Lightly used and fully functional, but does not include the original packaging or tags.

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Hello beautiful Bunzers!\
\
We have something to share with you, please give us a minute of your time and leave a comment or your favourite emoji in the comments below to let us know you’ve read this 🫶\
\
You may have noticed the post last week from this app’s investor, Firat (if you didn’t, don’t worry about it and read this one instead 😁).\
\
It’s no secret that this community has faced tremendous challenges in the last decade, including challenges that led to broken trust, broken hearts and what has, at times, felt like a broken Bunz ❤️‍🩹\
\
There is a reality that this app ran into: it isn’t easy to sustain something outside the boundaries of monetary exchange (we wouldn’t be living through late stage capitalism right now if that weren’t true 🙃).\
\
But there is another reality worth noting: we are still here. There may be fewer of us, and the future of Bunz may feel like it’s teetering on the edge right now – but one decade later, the community that emerged organically from one girl trading for one can of tomato sauce to make dinner one night still exists.\
\
That’s because there is something special here that you can’t find anywhere else. It isn’t tangible. It’s not something you can put a price tag on. And it’s not anything that any single person can create on their own.\
\
It’s found in the act of the trade itself. \
\
It’s not the treasures you find here (although there are many treasures worth finding) and it isn’t even really the money we save by re-circulating what already exists in the community (though money certainly gets saved and in a cost-of-living crisis, you can’t go wrong).\
\
It’s the experience of being present, of feeling like no matter what happens, somebun, somewhere, has got your back. It’s the magic that gets made when human beings meet other human beings, solve problems, support each other, listen and grow. Together.\
\
Which brings us back to Firat’s post. Whether you have been infuriated by him or not, he has poured A LOT into keeping this app alive. It hasn’t been perfect, and there is still a long way to go. But there have been a number of improvements and updates that have carved a path forward towards sustainability.\
\
In a strange way, we are once again at the beginning. But it’s going to be up to every single bun of you to help us start actually walking down that path.\
\
So here’s the first thing you need to know: Firat’s communications have brought some Bunz from the good old days out of the woodwork and we’re here to bring this thing back to life. We’re here to inspire, connect, motivate and – most important of all – to LISTEN.\
\
Is it going to be perfect right away? Absolutely not. The fact of the matter is we need to build up the user base and get the community active again in order to begin moving in a sustainable direction to keep the app from shutting down. This means that we will have to take feedback and make improvements where possible while we build up our numbers. Then down the road, we can improve the app of the Bunz, for the Bunz, by the Bunz.\
\
We wouldn’t be doing this if we were not absolutely certain that Bunz is needed in the world right now more than ever before. And in many ways, that’s the very thing that makes it feel a little like the stars are aligning and what may have felt impossible yesterday feels within reach today.\
\
Over the next several weeks, we’re going to work with you all to Make Bunz Great Again (too soon to use that 😬), to rebuild trust and set this app on a course towards a resilient, secure future.\
\
Who’s with us??\
\
Stay tuned for more updates, and in the meantime, let’s get this party started by committing to making ONE TRADE this week and posting ONE BUZZ about that trade.\
\
And if you want to take it to the next level, tell one person about the app and encourage them to download it.\
\
Love and gratitude, \
The Bunz Volunteer Team

The Anti-Anti-End

Unused, sealed, and in the original packaging or with the original tag.

Dear Bunzers,\
\
I like poker. Not the gambling side of it, but the way it reveals a person’s character with crystal clarity—especially when they lose.
You can tell a lot about someone from how they lose. They say the same thing about divorce. Those are the moments when you see someone’s real character.\
\
It seems like my Bunz game is also approaching one of those decisive moments. The best part of moments like these is that you can learn a lot about yourself.\
\
My only expectation from this moment is to prove to myself, once again, that I am who I believe I am. This is never about making anybody think positively or negatively about me.\
\
When I look back objectively, I’m proud of my choices, and I have no regrets.\
Yes, only now can I see that some things could have been done better. But some things can only be seen after living through the experience.\
I know myself well enough to say that if I went back and had to make those decisions under the same conditions, I would make the same choices again.\
I gave the Bunz idea the patience, time and effort it needed—first as an investor, and later as its sole owner.\
The Bunz you see today represents my skill set, my vision, my luck, my financial power and my intelligence.\
That was the whole idea anyway.\
Thanks to Bunz, I got to express myself through it.\
As most of you already know—or have probably guessed—one of my hobbies is mountaineering.\
All those mountain levels you see in the app are peaks I actually climbed. I know each one personally, except Elbrus. Long story...\
In mountaineering, success is defined as coming back home healthy, in one piece and with all your limbs.\
By that definition, I can say I did okay with Bunz.\
It hurt me financially more than I first predicted—think of it as curable frostbite in my hands—but that was part of the game itself.\
\
By the way, this will probably be my last message until September 1, and it is a follow-up to this one: [Important Message](https://bunz.com/posts/1881065) \
\
I suggest reading it either before or after this one.\
So, with that earlier message in mind, here is where we are today:\
We couldn’t create the growth. Yet.\
\
It looks like we won’t reach 1,000 daily active users by September 1.\
As I mentioned in my previous message, 1,000 was always the minimum bar—the point where a real growth phase toward 10,000 DAU could begin, which is the level where Bunz becomes self-sufficient.\
Would reaching 1,000 have been enough to trigger that growth?\
I can’t know for certain. But I believed—and still believe—that reaching 1,000 would be enough to trigger that next phase.\
That’s why I’m still willing to move forward if we reach that number, as promised.\
I would have been very happy to see Bunz reach those goals.\
Very happy to see Bunz dominate social media with its unique credentials—not materialistic and not artificial like so many popular platforms.\
Very happy if we could represent people who genuinely act for a cleaner planet and believe in no more consumerism than necessary.\
Very happy if people came to Bunz to discover weird things to trade and meet new people.\
Very happy to be part of creating a platform where people can get the everyday things they need without spending money.\
So far, it seems that won’t happen.\
Meaning I won’t get to experience that sweet, pure and extremely rare kind of happiness.\
But I won’t feel sad either 😊 (even I don’t buy it... :)) because I did my share.\
\
And since I keep claiming that I won’t pretend, here is one more honest thing:\
To those who kept rudely criticizing my choices, experiments and decisions: yeah, I don’t like you back.\
I was never disrespectful to you the way you were to me. I tried not to get involved in arguments with you. I was always clear—not soft—but I tried to remain kind.\
I may not like you back, but Bunz does—a lot.\
Because while almost everyone else was silent, you cared.\
I personally think you cared about it in the wrong way. And I believe you have a lot to think about too.\
Maybe that’s just me, but yeah—I said it 😊\
Having said all that, I’m a romantic too.\
I still believe Bunz can gain that number of users overnight. I’ve seen it happen before.\
So here is my one suggestion, if you believe it too:\
First, stop reading this emotional, stupid message and go post ONE trade.\
And if you need to, keep saying, “Fuck that idiot,” while you do it. I can take it.\
Post the weirdest thing in your house that you own but don’t need.\
No filters. No explanation of why you own it.\
Just the thing—and what you would trade it for.\
The stuff you can’t find anywhere else is the only reason Bunz has ever been discovered.\
Not ads.\
Not posts like this one.\
And you know what? If genuinely weird new trades start appearing, I’ll put one of my most valuable wines up for trade—a Château Pétrus 😉\
If 300 of us post one weird trade this week, the feed becomes strange, alive and worth looking at again.\
Someone may screenshot it. Someone outside Bunz may become curious. And we may get one real final shot at reaching 1,000.\
That’s it.\
One weird trade.\
See you — or not — on September 2.\
\
Firat

The Anti-End

#### Long story short:

On September 1, 2026, Bunz will shut down - unless…!!??

#### Short story long:

Dear Bunzers,\
\
I am the first ever investor of Bunz, as of August 2015, and then the sole owner and director of Bunz Inc. since April 2020.\
\
I decided to take over Bunz myself just before it was about to pull the plug - or right after its failed cryptocurrency adventure. Why? Because I had already invested a huge amount of money and I just wouldn't accept my company to be failed by other people's decisions, especially when I still believe in the core idea. It is ok for me to see succeeding my company by other people, but if it is to end, it can only happen under my management and decisions.\
\
Since I was by myself from that point on, I decided to outsource the development. I first tried to facelift the app and add some new features, but it didn't work. The damage of the cryptocurrency adventure was way bigger than I expected - it had swept away all the trust and excitement from Bunz's loyal users once had. On top of that, we were technically stuck with the original architecture, which made structural changes nearly impossible. So I decided to rebuild Bunz from scratch.\
\
The first thing I did was to find the best UI/UX design company in the world, the kind that comes up literally when you Google "best app UI/UX agency in the world." That Silicon Valley company did a great job. Then we moved into development, which is when things got complicated. After a couple of years working together, I needed to let the outsourced development team go - I won't go into details - but that decision is what led to the October 2022 update. We were forced to deploy an unfinished version. You naturally hated it, which you were 100% right. So the person you kept criticizing negatively - to put it mildly - was no one but me. 😊 I must say, some of you are very creative. 😊\
\
However, after that, with the help of a couple of friends, we brought Bunz back to a level I'm genuinely proud of. As of December 2025, all the necessary features are in place, a theoretical sustainable financial architecture is set, and the app is working fine. A modern, back to its fundamental values kind of Bunz in my mind is finally created and deployed.\
\
I was finally ready to face the outcome. However, the outcome so far is unfortunately nowhere near what I was expecting or what would keep Bunz self-sufficient. On top of that, due to the premature 2022 update, all the negative reviews are still sitting in the App Store and Play Store - no positive comments or reviews other than a few rare exceptions.\
\
Yet, less than two hundred signed-in daily active users (excluding visitors). Mostly Toronto and Montreal. And not growing. Only an exceptionally high retention rate among users, which confuses me most.\
\
Message received. And I intend to act as what it requires.\
\
To be self-sufficient, Bunz needs ten thousand daily active users (DAU) in Toronto. That's the honest number. But here's what I also know: if we can reach one thousand DAU, it can ignite the network effect and a sustainable growth.\
\
So, in view of the above, here's what my decision is: there'll be no more Bunz after 1 September 2026. This date should give you enough time to finalize all your trades and do your final GC swaps, since in order to get that right in the system it can take up to 2 months. It is also enough time to those who wants to give Bunz a last chance to sustainably live and stay. My goal is to end Bunz clean and clear, but I believe as the current leader of Bunz I am entitled to serve these two options. To be clear: I am at peace with either outcome. If I see healthy signs, I'll keep building this for you. If I don't, I'll be getting rid of a massive weight on my shoulders. Either way, on September 1st, my life gets better. The question is: what happens to yours?\
\
On 1 September 2026, Tuesday night, unless we have 1,000 DAU in Toronto GTA and at least one cluster - a dorm, a like-minded group of people, a neighbourhood - is using Bunz happily and actively, the Bunz era will end.\
\
**Starting May 15th, I will post the DAU number every day on the Bunz feed.**

---

#### For those who want Bunz to live:

You know what to do better than I do. But here's the minimum: Bunz only works in clusters - a dorm, a neighbourhood, a friend group, a community. Find yours. Bring them in. (What I learned so far is individual enthusiastic users don't make a change that much; Bunz only works in clusters.) Leave honest reviews on the App Store and Google Play. Share this post. Talk about it on Instagram, Twitter, Reddit. If you know a journalist, tell them this story. If you're an influencer or a celebrity, use your voice. If you're just you who believes in this idea, that's enough. Show up, trade, be present, and bring your group with you.

---

#### For those who want Bunz to die:

I'm with you too. Genuinely. If Bunz's time is up, let's end it cleanly and move on. But here's something worth knowing: the way to kill Bunz is not to complain about it. Complaints create noise. Noise creates attention. Attention brings new people. If you want Bunz dead, the most effective thing you can do is say nothing. Silence is the only thing that actually works.\
\
And if you do want to complain, go ahead. Be my guest. I'll read every word. I might even amplify it myself. I'm not afraid of criticism. I never was.

---

#### Where I stand.

I am at peace with both outcomes. I will celebrate the day Bunz reaches a thousand daily active users in Toronto. And I will celebrate September 1st just as genuinely if we don't get there, because I will finally get my answer to a question that I kept asking myself for the last 10 years .\
\
What I won't do is pretend. What I won't do is manipulate you into caring about something you don't actually care about. What I will do, though, is open my year 2000 Château Margaux on 1 September 2026, Tuesday night, right before I cancel Bunz's AWS account - that I've been keeping for a long time and waiting for a good reason to drink. ( see my personal bunz account f.j.b.e)\
\
I've done my job. Ten years. Every dollar I had. Every decision mine to own.\
\
Now it's your turn.\
\
Either way - I'll see you on the other side.\
\
**Firat Eren**

_Founder & Director, Bunz Inc._

---

_If you are still not bored and want to dig deeper, here's what you can do:_

* Read our FAQ in order to see how I structured this arguably sustainable economy of Bunz, inspired by old Bunz that used to use metro coins for trading: [FAQ](https://bunz.com/faq)
* Read my op-ed that has been published in thefutureeconomy.ca in order to know more about my logic behind this new Bunz I created: [Rethinking Sustainability and Affordability Through Digital Bartering](https://thefutureeconomy.ca/op-eds/rethinking-sustainability-and-affordability-through-digital-bartering)


Important Message

We have some good news. \
It might sound like bad news at first 🙂 \
We’re introducing the BTZ Sustainability Fee (Bunz Fee). \
From now on, every BTZ transaction includes a 10% BTZ-only system cut. \
This has nothing to do with cash (Law #1 is our genetic code), and nothing to do with revenue. \
What it does is close the loop for a healthier, more trustworthy BTZ economy — if and when you choose to participate. \
This fee is one of the tools we use to:
* control BTZ inflation
* discourage scams and farming
* reduce unnecessary hoarding
* protect real, active trades
* help protect the practical usefulness of the BTZ you already hold

That’s it. \
Simple rule. System-level impact. \
If you have questions, feel free to ask in the comments — or check out our FAQ page. \
\
We’ll answer openly. \
\
— Bunz


Hey Bunz — quick update

Hey Bunz! \
\
Over the last year, BTZ has grown into something meaningful; not a trend, not a reward, not a speculative instrument, but a real digital trade item that currently hundreds, and very soon thousands, of people will rely on every day. \
\
Like any real system of value, it needs structure, balance, and protection.\
\
Today, we’re introducing something important for the next chapter of Bunz!
### The Sherpa Cut: a 10 BTZ monthly fee

Together with the upcoming BTZ transaction fee (see FAQ), the Sherpa Cut forms the core of sustainability and stability in the new Bunz economy.
* 🌱 Not revenue.
* 🌱 Not a subscription.
* 🌱 Not a paywall.

It’s a regulatory tool designed to keep BTZ healthy, circulating, and fair for everyone.\
\
Here’s what it means and why we’re doing this.\
\
BTZ is built on a simple idea:
* a digital continuation of those old transit tokens and everyday barter items that early Bunz users traded with a practical universal medium inside a barter economy.

A quick reminder:
BTZ is not a reward system, has nothing to do with crypto, and exists only to create flexible trade opportunities and support system sustainability.\
\
The structured and consistent demand shown through the gift-card swap feature demonstrates how real and necessary BTZ already is.\
\
As BTZ grows, it needs a way to:
* 🔄 Keep it moving (not hoarded in inactive wallets)
* ⚖️  Balance excess supply from old cycles
* 🛡️ Protect active and honest traders
* 🧭 Keep Bunz stable long-term

The Sherpa Cut is the smallest possible tool to achieve this without getting in anyone’s way.\
\
Just 10 BTZ, equal for everyone, and fair.
### Who is affected?

Everyone who wants to stay active on Bunz simply pays the 10 BTZ once a month. Most users earn more than that from a single Buzz view, a Buzz creation, or one small trade. In practice, nothing really changes… except that the whole system becomes stronger and more predictable.\
\
What happens if you don’t pay your Sherpa Cut?\
\
Nothing dramatic, but some activity will pause:
* 🔔 You will see reminders
* 🚪 Posting new items will be locked
* 🧭 Your level progression will pause
* 💬  Messaging stays active so you can complete existing trades

Your account stays safe, your items stay safe, and everything returns to normal the moment the Sherpa Cut is paid.
### What does the Sherpa Cut Enable?
With the Sherpa Cut in place, we can finally unlock features that rely on a healthy BTZ loop:
* 🎁  More sustainable BTZ-to-gift-card swaps (Denali and above)
* 🛡️ Stronger anti-fraud protections
* 📈 A functioning, stable BTZ economy
* 🔁 Fair circulation supporting future levels and perks

This protects the integrity of the system without ever treating BTZ like revenue.
### Reminder: Bunz’s bills are paid with real money, never BTZ.
An important note to keep in mind. Bunz is not yet a sustainable business because it currently has no income. Until our well-structured advertising system (which is fully designed on paper; see FAQ), becomes operational and proves market-fit, the platform will not have a sustainable revenue model.\
\
This doesn’t mean anything **bad** is happening, it simply means we want to be transparent and responsible:
* There is always a possibility that things may change in the future, including the possibility that we may not be able to fund the system at some point — meaning the platform might not be able to continue operating.
* We are doing our best to prevent that, and we hope everyone who enjoys Bunz continues to be an active, believing user.

For now, everything continues as normal. This is simply an honest heads-up so nothing ever comes as a surprise.\
\
In other words…\
\
This is a big step for the BTZ economy.\
\
A stronger loop means better trades, more trust, more activity, and a clearer path toward the real version of Bunz we’ve been building together.\
\
Let’s keep climbing!\
\
🖤 Bunz

A Big Step Up the Mountain 🏔️

If you like trading, you’ll love our vibe on socials!\
\
Don’t forget to tag us in your trades. We love to see them!\
\
🖤 Bunz

We’re scrolling with you! 🌀 

📢 Hey Bunz community, hi!\
\
The next couple of weeks will feel a little different for us and, hopefully, for all of us. \
\
We’re about to launch our first-ever marketing campaign, right after wrapping up the core features that shape the sustainable Bunz philosophy. \
\
The final piece is here — the ability to **share**, **like**, and **comment** on **Buzzes** (even sponsored ones!). \
\
Starting Monday (*or Tuesday if there’s a tiny delay 😅*) you might start seeing Bunz ads across TikTok, Meta, and LinkedIn. \
\
If you’ve been hoping to find more trade partners, now’s the perfect time to stay active and visible. \
\
Here’s how to make the most of it 👇
* 💬 **Share** the links we post — or any you see on TikTok, Instagram, or LinkedIn.
* 💡 **Join** conversations on Reddit and beyond.
* 🔥 **Engage** — every like, comment, and trade helps new users understand what Bunz is truly about.

But even more important than all of that – start believing that when everyone becomes an active Bunzer, the world will be a friendlier, cleaner, greener, more adventurous, and definitely a cooler place.
Emotions are contagious. \
\
You don’t have to preach or persuade anyone, just believe in what we’re building and stay active.\
\
People will feel it 💙\
\
**Let’s show them what a real community feels like!** \
\
*— The Bunz Team*

A New Wave 🌊

Big shoutout to **@ontariopyrex** for the inspiration on this one 🌟 We loved your comments so much, we turned them into a poster!\
\
Want one too? Grab it here or DM us on Instagram **@bunz_official** and we’ll send it your way.\
\
Can’t wait to see these start popping up around town and don’t forget to tag us on socials when you spot one! 👀\
\
🖤Bunz

Certified poster-worthy 🏅

*Feel free to share your feedback in the comments.*

## Messaging
💬 Communication in Bunz is now based around Direct Messages, bringing you the familiar structure from any other messenger. \
👤 All your messages with another user now live in a common chat, the one with the user's profile picture, and you can send messages directly, unrelated to any trade. \
🤝 Trades live in focused chats that only shows messages related to that trade. \
🖼️ You can now share images in chats! \
🟢 See who's online with a familiar green indicator. It's even shown on Posts! 

---
If you are on Kilimanjaro or up you can start a DM with anyone at any time from their Profile!
If you are on Fuji or Elbrus, a user needs to DM you first to unlock the DM chat with them. \
**You can Trade without any restrictions regardless of your level.**

## Trading
Trading was significantly improved and is much more flexible now. 
* **Start a trade** at any time from the three-dot menu of a DM chat, you can have as many active trades as you like.
* **Add** any number of items to the trade, you can even start with no items if you like.
* **Add** or **remove** items at any time, all the changes will be visible in the chat and the other user will be notified.
* **Cancel** a trade at any time if the things aren't working out.
* **Plan** a meeting, meet, and **complete** the trade.
* **Review** a completed trade, or **close the chat** without review if you like.

Check the three-dot menu in a trade chat for additional actions available to you.

## Additional Updates
* 📤 You can now **Share** Posts, ISOs, and Profiles.

## Future Updates
* In the near future we plan to bring likes, comments, and share to Buzz to make it much more fun and useful for promoting your items.
* This is not the end for Messaging and we plan to bring more features such as archiving chats, deleting messages, viewing trades per post, viewing trade history, searching chats/messages and more.

Direct Messaging

Today marks the first Summit Day on Denali and Aconcagua 🏔️ for users who reached the summit of Kilimanjaro a few weeks ago. These users are the first to try our new feature – **Swap BTZ** 🔁, available on Summit Days from Denali and up.

---

**Swap BTZ** can be accessed from your **Wallet**.

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**Swap BTZ** lets you swap your BTZ for experiences outside of Bunz by exchanging them for a variety of gift cards – for cafes and restaurants, gaming, travel and commute, shops, and more. 🎮✈️🛍️☕

---

While Swap BTZ is designed to eventually be powered by our sponsors who show their Buzz on Bunz 📢, it is currently funded by Bunz itself as a pilot project running until **September 1st**. Both individual and overall swap limits will be determined by sponsor support in the future, ensuring a sustainable platform.

---

**The future of Swap BTZ depends entirely on how well Bunz grows and how much users love it – so tell your friends and bring them along for the climb! 🧗‍♂️👥**

### 📝 Heads-up: Sherpa Cut begins in August 🌱
To support the sustainability of Bunz, a small monthly Sherpa Cut of 10 BTZ will apply to all users starting in August. This isn’t a paywall – you can easily cover it by creating 📹 or watching 👀 Buzz , or by making a trade 🤝 that involves BTZ. 

Swap BTZ – Unlocked

🌄 Everest is the first to witness the rising sun.

---

And today we are extremely excited to welcome the first user – a new rising sun ☀️ – to the expedition on **Everest**:

## Krissi O. *aka* @hellokrissi

A tremendous job! You nailed it! 👍🔥🎉
 
---

Taking the opportunity we are happy to welcome and congratulate **@puppypaws**, **@willtoday**, **@melelina**, **@lovefood**, and **@ijkl** with starting their **Denali** expedition.

---

We won't be posting about every level up moving forward as more and more users get into **HustleBar** Levels, yet we are **thrilled about every single level up** and we value every contributing member of our community, on all levels, whether you levelled up, whether you didn't make it, or stay comfortably on the same level over and over.

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*Image by ambo kangaroo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons*

First Everest!

**🥇 There is always a first-time for everything 🥇**

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*💖 And every first time is special 💖*

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🤩 We are thrilled to congratulate the very first users who have completed their first ever Itinerary and ***summited Kilimanjaro*** 🧗‍♀️
* **@ontariopyrex** on reaching **Aconcagua**
* **@vanessaaip** on reaching **Denali**
* **@fjbe** on reaching **Denali**
* **@Andreatrades** on reaching **Denali**

We'd like to provide words of encouragement to the users who did not summit this time and started their second expedition on Kilimanjaro. 

---

Don't frown, **@misskitty_79** – every great climber stumbles. Keep ascending. 💪

## If you don't see yourself mentioned above
**Don't worry!** It only means that you started later. Your Itinerary is personal to you and you will have your **Summit Day** in due time 🏁⏳

Congrats, Trailblazers!

This update brings Levels, Swapping BTZ for Gift Cards, and more...

###  Trust ✅, Presence 🙋, Participation 🤝

Level are here not to punish or to reward. Levels are a real-time metric of community engagement. And they reflect who's shaping it.       

---

Here's a brief summary of the levels:
* **Fuji** - First steps, easy to complete on your own.
* **Elbrus** – First engagement, start interacting with other users.
* **Kilimanjaro** – The explorers, the majority of all active users.
* **Denali** – The contributors, active posters and traders.
* **Aconcagua** – The trailblazers, very active users driving the community.
* **Everest** – The legends, community leaders and the most active users.

###  Engage and Level Up! 🧗

**Fuji** and **Elbrus** are onboarding levels to get you up to speed. You level up immediately upon completing the level's objectives. Ask a friend and you can reach **Kilimanjaro** in a matter of minutes! 😉

---

**Kilimanjaro** and up are **HustleBar** Levels. These are not based on points or trophies. From this point onward your level is determined entirely by how active you were (for the past 90 days) compared to other users on **Kilimanjaro** and up.

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Your level is reassessed at the end of your **Itinerary** 📆:
* If you are in the top **1%** of users, you are placed on **Everest**.
* If in the top **10%** – on **Aconcagua**.
* In the top **50%** – on **Denali**.
* Otherwise – on **Kilimanjaro**.

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Your level does not change during the **Itinerary**. Yes, you get to keep your **Everest** for the whole 60 days once you reach it 😉

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However, if your activity drops close to zero for more than 90 days, you can find yourself back on  **Elbrus** or **Fuji** 🙃

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Read more about **Levels**, **Itinerary**, and **HustleBar** by clicking the FAQ tile on your Home screen.

### Get more with your Level ⚡

For **Kilimanjaro** and up we will be bringing **Direct Messages** 💬 – the ability to freely message any user. This way our core community has the freedom to thrive and is not bothered by those who are not (*yet*) serious about being a part of the community. **Direct Messages** are currently in development.

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Users on **Denali** and up gain the ability to **Swap BTZ for Gift Cards** 🎁. It's available during the **Summit Day** at the end of your **Itinerary**. This feature is currently sponsored by Bunz and the amount of BTZ you can swap is limited. The more popular Bunz is, the more sponsors we get, the more BTZ you will be able to swap.

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Read more about **Swapping BTZ** by clicking on the FAQ tile on your Home screen.

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*Photo: "K2" by Firat E. from Bunz*

Level Up Your Journey

# 🗓️ Planner is here!

Today we bring you the Planner, a new and exciting feature, and its integration into the trading flow.

Planner is an integrated way to easily negotiate and track the best time and place to meet for a trade.

### ✨ Intuitive flow
Make great trades with just a few clicks. Everything you need to move the trade forward is always at hand in the chat. Each trade is a journey and Bunz is your guide.

### 🤸 Flexible flow
The weather is not as nice as you hoped for to meet in that park? Had to cover for a colleague and can not make it in time? We got you covered! Update the meeting details at any time prior to the meeting and we will let the other person know about your change and will let you know when they confirm it.

### 👀 Plans at a glance
The new Planner tab in Chats shows you the timeline of all your meetings and allow quickly jump back to each of the conversations.
The date picker shows the busiest days and unconfirmed meetings for each day, allowing you to quickly jump to them in the timeline as well as to select the best time while planning a meeting.

### 🌿 More freedom
The update also brings an additional change to the trading flow. From now on each side can independently mark the trade as completed. The trades you complete are appropriately counted in your profile. This is one more step towards a more flexible system to find, track, and make grate trades on Bunz. We are going to bring even more flexibility to chats, posts, and trades in the future.

Big Day in the Calendar 📆

# Collections

A **Collection** is a selection of Posts/ISOs matching a carefully crafted bespoke criteria that reflects a specific subject or theme. More Collections are coming in the future!

### 🌇 Collections are dynamic
Each time you visit a collection you see the latest picks on the subject. If your Post/ISO matches the theme of a collection it will be featured there automatically.

### 🏙️ Collections are location-aware
Popular Collections in the selected area are featured in Explore. Your Primary Meeting Spot if the default location in Explore and you are free to explore other areas as well.

### 🌆 Collections are focused
We regularly make sure that each collection is a high-quality selection of posts on the subject and tweak them whenever needed.

### 🌃 ... and more
We are going expand Collections to feature more interesting and relevant stuff such as seasonal or local events and topics, and more.

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## Welcome @bunzdeveloper
We have created a dedicated profile @bunzdeveloper to provide you with detailed updates and respond to technical issues more efficiently. 

*@bunzdeveloper is the only other official account of Bunz. There are no other technical support accounts.
Bunz is a cash-free zone and never asks you for your payment information in Chats or other places.*

---

## Recent updates
In case you missed it, we also made a few quality of life improvements: 
* Ability to delete your Posts/ISOs at any time;
* Ability to change your Post/ISO status at any time (available, pending, completed);
* Email notifications about likes, followers, and promos (check your Settings).

You can follow @bunzdeveloper to get notified about detailed updates on Bunz.

🌄 Collections 🏞️ and more

# Merry Christmas!

🎄 We all like to tidy things up for the holidays, so we refined the search experience and added a few extra features as a Christmas present. 🎁🎁🎁

### 💾 **Saved Searches** have arrived! 
Perform a search, click that bookmark, and get notified each time there is a new Post or ISO that matches your search! 

Saved Searches support all Post/ISO search features (filters and query syntax). A search you can make is a search you can save 😏

### 👤 **Profiles Search** is here! 
Be it a friend, a neighbour, or just someone you met yesterday and you want to trade, there is an easier way to find them now. Just type their name or username, even if you don't recall it exactly we've got you covered, you will see all the best matches for what you typed. 

Finding someone you interacted with has never been easier with additional Filters for Profiles Search. Refine your search by searching among those you chatted with, traded with, your followers, or people you follow.

You can use our advanced search syntax with Profiles Search as well.

#### Refinements
* 💡 **Search Tips** for the advanced syntax is always there to help you refine your search query to find exactly what you are looking for
* 🤏 Search type selector at hand, switch quickly between Posts, ISOs, and Profiles search.
* 👁️ Selected search filters at a glance for our Web users on desktop. 

## What's Next?

#### Post Deletion
Deleting a Post has always been a tricky topic since it affects a lot of other things. Currently you can only delete a post if nothing interesting has happened to it yet. We are actively working on giving our users the ability to completely delete any post they created in a way that makes sense and does not negatively affect other features or users.

#### Post/Trade Status
Post status is tied to a trade you make via Chats. As per the popular demand, we are looking into giving our users the ability to say whether a post has a pending trade or is traded, at any time for any reason.

🎁 Christmas Update

It finally happened! We’ve updated the search feature!

▪️

Remember when a search term would show every post with those letters in it? That won’t happen anymore. Search is now smarter and shows more relevant items in your results.

▪️

Here are some quick tips for you when searching items and/or ISO:

* “Quotes” = exact search 

* -word = excluding that word

* +word = must contain that word

Let us know what you think of the update in the comments!

▪️

Coming soon:

* Profile username search

* Saved searches

* Email notifications

* Popular tags. Don’t forget to add tags to your item posts if you would like your items featured in tags!

🖤 Bunz

Search Feature Update

We’ve got #tags back in play!

We’ll be using tags to help create collections and popular collections in future, to highlight your items, and make trading easier for you.

Tags will also play a big role in our search function updates. We’ve long been aware that our search function…sucks, we know it sucks. We’ll be utilising tags in title, description, category, etc., as we optimise search function in Bunz.

Feel free to update your existing posts with tags and add tags into your new posts!

🖤Bunz

Image credit: Elena Koycheva // Unsplash

🚨 Update! 🚨

Checkout our new trending section on the explore page! As we inch closer to the holiday season ( don’t get too excited, we’re not even through October yet) keep an eye out for that perfect item you’ve been searching for!

Next up:

• tags

• search function optimisation 

PS - have you had the chance to checkout the promo feature yet? Try creating one with your next item post and see how quickly it moves!

🖤 Bunz

🖤 Trending! Up next…

Just wanted to quickly remind our community of safe interactions online to avoid scammers.

Bunz should not be asking for financial information of any kind from other Bunz, especially considering this is a cash-free community, there is no reason for this in the first place.

Make sure you’re checking the accounts you interact with. Do they have followers? Are they following any accounts? Do they have posts/ISOs available? If the answer is no to any of these questions and they’re asking for a financial exchange, there is a high likelihood they are a scammer.

If anyone is asking you for your financial information, e-transfer information, etc., please email us hello@bunz.com with the following:

•	@username

•	Screenshots of the conversation

Please ensure both are in the email as we need evidence of these interactions to take the proper action.

The 3 Laws of Bunz tile is available to view at any time if you need a reminder of what our community is about.

Stay safe!

🖤 Bunz 

🚨 SAFE TRADING REMINDER 🚨

Here you’ll see our most recent messaging pinned 📍to the top of your feed, you’ll be able to access our other posts 📮 from our profile, no need to continue to follow our account (unless you want to 🥹) as all our communications will be pinned here as we make them.

You’ll see a few other tiles here as well. Don’t skip on checking out the promo video 📼 we have up to earn your BTZ for viewing! We also have our 3 Laws of Bunz, an explanation on BTZ, and an explanation on how Promos work. Check those out and let us know what you think in the comments on our post, we love receiving your feedback! 🫵 PS - iOS notification badge is back.

Up next:

- Trending posts
- Tags
- Search optimisation
- Email notifications

Future:

- Collections

Stay tuned! 🖤 Bunz