A second hand sales checklist: the checks to complete before any used unit is listed

This checklist exists to ensure no used unit reaches a buyer without the checks that make it safe to sell. It is not a guarantee that a checked unit is perfect, and it is not a substitute for judgement: a unit can pass every box while still raising a doubt that only an inspector's eye catches, and that doubt should still stop the sale. The checklist supports judgement; it does not replace it.

The checklist should be used per unit, not per batch, because used units differ. A batch checklist that ticks inspection once for a dozen units proves nothing about the eleventh unit. Per unit ticking takes longer, but it is the only form of ticking that matches the reality of second hand goods, where each unit carries its own history.

Intake boxes cover identification, source, and initial condition. The unit receives its own identifier. Its model and batch codes are recorded, or their absence noted. Its source and arrival date are logged. A recall and alert check is run for its model. Visible damage, missing parts, and signs of poor prior repair are noted. Any unit failing an intake box, such as an unidentifiable childrens product or a recalled model, is held, not listed.

Intake is also the moment to decide the unit's route: direct resale after inspection, repair, refurbishment, parts salvage, or disposal. Recording the intended route at intake prevents a unit drifting between routes later, when a busy period tempts someone to list a unit that was meant for repair.

Inspection boxes follow the product type's failure modes, with function tests for safety critical features, checks for wear on critical parts, and a completeness check for parts, instructions, and warnings. Each box should name the check and the pass standard, so ticking it means something specific. A box that merely says checked, without stating what was checked, will be ticked carelessly, because it asks for nothing verifiable.

Inspection boxes should also include a repair box, where any repair is described with parts used and tests applied, and a reinspection box, where a repaired unit is checked again after repair. A repair without reinspection is an unfinished inspection, and the checklist should make that visible by leaving the reinspection box unticked.

Listing boxes verify that the description matches the inspection record: condition word correct, repairs disclosed, missing items stated, age guidance correct, photographs of the actual unit, and identifier present. A final read of the listing by someone other than its writer, where the business allows, catches mismatches between record and listing that the writer's familiarity hides.

Listing boxes should also verify price honesty in a limited sense: the listing should not claim a condition the price contradicts, nor promise a refurbishment the record does not show. That check is not about pricing strategy; it is about ensuring the sales message and the safety record tell the same story.

Sale boxes cover the buyer linkage: unit identifier recorded against the buyer, sale date, and listing version at sale, plus any safety information supplied with the unit. After sale boxes cover complaint handling: log any post sale fault, trace it to the unit record, check sibling units, and act where a pattern appears. A checklist that ends at sale leaves the most important learning, post sale experience, unrecorded.

The after sale boxes also include a periodic review box: review the checklist itself, asking which boxes repeatedly fail, which are skipped, and which need rewriting for a new product type. A checklist that never changes will eventually mismatch the products it serves, and a mismatched checklist will be ignored, which is worse than having no checklist at all.

A checklist stays used when it is short, specific, and visibly enforced: no tick, no listing. Managers and owners should model that rule by refusing to list an unticked unit even when a buyer waits, because a single exception teaches the team that the checklist is optional. Exceptions, once taught, spread faster than the checklist itself.

The checklist should also be reviewed when the product range changes, when a new fault pattern appears, or when a complaint reveals a missed check. Each review should produce a dated change, briefed to the team, so the checklist evolves with the business rather than fossilising into a form nobody trusts.