Welcome to Swap & Sell for ScaleACT 2025

Location: This year the Swap & Sell will be located on the ground floor of Thoroughbred Park, 1 Randwick Rd, Lyneham ACT 2602 (follow the signage at the venue).

Timing: The event will run on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th of November 2025.

Important Information – Please Read!

The ScaleACT Swap & Sell is operated by members of the ACT Scale Modeller’s Society.  Like you, we are people who enjoy the hobby of scale modelling.

• We run the Swap & Sell at ScaleACT each year as a service to our fellow modellers. We are all volunteers.

• We do not have the resources to inspect and verify that each item on a Seller’s list has been submitted, that the description provided is accurate or that the condition of the item is as described or inferred.

• We do not have the resources to provide comprehensive surveillance of the event or its patrons because of the intense level of activity that occurs in a relatively short period of time and confined space.

• Accordingly, Sellers who place items for sale in the Swap and Sell area do so at their own risk. Whilst we take reasonable steps to protect seller’s goods, we do not accept responsibility for the loss, theft or damage of any item.

Information for Sellers to note

• Sellers must use the Seller Sheet that you can download from this website and the barcoded labels that will be sent to each seller after they have forwarded their completed Seller Sheet to the Swap & Sell Admin Team (see Download Seller Sheet).

• At the conclusion of the event (or when a seller wants to settle up their account), sellers must present themselves to the Swap & Sell Admin team who will provide sellers with a printed report showing their sold and unsold items, the commission payable on any items sold and the amount that they are owed.

• All payments are completed via bank transfer within 10 business days after the event.

• Sellers are strongly encouraged to read the Tips on How to Submit Items for Sale section below.

Information for Buyers to note

• We accept credit and debit cards, as well as cash. A fee of 1.6% will apply to all payments made by credit or debit card (this is what the Square payment system charges us).

• All items are sold as is. No refunds will be made on purchases.

Conditions of Entry

• No bags will be permitted inside the Swap and Sell area. Bags may be left outside at your own risk.

Further Information

• More detailed information is available from the Terms & Conditions page on this website.

Download Seller Sheet

The seller sheet was created using, and works best with, Microsoft Excel. If you do not have Microsoft Excel, you can download the Excel sheet and open and save it in Google Sheets. Click the button below and make a copy.  Once you have filled out the form, rename it to include your name and send it by email as an attachment to swap-and-sell-sellers@actsms.asn.au. Sellers need to return their completed Seller Sheet no later than 5pm, Thursday 6 November to enable the Swap & Sell Admin Team to generate your label file and return it to you in time for you to print you labels and attach them to your items.

 >>> Download Seller Sheet here <<< 

Tips on How to Submit Items for Sale

Filling Out the Seller Sheet

• The Seller Sheet is in the form of an Excel spreadsheet with three Tabs or Sheets.  Don’t worry if you are not an Excel expert; we have tried to make it as simple as possible to fill out your Seller Sheet.

• The 1st Tab on the Seller Sheet contains Instructions. Please make sure you read and follow the instructions correctly to ensure there are no issues when uploading your file.

• The 2nd Tab on the Seller Sheet is where you enter your Personal Information. The first thing you will need to do is decide what your unique Seller Code will be. Your Seller Code MUST be SIX English alphabetic letters. Most people use a combination of their name and/or initials, but any six-letter code will suffice. For example, if your name is John Doe then you might choose the Seller Code "JOHNDO".  For Swap & Sell (S&S) purposes, we just need to ensure that no two sellers use the same Seller Code, so try and come up with something that nobody else is likely to use.

• Just to make things a little confusing, the Personal Information Tab of the Seller Sheet needs you to enter your six-letter Seller Code in the field under the heading of “Number”.  This is because our S&S software treats your Seller Code as your unique account ‘number’ in its database.

• The remainder of the personal information you need to enter is reasonably straightforward. Just double-check that you have entered your bank details correctly before you upload your sheet to the S&S website.  ACTSMS will not be responsible for any payment errors due to incorrect account details being provide by a seller.

• The 3rd Tab on the Seller Sheet is labelled Inventory.  This is where you will enter the details of each of the items you are selling. You will notice that the first column in this sheet is titled “SKU”. This is an abbreviation meaning Stock Keeping Unit and is retail jargon for the unique identifier of each item listed for sale.

• The SKU for each item comprises your Seller Code + Item number. For example, if your Seller Code is "JOHNDO", the SKUs for your items will be JOHNDO1, JOHNDO2, JOHNDO3 and so on. The inventory sheet will allow you to enter up to 1,000 SKUs. This is hopefully many more than any one seller will ever need but do contact us if you are listing more items than this.

• To assist with filling out the SKUs for your Inventory list, as this is a spreadsheet, when you enter in your first item code, e.g. JOHNDO1, you can then select the cell and drag the small square on the bottom right of that cell down and it will prefill successive codes for you on the following rows.

• Just to be clear, your Seller Code MUST be SIX alphabetic letters. It forms the common prefix for your SKUs, with each separate item having its own unique item number.

• The remaining fields you will need to complete for each item are as follows:

  • Brand (optional) – the maker/manufacturer/author etc for the item

  • Size (optional) – the scale for kits and aftermarket items/book/magazine etc

  • Description (mandatory) – give a meaningful description (or book title) and any other information of interest to the buyer (e.g. missing parts or started or extra items etc.). Try and limit this field to about 40 characters which is the maximum that will appear on your selling labels. If you need to include additional information about your item, feel free to include it on a separate label, post-it note or similar, which you can attach to your item.

  • Tag Price (mandatory) – the selling price for the item. Please enter just the numeric dollar and/or cents value of your item without any currency sign (e.g. 25 or 7.50 etc.).

• For further information about each of these fields, please read the Instructions on how to fill out the Seller Sheet on Tab 1 of the spreadsheet.

Barcodes and Labels

• After you submit your seller sheet online, we will send you back an email with a PDF attachment. The PDF attachment provides barcoded labels in a format that can be easily printed and affixed to items for sale. This will make it easier for our electronic sales system to read your item labels and speed up the sales process. To ensure efficiency and consistency, the Swap & Sell only accepts our labels on items. We cannot sell any item that does not have one of our formatted barcode labels attached.

• The barcode label file we provide will contain a barcode, your seller code and item number, the scale (or size) of the item, the maker (or brand) of the item, the price of the item, and approximately 40 characters from the description. You can enter a longer description for your own reference, but only the first 40 or so characters will appear on these labels.

• The barcodes labels are 3 columns by 11 rows and are designed to be printed to self-adhesive labels matching this Officeworks product. Each label is approximately 6.4cm x 2.4cm. If you do not wish to use pre-cut self-adhesive labels, you can print them to A4 size self-adhesive labels and cut them up yourself. 

• If you prefer not to use self-adhesive labels, you can print your labels onto plain paper and attach them with clear sticky tape – you just need to make sure that the label will not be easily detached during handling. 

• As described above, the labels we provide to you are pre-formatted, so you only need to print them onto A4 self-adhesive labels (or A4 plain paper) without adjusting the format. If you have uploaded more than 33 items to sell, your labels will print onto multiple A4 pages.

• When you print and affix the label, please make sure the barcode is at the bottom of the label, is readable and that the label is securely attached to the relevant item. Self-adhesive labels are good but extra security can be obtained by taping over them with sticky tape if you are concerned.

• Labels should be affixed to each item where it can be clearly seen by buyers and Swap & Sell staff. Some sellers are in the habit of placing price stickers on both the top and end(s) of items such as kits to make it easier for buyers to see the price of items when they are stacked. If you wish to do this, you don’t need to apply two barcoded labels; simply put one barcoded label on the top of the item and another hand-written sticker with just the price on the end(s) of the kit.

• If you are concerned about a label causing damage to the item you are selling, you might want to consider either wrapping the item in clear plastic or placing the item in a zip-lock bag and then attaching the label to the wrapping or bag. Another option is to attach a Post-it note to the item and affix the label to the Post-it note, although Post-it notes are more easily detached when items are being moved around.

Packaging

• Individual items - vary from large items to a variety of smaller sized individual items.

• Smaller items can be at risk of being lost or stolen by for example, being slipped into a pocket or being hidden inside a kit box. It is difficult for S&S staff to guard against this, but thoughtful packaging can reduce this risk.

• If packaging smaller items, you might want to consider using oversized zip-lock bags and placing a backing card inside the bag, thereby increasing the size of the item and making it harder to lose and easier to find if not sold.

• Extra security can be added to Zip-lock bags by stapling the open edges closed.

• Items will be picked up and put down multiple times, make sure you take this into account when packing items. 

• Group lot sales (for example box lots of books) need to be secured so that they remain a job lot and labelled correctly that they are sold as a job lot.

Inspection and Visibility of Contents

• Clear packaging and a good description of an item or contents may negate the desire for buyers to open and inspect the item prior to sale. Please ensure that any issues that a buyer needs to be made aware of (e.g. missing parts etc.) are clearly labelled on the item.  Brief information about the condition of an items can form part of the description on your barcode label if you wish.

• The Seller must clearly label any item that they do not want to be opened for inspection. Items so marked will not be opened by staff.

Operating Hours

Friday 7th Nov 20205

• 5:00pm-7:30pm. Swap & Sell drop-off (No sales or browsing before Saturday opening)

Saturday 8th Nov 2025

• 9:00am-10:15am. Swap & Sell drop-off (No sales or browsing before Saturday opening)

• 10:30am-5:00pm. Swap & Sell open for sales

Sunday 9th Nov 2025

9:00am-9:45am. Swap & Sell drop-off (No sales or browsing before Sunday opening)

10:00am-4:00pm. Swap & Sell open for sales 

Terms & Conditions

ScaleACT-25 Swap & Sell Terms and Conditions Overview

Please remember that volunteers run Swap and Sell (S&S) as a service to all attendees of ScaleACT - this should be an enjoyable activity for everyone, so please play fair & play nice.

The ACT Scale Modellers’ Society (ACTSMS) volunteers take every care in looking after both merchandise and customers (both sellers & buyers); however, neither the volunteers nor the ACTSMS can take any responsibility for any discrepancies, missing parts or missing merchandise.

The Swap and Sell selling system introduced in 2025 is designed to eliminate a range of errors associated with the manual recording system it replaced. It is therefore compulsory for sellers to use the Seller Sheet that you can download from this page and the associated barcoded labels that will be sent to sellers after their completed Seller Sheet is uploaded to our selling system.

If you present items for sale at the S&S that do not carry the appropriate ACTSMS-generated barcoded labels, the ACTSMS will not accept your items for sale.

Terms & Conditions for Sellers

1: Acceptance of Terms & Conditions. By placing goods in the S&S, sellers agree to the following terms and conditions.

2: Documentation and Labelling. From 2025 onward, sellers are required to (1) download the ACTSMS Seller Sheet Template from the ScaleACT website, (2) fill out the template with their personal information and details of the items that they are selling (3) return the completed Seller Sheet by email to the ACTSMS and (4) attach the appropriate ACTSMS-generated barcoded labels to each of their items for sale. ACTSMS-generated labels are approximately 64mm x 24mm and look like this:

3: Delivery. We are happy to accept items/documentation during the Friday afternoon set up period. If you are dropping things off on Saturday, this needs to happen before the big Saturday morning rush - so the drop-off period ends at 10:15am (i.e. 15 minutes before we open).  Once we open, given the large number of customers and hectic sales activity, it may be hours before we have the capacity to accept seller goods.  No browsing of items in the S&S area during dropping off periods is permitted. Given the large number of sellers and kits processed, the volunteers are unable to check off every item against your list. We trust that you bring all of the items that are on your list – & you trust that we take as much care of your items as we can. The ACTSMS will take no responsibility for listed items that are unaccounted for when you finalise your account.

4: Finances. Please note that sellers are charged a commission on items sold – 5% of sales for financial ACTSMS members and 10% for non-members. This money goes towards offsetting the venue cost, table hire, software fees etc. As the S&S is now accepting non-cash payments for items purchased, there is no capacity to pay sellers their proceeds in cash when they settle their accounts. Instead, all payments will be completed via bank transfer to your nominated account within 10 business days after the event.  There will be no partial settlement of accounts during the event.

5: Discounting Items during the Event. If a seller wishes to discount any of their items over the course of the event, they will need to obtain a hard-copy inventory report from the S&S Team and annotate the discounted prices on this report. The seller must overwrite the discounted price on the ACTSMS-generated barcoded label on each item and provide the annotated report to the S&S Team who will adjust the selling price in the S&S system. The S&S Team will retain this annotated report as proof of discounted items. If there is a discrepancy between the price of an item when scanned and the price hand-written on an ACTSMS-generated barcode label, the scanned price will apply.

6: Settlement of Accounts and Collection of Unsold Items. All sellers must present themselves to the S&S Team before closing time on Sunday to finalise their account and collect any unsold items.  Sellers will be provided with a printed report for their retention showing their sold and unsold items, the commission payable on any items sold and the amount that they are owed. Sellers will be asked to sign a separate document acknowledging the amount that will be paid to them by bank transfer. This document will be retained by the ACTSMS. Sellers are able to collect their unsold items at any time over the weekend, however if you leave it until closing time on Sunday afternoon, there may be delays.  Please ensure you collect your money/unsold items no later than 4:00pm on Sunday afternoon.

7: Unclaimed items. Should the S&S Team find any unclaimed items as we are packing up, we will contact the seller to arrange for the items to be collected. Please note that the seller will be responsible for meeting the cost (if any) of these arrangements.

8: Incomplete or Damaged Kits. Please ensure that the items you are selling are complete or, if you know that your item is incomplete or damaged in some way, please make a note of it and include it with the price on the box. If an incomplete kit is identified and hasn’t been marked as such, it will be removed from sale. The S&S is run for all, so protect your investment and keep potential buyers on side by making it clear what you’re selling. As an aside, if you are worried about loose parts, consider bagging them up inside the box.

Terms & Conditions for Buyers and Browsers.

1: Entry to the S&S Area. Entry of any person to the S&S area will be at the sole discretion of the ACTSMS. Capacity limits may be applied at busy times.

2: No Bags Policy. No bags will be permitted inside the Swap and Sell area. Bags may be left outside at your own risk.

3: Payment for Purchases. Payment can be made by cash, credit card or debit card. Any fees associated with payment by credit or debit card are payable by the purchaser (currently 1.6% for Square transactions).

4: No Refunds. All items are sold as is. No refunds will be made on purchases. If you discover after purchase that there is a problem with an item that was not noted on the item (e.g. it is incomplete or damaged etc.), we can put you in touch with the seller so that you can try and sort something out. Any such arrangement would need to be transacted privately between the buyer and seller outside of the S&S process.

FAQs

Can I haggle or do a deal?

No, we can’t do deals for customers – the items aren’t ours. However, we can tell customers who the seller is, and they can try to bargain amongst themselves. The seller will then need to let us know of the deal you’ve struck (i.e. we don’t just take the customer’s word for it – no offence intended). To process any deal struck, the seller will need to provide the S&S Team with written authorisation of the discount so that the selling price can be amended in our S&S System.

Can you hold items for me while I get cash?

Yes, we can hold a few items for you whilst you get some cash, but if you don’t return in a reasonable amount of time (e.g. 30 minutes or so), the items will go back out on the tables.

Can I get a refund on an item I have purchased?

No. With our new automated S&S system and acceptance of non-cash payments, it is not feasible for us to process a refund. If you discover after purchase that there is a problem with an item that was not noted on the item (e.g. it is incomplete or damaged etc.), we can put you in touch with the seller so that you can try and sort something out. Any such arrangement would need to be transacted privately between the buyer and seller outside of the S&S process.

Privacy Policy

Seller details needed for the Swap & Sell are collected and only used for Official purposes. This includes creating a vendor account on the Swap & Sell software platform ConsignCloud. Banking details are not uploaded to ConsignCloud.

Only a small number of designated Swap & Sell Admin staff will have temporary access to the personal information contained in each Seller Sheet.  The ACTSMS Treasurer will also have access to seller’s banking details. 

Electronic Seller Sheets sent to the Swap & Sell email address will not be retained and both these and seller, inventory and sales information recorded in ConsignCloud will be deleted within 30 days of the conclusion of ScaleACT. 

The banking details supplied by sellers are used for the sole purpose of creating payee accounts in the ACTSMS official bank account to enable payment of sales proceeds.  These payee accounts will be kept active for 1-2 months before being deleted from the ACTSMS bank account.