Community Guidelines

Effective date: July 31, 2026 · Last updated: August 12, 2026

ClosetU is a marketplace for college students to buy and sell secondhand clothing and other campus-life items. These Community Guidelines are the plain-English version of what you agreed to when you signed up. They set the standards for how to list, buy, message, and meet up on ClosetU in a way that keeps the community safe and running.

These Guidelines are part of our Terms of Service and are enforceable. Breaking them can cost you your account. If you have a question about a specific rule, email support@closetu.app.

One thing to know up front: ClosetU does not process payments. You and the other student arrange payment yourselves, directly. That means no money is held for you, there is no purchase protection, and there is no refund we can issue. Section 7 explains what that means for you, and it is the most important section in this document.

1. Who ClosetU is for

ClosetU is for college students who are 18 or older. Right now that means students at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, who sign up with a calpoly.edu email address.

Anyone can browse listings without an account. Buying, selling, messaging, saving items, and viewing seller profiles all require a verified student account.

We check that your email address ends in calpoly.edu and that you can receive a code sent to it. That is all we check. We do not verify anyone's name, age, enrollment, or identity, and neither should you assume it of anyone else.

If you're not a current student, the platform isn't for you yet.

2. What you can sell

You can sell secondhand items that you personally own. ClosetU is built around clothing, so most Listings are:

Tops, bottoms, dresses, outerwear
Shoes, boots, sneakers
Bags, jewelry, hats, belts, scarves

You can also list other secondhand items that fit campus life:

Dorm decor and small home items
Textbooks
Small furniture you can hand off in person

New-with-tags items you bought yourself and never wore, or wore once, are fine, as long as you're not doing this as a business.

Every Listing must be an item you actually have in your possession and intend to sell. If it's still in the mail from another seller, it's not ready to list. If it's your roommate's, it's not yours to list.

Right now the app is focused on clothing, so some non-clothing categories may not have dedicated filters or tags yet. The prohibited items in Section 3 apply to everything, including furniture and home items. For example, no used mattresses.

3. What you can't sell

Some categories are prohibited outright. Listing any of these will get the Listing removed, and repeated attempts will get your account suspended. Some of these are blocked automatically the moment you post; others we catch through reports and review. This list isn't exhaustive. If something is clearly unsafe, illegal, or against the spirit of a student marketplace, don't list it.

Illegal, dangerous, or restricted

Controlled substances and drugs of any kind, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, MDMA, fentanyl, and prescription drugs not prescribed to the buyer, plus drug paraphernalia, grow kits, and cannabis seeds.
Firearms, ammunition, gun parts or accessories, airsoft and BB guns, and realistic replica or toy guns without an orange tip.
Knives or blades meant as weapons, brass knuckles, tasers, pepper spray, and other self-defense weapons.
Explosives, fireworks, and flammable or hazardous chemicals and aerosols.
Vape products, e-cigarettes, tobacco, and nicotine products, regardless of anyone's age.
Alcohol or anything containing alcohol.
Live animals; products from protected or endangered species (fur, ivory, tortoiseshell); and taxidermy of protected species.
Items recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, and anything unsafe to hand off, such as lithium batteries over 100 watt-hours.

Food, health, and hygiene

Food, drinks, supplements, vitamins, CBD, or anything ingestible.
Prescription medications, medical devices, contact lenses, needles, or anything that requires a prescription or medical supervision.
Used or opened cosmetics, makeup, skincare, or personal-care products. Only new, sealed items are OK.
Used underwear, socks, or swimwear. For hygiene, intimate items must be new with tags.
Used mattresses, mattress toppers, pillows, or bedding. New, in original packaging only.

Fraud and intellectual property

Counterfeit, “replica,” or “inspired-by” branded goods sold as authentic (fake Aritzia, fake Louis Vuitton, DHgate knockoffs).
Items you don't own or don't have the right to sell, and stolen goods.
Government-issued or fake IDs, passports, driver's licenses, or student IDs.
Currency, gift cards, coupons, event tickets, discount codes, subscriptions, or cryptocurrency.
Digital goods: downloads, e-books, online accounts, software keys, or in-game items.
Autographed or “authentic” collectibles without real proof of authenticity.
Current official uniforms, badges, or credentials (police, medical, delivery-company). These enable impersonation.

Sexual and adult content

Nudity, sexual images, or sexualized poses in Listing photos.
Underwear or lingerie worn by the seller in a photo.
Escort, sex-work, or “sugar” services of any kind.
Links to OnlyFans, adult subscription sites, or dating profiles.
Requests for sexual or romantic favors as part of a transaction.

Hate, extremism, and harm

Clothing displaying hate symbols (Nazi, KKK, or other white-supremacist iconography).
Clothing calling for violence against any person or group.
Clothing that targets a protected group (race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability) with contempt or violence.
Content that promotes self-harm, eating disorders, or suicide.

Ordinary political clothing, such as band tees, campaign shirts, and protest slogans, is allowed. The line is hate symbols and calls for violence, not political viewpoint.

Reselling and drop shipping

Bulk or wholesale inventory bought to flip, from a liquidator, DHgate, Alibaba, or similar.
Drop shipping: listing an item you don't have and ordering it from a supplier only after a buyer commits.
Business or storefront accounts.
Running multiple accounts (a “main” and a “flip” account).

Everything else

Anything illegal under federal, California, or local law.
Anything our team determines is inconsistent with a college secondhand marketplace.

If you're not sure whether something is allowed, email support@closetu.app before you list it.

4. How to make a good Listing

A good Listing is honest, accurate, and complete. That means:

Photograph the actual item. At least one photo has to be of the exact item you're selling, taken by you. You can add stock photos, such as a brand's product shot, as additional photos, but never as the only photo.
Describe the condition honestly. Note stains, tears, missing buttons, pilling, stretched fabric, or sun-fading. “Small stain on the left cuff” earns trust; a buyer discovering it at the Meetup destroys it.
Get the size right. If the size tag was cut out, measure and post the measurements. Don't guess a size from vibe.
Use the real brand. Don't tag Zara as an “Aritzia dupe.” Call it Zara. Buyers can search either.
Set a fair price. Listings on ClosetU must be priced between $0.00 and $150.00. $0.00 offers the item for free. Within that range, price for what someone would actually pay. ClosetU takes none of it.
Pick the right pickup area. Choose the general area you can realistically hand the item off in. It's a rough locality label so buyers know whether you're close, not a meeting place. Where you actually meet is something you and the buyer agree in chat.
Don't fake urgency. No “5 people watching!!” or “SOLD PENDING PAYMENT” games.
Keep it current. If an item sells or you change your mind, mark it sold or take it down. Stale Listings waste other students' time.

5. How to be a good Buyer

Only message when you're serious. A seller holding an item for someone who ghosts is the single most common complaint on any campus marketplace.
Show up. If you agreed to a Meetup, be there, or message the seller as soon as you know you can't make it.
Ask before assuming. If the description isn't clear, ask in the app before you agree to meet. The messaging thread is there for a reason.
Inspect before you pay. You are handing money to another student directly. Look the item over first. Once you've paid, ClosetU cannot get it back for you.
Agree the terms up front. Price, payment method, and whether the seller will take a return are all things to settle in chat, before you meet.

6. Meetups: how to hand off safely

Meetups happen entirely between buyer and seller. ClosetU is not there, does not supervise, does not vet the people involved, and does not vet the location. Safety is on you. Here is how to make it easier.

Check the other person first.

Look at their profile before you agree to meet: how long they've been active, whether they post real photos, and whether they answer questions clearly. If something feels off, don't meet.
Remember what a ClosetU account actually proves. Someone controlled a calpoly.edu address when they signed up. It is not an identity check.

Pick the place yourself, and pick it well.

Meet somewhere public with people around, and tell someone where you're going.
Prefer daylight.
Never share your home address. A dorm room, apartment, or off-campus rental is not a safe first-meeting location.
ClosetU does not choose, inspect, or endorse any meeting place, and nothing in the app is a recommendation of where to meet.

Keep it in the app and bring backup.

Keep messaging in ClosetU. Don't hand out your phone number, email, or socials to arrange a meetup.
Bringing a friend is always fine and never rude. If you go alone, tell someone where you're going and when you expect to be back, and consider sharing your live location with them.

Watch for red flags.

Do the whole exchange where you agreed to meet. Don't go to a second location.
Decline last-minute location changes. “My car broke down, meet me somewhere else” five minutes before is a common scam tactic. Say no.
Be wary of anyone who pressures you to pay in advance, to send money before you've seen the item, to pay in gift cards, or to move the conversation off ClosetU. Deals that seem too good to be true usually are.

At the handoff.

Inspect the item before you pay. Check condition against the description, and test anything electronic.
Hand over money only once you're satisfied. See Section 7.

When to bail.

Trust your gut. Leave if it feels off. You owe no one an explanation, and no item is worth it.

If something goes wrong.

Call 911 first if it's a crime.
Then email support@closetu.app so we can suspend the offending account and preserve records.

We do not insure Meetups, do not investigate injury or theft, and are not a party to any dispute over what happened in person. When you accepted the Terms of Service you assumed the risks of meeting other users in person and released us from liability for what happens at a Meetup.

7. Payments: you're on your own, so act like it

ClosetU does not process payments and does not charge a fee. There is no in-app checkout, no escrow, and no money of any kind moving through ClosetU. You and the other student settle up directly: cash at the handoff, a peer-to-peer payment app, whatever you both agree to.

Read this part carefully, because it is the difference between ClosetU and an app that holds money for you:

There is no purchase protection. Nobody is holding funds on your behalf.
There is no refund button, and we cannot issue one. We have no money of yours to return.
If you get scammed, we cannot make you whole. We can suspend the account and preserve records. We cannot recover your money.
We will not adjudicate who was right. We were not there, and we have no record of what was paid.

How to protect yourself, given that:

Pay in person, at the handoff, after you've inspected the item. This is the single most effective thing you can do.
Do not send money in advance to someone you have not met, no matter how reasonable the reason sounds.
Know your payment app. Some peer-to-peer apps offer buyer protection on certain payment types and none at all on a normal personal transfer. Check before you send, not after.
Never pay in gift cards. There is no legitimate reason for a student selling a hoodie to ask for one.

Sellers: the same applies in reverse. Don't hand over an item on the promise of payment later, and confirm a transfer has actually landed in your account before you walk away.

8. Reporting objectionable content

Every Listing, message, and profile has a report button. Tap it when something's wrong. The reasons you can choose from:

Spam. Commercial promotion or mass-sent messages.
Scam or fraud. Someone's trying to steal money or trick you.
Prohibited item. The Listing is something in Section 3 of these Guidelines.
Harassment or bullying. Someone's targeting you or another user.
Hate speech. Content that attacks a protected group.
Sexual content. Nudity, sexualized content, or unsolicited sexual advances.
Something else. Anything else that shouldn't be here.

Our commitment: we review reports of objectionable content within 24 hours. We remove content that violates these Guidelines, warn users who cross the line, and suspend or terminate accounts that violate seriously or repeatedly.

If you can't file an in-app report, for example because the person deleted their account or blocked you, email support@closetu.app.

9. Blocking

If a user makes you uncomfortable and you don't want to interact with them, use the block button on their profile or from your conversation with them.

Once you block someone:

They can't start a new conversation with you.
They can't send you a new message.
You disappear from each other's feed, map, and inbox.
Your existing message history stays visible in your inbox, in case you need it as a record.
The block is private. They aren't notified.

If someone creates a new account to get around a block and keep contacting you, that's a serious violation. Report it and we'll act on it.

These rules apply to your profile, too. Your username, avatar, and bio are held to the same standards as Listings and messages: no hate speech, no sexual content, no impersonation, no contact info, no promotion of prohibited items.

10. Anti-abuse

Some things break the platform for everyone. All of these lead to immediate account suspension while we investigate:

Fake accounts. One person, one account. Sockpuppets and burner accounts are not allowed.
Impersonation. Don't pretend to be another student, a public figure, or a brand.
Ghost listings. Listing items you don't have, or repeatedly agreeing to meet and not showing up.
Sharing other people's private information (doxxing), or harvesting users' info to contact them off-platform.
Bypassing rate limits, moderation, or the block and report tools. For example, making a new account after being blocked to keep messaging someone.
Off-platform payment scams. Using ClosetU to find people and then defraud them elsewhere gets you banned here, and may be a crime.

11. Consequences

We enforce these Guidelines using a three-step ladder. Where we start depends on what happened and whether we've heard from you before:

Warning and content removal. For minor first-time issues, such as a Listing that describes condition inaccurately, or a message that crosses a line but doesn't threaten anyone. The Listing or message comes down; your account is warned in-app.
Temporary suspension. For repeat minor issues or a serious first-time issue. Your account is disabled for 7 to 30 days. You can log back in afterward, but any Listings or conversations in progress are frozen.
Permanent ban. For repeated or severe violations: anything in Section 3 (prohibited items), any threat of violence, any physical altercation at a Meetup, any fraud pattern, or repeated impersonation. Your account is removed through the account-deletion flow. You may not create a new account.

We may skip straight to a permanent ban for the most serious violations. Court orders, subpoenas, and law-enforcement referrals may override any of the above.

12. How to appeal

If you think we made a mistake, email support@closetu.app within 30 days of the action, with:

The email associated with your account
What happened (Listing removed, account suspended, and so on)
Why you think it was wrong

We'll review the decision in good faith. Not every appeal wins, but every appeal is read by a human.

13. When these Guidelines change

We may update these Guidelines as ClosetU grows. When we do:

The “Last updated” date at the top changes.
For material changes, such as new prohibited categories, new consequences, or changes to the report or block flow, we notify you in-app at least 30 days before the change takes effect.
Continuing to use ClosetU after the effective date means you accept the updated Guidelines.

Non-material changes, such as typo fixes or clearer wording of an existing rule, may happen without notice.

14. How to reach us

Support, safety, and all reports: support@closetu.app
Legal and privacy: see the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service