General Help
Quick facts
- Free registration
- Two types of ads: Free (14 day duration) and Premium (28 duration)
- Ads last for – 28 days
- 6,500,000 - the number of visits Cracker gets per a month
- 350,000 - the number of ads on Cracker
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Do I need to register for Cracker?
If you wish to place an ad or post a comment in the Cracker forums you are required to register. You do not need to register to view forums or search for ads.
Registration with Cracker is free. To register you must supply a valid email address and create a Username.
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What type of data do you collect about me?
Cracker records your IP address when you post information to the site. We do this to assist in online fraud prevention and to prevent known criminals from placing fraudulent ads on the site.
We may also provide this data to the relevant authorities in cases of fraudulent transactions.
We do not use this data for anything other than combating online crime.
To learn more about our data collection policies you can read our
Privacy Policy.
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I did not receive a confirmation email. What should I do?
Common explanations for not receiving a confirmation email include:
- Typing your email address incorrectly. If you typed your email address incorrectly when registering for Cracker, you will not receive the confirmation email. If this occurred you will need to re-register.
- The confirmation email may have been sent to your Junk (or Spam) mail folder. If you are using a web-based email account such as Yahoo or Hotmail, it is possible your confirmation email was sent to your Bulk, Junk or Spam mail folder.
- Email delivery is not always instantaneous; it may take up to 24 hours for you to receive the email. Check with your Internet Service Provider to make sure they have not been experiencing problems that could cause further delays.
If you have checked these points and still have not received the email, contact us at info@cracker.com.au
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What content does Cracker prohibit?
The following content is prohibited on Cracker’s forums and classifieds:
- Postings that either explicitly or implicitly promote or solicit harmful or illegal activities. These activities include but are not limited to:
- Soliciting prostitution
- The sale of certain restricted wildlife
- The breach of Federal and State laws
- Postings that advertise the services of a competing website, such as another classifieds or forums site.
- Postings that encourage:
- Pyramid schemes
- Multi-level marketing
- "Club membership"
- Distributorships, sales agencies or any other business opportunity that requires payment of any kind
- Postings that aim to recruit other members or sub-agents
- Postings that offer commission-only employment. Note that some paid MyCareer job ads are exempt from this last point
- For health and hygiene reasons, the sale of used underwear is prohibited.
Cracker will ban your access to the site if your postings contravene the above rules.
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What is my 'bucket'?
A bucket is an online storage area. You can upload images and videos into your bucket for use in online ads and forum posts. Having a bucket means that you only need to upload each image or video once and not every time you place the ad.
Your bucket is located in your online profile and can be accessed once you have logged into your Cracker account. To add images or videos to your bucket click the Manage my media items option in your online profile.
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How do I protect my copyrighted content?
Cracker recommends adding a watermark to your images before uploading them to ads or forums. While not a definitive indication of ownership, a watermark may deter users from taking your content.
If another user has taken your content, there is little that Cracker can do. Without definitive indications of ownership, Cracker will not be able to determine the rightful owner of posted content.
For detailed information and advice on how to protect your copyrighted content, contact the
Australian Copyright Council.
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I have been banned from Cracker. Why?
You will be banned from Cracker if you post prohibited content. For details on what constitutes prohibited content see
What content does Cracker refuse? for details.
You will also be banned if the Cracker community votes you out. Cracker is a user-censored site and so its users largely determine content. If you have been banned it means a significant number of Cracker users have accused you of one of the following:
- Harassment
- Spamming
- Publishing other people's personal details
- Placing fraudulent ads, which may lead to prosecution
- Promoting harmful, illegal activities
Before banning a user from using the site, Cracker will investigate all complaints made against them. If Cracker finds that the majority of complaints are valid, we will ban the offending user.
If you believe you have been banned unfairly, email us at banned@cracker.com.au and explain why you believe the ban is unwarranted. Cracker’s decision after receiving your email will be final.
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What should I do if someone harasses me?
If you have experienced repeated harassment please email us at info@cracker.com.au.
If the person harassing you is an advertiser, please send us the following information:
- The URL of their ad
- The ad ID number
- The ad category (e.g. community)
- The advertiser’s email address (if visible)
If you are being harassed because of an ad you placed, please send us the harasser’s email address and any other details you may have about that person. You might also consider deleting your ad and re-posting it with a new title and email address. We recommend using free web-based email accounts such as Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail that allow you to create a more anonymous email address.
If you receive any other form of harassment as a result of our site, please email us at info@cracker.com.au and we will direct you to the relevant authorities.
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What can I do to protect myself during a transaction?
Cracker strongly recommends that you read our
Secure Trading Tips page for advice on protecting yourself from online fraud.
As we are a locally-based classifieds and second-hand goods site, many of our users transact face to face, which takes much of the fraud risk out of online buying and selling.
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What can I do if a transaction turns bad?
Let us know if you feel you have been cheated in a transaction. You will need to provide key information about the individual or company involved, such as their name, contact details and the link to the fraudulent ad.
Unfortunately, Cracker has limited scope to respond to fraudulent transactions. We recommend contacting your local police or the Small Claims Division at your local court.
We strongly recommend that you visit our
Secure Trading Tips page for further advice.
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How do I complain about offensive content?
To complain about an offensive ad, contact the advertiser directly. Please do not email Cracker with your complaint. If the advertiser has not provided contact details, use our flagging system to register your complaint. You can do this by selecting the Flag as Inappropriate option at the top of the ad. See What is ‘flagging’? below for more information.
To complain about an offensive comment, use the flagging system. Cracker regularly monitors the flagging system and will review content if an item is flagged by multiple users.
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What is 'flagging'?
Flags are a feedback system that allows you to tell us when you think an ad or forum message is inappropriate. To ‘flag’ an item, click the Flag as Inappropriate option at the top of the ad or forum posting. You can only flag each item once.
There are four categories of inappropriate content. If you flag an item as inappropriate, you will be required to select one of these categories:
- Explicit - select this if you feel the ad or thread is of an adult nature. Once a posting is categorised as explicit it is only accessible to users who are 18 years or older.
- Spam – select this option if you believe the person posting the content is using the ad / thread to engage in spamming activities.
- Miscategorised – select this option if you feel an ad or forum post has been placed in the wrong category or location.
- Offensive language – select this option if the ad or forum post contains language that is profane or offensive.
If multiple users flag an ad or forum posting, the post will be put on hold until we review its content against the Cracker guidelines. If the content of the post contravenes our guidelines, it will be re-categorised or removed. If the content falls within the Cracker guidelines, it will remain as is.
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I complained about inappropriate content but it is still there. Why?
Cracker will only review a posting if multiple users complain about its content. If you complained about certain material but it is still online, this means that other users did not object, or that we have reviewed the item and believe it adheres to our guidelines.
Also remember that free ads expire after 14 days and premium ads after 28 days. Although threads and comments do not expire, users have the ability to edit or remove their own comments.
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What are the star ratings?
Star ratings allow you to rate the quality of ads and forum postings. This feature enables users to sort ads or postings according to popularity, so they get to see the most popular postings up front.
To rate an ad use the ‘Your rating’ tool, which is located towards the top right hand corner of each ad. Simply use your mouse to highlight the number of stars you think is appropriate.
Ads can be rated from one star (lowest rating in quality) to five stars (highest rating in quality). Each user can rate each ad or forum posting only once.
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Do you allow explicit content on Cracker?
Cracker permits ads and forum posts with content of an adult nature; however, we understand that not everyone will want to see this material. As a result we classify any posting with adult content as explicit.
To access explicit content, you must verify that you are 18 years or older and that you wish to view explicit content. You can do this in two ways:
- First, there is a Show explicit content link at the top of each ad and forum category. Clicking this will allow you to access the explicit content on Cracker for one session only. If you leave the site and return later you will need to click the link again to view the explicit material.
- Second, if you are a registered Cracker user you can select to view explicit content each time you are logged in. To choose this option, go to your online profile and select the Show explicit content link in the ‘Details’ section of your profile. This will only allow you to view explicit content while you are logged in to your Cracker account.
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I want to send a link to a friend. Can I?
Yes. There is an Email a friend link at the top of each ad. Clicking this link will open a pop up window that allows you to email the ad to a friend. Simply enter your friend’s email address, your name, your email address and click Send. For your privacy, Cracker does not store these email addresses or provide them to anyone else.
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Can businesses advertise on Cracker?
Yes, however Cracker is primarily a peer-to-peer classifieds community. You must place your ad in the Business category. If you place a business ad elsewhere it will be removed.
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Can I add a link to an item I am selling on an auction site like eBay?
Yes, provided the auction site offers a fixed price option such as the Buy-It-Now function on eBay. Links to auction sites without a fixed price option will be removed.
This policy is in place to ensure that Cracker provides great deals for both buyers and sellers. Auctions and auction sites favour the seller – they are geared towards selling at the maximum price.
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Can I scalp tickets on Cracker?
Yes, provided you charge less than the original ticket price. Tickets sales can be posted in the ‘Tickets’ section of our For Sale/stuff for sale category.
Please note that ticket buyers regularly flag overpriced ticket ads. If your ad is continually flagged as selling overpriced tickets, it will be removed.
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Can I buy banner space on Cracker?
Yes. For more information about banner costs, specifications and availability please email us at info@cracker.com.au.
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How do I contact Cracker?
Please contact us by email; the
Contact Us page provides a list of email address options. We endeavour to respond to all emails within 24 hours of their receipt, but this is not always possible. We apologise if there is a delay in replying to your email.
Cracker does not provide a phone number or field phone calls due to the small size of our team.
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