Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (the "Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Artisans Paradise LLC ("Artisans Paradise," "we," "us," or "our"), which operates the Artisans Paradise website, live-selling platform, mobile experiences, and related services (collectively, the "Service"). Please read them carefully. Section 23 contains an arbitration agreement and a waiver of class actions and jury trials that, for U.S. users, affect how disputes are resolved, and Section 24 contains additional rights and terms for consumers in the EEA, the UK, and other regions.

1. Acceptance of These Terms

By creating an account, or by accessing or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference. If you sell on the Service, you also agree to our Seller Agreement. The following posted policies are also part of these Terms: our Fees & Payments Policy, Buyer Protection & Refund Policy, Prohibited & Restricted Items Policy, Streaming Policy, Community & Anti-Discrimination Policy, and DMCA / Intellectual Property Policy. If there is a conflict, these Terms control, then the Seller Agreement (for Sellers), then the other posted policies, unless a policy expressly states otherwise. You consent to receive these Terms and all notices electronically. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

2. Who We Are; Our Role as a Marketplace

Artisans Paradise is an online marketplace and live-selling venue that connects independent artisans ("Sellers") with buyers ("Buyers"). We are not the seller, manufacturer, producer, importer, or distributor of the items listed on the Service, and we do not inspect, store, take title to, or take possession of them. We do not assume the liabilities of a seller, manufacturer, or distributor for any item. Sellers are independent third parties solely responsible for their listings, content, pricing, inventory, fulfillment, and legal compliance. Except where we act as a limited payments and shipping-label facilitator, or as a marketplace tax facilitator, as described in these Terms and the Seller Agreement, the contract of sale for any item is directly between the Buyer and the Seller. We are not the agent of any user, and nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, joint venture, employment, or agency relationship. We make no representation or warranty regarding any item, Seller, or Buyer.

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority where you live, if higher) and able to form a binding contract. By using the Service you represent and warrant that: you meet these requirements; the information you provide is accurate and current; you are not barred from using the Service under applicable law or previously removed by us; and you are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any country or person subject to U.S., EU, UK, or other applicable sanctions or export-control restrictions (including any list of prohibited or restricted parties). You are responsible for complying with all laws that apply to you.

4. Your Account

You are responsible for all activity under your account. You agree to provide accurate information, keep your credentials confidential, enable available security measures (including two-factor authentication where required for Sellers), and notify us promptly at support@artisansparadise.com of any suspected unauthorized access. You may hold only one account unless we agree otherwise. We may refuse, suspend, reclaim, or rename any account or username at our discretion, including for violations of these Terms or to protect the Service or other users.

5. How the Marketplace Works

The Service offers several ways to transact, including timed and live-streamed auctions, fixed-price Buy Now purchases, stocked products (fixed-price batches sold in limited quantities), and Seller-run giveaways. Sellers may host live video streams during which items are offered and sold in real time.

• Payment method required. To bid or buy, you must keep a valid payment method and, where required, a valid shipping address on file. By bidding or purchasing, you authorize us and our payment processor to place holds on, and to charge, your payment method for the winning bid or purchase price plus applicable shipping and taxes.
• Authorization holds. Bidding or checkout may create a temporary pre-authorization hold on your payment method; the final charge is captured when you win or your order is confirmed. Holds are released according to your bank's timelines, which we do not control.
• Stocked products. Quantities are limited and may sell out at any time, and the remaining quantity may not be displayed. If an item is unavailable when your order is processed, that portion will not be charged or will be refunded.
• Pricing and availability. Prices are set by Sellers and, unless stated otherwise, are shown in U.S. dollars. Listings, prices, and availability may change or contain errors; we and Sellers may correct errors, and may cancel or refund an order affected by an obvious error.

6. Bidding Rules and Auction Integrity

• Bids are binding, irrevocable offers. When you place a bid, you make a binding and irrevocable offer to buy the item at that price. Bids cannot be retracted. If you are the winning bidder when the auction ends, you are obligated to complete the purchase at that price plus shipping and taxes.
• Automatic (maximum) bids. If you set a maximum bid, you authorize the Service to bid on your behalf up to that amount; your maximum is confidential and each incremental bid it places is binding.
• Anti-sniping. Bids placed near the end of an auction may extend the timer, so that others have a fair chance to respond.
• No manipulation. You may not engage in shill bidding, bid on your own items (directly or through another account or associate), artificially inflate prices, coordinate bids, or otherwise manipulate auctions, prices, reviews, followers, or rankings.
• Technical issues; voiding bids. We may, in our reasonable discretion, cancel, re-run, extend, or void a bid, sale, or auction affected by a technical error, suspected fraud, prohibited conduct, or a Seller or item that violates these Terms.
• Non-payment. If your payment for a winning bid or purchase cannot be captured, or you cause a wrongful chargeback, we may cancel the transaction, charge or re-attempt your payment method, offer the item to another user, recover amounts owed, and suspend or terminate your account.

7. Buyer Terms

As a Buyer, you agree to pay for items you win or purchase, to provide a valid shipping address, and to comply with these Terms. You are responsible for any applicable taxes and, for cross-border orders, for any import duties, customs fees, or charges assessed by the destination country. Title and risk of loss pass according to the Seller's shipping terms and applicable law. Repeated non-payment, chargeback abuse, bid manipulation, or abuse of our Buyer Protection process may result in suspension or termination. You acknowledge that Sellers, not Artisans Paradise, are responsible for the items you buy; for any issue with an item — including its quality, safety, condition, defects, or any injury or damage it causes — your recourse is against the Seller, subject to our Buyer Protection & Refund Policy.

8. Seller Terms

To sell, you create a Seller account, accept the Seller Agreement, and complete payment onboarding (including identity, bank, and tax verification) through our payment processor. Onboarding is self-serve — there is no separate application or approval step. "Verified artisan" and similar indicators are badges you can earn over time, not a precondition to listing. We may decline, suspend, or remove Seller access at our discretion to enforce these Terms or protect the Service and its users. Sellers are solely responsible for: the accuracy and legality of their listings; the authenticity of their items and any "handmade" or other representations they make (Section 9); pricing; collecting and honoring orders; timely and safe shipment; accurate item condition and descriptions; responding to Buyers; honoring the Buyer Protection & Refund Policy; and compliance with all applicable laws, licensing, and tax obligations. You grant us the right to list, display, promote, feature, and facilitate the sale of your listings across the Service and our marketing channels. Attempting to complete or divert transactions off-platform to avoid fees, contacting users for that purpose, or including contact or payment details to route sales off-platform, is prohibited.

Seller responsibility and product liability. As between you, Artisans Paradise, and the Buyer, you are the seller and producer of your items and are solely responsible and liable for them. You represent and warrant that your items are safe, lawful to sell and ship, accurately described, not recalled or banned, and compliant with all applicable product-safety, labeling, packaging, and consumer-protection laws. You assume all liability arising from your items, including product defects, failure to warn, personal injury, illness, death, property damage, and regulatory violations, and you agree that Artisans Paradise does not bear such liability. You are solely responsible for deciding whether to carry, and for obtaining, any product-liability or business insurance for the products you sell; we do not require or verify insurance.

9. Handmade and Authenticity Standards

Artisans Paradise is a marketplace for handmade and artisan goods. If you list an item as handmade, made-to-order, or artisan, you represent that you (or the maker you accurately identify) personally made, designed, hand-built, or hand-finished it, and you must accurately describe your role and process. Mass-produced goods misrepresented as handmade, counterfeit or infringing goods, unauthorized replicas, and reselling of items you did not make or materially craft (except where a listing type expressly permits it) are prohibited. We may, but are not obligated to, request evidence of authenticity or production, apply or revoke verification indicators, and remove listings or accounts that we believe violate these standards.

10. Fees, Payments, and Payouts

Buying is free for Buyers — Buyers pay only the item price, shipping, and applicable taxes, with no buyer service fee at this time. Sellers pay a platform commission of 8% of the item sale price and bear the payment-processing fees charged by our payment processor. Payouts are made through Stripe, net of commissions, fees, refunds, chargebacks, and amounts owed, and may be delayed, held, or reserved to manage risk. Full details — including how fees, payouts, holds, taxes, and refunds work, and how fees may change prospectively — are in our Fees & Payments Policy, which is part of these Terms.

11. Taxes

Where required by applicable law, Artisans Paradise acts as a marketplace facilitator and calculates, collects, and remits sales tax, VAT, GST, or similar transaction taxes on covered sales; otherwise Sellers and Buyers are responsible for taxes on their transactions (including Seller income and business taxes and Buyer import duties on cross-border orders), as described in our Fees & Payments Policy. Nothing here is tax advice; consult your own advisor.

12. Returns, Refunds, and Disputes Between Users

All sales are final. Because items are typically one-of-a-kind, handmade, made-to-order, or limited-stock goods sold via live auction or fixed price, we do not offer general buyer's-remorse returns. However, we provide "Not as Described" protection: if an item arrives materially not as described, damaged, defective, or does not arrive, you may open a dispute within the window and process stated in our Buyer Protection & Refund Policy. We may, in our discretion, mediate disputes between Buyers and Sellers and issue refunds or store credit, but we are not a party to the sale contract and are not obligated to provide any remedy beyond what that policy or applicable law requires. Initiating a chargeback without first using our dispute process may result in suspension. If you are a consumer in the EEA, the UK, or another region with mandatory return or withdrawal rights, those rights are preserved as described in Section 24, and nothing in this Section limits rights that cannot be waived under the law that applies to you.

13. Giveaways, Sweepstakes, and Promotions

The Service may offer giveaways or promotions run by Sellers or by us. Any giveaway is void where prohibited and is subject to its own official rules and eligibility requirements, which control if they conflict with these Terms. Where required by law, no purchase or payment is necessary to enter or win, and a purchase will not improve your chances of winning. You are responsible for any taxes on prizes you receive. Sellers who run giveaways or promotions are solely responsible for funding and fulfilling them and for complying with all applicable sweepstakes, contest, lottery, and consumer laws. We may remove any promotion and are not liable for Seller-run promotions.

14. Live Streaming and Community Conduct

Live streams are governed by our Streaming Policy, and conduct across the Service is governed by our Community & Anti-Discrimination Policy — both part of these Terms. In short: keep it lawful, respectful, and all-audiences; the maker must be genuinely present and live; and you may not harass, deceive, impersonate, discriminate against, or disrupt others. Live content is real-time and may not be fully moderated in the moment; streams and chat may be recorded, stored, and replayed as described in our Privacy Policy. We may moderate, mute, remove, interrupt, or terminate streams, chat, listings, or accounts that violate these Terms, and may retain records for legal, safety, and enforcement purposes.

15. Your Content and License to Us

You retain ownership of the photos, video, audio, text, and other content you submit ("User Content"). You grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, and sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, modify (for formatting and display), publish, perform, display, distribute, and promote your User Content in connection with operating, securing, and marketing the Service, including in previews, recordings, and promotional materials. You represent and warrant that you own or have all rights necessary to your User Content and that it does not violate these Terms or the rights of others. We may remove or disable User Content at our discretion. If you send us feedback or suggestions, you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use them without restriction or obligation to you.

16. Prohibited Items and Conduct

You may not use the Service to list prohibited items or engage in prohibited conduct, including: misrepresenting handmade, authentic, or artisan items; listing items barred by our Prohibited Items Policy; selling illegal, recalled, hazardous, counterfeit, or infringing goods; manipulating bids, reviews, followers, or rankings; using bots, scrapers, or automated means; circumventing the Service to transact off-platform or to avoid fees; harvesting other users' data; probing, scanning, or breaching security or access controls; introducing malware; or doing anything unlawful under applicable federal, state, national, or local law.

17. Intellectual Property; Copyright and DMCA

The Service, including its software, design, text, graphics, logos, and trademarks (other than User Content and Seller listings), is owned by us or our licensors and protected by intellectual-property laws. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the Service for its intended purpose; all other rights are reserved. You may not copy, modify, reverse-engineer, resell, or create derivative works from the Service except as permitted by law. We respond to notices of alleged infringement, remove infringing content, and terminate repeat infringers under our DMCA / Intellectual Property Policy, which also describes how to submit a notice or counter-notice. Users in the EU may also use the notice mechanism described in that policy to report illegal content.

18. Third-Party Services

The Service relies on third-party providers (for example, payment, streaming, shipping, hosting, and messaging providers such as Stripe, Mux, LiveKit, Ably, Amazon Web Services, and EasyPost). Your use of those features may be subject to the providers' own terms and privacy policies, and we are not responsible for third-party services or any linked third-party sites.

19. Release of Claims Between Users

Because we are only a venue, disputes are between users. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you release Artisans Paradise and its affiliates, officers, employees, and agents from any claims, demands, damages, and liabilities of every kind arising out of or connected with any dispute or interaction with another user, including any Seller, Buyer, item, listing, transaction, stream, or content. If you are a California resident, you expressly waive California Civil Code Section 1542 (and any similar law in your jurisdiction), which says a general release does not extend to claims the releasing party does not know or suspect to exist at the time of the release.

20. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE AND ALL ITEMS, CONTENT, AND SELLER AND BUYER INTERACTIONS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT ANY ITEM OR SELLER MEETS YOUR EXPECTATIONS. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SAFETY, QUALITY, LEGALITY, OR FITNESS OF ANY ITEM, WHICH ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SELLER. SOME FEATURES MAY BE OFFERED ON A BETA OR TRIAL BASIS AND MAY CHANGE OR BE WITHDRAWN. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN DISCLAIMERS, SO SOME MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MAY HAVE RIGHTS THAT THESE TERMS CANNOT LIMIT.

21. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE AND OUR AFFILIATES WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, GOODWILL, OR ITEMS, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE TOTAL FEES YOU PAID US IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100). THESE LIMITS APPLY EVEN IF A REMEDY FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE. NOTHING IN THESE TERMS LIMITS LIABILITY THAT CANNOT BE LIMITED BY LAW (INCLUDING, WHERE APPLICABLE, LIABILITY FOR FRAUD, DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY CAUSED BY NEGLIGENCE, OR CERTAIN CONSUMER RIGHTS).

22. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Artisans Paradise LLC and its affiliates, officers, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of your use of the Service, your User Content, your items or listings, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party. If you are a Seller, this includes any claim arising out of or relating to your items — including product-liability, personal-injury, illness, death, property-damage, defect, failure-to-warn, recall, or regulatory claims — whether brought by a Buyer or any other person.

23. Dispute Resolution; Binding Arbitration; Class-Action Waiver (U.S.)

Please read this section carefully — it affects your legal rights. This Section 23 applies to users in the United States. If you are a consumer elsewhere, see Section 24.

(a) Informal resolution first. Before starting an arbitration, you agree to first contact us at support@artisansparadise.com and give us at least sixty (60) days to resolve the dispute informally.

(b) Agreement to arbitrate. Except as provided below, you and Artisans Paradise agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved by final and binding individual arbitration, and not in court. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this section. The arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules and may proceed by phone, video, or written submissions where the rules allow.

(c) Class-action and jury-trial waiver. You and Artisans Paradise agree that each may bring claims against the other only on an individual basis, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding. You and Artisans Paradise waive any right to a jury trial. The arbitrator may not preside over any class or representative proceeding.

(d) Exceptions. Either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court, and either party may seek injunctive or equitable relief in court to protect its intellectual property or the security of the Service.

(e) 30-day opt-out. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement within thirty (30) days of first accepting these Terms by emailing support@artisansparadise.com with your name, account email, and a clear statement that you opt out of arbitration. Opting out does not affect any other part of these Terms.

(f) Batch arbitration. If 25 or more similar demands are asserted against us by or with the assistance of the same or coordinated counsel, we may elect to have the demands resolved in staged batches to promote efficiency, to the extent the AAA rules and applicable law permit.

(g) Severability. If the class-action waiver in (c) is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim will proceed in court, but the rest of this section remains in effect. If any other part of this section is found unenforceable, it will be severed and the remainder will continue to apply.

24. Region-Specific Terms and Consumer Rights (Global)

We serve users worldwide. If you are a consumer, you are always entitled to the mandatory protections of the law of your country or state of residence, and nothing in these Terms removes rights that cannot be waived under that law. Where those protections conflict with these Terms, they control for you.

(a) EEA, UK, and Switzerland. The arbitration agreement and class-action waiver in Section 23 do not apply to you to the extent your local law prohibits them; you may bring proceedings, and we may be required to bring proceedings against you, in the courts of your country of residence, under your local law. You may have a statutory right to withdraw from certain distance purchases within a set period, subject to legal exceptions (for example, for goods made to your specifications or clearly personalized, made-to-order items, and certain auction purchases); how these rights apply is described in our Buyer Protection & Refund Policy. The EU Online Dispute Resolution platform is available for eligible consumer disputes.

(b) Other regions. If you are a consumer in Canada, Australia, Brazil, or another jurisdiction with mandatory consumer-protection or dispute-resolution laws, those laws apply to you notwithstanding Sections 23 and 25, to the extent they cannot be waived.

25. Governing Law and Venue

Except where Section 24 or mandatory local law provides otherwise, these Terms and any dispute not subject to arbitration are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules, and you and Artisans Paradise consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Massachusetts. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.

26. Suspension and Termination

You may stop using the Service at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access, remove content, withhold or reverse payouts related to disputed or fraudulent activity, and cancel transactions, with or without notice, if we believe you have violated these Terms or applicable law, to protect the Service or other users, or as otherwise permitted. Amounts you owe us and provisions that by their nature should survive termination (including Sections 8–12 and 15–25) will survive.

27. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The effective date appears at the top of this page. Material changes will require your renewed acceptance the next time you sign in or perform a covered action, or as otherwise communicated. Your continued use after an update means you accept the updated Terms.

28. General

These Terms, together with the policies incorporated by reference, are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Service. If any provision is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets. There are no third-party beneficiaries. We are not liable for delays or failures due to events beyond our reasonable control. You must comply with all applicable export-control and sanctions laws. Notices to you may be provided in-product or by email; the English-language version of these Terms controls.

29. Contact

Questions about these Terms: support@artisansparadise.com.