Your Community Commitment

THE BUY NOTHING PROJECT is an international network of local gift economies. Buy Nothing offers people a way to give and receive, share, lend, and express gratitude through a worldwide network of gift economies in which the true wealth is the web of connections formed between people who are real-life neighbors. We believe that communities are more resilient, sustainable, equitable, and joyful when they have functional gift economies. Below are the Community Commitment and Community Guidelines that make Buy Nothing Buy Nothing, and keep it safe and welcoming for all.

You commit to the following when you choose to participate in Buy Nothing:


  • Participate at your own risk. You are responsible for all of your interactions online and in person, and must do your own research and make your own choices in order to keep yourself safe.
  • Keep Everything Legal. You must respect all laws and regulations in force everywhere you participate in the BuyNothing community.
  • You are 18 years of age and older.
  • No hate speech, threats or harassment. No gifts that glorify hate groups or call upon others to join in active hate. We define hate speech as words or images that demean or dehumanize another person or group of people on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, or any other similar historically marginalized metric.
  • Give freely, receive freely, and share freely. No selling, buying, renting, trading, bartering, or otherwise engaging in this-for-that interactions. No marketing or advertising. All gifts offered and requested must be freely-given without expectation of any reward or reimbursement. No fundraising or requests for money. Remember that all gifts have the same value in Buy Nothing: Priceless.
  • Give, Ask, and Share without limit. You may offer as much as you’d like to give. You may request as much as you’d like to receive. You may not find homes for all of your gifts and you may not receive everything you ask for, but you are encouraged to offer and ask without limit on how much, how often, market value, etc.
  • Build Trust. Be honest in your communication and strive to build trust through genuine interactions. No spam, scams, trolling or the like.
  • Be accountable for yourself and your impact on the Buy Nothing community. You are always in charge of your own posts and can edit or remove things as you desire. You may block anyone you don’t want to connect with. Personal grievances and issues with other community members need to be resolved elsewhere, not in the community feed.
  • Show your humanity. Remember that each person you meet here is a real person. None of us are perfect, sometimes we get things right and sometimes we get things wrong. Speak your truth without fear, listen with compassion, build the sort of community you want to live in, and allow people the time and space to learn better so they can do better.
  • Be open to creativity. Experiment to find new ways and new gifts to give, request, and share. Find ways to use your Gives, Asks, Gratitude and Shares to build a more equitable, joyful, inclusive, sustainable, and compassionate community.
  • Real Humans Only - Participate as yourself. No bots, no spam, no accounts for fraudulent purposes, no troll accounts. No spam or troll behavior.
  • Adhere to this Community Commitment, our Community Guidelines, Terms of Use and Privacy Policy