Help centre

How Rare Kind works

Buying

Paying, buyer protection, messaging sellers, and the badges you see on listings.

How do I know a listing is genuine?: Every seller on Rare Kind is identity-verified through Stripe before they can list anything. Business sellers are additionally cross- checked against Companies House. You can see a seller's rating, review history, and how long they've been on Rare Kind from their profile.
What is buyer protection?: When you pay, your money is held by our payments partner Stripe until you confirm the item arrived and matches the listing. If something's wrong you can open a dispute within two days of delivery (fourteen days for business-seller orders — the longer window covers the statutory right to cancel, so cancelling under that right uses the same flow).
Can I ask the seller questions before I buy?: Yes. On any listing there's a "Message" button next to the seller's handle — it opens a direct chat with them. Sellers aren't obliged to reply within a set time, and silence isn't something to report — if you don't hear back and want to move on, a similar listing from another seller is usually a click away. The report button is for actual abuse (harassment, scams, counterfeits), not for a slow reply.
How do I pay?: We use Stripe Checkout. You can pay with card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay — whichever you have set up. Rare Kind never sees your card details directly.
What are those "price drop" notifications about?: When you favourite an item (the heart icon), we'll let you know if the seller later lowers the price. You get the old price, the new price, and how much you save — tap through straight to the listing. If you'd rather not get them, turn them off on your notification preferences page ("Price drops on items I favourited").
Why did I get notified that a seller I follow has bundle savings?: When you follow a seller and they set up (or improve) a bundle discount, we let their followers know so you can take advantage if you were going to buy multiple items anyway. We only notify when the discount gets better, never when it drops. Turn the whole follower-activity category off on your notification preferences page.
What does the Front Row badge mean?: Some shops pay for a week of priority placement called Front Row. Their listings sort above non-promoted listings across the shop, feed, and category pages, and carry a small Front Rowbadge. It doesn't mean they've been vetted beyond the normal seller verification — it just means they paid for extra visibility that week.