Exchanges

What does broker approval mean?

Why some exchanges wait for a coordinator, and what happens next.

A broker is a community coordinator who helps arrange exchanges safely. Some communities ask a broker to approve exchanges before they go ahead.

You may see Broker Approval Required when you send a request. After the other member accepts, the status shows Awaiting Broker, and the timeline shows Sent to Broker.

The broker then either:

• approves the exchange, and the status becomes Accepted; or
• rejects it, and the exchange is cancelled.

Both of you are told either way. The broker may leave a note, shown under Broker Notes on the exchange page.

An exchange may need approval because of your community's settings, the number of hours, the kind of listing, or a member's safeguarding preferences. You do not need to do anything while you wait.

More guides in this topic

• How does an exchange work?
• Requesting an exchange from a listing
• Accepting or declining a request
• Starting and finishing the work
• Confirming the hours
• Cancelling an exchange
• What happens if we disagree about the hours?
• Rating an exchange

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