Seller guide

1. Accounts and verified badges

• Create an account with an email address and password, or choose Continue with Google. One account covers both buying and selling; there is no separate seller signup.
• Selling unlocks the first time you create a listing or connect Stripe from your dashboard.
• Before your first listing can go live, your profile needs your role, city, and state, and you need to have accepted the Terms. The Publish step asks for anything that is missing.
• Use your school or program email address if you have one. It can verify your program badge on the spot (below).

Verified program badges

Programs that march in DCI, WGI, BOA, or DCA can carry a Verified badge in their circuit's color. Verification is free. Apply from your Account page, where there are two paths:

• Program email. An address on PSC's recognized-domain list (corps domains, .edu addresses, and US public-school district domains) verifies as soon as you click the link PSC emails to it.
• Manual review. Submit a link to a staff or director page that lists you. PSC reviews it and emails you within 1-2 business days.

Badges are granted at PSC's discretion and can be revoked. Holding one means you are representing that your organizational affiliation is accurate. Separately, sellers with a strong track record earn a Trusted Seller badge automatically from completed sales and reviews; there is nothing to apply for.

If students are involved

Anyone under 18 needs to work under an account held by a parent, guardian, or program director who has agreed to the Terms, and that adult is accountable for everything done under it.

2. Setting up Stripe

Stripe is how you get paid. PSC never holds your banking details, and a listing cannot be published until your Stripe account is connected.

• Open your seller dashboard and choose Connect Stripe. Stripe's own setup opens.
• Stripe asks for the email to use as your Stripe login. If your program already has a Stripe account, sign in with it and this payout account attaches to it.
• Choose Individual or Business, then enter your details accurately.
• Connect your bank account: most banks verify instantly through a bank login, otherwise enter the routing and account numbers.
• When you finish in Stripe you come back to where you started, such as the listing you were publishing.
• Once Stripe has everything it needs, your dashboard shows Stripe as connected and Publish works.

Stripe is a regulated payment company and verifies anyone who receives payouts, so expect it to ask for a legal name (yours or the organization's), a date of birth, a Social Security number for an individual or an EIN for a booster club, nonprofit, or school organization, and a website. If your program does not have a website, enter performancesupplyco.shop.

3. Posting a listing

• From your seller dashboard choose New listing, or use Sell in the navigation. The first screen asks for a listing title, what you are listing (Single item, Multiple identical units, or Full set (lot)), and a category. Continue creates a draft and opens the listing editor.
• Categories: Battery, Front Ensemble, Wind Instruments, Color Guard, Uniforms & Costumes, Props & Field, Sticks & Heads, Electronics, Floors & Tarps, Trailers, Cases. Gear that fits none of them? Tell us on the Contact page and we will help you get it listed. Full set (lot) is available for Battery, Front Ensemble, Wind Instruments, Sticks & Heads, Props & Field.
• Write a specific title with brand, model, and quantity, for example "Pearl Free Floating Snare 14x12" or "Silk Flags, Set of 20".
• Write an honest description: brand and model, quantity, seasons of use, known issues, and what is included.
• Upload at least one photo. The first photo is your cover.
• Decide whether to accept offers (section 5), and whether this listing is final sale with no returns (section 9).

What a listing needs before it can publish

• A title, a Type for its category, and a condition grade.
• A Cymbal kind, if it is a Front Ensemble listing with the Type Cymbals.
• A price above $0.
• At least one photo.
• Shipping: an approximate shipping amount, free shipping, "Contact seller for shipping estimates", or "Local pickup only". Trailers are the one exception and need no shipping amount.
• A pickup location (city, state, and ZIP) if the listing offers local pickup.
• A connected Stripe account (section 2).

Listings priced at $10,000 and up are reviewed by PSC before they go live, and you are notified when one is approved. Raising the price above the approved amount sends it back for review.

Photo tips

• Front or main view, plus back or underside.
• Close-up of any wear, damage, or notable features.
• Serial number if applicable, on a clear, well-lit, neutral background.

Listing a lot of items at once? The bulk importer uploads many listings from a spreadsheet.

Listing an item warrants that you have the legal right to sell it. Gear bought with school or district funds is usually district property, so check with your business office first.

4. Condition grading

PSC uses a standardized A through D scale so buyers know exactly what they are getting. You pick the grade in the listing editor, which also has a detailed Grading Guide with examples for each grade.

• When in doubt, grade down. A B item that arrives looking like an A creates a happy buyer. The reverse creates a dispute.
• Disclose repairs, replaced parts, and routine maintenance in the description even when the item still grades well.
• Your grade is the main piece of evidence if a dispute is opened.

5. Offers, shipping quotes, and multi-item orders

Offers

• Turn on Accept offers in the listing editor and buyers can propose a different price. You accept, counter, or decline from your dashboard.
• Each offer or counter lasts 5 days, and every counter restarts that clock, so an active back-and-forth never times out mid-negotiation. A negotiation runs at most 5 proposals.
• Set an auto-accept price and an auto-decline price on the listing and offers outside your band resolve themselves; only the ones in between wait for you. They also answer one offer on several of your items: accepted on the spot when every item has an auto-accept price and the offer meets their total (on a quote-only set, only for a buyer who already has your quote for exactly those items), declined below the total of your auto-decline prices. A set with an item sold by the unit waits for you.
• Accepting never charges the buyer. They complete checkout at the agreed price, and the sale then works like any other (section 6). Once an offer is accepted (by you, or by the buyer on your counter or your Offer to watchers), the item is held for them until the end of the fifth day after the accept, Central Time; the offer in your dashboard and the acceptance email show the date. Accepting also declines the other open offers on that listing (on a listing sold by the unit, offers for other units stay open). If the buyer has not checked out by the end of the hold, the item goes back on sale and you are told; it does not count as a missed shipment. A pickup offer is different: it holds the item until the pickup day, through the scheduled-pickup flow (section 8).
• If the buyer picks a checkout address in a different ZIP than your shipping quote covered, they can ask you for a new quote from checkout. You have 5 days to send it from the conversation (your dashboard shows the deadline), and the buyer then gets a fresh 5 days to pay. No quote in time ends the accepted offer and puts the item back on sale; it does not count as a missed shipment.
• You can also send an Offer to watchers from the listing editor: a discount to everyone watching that listing, good for 48 hours.
• A buyer with several of your items in their cart can make you one offer for all of them. It arrives as one card in Offers listing every item, and you accept, counter, or decline the total on the same 5 days clock. If any item in the set quotes shipping, you set one shipping total for the set when you accept or counter; the buyer sees it before they pay. Accepting holds every item for them for 5 days, and they pay once; the agreed total is split across the items by asking price on the order. If one of the items sells or leaves sale while the offer is open, the offer closes and both of you are told.

Shipping quotes for big items

• Choose "Contact seller for shipping estimates" on a listing and buyers see Add to cart and ask for a shipping quote instead of a shipping price. Asking puts the item in their cart, and the request covers everything of yours in it, so you quote one shipping total for the set. Their request arrives with their shipping address and whether it is going to a school or business (with or without a loading dock) or a home.
• Open Messages in your seller dashboard. The Shipping quote panel shows a Ships to line with the buyer's shipping address and the items the request covers; type the total shipping for that buyer and click Send quote. They get a notification and check out from their cart with your shipping included.
• A quote is only for that buyer and for exactly the items it names: if they add another of your items to their cart, the cart asks you for one new quote covering all of them. A quote does not expire and does not hold the item: whoever checks out first gets it. Update quote replaces the old amount right away.
• Your quote is for the ZIP the buyer asked from. If they pick a checkout address in a different ZIP, checkout pauses until they choose an address in the quoted ZIP or ask you for a new quote.
• On these listings you set the shipping on every offer: your counters include it, and accepting before you have quoted that buyer asks you for the shipping amount. An auto-accept price accepts on its own when that buyer already has your quote; otherwise the offer waits for you.

Multi-item orders

Buyers can add several of your items to their cart and pay once; your items arrive as a single order to ship together. By default the order charges each item's own shipping added up. If you can ship a bundle for less, set an optional combined-shipping flat rate on your Account page and a multi-item order charges that one rate instead.

6. How a sale works

PSC is not a bank, money transmitter, or custodian of user funds, and PSC does not hold anyone's money. Payments are processed by Stripe. The buyer's card is authorized at checkout but not charged. The charge is captured, and you are paid, when you mark the order shipped.

• Checkout. The buyer's card is authorized. Nothing is charged yet.
• Ship-by day. The fifth day after the sale, Central Time, stated as a date on the order and in your sale email (a Monday sale ships by Saturday). You get a reminder at 7 AM Central two days before, the day before, and on the ship-by day, by email and in your dashboard.
• Marked shipped. The charge is captured and your proceeds are released to your Stripe account.
• Payout. Stripe deposits to your bank on your Stripe account's payout schedule. Your Earnings page opens your Stripe dashboard.
• Dispute window. Closes 14 days after the order ships, or 7 days after the buyer confirms receipt, whichever comes first.

• You are paid at shipment, so there is no held balance sitting at PSC.
• A refund, cancellation, or dispute resolved in the buyer's favor after that point is recovered from you.
• Treat proceeds as settled once the dispute window closes.

7. Shipping your gear

• Receive your sale email. The buyer's shipping address is on the order in your dashboard.
• Pack carefully. Double-box drums and large equipment with adequate padding. Roll flags and silks where possible. Photograph the item before and after packing, and keep the photos and your receipt until the dispute window closes.
• Ship with tracking. On the order page click Mark shipped, choose the carrier (UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL, Freight, or Other), enter the tracking number, and click Confirm shipped. This is the step that captures the payment and releases your proceeds.
• Freight, LTL, or local delivery with no parcel tracking number? Check the no-tracking option when you mark it shipped and give the carrier or method plus a short note on how it is traveling, so the buyer (and PSC, if there is ever a dispute) can follow it.

Choosing a carrier

• Quote it before you list so your shipping price is a real number: dimensions, weight with packaging, and your ZIP code are all a rate calculator needs.
• Ship with whoever you are comfortable with. PSC does not require or recommend a specific carrier. Large pit instruments and floors usually go freight.
• Insure anything valuable. Carrier liability is limited, and declared value coverage is cheap compared with the gear.
• Too large or fragile to ship? List it as local pickup (section 8).

PSC is not a shipping carrier and is not responsible for delays, loss, or damage in transit. Packaging appropriately, providing accurate tracking, and cooperating with carrier claims are all on you. If you are cutting it close, message the buyer through the order as soon as possible; cancellations are handled case by case through PSC support.

8. Local pickup

Local pickup is the right call for pit percussion, props, floors, trailers, and anything else that is a nightmare to box up. A local-pickup listing needs a pickup location (city, state, and ZIP) so buyers know where they are collecting from.

• The buyer proposes a pickup day, up to 90 days out, and you Accept or Decline it. Accepting holds the item off the marketplace for that buyer. Buyers can also make an offer with a pickup day attached.
• A request that waits on you for a day gets a reminder each morning until you answer it. If the proposed day passes with no answer, the request expires at 8 AM Central the next morning, and you are both told.
• At 8 AM Central the day before pickup, PSC emails the buyer a secure checkout link. Their card is authorized then, not charged. On the pickup day you both get a reminder. If the buyer has not checked out yet, theirs asks them to (or to request a later day) and yours says to hand nothing over until the pickup code email arrives.
• At handoff the buyer inspects the item in person. You show them the 6-digit code from your order page, and entering it captures the charge and releases your proceeds.
• If the code is not entered within 2 days after the agreed day, the pickup is canceled early the next morning: any card authorization is released, the buyer is never charged, and the item is relisted. A buyer who has paid is warned at 8 AM Central the day before that happens.

If you cannot make the pickup, say so in the order messages right away. A seller who no-shows before code entry can expect PSC to refund the buyer after reviewing the messages and order timeline.

9. Returns

Returns are off by default and entirely your call. You turn them on by setting a return window (the number of days after delivery a buyer has to request one) on your Account page, and you can mark any individual listing final sale to exclude it. Buyers see either policy on the listing.

• A buyer requests a no-fault return (changed mind, wrong size, no longer needed) from their order within your window. You have 72 hours to approve or decline it.
• On an approved return the buyer normally pays return shipping, and you can withhold a restocking fee of up to 20% of the item price.
• Once you confirm the item is back, PSC refunds the buyer.
• Stripe's processing fee is never returned on a refund. The restocking fee and buyer-paid return shipping are there to offset it.
• Returns apply to shipped card orders only, not local-pickup orders or multi-item orders.

No-fault returns are separate from disputes, which cover items that arrive damaged, wrong, or not as described.

10. Disputes

Only buyers can open a dispute, and only after you have marked the order shipped. The window closes 14 days after the order is marked shipped, or 7 days after the buyer confirms receipt, whichever comes first. Valid reasons are item not as described, item not received, item damaged in shipping, and wrong item sent.

• The order status changes to Disputed and a thread opens, visible to the buyer, you, and PSC.
• You have 48 hours to propose a resolution.
• The buyer then has 24 hours to accept or reject it.
• If either clock runs out, the dispute escalates to PSC automatically.

The four proposals

You can skip the proposal stage and send the dispute straight to PSC review if you would rather we decide. If a dispute escalates, PSC reviews messages, listing details, tracking, photos, payment records, and account history, then makes a binding platform decision. Refunds go back to the original payment method through Stripe and take 5 to 10 business days depending on the bank.

• Your evidence is your condition grade, photos taken before and after packing, and tracking.
• If tracking confirms delivery to the address on the order, PSC will generally resolve a non-receipt claim in your favor.
• Because you were paid at shipment, a dispute resolved for the buyer is satisfied by refunding them and recovering that amount from you.

Questions about an open dispute go to disputes@performancesupplyco.shop. We respond within 1 business day. The full policy is on the Dispute Resolution Policy page.

11. Keeping transactions on PSC

Once two people connect through PSC, the sale needs to finish on PSC. That means no Venmo, Zelle, Cash App, PayPal, wire, check, or cash for a PSC-originated transaction, no trading contact information to arrange one, no discounts for paying around the fee, and no moving the conversation to another marketplace.

• The offer almost always comes in innocently. A local parent offers to just write a check, or somebody suggests settling up in cash at handoff. Finish it through PSC anyway: for a pickup that means the checkout link and the handoff code.
• Brief anyone who helps with your listings.
• Violations can mean a suspended account, canceled listings, withheld or reversed proceeds, and loss of seller protections.

12. Fees, payouts, and taxes

Listing is free. Two fees come out of your payout when an item sells. Buyers pay the listed price with nothing added.

On a $1,000 item with no shipping, the fees are $35 plus $29.30, and $935.70 reaches you. The listing editor shows your estimated payout as you set the price, and the email that confirms your payment shows the actual breakdown.

• No PSC fee on your first sale. Every account created on or after November 1, 2026 holds one token that removes the PSC platform fee from its first fee-bearing sale; Stripe's processing fee still comes out of that payout. It never expires and is applied automatically at checkout. Accounts from PSC's first summer (created before September 1, 2026) hold a half-off token instead, worth 50% off the PSC fee on their first fee-bearing sale. Referring another seller earns more: they get 50% off a selling fee, and once their first sale settles you earn 50% off a future sale of yours. See Refer and earn.
• Payouts. Stripe deposits to your connected bank account on your Stripe account's payout schedule.

Taxes

PSC collects and remits sales tax at checkout where PSC is legally required to (currently Minnesota orders; more states as we grow). Tax is charged to the buyer and is never part of your payout, and tax-exempt schools, booster clubs, and nonprofits can upload an exemption certificate so their purchases check out without it. Stripe, not PSC, issues any tax forms your payout volume requires, such as a Form 1099-K. PSC does not provide tax advice, so check with your accountant.

13. Questions

Email hello@performancesupplyco.shop or use the Contact page. We are happy to walk you through anything. For a problem with a specific order, email support@performancesupplyco.shop with your order number. For an open dispute, use disputes@performancesupplyco.shop. Shorter answers to the most common questions are on the FAQ.

This guide summarizes the PSC Terms of Service, Buyer Protection Policy, and Dispute Resolution Policy. Where this guide and those documents differ, those documents control.