Remember we are always going to publish the phone number you used to place the ad. DO NOT PLACE AN AD IF YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR MOBILE PHONE NUMBER PUBLISHED. If you mask your phone number in any way we won't be able to publish your ad.

• A clear and succinct ad will help your sale.
• If you are placing an advertisement with a picture, take several photos and choose the best one.
• Include a land line number or email address to your ad if you have space, to help reassure your buyers.
• If you are placing an advertisement with a movie, start your film with a good shot of your merchandise. This image will be the first image buyers will see on the main page.
• Make sure you include your home county on the ad. We can sort your ad by location and improve your options for selling locally.

• The latest ads will appear live as they are submitted on the front page. As the ads are categorised, they will show up in the category pages.
• Use keyword search to find what you want to buy, it's probably easier than searching through page after page of ads.
• You can search by region using the counties drop down.
• Refine your search using the category drop down.
• Search by phone number to see all the items a seller has to offer.

99.9% of people are honest but there are scoundrels about, so take precautions and you should be OK. Here are some tips to help you guard against them.

• Do not let the buyer take the merchandise unless they pay cash or their cheque has cleared.
• Visit www.scambuster419.co.uk regularly to keep up with the latest scams.
• Never give your personal information to a stranger. Be sure they are genuine customers before you release your details.
• Never accept an offer to ship an item abroad, to a third party or otherwise.

Although most people are honest you don't have to be stupid to get ripped off. Fraudsters spend their entire working lives trying to figure out how to fleece you. Read the advice below.

• Never hand over any money until you have seen the goods advertised on this site.
• Always ask for a receipt as proof of purchase.
• Ask for more contact details ie; email or landline numbers, before meeting the seller.
• Make sure you get all relevant documents at the time of purchase.
• The prefix 07904 is not a standard mobile code. If you are calling a number with this code, it's a premium rate number and could prove costly.
• Always buy from the vendor's address. Meeting on neutral ground or at your address leaves you open to fraud.
• Check the goods thoroughly before handing over any money. In the case of cars etc take an expert for a professional opinion.
• If you are buying tickets etc, make sure they can be transferred to you with no additional cost.

Want to know a little more?

We want using tx2ad to be a great experience every time you place an ad. Please read all the advice, especially the terms and conditions.

A little about the process

When your ad is sent to our system we check with the networks that the phone number is OK then publish your ad.

We categorised your ad and then send a confirmation message as a premium rate text message costing you one pound.

There may be a delay before your ad is listed under the correct category. The ad will still be published on the site and it is easy to find your item using search.

What we publish on the site

• We will publish the phone number your ad came from on the site. DO NOT PLACE AN AD IF YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR MOBILE PHONE NUMBER PUBLISHED. This is for a couple of reasons. Firstly, to dissuade mischievous use of our service. Secondly to make it easier for you to place an ad, especially if you are sending just text (SMS) and have only 160 characters for your message.
• We create an abbreviated version of your ad for the display page with as much text as will fit. We'll use the first three words as a title (in bold), and add a thumbnail version of your attachment. When people looking to buy from you click on this abbreviated version, they will see the whole ad on it's own page.
• We create this page with the full text of your ad and any images or movies you've attached to your message.

Understanding your phone can help you to create a more effective ad

Your phone has two ways to send an ad to txt2ad. SMS and MMS. If you are sending just text then chances are you'll be sending an SMS message. If you include images etc. then you will definitely be sending an MMS message.

SMS - "short messaging service".

SMS is restricted to 160 characters, and this includes spaces. Watch out when sending an SMS message. Some phones will allow you to type more than 160 characters. Your network provider may then send more than one message. You could get charged twice or more. But SMS is quick and easy and the cheapest way of sending an ad because network providers tend to charge more for MMS messages. For information about your network providers charges click here.

MMS - "Multimedia messaging service".

You can ad attachments with MMS messaging. A short movie or a still image to accompany your text.

Sending a picture means generally your network provider charges you more for your message than a text message (SMS). This charge varies across different network providers. We suggest you check your network providers charges. Click here for information on charges (the most expensive we have found is 35p but will often be covered within your monthly minutes, if you have that kind of contract).

There is a limit on what you can send. These are restrictions are to do with your network provider not the MMS message format. The restriction is the total size of the contents of the message you send. Most networks tell us that the file size maximum is 100kb, although we believe you can send larger files than that (Vodafone say 300kb which is much more like it). We feel that network providers will increase the size of the message they allow in the future. We believe the the market will demand it. When you take your picture or movie your phone should display the file size in kb somewhere on the screen. If you can't find the size, try to send the message. You'll be warned if the message sending fails. To get the most out of your ad and the best value from your network provider it's probably worth fiddling with the settings on your phone.

We don't charge you more. Whatever you send us it's only a pound.

Advice with still images

Camera phones have ever improving image quality. Better quality means a larger file size. A web page can't do justice to a large image so you may as well send a medium sized image. Check the settings on your camera. Anything above 320px (wide) by (240px) high will be resized down on your ad page. If that means nothing to you: don't worry, choose medium quality, we'll do the rest.

We are always going to put your image on the site in a landscape (wide view) format, so if you take your picture as portrait (tall view) then it's going to be sideways on your page. This may mean you need to hold your phone sideways to take the photo.

Advice on movies

The first frame of your movie will be the thumbnail image and the first static frame at the start of your movie. You should be able to get about 30 seconds of movie on the site if you set your camera to a low resolution. About the length of a long TV ad. This is a limitation of the file size your network provider allows you to send.

We are always going put your movie on the site in a landscape (wide view) format, so if you take your movie as portrait (tall view) then it's going to be sideways on your page.

We don't charge any more for you to include a movie on your ad. Your network provider may charge more to send it though.

Things you must consider when creating your ad.

• We require trade advertisements to be labeled as such unless the name of the seller is published and is obviously a trader (this is a consequence of the "The business advertisements (disclosure) order 1977)". We have to remove your ad if you don't make this clear.
• Whether you are trade or private we charge the same ...a pound (Of course, you'll also have to pay the charges from your network provider to send the ad).
• Remember to include your location, and usefully keywords in your ad so buyers can find you using the search.
• By sending an advertisement, you are agreeing that you have read, understood and agreed to our terms and conditions.

Help us to help you

If you have any problems placing an ad, first look at our FAQ pages. No luck? get in touch with us using our contact us page. We are always going to listen so that others may benefit from your experience, so please help us to improve the service.

Known issues

We have had a problem with a Motorola ROKR model E3 on T-mobile where the ad sends succesfully to another phone but the image does not get to our site only the text. If you experience a simialr problem please let us know.