FAQ
General
It is possible to buy gear on Avento worldwide.
Selling on Avento is currently available in the following countries:
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hong Kong
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- United States
Currencies are determined by the seller's currency. The seller sets the currency when logging into Stripe. Buyers pay in the currency of the listing, meaning the buyer's bank makes the currency conversion. This keeps conversion fees as low as possible.
If you are a seller and wish to switch currencies, please reach out to us.
You can buy and sell every piece of gear connected to skydiving on Avento. We are constantly developing and improving our filter algorithm so you can buy and sell exactly what you need.
The buyer pays with debit or credit card (you might need to shortly change your card limit). This amount is then blocked on an account until the buyer has received and had time to inspect the gear. Once the gear has been inspected, the buyer is paid out.
For detailed information on the transaction process and review periods depending on the delivery method check transaction process buyer or transaction process seller
Yes. If the item is not as described, the case is forwarded to us, and we make sure that you are refunded. Of course, you must send back the equipment in this case. In most cases, you will have to cover the shipment of the return.
We offer advanced filtering and escrow payments. With this, we can offer efficient search and safe transactions while still being cost-efficient.
When a listing has the "verified partner" badge, this means that the seller is a partner of ours. We work directly together with some riggers and active traders that sell their used gear on Avento. We know them personally and have verified that they meet high standards of expertise and are especially trustworthy.
Although it might seem easier and nice to save the 3% buyer/seller protection fee, do not make a purchase off platform.
If the transaction is not handled through Avento we cannot verify the transaction and are not able to ensure your safety. We cannot ensure the payment for sellers and buyers lose the buyer protection in case anything goes wrong.
We are already doing everything to keep the cost as low as possible and have designed the transaction process specifically for trading used skydiving gear.
Buying or selling directly might seem straightforward and easy but it brings significant risks. For that reason cash transactions are not allowed.
Let's together ensure trading used skydiving gear is safe and easy!
Buying
We developed Avento to make buying and selling skydiving gear easier and safer. Over a third of jumpers buying or selling on Facebook have experienced scams.
- Avento includes buyer protection with safe escrow payments. When you purchase a listing, your money is safely held on the accounts of our payment processor, Stripe. Only when you received the gear and brought it to your rigger for inspection is the seller actually paid out. This ensures safety for both you and the seller. Important: never make a payment outside of Avento, only if the payment is processed on the platform can we protect you from scams!
- With our filtering system, you can search for exactly what you are looking for. Select categories, filters, price and much more to only find listings that are relevant to you! You can also search by location to find sellers close to you.
- If you can't currently find exactly what you are looking to get, save your search and receive a mail once a listing that matches your search is uploaded!
On Avento, all fees are displayed upfront during checkout before you pay. When you purchase gear on Avento, a 3% buyer protection fee is added on top of the listing price. It is clearly shown in the price breakdown before you complete your purchase.
It covers your buyer protection, which means your money is safely held until you have received the gear and had time to bring it to your rigger for inspection. If the item does not match the listing description and a return is processed, the fee is fully refunded.
For shipping, we do not ourselves charge any fee. The seller sets shipping cost depending on the region which you can see before checkout. It includes tracked shipping with an established courier to your address. If you want to use insured shipping, we recommend you sending the seller a message first to confirm.
We keep our fees as low as possible while covering the costs for secure payment processing and our platform infrastructure.
We developed Avento to make buying used Skydiving gear as easy and safe as possible. In detail, these are the steps to buy used gear on Avento:
1. Find the right gear
Avento is designed to make it as easy as possible for you to find exactly what you are looking for. Use our system of categories and filters to search as specifically as you wish. If you can't find what you are looking for, safe your search by clicking on the bell icon, and you will get a notification when a listing is posted that matches your search. We are also regularly letting our network know what people are currently looking for.
2. Verify details
Once you found a piece of gear that you like, make sure that you check the listing well. Remember, you can only return something when it is misrepresented in the listing (e.g. wrong details, jump-nr., age, etc.). If you have any questions, send the seller a message on Avento. It is always recommendable to send the listing to your rigger so he can check if everything looks good.
You can also click on the seller's profile to see reviews from past sales. If the seller doesn't have any reviews yet, don't worry. Your safety comes mainly from our buyer protection with safe escrow payments. Even if the seller would try to scam you, it is not possible as he never receives the money until you had time to inspect the gear.
3. Ensure harness fit & container size (rigs)
If you are looking to buy a rig, take some time to ensure proper harness fit. Check our harness sizing guide for detailed instructions and information. Also check that the container can hold the right canopy sizes you are looking to jump. You can find detailed information in our container sizing guide.
4. Make an offer (optional)
We have a feature allowing you to propose another price to the seller. For this, click "make an offer" and fill in a price you would be willing to buy it for. When you have done so, the seller has 2 days to accept or decline the offer, after which you have another 2 days to complete the purchase to the agreed price.
Some listings only have a "make an offer" option. This is the case when a seller has not filled out his payout information with stripe yet. In this case, just submit an offer to the original price (or a lower price). The seller then has to sign up with stripe to accept, allowing you to make the purchase then.
5. Purchase & Delivery
Once you decide on a purchase, click on "buy" and fill out your payment details and delivery information. Your payment details are always protected in Stripe, and we never store the data ourselves. You might need to temporarily increase your card limit.
After successful purchase you have 2 weeks time to pick up the item in case of pickup or the seller will send it within 7 days. In case the seller doesn't send it, you will automatically receive a full refund. To find out more on the delivery process check transaction process buyer.
6. Inspection & Returns
Once you picked up or received the item, you have 14 days to bring it to your rigger for inspection. If the gear is not according to the description in the listing, you can dispute the purchase on Avento. We will resolve the situation and you will receive a refund.
If the gear you ordered is not as described, you can return it. Keep in mind that the purchases are between private individuals and that you usually can't return gear just because you don't want it any more, or you didn't verify the sizing correctly. However, if the seller did not specify the gear correctly in the listing or there are any other larger problems (not jump worthy, broken etc.), you can safely return the gear and get a refund.
For that, you need to dispute the purchase on the listing overview by clicking the "dispute" button. You need to do this within the determined time periods (14 days after pickup or 28 days after shipment). Find out more about the process here. After dispute, we will resolve the dispute by contacting you, your rigger and the seller. When we confirm the fault, we will initialize your refund.
Before you receive a refund, you must ship the purchase back to the seller. For that, you need to properly pack the gear, use a reliable carrier and use tracked shipping in order to be able to prove that it safely arrived at the seller. You are carrying the risk of loss or damage during shipping as a buyer. Once it was safely delivered, you will receive a full refund.
Once you receive the gear you bought, we recommend you to bring it to your rigger to inspect if the condition is according to the description. If you don't know a rigger, ask at your drop zone and you will surely find one.
As a marketplace, we do not inspect the gear ourselves. We ensure authenticity and safety for you through our escrow payments. Your money is held in a safe account on Stripe and only paid to the seller once you had time to bring it to your rigger for inspection.
As a buyer, you can pay with debit or credit card. You might have to temporarily increase your card limit if you are looking to buy something exceeding your current limit. You can usually do this easily on your ebanking.
Once the buyer received the gear, they have 2 weeks to bring it for inspection. If the buyer has not contested the transaction within the 2 weeks or has confirmed that the gear is in order, the funds are released to the seller.
Selling
We built Avento specifically for the purpose of making buying and selling gear easy and safe. This includes multiple advantages for sellers selling on Avento.
- Buyers can use our specifically developed filtering system to search for exactly what they are looking for. This ensures maximum visibility for your listing and improves your chances of finding the right buyer.
- As we are constantly promoting Avento to let all Skydivers know about our solution, we are promoting your listings for you. This includes sharing it with our network, posting listings on our social media channels and in the newsletter, and also doing google and social media marketing. We furthermore promote the listings on Avento on Google Shopping - that way anybody that searches on Google for buying the gear you are selling will find it. All free for you!
- Our integrated payments with escrow payments ensures safety from fraud for both sellers and buyers. You know that the buyer has already paid before you ship or hand over the gear, and you will receive the money directly to your bank account once the buyer has verified that the gear is according to your description. Don't worry, as long as you don't provide false information, you don't need to take the gear back!
- You only need to manage one listing instead of re-uploading it every week on countless Facebook groups once it drowned under all new posts. You can still share the link to your listing everywhere online, and it will show a neat preview of your listing with the title and image.
- Selling on Avento is easy, creating a listing only takes 5 minutes!
Listing your gear on Avento is always free. We only charge a 3% fee on the transaction amount when your item is successfully sold.
This fee covers secure payment processing directly to your bank account, seamless transaction and support for any questions or problems. The fee is automatically deducted from your payout, so you always know exactly what you will receive.
If a transaction results in a justified return, no fee is charged. We keep our fees as low as possible while covering the costs for secure payment processing and our platform infrastructure.
1. Provide all information and details
After clicking on "Sell Gear" just follow the steps and provide a title, description and details of the gear you are selling. Try to provide as much information as possible to increase your chances of selling quickly.
2. Enter your payout information
The first time you sell something, you will be asked to enter your Name, Address, Phone Nr. and IBAN. This is necessary, so buyers can actually purchase your listing, and we can send you the money. Your information is only stored on Stripe, one of the largest and most secure payment providers in the world - we never store it ourselves.
3. Set Price
To set your price, you can check our Gear Value Calculator if you are unsure. Keep in mind that this is only a rough estimate based on Jump Number and Age. The real value depends on many factors such as availability, demand, condition, location etc. Only use it as a rough estimate.
4. Set delivery method and price
Next, you can submit the location of the gear. For this, just fill out the city and country - recommendations will be visible from which you can choose.
Afterwards, you can select pickup and/or shipping. We recommend selecting both to increase the chances of selling. For shipping, you can set 3 prices: Firstly, the price of shipping nationally (in the same country). Secondly, the price of shipping continentally and thirdly, the price of shipping globally. As you can't set exact prices, we recommend choosing a price on the higher end to be sure (e.g. the price of shipping from Europe to Australia for global shipping).
5. Upload photos
Then upload the photos. We recommend uploading as many photos as possible, as it increases chances of selling. Make sure to include details and don't use photos with people in them.
When selling Containers, Canopies, Reserves and AADs we require a photo of the TSO label to be included in order to allow sellers to contact the manufacturer for sizing and making sure the gear is not stolen.
6. Publish listing
Last, click on "publish listing". We will quickly verify that everything is in order and publish your listing. You can now sit back and relax or share the link to your listing on Facebook, WhatsApp and other channels to increase visibility. It will show a preview of your listing with the link.
7. Ship / hand over gear
Once a buyer has purchased your listing, you will receive an email. In the first days, you have the chance to cancel the transaction on Avento in case it sold elsewhere in the meantime, or you are selling a high performance canopy and the buyer is not experienced enough.
Before handing over or shipping the gear, make photos of the item from all angles and in the packaging before sending. This serves as proof in case of an unrightful dispute by the buyer. You don't have to take the gear back if you stated everything correctly.
For pickup, the buyer has 14 days to pick up the gear and for shipping you will have to physically hand the gear over to the courier within 7 days and mark it as "shipped" on Avento. Find out more here.
In order to provide safe payments, we work with Stripe as a third party payment processor. To know which account to send your payment to when you sell something, we need your IBAN. Due to regulatory requirements in your country, Stripe might ask you for some additional information like address or identification document.
Stripe is one of the most secure and reputable payment processors worldwide. Your details stay secure at all times, and we do not store your payment details ourselves at any time.
Signing up with Stripe only take a few minutes, and you only need to do it once.
Include as many details as possible. The more details are included, the more likely it is that a buyer finds the listing.
As the buyer has to cover shipping when sending gear back and because returns are only possible in case of misrepresentation by the seller (description of listing and actual gear does not match), this is highly unlikely.
If you want the added security that this cannot happen, we recommend that you have your rigger put his seal around the three ring system before sending the gear. Jumping gear with a sealed 3-ring system is dangerous, and thus you can assume that it has not been jumped when it comes back with the seal intact.
To protect yourself from an unrightful dispute by a buyer, make photos of the gear before you hand it over or ship it. The photos should show all angles and details. In case of shipping, include a photo of the gear in the unclosed packaging to prove proper packaging.
As your currency is set by your main payout information on Stripe, you cannot sell in multiple currencies from the same account. In case you sell gear from multiple locations, you can easily make two Accounts with two Payout information (e.g. one Swiss IBAN in CHF and one German IBAN in EUR).
As a seller you get paid as soon as the gear is marked as inspected. For the exact timeline you can check the Transaction Process Seller page. It can take up to 7 days until the money reaches your bank account but it usually is on your account within 1-2 days.
Our transaction process with escrow payments does not only ensure the buyers safety but also the sellers. The money is already paid once you ship the gear and held in a safe escrow account. Disputes and returns are only possible if you included any wrong information in the listing, not when the buyer decides that he doesn't want the item anymore or failed to correctly assess fit beforehands. We always require the contact of a respected rigger for any disputes who confirms the issue and resolve any dispute personally.
If you state all information on your listing authentically and don't try to scam anyone you can rest assured that you and your payment is safe.
Your listing matter a lot when it comes to quickly selling your gear for a fair price. Especially important points to follow are:
1. Category
When creating a listing it is very important to select the right category. If the categories are available select the correct category, brand and model instead of listing under "others". This is vital for buyers to find your listing in the right category and for it to be displayed best on google and google shopping.
Note: The Category "Containers" is for Containers only. If you are selling a combination of container and Main/Reserve/AAD list it under "Complete Systems"
2. Details
Fill out all details fields possible, don't just mention everything in the description. The structured data helps buyers to find your listing and they will be displayed better on Google.
Make sure you correctly state the condition in the details, description and photos to avoid any disputes.
3. Photos
Take multiple photos in good quality and from different angles. Make sure the lighting is good and the item looks great on the photo. Studies show that photos increase your chances of selling quickly a lot.
For the cover image you can drag the photo you want to the first place. Select a photo that shows the whole item well. The cover image will be displayed in square format so make sure that the photo does not crop for this. Any photos of TSO-Labels or details can be added after.
4. Price
Chosing the right price is challenging. If you set a price that is lower than the fair price you loose money and if you set a price that is too high nobody will even bother to send you an offer or inquiry about it.
Inform yourself about the fair market value of your item. Check similar listings, ask your rigger and use your gear value calculator for an estimate.
Generally set the price that you actually are willing to sell for. It is better to decline an offer than set a price that is already to high. Do not set a high price and mention "negotiation basis". You can always decline offers that are too low.
5. Stripe
When you first create a listing, you are asked to provide your payout details. It is very important to not skip this and take the 5 minutes to fill it out.
Otherwise, buyers are not actually able to buy your listing and can only make offers. We are also not able to publish your listing on google shopping.
6. Delivery
If possible always select both pickup and shipping. It gives the buyer flexibility and helps you sell.
Especially shipping is important as we are not able to publish your listing on google shopping if you did not enable shipping.
7. Maintain your listing
Always make sure to edit your listing over time. If you put more jumps on it, change the jump number and if you realise that it is not selling for your price, consider lowering the price.
This is important to maintain trust and help you to sell.
8. Communication
On Avento, buyers can send you offers and inquiries about your listing. You will be notified by mail.
Make sure to quickly respond and provide all necessary information. These are the buyers that are actually interested in buying your gear. Being open and responding quickly makes a big difference for you to sell your gear.
9. Promotion
Once your listing is published you can post the link on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other channels. You can also post it in any groups where you usually sell your gear. It will automatically display the cover photo and title from the link.
This gives your listing instantly more visibility and only takes a few seconds.
When selecting shipping for delivery options you can set the price for National, Continental and Global Shipping. We recommend to select a price for Continental and Global shipping that covers your cost even if it would be bought from a country further away (e.g. buying from Romania if you sell from Germany for Continental Shipping).
We are aware that this is not a perfect solution but to ensure the individual requirements and ways to ship skydiving gear we cannot provide fully integrated shipping. This way you are only required to use a reputable courier and provide a valid tracking number while still being able to make individual shipping arrangements.
You can also always change the shipping cost if you agree with a buyer on a transaction and know how much it actually will be.