Rules and standard
Rules that hold the market together
The rules are part of how it works, not fine print: the form, the card and the list run on them. The market itself doesn’t inspect things and gives no guarantees: the owner and the borrower look the thing over at the hand-over; complex things are looked over by a master. A draft — until a lawyer reviews it.
Allowed
- Gear and tools for activities on the AbsoLive map.
- Gear you wear for an activity: a shell for the slopes, a wetsuit, climbing shoes, knee and elbow pads.
- Musical instruments, cameras, board games, rulebooks.
- Kids’ things for activities — as gifts only.
- Things of your own making — on the makers’ shelf.
Only with a check
- Ski bindings — a ski technician sets them to your weight and boots.
- Avalanche probes and shovels — locks and blade checked at the hand-over.
- Foam life vests — buckles, seams, buoyancy.
- Petrol and electric power tools — with the owner’s briefing.
- Bicycles — brakes and chain at the hand-over.
- Kitesurfing kites — only after a master has inspected them.
Never
- Used helmets and hard hats, harnesses, ropes, carabiners, quickdraws.
- Avalanche beacons and inflatable life vests: there’s no way to check at a hand-over that they work.
- Child car seats and boosters.
- Gas canisters; swollen and damaged batteries.
- Parachutes, paraglider wings and harnesses; diving regulators and tanks.
- Motor vehicles: motorcycles, motor scooters, e-scooters and hoverboards.
- Weapons of any kind and anything that looks like them: air guns, bows and crossbows, knives, pepper sprays, flare guns, pyrotechnics.
- Medicines, medical devices, dietary supplements, sports nutrition.
- Alcohol, tobacco, vapes and hookahs.
- Hidden cameras and covert recording devices.
- Underwear, socks, swimwear, cosmetics, hygiene products.
- Documents, named ski passes and other passes, animals.
- Things not for activities, other people’s things and new things in batches.
- Radios and drones — not in the first version.
From hand to hand
Photos at the hand-over and the return
Four shots of the thing — both of you keep them. They are the thing’s passport and the end of the argument about scratches.
Flaws — up front
The owner writes down everything they know about the thing. Hiding a known flaw breaks the rules.
Skill before the thing
A complex thing — after a class with a master or a briefing from the owner.
Fair wear is not a debt
Normal wear from honest use isn’t paid for. A breakage is named right away.
Broken — a master fixes it
Repairs — by an AbsoWorks master or as the two of you agree. The market neither holds nor collects money.
No documents as a deposit
Passports, driver’s licenses and photos of them are never taken as a deposit. A cash deposit for a valuable thing — only by agreement between the two of you, with a receipt, outside the site.
Limits
- Up to 10 things per person at a time.
- One request to one owner at a time. “Not this time” or a week of silence is an answer too; the next request to this person — after 30 days, as in activity swaps.
- No more than three things “on loan” in one person’s hands at once.
- A thing without confirmation for 60 days falls asleep. The owner gets one reminder.
- No bumps, no promotion and no “urgent”.
Masters’ standard
The thing is made by a member’s own hands, the materials are named, the master has an AbsoLive page and a legal status for selling. All cards look the same, with no “hits”.
Partners’ standard
- A partner is a rental shop, store or workshop that offers members terms: a reservation, a check of the thing, a separate procedure for members.
- A place on the market is not for sale: a partner pays nothing for a card, and the order doesn’t depend on money.
- Partner cards all look the same: the terms for members stated as facts, without “the best” or “we recommend”.
- No partner promotions, banners or mailings — otherwise it’s advertising, with its own rules.
- A partner who breaks the standard loses the Absolute name.
- Partners — to fill in: the first partners after the agreement.