What doesn’t Olio enforce?

At Olio, we love seeing our community uphold thoughtful and generous sharing practices 🫶. However, as a small team, we can only address behaviours that clearly pose a risk to our users and do not follow our rules.

While some behaviours are desirable, they are not required, and reporting them will not lead to action unless they breach core safety or policy standards.

Here are some examples of behaviours that we do not treat as violations and therefore do not need to be reported:

📅 No UB/BB date in the description

We don’t moderate listings that are UB/BB dates in the description of the listing. However, the date must be visible in the photo of the item, that’s mandatory for safety and transparency. If the date isn’t clearly shown in the image, please report the listing through a flag report.

🚫 Poorly written listings (e.g. no title or minimal description)

We know it would be ideal for all listings to have clear titles and useful descriptions, but we don’t enforce specific rules on what these should be. We encourage users to help other users to improve the quality of their listings through kind communication, instead of reporting them.

🍞 Not re-listing best before food after it’s expired

It’s brilliant when volunteers re-list food, but we understand that not everyone can do this every time. Food might not be suitable for consumption anymore, or the FWH  might simply not be available. While re-listing is encouraged, it's not mandatory

🧭 Squad Captains who don’t collect from a business or live far away from it

There are many valid reasons a Squad Captain might not currently have a collection slot or may live a bit further away. These factors alone don’t break any rules.

A Squad Captain can still play a valuable role by supporting and motivating their team, even if they’re not collecting regularly. They might also step in occasionally to help cover emergency slots, even if they live further away.

Only more serious concerns, such as inappropriate behaviour, unfair treatment of volunteers, or misuse of food should be reported via the Issue Report Form. For more guidance, see our Squad Captain FAQ.

✋ Holding the item in a photo

We receive flags from users concerned that someone is holding the item in their hand in the listing photo. Unless the item is placed on an unsanitary surface, like the floor or a soft/fabric surface (e.g. bedding, sofa, clothing), this isn’t something Olio takes action on.

Simply holding an item is not considered a hygiene risk on its own, and is not against Olio’s guidelines.

📷 Listings that only show the date in the photo

Sometimes users report listings where the photo is just a close-up of the expiry date. While this isn’t ideal, it’s not against Olio’s rules.

We require that the date is clearly visible somewhere in the photo, but we don’t enforce how the item should be presented alongside it.