Frequently Asked Questions

If you already have an account, log in at https://smoot.lk/sign-in.

Follow these simple steps to create a smoot account on your web browser.

1. Go to https://smoot.lk.
2. Click on Join Free.
3. Type in a username of your choice, a valid email address, a valid mobile number, choose a strong password and click on verify button next to phone number.
4. Enter the verification code that you received to your mobile and click on the Sign-up button.

If you have typed in the verification correctly you will be registered successfully.

You will receive a success email with a verification code to verify your email address. You can click on verify email address which is shown in red on top until you verify your email address. You can request for a verification code any time after registration.

Signing up using your Facebook account.

1. Click on the Facebook button in the sign-up area.
2. You will be directed to the Facebook login page, enter the Facebook credentials which you intend use for the sign up.
3. Smoot will receive your basic and permitted information from Facebook for your registration, you can choose a preferred username, password, and a valid phone number to register.
4. Verify your mobile number by clicking the verify button and enter the verification code you received to that mobile number.

You are registered successfully. You will receive a success email with a verification code to verify your email address. You can click on verify email on top to verify your email address any time after the registration.

In normal circumstances, according to the guidelines of Smoot, one user can have only one account. But if you have any special need for a second account you can contact Smoot to get a special permission for multiple accounts. These guidelines are placed to make sure a safe and reliable environment inside the Smoot community.

Using Email/username

1. If you already have an account, go to https://smoot.lk/sign-in.
2. Type in your Smoot credentials.
3. Click on Sign in

Using Facebook/google account

1. Go to the Smoot Sign-in page
2. If you have Signed up using Facebook/google or if you have linked your Facebook account, click on the Facebook/google button to directly sign-in using Facebook/google.

Safety measures to deal on Smoot

Before going for a meet-up

• Check the profile of the Buyer/Seller for his past activities.
• Check for the feedback given by others.
• Ask for as much as possible information about the item.
• Always keep your conversations inside Smoot chat so that you have a clear evidence of what both parties have agreed for.
• Choose the Offer/Accept system to reserve the item as well as to exchange the feedback on your experience with the buyer/seller. The Offer/Accept system is a virtual agreement between the buyer and seller. That is, once an offer is made and accepted, in Smoot it is considered as both parties have understood each other’s conditions and they are in an agreement to close the deal.
• Choose a safe environment for meetups.
• Use all your judgmental and common skills to assess the genuineness of buyer/seller.
• Try to avoid going alone for a meet-up with a stranger.

Before closing the deal

• If you are a buyer inspect the item before making the payments.
• If you are a seller take the payments on the spot once the inspection is done and buyer is convinced.

If you are using the mail/courier service for delivering/receiving the item.

• If you are a seller, make sure you have received the payments before sending the item.
• If you are buyer, take enough time to investigate the listed item before making payments.
• Use a payment method which is secure and familiar for you.

Think twice before dealing

• If the price of an item is extremely low compared to the same item offered by other sellers.
• If the seller asking for a deposit before inspecting the item.
• If the buyer/seller is not ready to communicate through Smoot chat.

Do not deal with a person who is not in Sri Lanka, because there are lot of scams going on in payments as well as items.

Buying/renting on Smoot.

First, search for the item that you are planning to buy/rent. Do a good comparison of different products and prices. Chat with the seller and get information you need. After all the negotiations (price, meet-up/delivery, cash on delivery/bank transfer) send the seller with your offer by clicking the make offer button (you can edit the offer for the negotiated value). Seller can accept the offer once you have submitted the offer. After accepting the offer, you can exchange feedback about your experience, which may help other fellow Smooters to make good decisions.

Follow these simple steps to make a listing on Smoot.

1. Sign-in to your Smoot account
2. Click on the sell button on Smoot
3. Upload well focused and beautiful picture(s) of your item.
4. Choose the category type, sell/rent/for free for your listing.
5. Choose a most relevant category from the category list.
6. Give a meaningful title for your listing.
7. Fill in all the required additional information. 
8. Click on submit.

After successful submission you will be notified with an email. After reviewing your submission your listing will be live and notified with an email once approved. You can relax and wait for the best offer for your item. In case, if your listing does not follow the standards of smoot, you will be notified with an email. You can do the necessary changes and resubmit.

Good Photo

The best way to attract users to view your listing is to upload beautiful photo(s) of your item.

1. Use a plain or a simple background for your photos.
2. Take the photo in a good focus.
3. Give a good lighting for your photos.
4. Avoid multiple objects in one photo. Show only the item you are willing to list.
5. Always post actual images of the item. (avoid images taken from the internet)
6. Use all your photography skills to get the attention of viewers.

The answer is NO.

A username is a unique identity of a user. Any activity of a Smoot user will be tracked using the usernames. Therefore, Smoot will not permit to change a username of a user.

How to change my registered email address?

1. Go to your profile in Smoot.
2. Click on Account Management.
3. Click on “Edit Profile”.
4. Scroll down and click on the update under your current email address.
5. A form will appear, give your reasons for the change of email address, and submit.
6. A Smoot support officer will contact you over the phone to assist with your email change.

We recommend you to use a reliable email address for your Smoot account.

1. Go to your profile in Smoot.
2. Click on Account Management.
3. Click on “Edit Profile”.
4. Click on upload profile photo.
5. Browse for your desired picture to upload. (Choose a photo which best suits your nature of your profile. Do note that picture with inappropriate content may result in account restrictions.)
6. Scroll down and click on save changes.

Your profile picture should be changed now.

1. Go to your profile in Smoot.
2. Click on Account Management.
3. Click on the change password tab.
4. Type in your current password, new password and confirm new password.
5. Click on save changes.

Your password has been changed and you will be notified with an email that your password change is successful.

It is a good practice to change your Smoot password time to time for a better security.

1. Go to Smoot sign in page.
2. Click on forgot password.
3. Type in the email address associated with your Smoot account and click on send recovery code.
4. Type the recovery code which you have received to your email and click verify.
5. Type in your new password, confirm password and click submit.

Your password has been changed and you will receive a password change confirmation email.

If you can’t access your registered email address

1. Go to Smoot sign in page.
2. Click on forgot password. 
3. Type in the email address associated with your Smoot account and click on send recovery code.
4. Click on I can’t access my email.
5. Fill in the form and submit.

A smoot support officer will contact you over the phone to help recover your account.

An account could be restricted due to number of reasons like reported, suspicious activity and so on. If you see “Account Restricted” when you sign-in to your account, that means certain features of Smoot has been restricted for you and the Smoot support team is reviewing your account. If you see this for more than 24 hours click here to get support.

Violation of the terms of service and Smoot good practice may lead to account suspensions. You can submit a request here to make an appeal to get your account back. Please take note that reversing a suspension always depends on the seriousness of the case to maintain a safe environment inside Smoot for the users.

If you are already signed in then just click on the options icon on the top right corner and click on log out.

Sign-in to Smoot. Go to your profile and click on “Account Management” then click on “Account Settings”. Scroll down and click on Deactivate Account.

Go to Smoot sign-in page. Type in your Account credentials and click on sign in. Your account will be reactivated immediately.

There are number of features inside this chat feature.

1. Communicate with the buyer/seller

   Smoot chat system is a very good tool to keep track of your transaction communications.

2. Send and receive additional pictures of an item.

   To get a good understanding about the product you are interested, ask for additional pictures through chat.

3. Make offer/accept

   By making and accepting an offer both buyer and seller are agreeing to deal and considered as sold. This is a very good practice for the users to confirm the deal.

4. Giving feedback after closing the deal

   You can leave a positive feedback for the buyer/seller about your experience on your deal. On the other hand, If anything goes wrong you can leave a negative feedback so that other users get an idea about the buyer/seller. In this way Smoot users are accountable for their good and bad deals.

   Your feedback are useful for buyers/sellers to build their trust inside the Smoot.

Blocking a user from chatting with you.

If a user is harassing or disturbing you by sending chat unnecessary messages. You can block receiving messages from that user by clicking the option button on to right of chat and clicking on block user.

There is a Like (heart) icon in each and every listing. If you click on this like, this item will be saved in your interested items and you can easily view them anytime under the likes page. And you will be notified if the item is sold or any deduction in price happens.

If you are a seller the like count will give you an idea whether buyers are interested to your item. By this you can come to a decision if you need to make any changes in the offer.

If you visit to any others profile, then you will see a Follow button. If you click on this button you will be following that seller. By following a seller, you will be notified whenever an item is posted by that seller. You can unfollow anytime by clicking the Unfollow button in that seller’s profile.

If you are a seller higher the number of followers, then higher the chance of selling quicker. That means if you have 100 followers, whenever you list an item these 100 users will get notified immediately that you have listed a new item.

There are two types of Report in Smoot.

1. Reporting an Item.

   If you find anything not right about a listing, you can report to Smoot. Just view that item, there is an option button on top right side, if you click on that, Report will appear. After clicking on Report, a form will pop-out. You can fill and submit the form, Smoot will take necessary steps.

2. Reporting a User.

   If you find out a user is not genuine, violating the guidelines, misusing the services, offensive behavior or for any other valid reason you can report the user. Go to that user’s profile and click on the option button on top right then you will see Report. Click on that and fill in the form and submit. Smoot will take necessary actions to that user profile.

This will help to identify and filter unacceptable people and contents in Smoot for a better experience.

Smoot has three category types; purpose of each category type is different from the other. Listing in a wrong category type may considered as invalid listing.

1. Category type Sell

   Sell is for selling products and services. A listing in sell must be submitted with price, category, title and any required additional fields. Services are listed only under category type Sell.

2. Category type For Rent

   Category type For Rent is only for the purpose of renting out an item or a property. No selling is allowed in here. A listing in this category type must contain price per hour/day/week/month, category, title and any required additional fields.

3. Category type For Free (Give Sri Lanka)

   Free type is specially designed for community welfare. No selling or renting is allowed here. There is no price field in this listing. 

Under each category type there are a unique set of categories. From the category list select the best matching category for your listing. This may help the interested users to reach your listing easily. Moreover, a listing under wrong category may not be approved by Smoot support.

Smoot is a public place for all users. Smoot continuously strives to make the environment a better place for all types of businesses and services. To achieve this, we believe that a standard set of rules should be in place.

1. Do not use multiple accounts unless you have requested from Smoot.
2. Avoid from listing prohibited products and services. Click here to see the list of Prohibited Products and Services.
3. Choose the right category type and category for your listing.
4. Avoid using irrelevant keywords in your title and description.
5. Do not create more than one listing for the exact same item unless the price or other details are different from the first.
6. Do realistic pricing for your item.
7. Upload original, clear, focused, and attractive photos of your item.
8. Equip your listing with perfect and enough details.
9. Do not guide the users out of Smoot by your listings. Listings with such links, trademarks and hints may filtered in review.
10. Do not use offensive, defamatory, shameful, or discriminatory language.

We are dealing with fellow human beings, it is our responsibility treat our fellow users with respect, dignity, morality, and humanity.

1. Use polite language in communication.
2. Respect other’s questions.
3. Show your flexibility in arranging meetups.
4. Value other’s time.
5. Give a true description of the item.
6. Make reasonable negotiations.
7. Do not touch other’s dignity even if you are offering something for free.