content standards.
  • You can bump your sales thread once every 24 hours.

14. Annual renewal
  • You will receive renewal reminders 7 days before your listing's expiration. To maintain your listing, you must complete the $30 annual renewal payment.
    • Note: To keep your listing active, your membership must also be renewed yearly.

15. Receive Marketplace rules updates and news
  • Be sure to "Watch" the Marketplace change log thread to receive alerts regarding changes to the Marketplace rules.
    • This is the easiest way to ensure you comply with the rules and stay up to date.
 
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Account requirements ​

Your account must match all of the prerequisites listed below before you can submit a sales thread to the Marketplace.

1. Active membership

Purchase one of the following membership levels:
  • Jr. VIP
    • $147 annually (requires 100 posts and 60 days membership).
  • Marketplace seller
    • $749 annually (no posting requirements).
  • You can purchase either via Account Upgrades or via a manual crypto invoice by contacting Support.
    • Note: Premium membership does not allow you to submit a sales thread. A comprehensive comparison of the benefits of the various membership accounts can be found here.
2. Account status
  • Warning-free status
    • Your account must be warning-free and remain so throughout the entire review process.
    • Note: To check if you have any active warnings, navigate to your profile, and if you see a "Warnings" tab, click on it. This tab shows your warning history. Congratulations, you haven't received a single warning if you don't see one. Read our guide on warnings here.
  • Received a warning
    • If you receive a warning during the review process, the sales thread will be rejected, and you will need to restart the process once the warning has expired.
 
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General Marketplace rules
Mandatory requirements ​

Disclaimer: The Terms of Use apply to the Marketplace and the rest of the forum.


Below are the rules that all sellers must comply with to qualify for Marketplace participation.

Digital marketing related services
  • All services must be relevant to digital marketing, and every sales copy must clearly reflect a digital marketing angle.
    • Allowed Services
      • Web Design/Development
      • Link-Building
      • SEO
      • Content writing
      • Proxies
      • Hosting
      • VPN
      • VPS
      • etc.
    • The Prohibited Service
    • The Conditionally Allowed

Mandatory language
  • All sales copies must be written in English (this includes title, description, sales graphic content, tags, etc.).

Detailed service information

Service ownership, accountability, and delegation
  • Control
    • Sellers must retain complete and direct control over the services or products listed in their sales threads.
  • Delivery and accountability
    • The seller is solely responsible for the direct delivery and fulfillment of the service or product to the buyer, overseeing all aspects from start to finish.
  • Refund policy
    • Sellers are required to establish and clearly display a transparent, enforceable refund policy within their thread, and must personally handle all refund requests to guarantee buyer protection.
  • Delegation of service - delegation of delivery, customer service, or refund management to third parties is only permitted if:
    • Those parties possess the appropriate Marketplace Seller or Jr VIP status.
    • They are verified and authorised by Marketplace Staff.
    • Operate strictly under the seller’s direct supervision and accountability.
    • These rules apply to the seller's staff and/or Joint Ventures.

Sales offer changes and edit policy
  • Your thread title and opening post form your official sales offer on the Marketplace. If your CTA (call to action) utilizes a landing page, both must match (e.g., you cannot change the offer on your landing page, but not your sales thread's opening post).
  • Any modification to mandatory sections (including your refund policy, service description, available packages, out-of-stock status, pricing, delivery time, or call to action) requires you to submit a formal thread edit request for staff review and approval.

Sales thread relevance
  • Stay on topic
    • Only include information directly related to your service or product.
  • Be specific
    • Specify the scope and limitations of your service. For example, if you sell VCCs (Virtual Credit Cards), you must state which websites or platforms they are compatible with.
  • No excessive sub-services
    • Do not excessively list sub-services (e.g., 8 YouTube sub-services, 8 Twitter sub-services, etc.) in one thread. What constitutes “excessive” is determined at the sole discretion of Marketplace staff.

Media vs Attached sales graphics
  • Media usage
    You must use BHW Media ONLY to host your sales graphics for the opening post of your sales thread and any Thread Edit Request.
    • Do not use external image hosts or the standard attachment feature (aka the "Attach Files" button in the post editor) in those 2 cases (opening post and thread edit requests).
  • Attached graphic usage
    You must use the standard attachment feature for every subsequent post in your sales thread.
    • For instructions on embedding Media sales graphics, including sizes and common questions, check out this guide.

Reviews and testimonials
  • Including reviews
    You are allowed to include reviews related to the service from other BHW members in your opening post in 2 ways:
    • Quote/multi-quote
    • Screenshot
      • You can include screenshot reviews in 2 steps:
        • Step 1 - Take a screenshot of the review post, use BHW Media to embed it (if you're about to include that review in the opening post of your sales thread), or use the "Attach files" button in the editor for subsequent posts.
        • Step 2 - Link each screenshot back to the original post for transparency and verification purposes.
    • You may ask your customers for an honest review. If you offer an incentive for a review, the reviewer must disclose this (e.g., "I received a discount in exchange for this review").
  • Reviews sources
    You are only allowed to include reviews from:
    • An older/closed sales thread of yours, but relevant to your current approval submission.
    • Beta testing thread from the Service Reviews & Beta Testers subforum.
    • Important: External reviews (from your site, other forums, review sites, external services, etc.) are not allowed.
  • Disallowed
    • You cannot use the approval message of the service as a review.
 
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General Marketplace rules
Prohibited activities and services ​

To maintain a fair and secure Marketplace, the following activities and services are strictly prohibited:


Prohibited service/product list
  • Below you can find a list of services and products that are absolutely prohibited. Note - the list is not exhaustive:
    • Non-digital marketing related:
      • Windows Products
      • *Microsoft Office
        • Conditionally allowed - it will require a valid reseller license to be presented upon review.
      • PlayStation, Xbox, etc
      • Games
      • Gift Cards
      • *Cryptocurrency/trading & coins (platforms and ebooks/methods)
      • Unlicensed payment gateways and processors
      • etc.
    • Antivirus related:
      • McAfee
      • Kaspersky
      • BitDefender
      • Panda
      • etc.
    • ID/Gov documents
      • Any service that requires governmentally issued personal ID or documents (either personal or business).
    • Untestable service
      • Services that cannot be reviewed are prohibited.
      • You're not allowed to advertise other Marketplaces.
    • Negative services:
      • You cannot advertise services as "Negative SEO", Mass spamming, or spamming in general.
      • Each service must present a positive outcome.
    • Marketing-related services:
      • Group Buys (although their discussion on the forum is allowed, this type of sales threads are not allowed due to their problematic nature).
      • Canva
      • Grammarly
      • Google Ad Grants
      • Google AdSense
      • Screaming Frog
      • Adobe
      • SlickSlack.io
      • LIttleBizzy.com

Illegal activities
  • You may not offer any service or product that is illegal. This includes, but is not limited to, services that involve hacking, fraud, or the distribution of copyrighted material without permission.
Unauthorised reselling
  • Reselling another member's products or services without their explicit, verifiable authorization is forbidden.

Spoofed or impersonation services
  • Services falsely claiming affiliation will be removed. BHW staff have final say on such cases.

Requesting personal information
  • Sellers are prohibited from requesting personal IDs or any other legal documents from their buyers.

Coaching & mentorship
  • No mentoring, 1:1 training, or coaching.

Hijacking sales threads
  • If you do not own or are not authorised to manage a sales thread, you may not post on behalf of the seller to address questions or queries.
  • You are forbidden to post in it to promote or sell your own products or services.

Nudity, revealing clothing, or sexually suggestive imagery
  • None of the above can be included in your sales copy or subsequent internal posts, as mentioned in TOS - 5.1.

Political or religious imagery/references
  • Sales threads must not include any political or religious content of any kind. This includes images, quotes, references, mentions, endorsements, or content that could be interpreted as promoting or criticizing any political or religious group.

Plagiarism of sales copy
  • You are not allowed to copy, steal, or closely mimic another seller’s sales copy, product descriptions, headlines, taglines, formatting, or marketing language - word-for-word or slightly reworded. The staff will be the sole arbiter of those instances.
  • You are allowed to use them for inspiration, but you are prohibited from copying them.

Review alteration
  • You are strictly prohibited from editing your customers' reviews under any circumstances. If you wish to include them as a testimony of your service, you must include them as they were originally posted.

Retention of review deliverables
  • Do not reclaim accounts, services, or deliverables provided for review during the approval process. Any attempt to revoke or take back access after submission will result in the immediate closure of your sales thread.

One service type per seller policy
  • You may not list multiple sales threads offering the same service type, even if the target audience, niche, or presentation differs. Each seller is allowed only one active thread per service type.

BHW Media metadata rules
  • Keyword stuffing / Spam
    • Keyword stuffing in the title, tags, or description of BHW Media metadata is strictly prohibited.
  • CTA / Contact details
    • Including call-to-action (CTA) messages or any contact information in BHW Media metadata is strictly prohibited.
 
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General Marketplace rules
Conditional allowance ​

The following are permitted under specific conditions:

Conditionally allowed services:
  • Conditionally Allowed Services
    • The examples listed below must frame the service within a digital marketing context. Without it, the service would be rejected.
    • Premium Spotify accounts
    • Premium YouTube Music accounts
    • Cryptocurrency/coins (only for web design/development, content writing, link-building/SEO, ORM, or PPC services)
    • etc.

Sales thread joint ventures (JV)
  • Sales threads JVs must be explicitly announced in the opening post of sales threads, and authorized by Staff - either during the sales thread approval phase (for new sales threads) or the Thread edit/re-testing request process (for existing sales threads).
    • Note: Failure to do so will result in warnings for all parties involved and closure of the sales thread until the problem is resolved.
  • Multiple qualifying members (Jr VIP or Marketplace Seller membership required for each account) may start a sales thread together.
  • One of the sellers must submit the sales thread for review.
  • Marketplace staff will seek acknowledgment of the JV from all members involved.
  • The other seller(s) must be clearly mentioned in the opening post for transparency, ideally with their responsibility:
    • e.g., MemberA - support, MemberB - sales and refunds, etc.
  • All sellers involved are equally responsible for complying with all forum and Marketplace rules. Failure to do so will result in action against all sellers and the service itself.

Adding staff members to a sales thread
  • If you wish to have another team member help manage your sales thread, they must have an active Jr VIP or Marketplace Seller membership.
  • All managers must be listed in the opening post of your sales thread.
    • If the sales thread is already live, you must submit a Thread Edit Request to do so.
    • Note: If a seller's staff member manages the sales thread without explicit authorisation from Marketplace staff, the sales thread will be temporarily closed until the issue is resolved.

Freebies, giveaways & prizes
  • All giveaways and prizes related to sales threads require Admin approval before the listing goes live.
  • The rules for giveaways are listed here.
  • The request would be reviewed in the approval thread.
    • Note: If the sales thread is live, Contact Support to have your request reviewed.
    • All giveaways require explicit permissions, and if you're caught breaking the rules, the sales thread will be temporarily closed until the issue is resolved.
 
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General Marketplace rules
Restrictions and limitations ​


No other Marketplaces
  • Platforms that are designed to help individuals sell or promote their own services to clients (a.k.a., Marketplaces) are not allowed.
  • Crowdsourcing and task-execution services and platforms are allowed.
    • e.g., Micro-task or micro-worker services

No contact details/landing page links in subsequent sales thread's posts

The changes listed below affect the content of sales threads going forward. All previous subsequent sales threads posts are grandfathered in (the change date is considered the day of the official announcement - Feb 24th, 2026.).
  • You can include contact details or landing page links only in your opening post.
    • Including contact details (phone number, Telegram, Teams, etc) or landing page link in your subsequent sales thread posts is strictly forbidden. This includes:
      • Details (links/contact information) embedded in images and/or graphics.
      • Plain text, but still clearly displayed contact details/URL.
      • Actual links
    • Important: The only exception to the link rule is when the link is educational (e.g., a video link) or a credible citation source (e.g., Search Engine Journal). However, you cannot use your website/landing page as a citation source. The educational and citation source cannot include any contact details related to you (e.g., your website or external contact details).
  • You are forbidden to quote the opening post of your sales thread in subsequent posts.
    • Note: You can include a link to your BHW DM in subsequent posts and in your opening post.

No unrelated bundling
  • Do not combine several unrelated services in a single sales thread (aka “garage sale” type). Those are prohibited.
    You may group closely related services, such as:

    • Link building services and on-page SEO services.
    • Web design and graphic design services.
    • YouTube likes and YouTube commenting services.
    • Mobile and residential proxies.
    • Shared hosting and VPS services.
    • Email, social media, and other account types.
    Do not combine unrelated offerings, such as:
    • A link-building service and Instagram account sales.
    • An email account service and a video editing service.
    • An SEO Package with account-selling service.
    • If you're a digital marketing agency, do not list together all of the services that you offer (i.e., link-building, PPC, content writing, on-page, video editing, etc.

No duplicate services
  • You are prohibited from including the same product or service in multiple sales threads.

No identical landing pages
  • You cannot use the same landing page for multiple sales threads (e.g., using your website's home page)
  • Each sales thread must use a unique landing page.
    • Note: You can use the same website in multiple sales threads, but each sales thread must link to a designated landing page on that website.

No cross-selling
  • Cross-selling between your sales threads (or other members' sales threads) is prohibited anywhere within Marketplace sales threads.
    • The only exception is if your sales thread is permanently closed.

No "like" requests
  • Requests for "likes" are not allowed in any form, including a requirement for a review copy.

No unrelated promotions
  • Do not use your sales thread to advertise or promote:
    • Unauthorised additional products, services, or packages.
    • Unrelated projects, such as alt coins or cryptocurrency ventures.
No unauthorised changes to the sales offer
  • The opening post of your sales thread is your official offer. Anything else you might advertise is considered a deviation from your sales offer and false advertising. It comes with consequences that you may read about in the "Enforcement and Consequences" section.

  • It's strictly prohibited to add/advertise any unauthorised content by staff. This includes:
    • Packages
    • Services
    • Change in price, refund policy, TAT/delivery time, contact details, or any aspect of your sales thread.
  • You must submit a Thread Edit Request if you need to change or add a relevant service to your offer.

No polls
  • Polls are not permitted in sales threads. Do not include one.

BHW Media restrictions
  • Every seller has 100 MB of BHW Media storage. If you max it out, Contact Support. You will have to pay an extra fee for extra storage.
 
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General Marketplace rules
Formatting requirements​


Text color
  • Do not use custom text colors that blend into the forum's light or dark themes, as they can make text unreadable or very difficult to read.
    • Always test how your custom colors are viewed in light and dark themes. Instructions on how to do that can be found here.
    • The default text colors are adaptive and are highly recommended.
    • Note: This rule does not apply to text within sales graphics.

Text font size
  • Do not use a small font size in plain text or sales graphics.
    • If you use the WYSIWYG, do not use a font size smaller than 15.5 or SIZE=4, the equivalent in BBCode.
 
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General Marketplace rules
Enforcement and consequences ​


Rules violations
  • Failure to comply with any Marketplace rules can result in closing your sales thread, a formal warning, or, in severe cases, a ban from the forum.

Temporary sales thread closures
A sales thread will be temporarily closed if any of the following violations occur:
  • Inactive CTA (Call to action)
    • If your CTA (such as a website, order form, landing page, or even contact details) is down, your sales thread will be temporarily closed until you submit a Thread Edit Request with an updated solution.
  • Selling unauthorised services, products, or packages
    • If you attempt to offer products or services that the Marketplace staff has not approved.
  • Changing packages/product pricing
    • You are only allowed to advertise your extra services if you have gone through the Thread Edit Request process and Marketplace staff have retested, approved, and added them to the opening post of your sales thread.
    • Note: this excludes discounts, which are explained in the "Sales thread formatting - Optional sections" (Vouchers, coupons, and discount codes).
  • Inaccurate/outdated contact details
    • If you are aware that one of your contact details is outdated, it may result in the closure of your sales thread and an official warning.
    • You must submit a Thread Edit Request as soon as possible to update your contact details.

Permanent sales thread closures

Certain Marketplace violations carry stricter consequences. Repeated violations (more than twice) of any of the rules listed below will result in the permanent closure of your sales thread.
  • Getting caught gaming the system
    • If a seller is getting caught trying to game the system in any way (e.g., fake/purchased accounts, fake reviews, fake bumps, etc) the sales thread would be permanently closed.
  • Discontinued service
    • If a service is no longer allowed to be sold in the Marketplace, all related sales threads will be closed.

Unrenewed sales threads & Content removal

Sales threads that are not renewed within the 7 day grace period and after 30 days after expiration will have their opening post content removed.

Note: Threads may still be reopened within the timeframe outlined in the “Closure and Reopening Requests” section. If reopened, the most recent version of the opening post will be restored. An exception to that would be cases where the seller also paid for the thread edit request.


Staff discretion
  • A thread may be rejected if the service is of poor quality, does not match the description, or if the seller provides poor customer service during the review.
  • Products and services must be reasonably priced. The staff will be the sole arbiters of this.

Disputes & chargebacks
  • If a valid dispute is opened against you in the Dispute Resolutions section, you must focus on resolving it. Ignoring a dispute will result in a ban.
  • If there's an active dispute against you while you have a sales thread in an approval stage, the approval thread will be paused or rejected until the dispute is successfully resolved.
  • If a customer issues a chargeback after you delivered the service, you may open a dispute against them.
 
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General Marketplace rules
Approval sales thread rules​

No beta services
  • Your service must be complete and fully developed. Services in a "beta" or testing phase are not permitted.

Simultaneous approval sales threads
  • You may submit up to 5 approval sales threads at a time.
  • Once any of them is approved (or rejected), that opens another spot for you to submit another sales thread.

Final sales copy versions
  • Double-check your sales copy before submitting it for review to make sure:
    • There are no typos (we suggest running the sales copy through any grammar checking tool, such as Grammarly).
    • All the links are working as they should.
    • All media images are correctly displayed (if you use sales graphics).
  • You will be allowed 1 final tweak if you spot an inaccuracy during the review process, but strive to submit a final and well-checked version of your sales copy.
    • Important: If you request more than 1 edit of your sales copy while your service is in a review phase, the sales thread would be rejected, and you would have to resubmit it.

Top-level package/service for review
  • You must provide the top-level package of the service/product you want to sell and everything else we might need for the review, completely free of charge.
  • Always ensure that the top-level package is something you can deliver before submitting your sales thread.
  • Important: Refusal to do so or arguing about which package you should deliver would result in a rejection of the service.

No Attempts to brute-force the Marketplace
  • Do not try to get the staff's attention by constantly posting in the approval thread and/or tagging them. Doing so would result in a sales thread rejection and a warning.
  • There's an approval queue, and staff will get to your request. Be patient with us, please.

Service rejections & resubmissions
  • If the same sales thread is rejected 3 times after a full review, you are forbidden from resubmitting it for one year.
  • You will receive a warning if you resubmit a thread 3 times without fixing the content standards issues pointed out by staff.
  • The Marketplace staff are available in Support if you have questions regarding your rejected sales thread. However, keep in mind that we do not pre-vet sales copies in Support.

Cancellations of the approval service
  • You may cancel a review at any time by providing a reason to the reviewing moderator in your approval thread. For example:
    • You discovered a bug in your service.
    • You changed your mind and no longer want to sell the service.
    • Etc.
  • Important: If you submit and request a cancellation of the same service more than 3 times, you will be forbidden from submitting it for a year after the day of the last cancellation.
 
Content standards
​

The following Marketplace Content Standards are not recommended but required for both - Marketplace sales thread and all Advertising items (banners, stickies, and email blasts). Please review them before you submit your sales thread for review.

Language
  • We already mentioned that English is mandatory. You also need to know that if you plan to offer a service in a foreign language (e.g., content writing, SEO), your sales copy and support must be in English.
    • Your English doesn’t have to be perfect in sales copy or support, but it should still be easy for customers to understand.
  • Vulgar language has no place in your sales thread.

Unquantifiable/unverifiable claims
  • Your sales thread cannot contain claims that are a matter of opinion or cannot be objectively verified by staff.
  • We've broken them down into a few categories for simplicity reasons. You'll see the claim you can't use (in red) and an alternative (in green) you can use (of course, depending on the context, you might have to adjust it or remove it entirely). Please keep in mind that the list is not exhaustive:
      • Note: As you can see from the examples below, "one/some of the" often covers the claim from unquantifiable to acceptable.
      • ❌ "the best" → "one of the best" ✅
      • ❌ "the most" → "one of the most" ✅
      • ❌ "1st/first" → "one of the first" ✅
      • ❌ "trusted" → "one of the trusted" ✅
      • ❌ "unbeatable" → "highly competitive", "one of the best options available" ✅
      • ❌ "unmatched" → "difficult to find elsewhere", "rare combination of features" ✅
      • ❌ "unparalleled" → "highly competitive", "rare", etc.✅
      • ❌ "cheapest / highest / safest / fastest / etc." → "some of the cheapest / highest / safest / fastest / etc." ✅
      • ❌ "permanent" → "for x weeks/months/years", "long term access included" ✅
      • ❌ "lifetime" → "access for the life of the product", "no renewal fees under the current version" ✅
      • ❌ "no risk" / "risk free" → "try it and decide for yourself" ✅
      • ❌ "never shared before" → "newly developed", "just released" ✅
      • ❌ "perfect" → "a great fit for", "well-matched your needs", "reliable" ✅
      • ⚠️️ "free" is only allowed to be used if it's genuinely free - this means not tied to any sort of personal data collection (e.g., registrations, email address, paying for a service/product, as a bonus, etc.)
      • ⚠️ "white hat" is only allowed to be used in the PPC context (e.g., "white hat campaigns")
      • ⚠️ "Only on BHW" claims would be checked by the staff.
      • ✅ "free trial" is fully allowed.
      • ❌ "free" → "reply in this sales thread to get a free review copy", "free trial", "$0", "at no cost", "as a bonus", etc. ✅
      • ❌ "organic" → "non-paid", "search engine traffic" ✅
      • ❌ "natural" → "diverse", "non-automated" ✅
      • ❌ "safe", "safety", "safely" → "low-risk", "risk-minimizing approach" ✅
      • ❌ nonsensical or ambiguous claim → remove them entirely ✅
      • ❌ "no/zero footprints" or "footprint free" → "avoids common detection patterns", "minimizes detectable signals/flags" ✅
  • Important: Keep in mind that the context of the claim matters - you can use, for example, "The best way to contact me is via email", but you can't use "The best service on the Market". The latter is considered an unquantifiable claim, and it violates our Marketplace content standards.

Cited claims
  • If you make a claim about industry practices (e.g., "social signals improve rankings"), you must cite the source of the claim.
    • The citation needs to be a link, either linking the source to the claim, or you can include the link at the end of your sales thread with a reference number (similar to what Wikipedia does, for example).
 
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Sales thread formatting
Mandatory requirements
​

Before we dive into each mandatory section that you must include in your sales copy, here's a quick example of a reasonable and logical sales thread format to follow:

Title
↓
Detailed service description
↓
Packages & pricing
↓
Refund policy
↓
How to purchase / CTA
↓
Contact details​



Below you'll find a list of all mandatory sections you must include in the opening post of your sales thread, along with details and examples where necessary. All "Content Standards" and Marketplace rules apply to every element listed below.

Title
  • Length
    • The title can be up to 150 characters (including white spaces and emojis)
  • Emojis
    • The complete list of emojis can be found here.
    • Note: You can only use emojis from the list above; no other emojis will work.

Detailed service description
  • Clearly explain what your service offers. If it’s not apparent to us, it won’t be clear to your customers either.

Pricing
  • Inclusion
    • You must include your pricing directly in your sales thread's content, not just your landing page or thread title. Prices should be easy to find and clearly presented.
  • Pricing options- We understand that not every service has a fixed price. We allow pricing options like packages, price per item, price ranges, and "starting at" (depending on the service). Here are a few simple guidelines:
    • Bulk services
      • You may include a price range in your thread for offerings like bulk account sales.
      • Note: Do not use "starting at" pricing - this is prohibited here.
    • SMM Panels
      • If you’re advertising a social media marketing panel, include a sample of at least 10 services with their prices directly in your thread.
      • If the pricing varies, include the price ranges instead.
    • Varying price services
      • For services with case-based pricing, share examples of what you offer and what you typically charge for them.
      • The price range option should be used for those services.

Refund policy
  • Refund summary
    • You must include your full refund policy directly in your thread - not just a link to your website. If your refund policy is long, summarize it as clearly and briefly as possible in your thread.
  • Reasonable refund terms
    • You must offer refunds under certain conditions (e.g., if work isn’t delivered within the promised timeframe).
  • "No refunds" are not allowed
    • Refund policies stating “no refunds” will be rejected, as they can’t be enforced during disputes.
  • Affiliate Programs/CPA networks are exempt
    • Refund policy rules do not apply to those 2 services.

"How to purchase" / CTA
  • You must include a clear “How to Purchase” section in your thread so customers know how to order.
  • Options for purchase flow
    • Depending on your setup, this can explain how to order via website, order form, or direct contact (like email/Telegram/Teams).
    • Include working links or handles in the section, whether it’s a site, form, or contact method - make it clear for your customers that this is how they must order your service.
    • Even a simple CTA counts - a basic “To place an order, go to site-name.com” with an anchor that matches the URL/handle - but you still need to include it.
      • Important:
      • Whether you choose a website or a contact detail for your CTA, it must be a clickable link.
      • For websites:
        • Your link's anchor text is up to you - e.g., "To place an order, click here" or "To place an order, go to http://site.com" etc.
      • For contact details
        • Your link's anchor text must match the handle - e.g., "To place an order, email [email protected]"

Contact details
  • General requirements
  • Opening post contact details
    • You must include contact details such as email, phone number, Telegram, Teams ID, etc., only in the opening post of your sales thread.
    • You can include a link to a contact page, but that cannot be the only contact detail in the sales copy.
    • If you have multiple contact details in a sales graphic, you can either:
      • Chop the sales graphic into individual pieces and link each contact detail.
      • Include a text link for each contact detail in the sales copy.
    • Note:
      • ⚠️ Do not use a misleading anchor text that resembles but doesn't exactly match the URL or handle.
      • We recommend that you also include a link to your BHW DM.
  • Subsequent posts contact details
    • No external links or any variation in contact details may be included in subsequent posts in your sales thread, with the exception of educational and citational links, as listed in "Restrictions & Limitations".
    • You may link to your opening post for contact details from every subsequent post.
    • You may include a link to BHW DM.
 
Sales thread formatting
Optional sections
​

If you decide to also include the optional sections in your sales copy, this will allow your prospects to know more about you, your service and potentially increase the chances of a sale.

Here’s a sample layout showing how to organize your sales thread using both the required and optional sections:

Title & thread tags
↓
Professional experience
↓
Detailed service description
↓
Packages & pricing
↓
TAT / Delivery time
↓
Reviews / Testimonials
↓
FAQ
↓
Payment options
↓
Refund policy
↓
Voucher / Coupon / Discount codes
↓
How to purchase / CTA
↓
Contact details
↓
Samples & Review copies
​


Below are the optional sections you could include to improve the clarity of your sales copy and the product/service you want to sell.

Thread tags
  • You may include up to 20 thread tags relevant to your service.
  • Tags help buyers find your service via search.
  • Do not use misleading or unrelated tags - doing so may result in thread rejection.

Professional experience
  • You can share a brief background about yourself, your business, or your team to build trust.
  • Highlight your relevant skills, certifications, or years of experience.
  • Mention any past results or notable projects you've worked on.
    • Note: You might be asked to show us proof of that.
  • Keep it concise and focus on what makes you qualified to deliver the service.

Delivery time / Turnaround time (TAT)
  • TAT (Turnaround Time) must be included if applicable.
  • You may list a range if delivery time varies - include what might cause delays.
  • Unreasonable TATs (e.g., 12 months for a PBN) may lead to rejection of the service.
  • Specifying it even for instant deliveries like proxy services is a good practice.

Reviews / Testimonials

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
  • Including a short FAQ section in your sales thread helps buyers get quick answers and shows you’re a professional seller. In the spoiler below, we've added a few questions that you might want to include.
    • "What will I receive exactly?"
    • "What details are needed before you start working on my order?"
    • "Do you offer samples or a trial?"
    • "Will this work for [specific use case, e.g., SEO, social media, etc.]?"
    • "How is this service different from other similar services?"
    • "Do you offer custom packages?"
    • "Do you offer any review copies?"
    • "How can I contact you for support after the order?"
    • Any other question that might be specific to your service.

Payment options
  • List all payment methods you accept - e.g., Stripe, Crypto, Wise, etc.
  • Important: PayPal Family & Friends and Western Union are not allowed as payment methods.

Vouchers, coupons, and discount codes

Samples and review copies
  • You may offer samples or review copies to showcase the quality of your service.
  • Clearly state:
    • What’s being offered? (e.g., full product, partial sample, limited version)
    • How many are available?
    • Who qualifies? (e.g., Jr. VIPs, buyers with prior transactions, etc.)
    • For review copies - what is the time frame that a reviewer must post their honest review? (e.g., 72 hours after the delivery). If not set, the default deadline is 7 days.
      • Note: If you have provided a review copy, but the reviewer failed to post their review by the expected deadline, feel free to contact Support and your query will be handled.
  • Guidelines:
    • Review copies must be offered transparently and should reflect the actual service.
    • Do not offer incentives in exchange for positive reviews — all feedback must be honest and unbiased.
    • Once review copies are claimed, submit a Thread Edit Request to update the opening post and reflect the change.
 
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Sales thread submission
​

Submission process
  • Submit your sales thread in the most appropriate Marketplace sub-forum.

Marketplace queue
  • Your thread will enter our Marketplace moderation queue. You will receive a PM from @iModBot with a link to your private approval thread where the review will occur.
    • You will receive a new reply in that DM every time there's a new post in your approval thread (including when an approval sales thread is rejected or approved)
    • Important: We highly advise you to tick the "Receive email when a new direct message is received" option from your Account Preferences page.
 
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Sales thread review process​


Pre-checking phase
  • Our Marketplace staff will pre-check your sales copy for any Marketplace rules and Content Standards violations.
    • Note: This process typically takes up to 48 business hours.
  • If your sales thread did not pass the pre-check, it will be rejected with a clear message of the reason(s).
    • The details would also be included in the corresponding DM.
    • Important: If your sales thread gets rejected and you have questions, please Contact Support. Do not DM staff. Keep in mind that we do not pre-vet sales copies in Support. We can only clarify questions you might have regarding the rejection.

Review phase
  • Once your sales copy passes the pre-check phase, staff will leave instructions about what we need to test your service in the approval thread.
    • Important: At this point, if you have follow-up questions while your sales thread is in the review phase, always ask them in the approval thread.
  • You must treat the reviewing staff as customers and provide the same level of support to them as you normally do to your customers.
  • You must respond to the review details within 72 hours and confirm the order. Failure to do so will result in rejection.
    • Clarification: "Order confirmation" simply means liking the details post we've left and/or leaving a post saying you're working on it.

Free review copies testing
  • In some cases, staff may request that you offer 1 x free review copy (aka FRC) to a community member via the Free Review Copies section. This is not a process you can request; it is requested at the staff's discretion.
  • The instructions would be included in the detailed note in the approval thread.
  • The FRC rules are outlined in the FRC subforum.
  • Tip: You may also want to "Watch" the "FRC Change Log" thread for rule changes and updates.
 
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Fees, payment methods, and deadlines​

Below you'll find all fees and deadlines related to your sales thread.

Payment methods:
  • BlackHat World currently accepts the following payment methods:

Fees summary:

Annual listing fee:
  • Upon approval of your sales thread, a fee of $30 is required.
  • This fee must be paid within 30 days of approval. Failure to pay within this timeframe will result in the rejection of your sales thread, and you will need to restart the review process.
  • This is an annual fee and must be renewed each year to keep your thread active.
  • A renewal reminder will be sent 7 days before the expiration date.

Thread edit fee:
  • Standard edits to a live sales thread, such as updating text or graphics, require a $30 fee.
    • Note: Once an approval thread is paid for and live, any subsequent changes to the opening post must be made through the thread edit process, and the fee applies.
    • If your sales thread was just approved, but you haven't paid your annual fee yet, you can Contact Support to request a small adjustment to the sales copy (such as fixing a typo) before paying the fee (do not pay the fee until the change has been made) - in this case, the change would be free of charge.
Thread re-testing fee:
  • A $30 fee is required if the requested edit requires a retest of your service. This includes significant changes to your service or adding new, related service tiers.

Expired thread re-opening fee:

The reopening fee for a sales thread depends on the time since it expired.

Within 7 days:
  • Gratis period
    • Up to 7 days after the expiry date of your sales thread, you will see the "Extend now" button in your Account Upgrades, which lets you pay the annual fee; the sales thread will then be reopened and go back live automatically.
    • Note: if you wish to pay the fee using crypto, you must Contact Support to get a manual invoice.
  • The annual fee per sales thread is $30 (it does not cover any changes of the sales thread).
  • If you also require content changes to the thread, an additional $30 edit fee applies, for a total of $60. For changes sales thread changes, you'd have to submit a Thread Edit Request.
    • Please note: the changes need to be minor, not major, as pointed out in the "Customer service and maintenance" section.
    • If your changes are significant, this would require re-testing, which adds an additional fee of $30.
Within 1 Month:
  • If your sales thread has expired for over 7 days but less than 1 month, you can request to have it reopened.
  • The fee is $30, which covers the annual listing fee.
  • The sales thread will also require re-testing, which adds an extra fee of $30.
    • Important: This is not optional, but required if a sales thread has expired for more than 7 days and within a month.
  • If you also require content changes to the thread, an additional $30 edit fee applies, for a total of $90.
  • To submit a reopening sales thread request, you have to submit a Thread Edit Request

Over 1 Month:
  • If a sales thread expired over a month ago, you can no longer reopen it.
  • You can, however, submit a new sales thread in the Marketplace.
 
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Sales thread maintenance
Customer service & maintenance​

Customer service:
  • You are expected to respond to customer queries in your thread in a timely manner (typically daily, but once a week is also acceptable).
  • If a sales thread has been inactive for more than 2 weeks and has outstanding customer queries or issues, it will be closed, and buyers will be directed to the Dispute Resolution section.
    • Note: You must resolve all outstanding orders before requesting a reopening.

Maintenance
  • Your opening post and title must match the offer (packages, services, and pricing) in your follow-up posts.
  • You can include discounts, voucher codes, reviews, coupons, and review copies in the follow-up posts.
  • Not permitted without a thread edit request:
    • Adding new packages or services.
    • Changing pricing.
    • Landing pages and order forms must match the opening post exactly (the only exceptions are coupon/voucher codes and discounts in certain cases - see the "Discounts and sales copy consistency" in the following section).
    • Adding relevant new packages or services requires a Thread Edit Request.
 
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Sales thread maintenance
Discounts and sales copy consistency​



Consistency requirement
  • Your title, opening post, and subsequent posts must all match.
  • Example: If your title says “50% off” but a later post says “30%,” it’s considered false advertising.

Frequenty discount changes
  • Keep your title and opening post generic (e.g., “Discount Inside” in the title, “See our latest post for the current discount offer” in the opening post).
  • Post your current discount codes in follow-up posts instead.

Showing discount in the title and opening post
  • For visibility, include the discount in both the title and opening post.
  • If the discount changes, submit a Thread Edit Request to update it.
  • Make sure your follow-up posts reflect the updated discount as well.
 
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Sales thread maintenance
Thread bumping guidelines​


Thread bumping guidelines
  • Clarification
    • "Bump posts" are the same as "subsequent posts" in a sales thread. The only difference is that bump posts will do precisely that - bump your sales thread (or show it on the home page).
  • You can reply freely to customer queries or post service updates - as often as needed.
    • Tips on replying to your customers:
      • Use the React button for “thank you” replies - don’t post just to thank.
      • To reply to multiple customers, use the multi-quote feature and post all responses in one reply.
        • Important: Responding to customers one by one won’t bump your thread, but each post sends a notification to anyone watching your thread.
        • To avoid spamming your prospects and potentially losing watchers, combine responses into a single post using the multi-quote feature.
    • Only one post every 24 hours will bump your thread to the homepage. Other posts will show in the thread, and send an alert to members who watch your thread but will not bump it.
  • To check if your next post will bump the thread, look for the 24-hour timer above the post editor.
    • No timer = your post will bump.
    • Timer is visible = your post won’t bump your thread.
  • You may include promotions, coupons, or reviews in your bump post.
  • Note: Not every one of your customers will bump your sales thread by posting. Our Marketplace algorithm determines whether or not a bump occurs.
 
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Sales thread maintenance
Thread edit & re-testing rules​


Thread edit requests
  • Main rules
    • Once a sales thread is approved and paid for, any changes to your service must go through the official thread edit process.
    • Sellers must update the opening post before making any changes (either to their sales copy, product, or landing page); otherwise, the sales thread risks closure.
    • The goal is to maintain transparency with buyers and ensure the service experience matches what our Marketplace staff originally assessed.
    • The thread edit request covers only the opening post of a sales thread. If you wish to edit subsequent posts, please read the "Thread edit requests - Addons" section below.
  • Process & fees
    • Start by filling out the thread edit form. This will generate a ticket, and you will hear back from Support as soon as possible.
    • Important: Please note that you will not receive a confirmation email for your submission.
    • The fees are listed and explained in the "Fees, payment methods, and deadlines" section.
    • You may instead close your live/existing sales thread and open a new one, but this requires a full re-testing of your service, and you would start from scratch.
      • A new sales thread would mean losing all the history of your previous sales thread.
  • Allowed changes
    • Minor package/service adjustments
    • Pricing - up to 15% change per year (note: this is not cumulative over the years)
      • Price changes beyond this limit require a re-review regardless of when the service was last tested.
    • Other details within the approved scope of the service.
  • Not allowed without re-review
    • Major changes to the core service
    • Adding unrelated add-ons
    • Altering the service in a way that differs significantly from what was approved.
  • Examples of violations
    • Posting updated packages, prices, or policies in replies without editing the opening post.
    • Posting updated text/graphics in separate posts.
    • Giving private pricing that differs from the pricing in your thread.
    • Etc.
  • Thread relocation
    • You can move your sales thread once every 6 months to another Marketplace subforum. This counts as a thread edit and requires the standard fee.
      • Note: You can only move it if it's in a relevant subforum (e.g., from "SEO - Link-Building" to "SEO - Packages").
  • Compliance
    • All edits must follow Marketplace rules and content standards.
    • Repeated attempts to bypass rules or include unverifiable claims will result in rejection and possible warnings.
  • Images/Sales graphics
  • Small adjustments after edit
    • Once an edit is completed, you have 72 hours and one attempt to make a minor fix (e.g., fix a typo).
    • Significant changes, such as altering packages or exceeding the 15% price change, are not allowed in this follow-up.

Thread re-testing:
  • The fee for thread re-testing is listed and explained in the "Fees, payment methods, and deadlines" section.
  • Every significant change in the sales copy would require re-testing. This includes:
    • Price change of more than 15% (increase or decrease).
    • Changes in packages.
    • Added new packages/services.
    • Change in the metrics.
    • Etc.
  • Re-testing is also required if you want to reopen your service after it has expired for more than 7 days and less than a month.


Thread edit requests - Addons
  • Main rules
    • The addons allow you to request an update of a subsequent post or posts.
    • It follows the same process and rules as a base thread edit request, with the same submission form.
    • You will need to provide staff with the list of all posts you'd like to change.
    • Note: we are not going to be updating any external contact details in those posts, as that's already prohibited as previously announced. We can, however, remove them if you wish.
  • Process & fees
    • The base thread edit fee is mandatory even if you don't want to edit the opening post.
    • Every post you wish to edit would add $1 to your invoice.
      • E.g., if you want to edit 10 additional subsequent posts, that would cost you $10 in total ($30 for the base thread edit request + $10 for the additional posts).
 
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