Terms of Service

1. Who we are and how these Terms apply

“Teracotta”, “we”, “us”, and “our” mean the operator of the Teracotta Service. “User” means anyone who accesses the Service. A “Seller” is a User who lists, offers, streams, or sells an item. A “Buyer” is a User who bids on or purchases an item. Each completed or attempted purchase is a “Transaction”.

These Terms also incorporate any rules, policies, listing requirements, fee notices, buyer-support rules, and seller requirements displayed in the Service. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal data. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

2. Eligibility and accounts

You must be at least 18 years old and legally capable of entering into a contract. If you use the Service for a business or other organisation, you confirm that you have authority to bind it. You must provide accurate, current information and keep it updated.

You are responsible for your credentials and all activity under your account. Tell us promptly through Support if you suspect unauthorised access. We may require identity, age, payment, business, tax, or seller verification, but verification does not amount to an endorsement or guarantee of any User.

3. Teracotta's marketplace role

Teracotta provides technology that helps Buyers and Sellers discover one another, communicate, run live shows and auctions, process payments, arrange shipping, and manage support issues. Except where we expressly say otherwise, Teracotta does not own, inspect, possess, manufacture, store, or sell listed items and does not take title to them. Teracotta is not the Buyer, Seller, carrier, auctioneer, insurer, or agent of either party.

Buyers and Sellers are solely responsible for their Transaction and for performing the sale contract between them. We do not guarantee a User's identity, a listing's accuracy, an item's legality, safety, authenticity, condition, value, or fitness for purpose, or that a User will complete a Transaction. Any badge, review, verification, estimate, moderation action, or support decision is a platform signal, not a warranty.

4. Seller obligations

Every Seller represents and agrees that they will:

• have the legal right to offer, sell, and transfer each item;
• describe items, price, condition, provenance, defects, dimensions, and shipping information accurately and completely;
• sell only genuine, lawful, safe items and comply with product-safety, recall, intellectual-property, sanctions, and prohibited-goods rules;
• identify accurately whether they act as a private individual or a professional trader and provide all legally required business information;
• honour winning bids and accepted purchases, package items safely, ship on time, use the correct label, and provide valid proof of handover;
• comply with applicable consumer, tax, customs, invoicing, licensing, and record-keeping duties; and
• handle returns, remedies, refunds, warranties, and communications promptly where required by law or our policies.

Sellers remain responsible for their listings and fulfillment even when Teracotta supplies tools, labels, suggested prices, moderation, or customer support. We may remove a listing, cancel a Transaction, delay or reverse a payout, refund a Buyer, recover costs, or restrict an account when reasonably necessary to protect Users, enforce these Terms, or comply with law.

5. Bids, purchases, and payment authorisation

A bid is a binding offer to buy. A Buy Now confirmation is a binding purchase. When you bid or buy, you authorise Teracotta and its payment providers to charge your selected payment method for the item price, shipping, taxes, duties, fees, and other amounts clearly disclosed before confirmation.

If you enter a maximum or proxy bid, our system may bid automatically for you up to that amount using the displayed increments. The server's records control the result. Interface timers and stream video may be delayed. Except where law or an applicable policy gives you a right to cancel, bids and purchases cannot be withdrawn because you changed your mind, misunderstood the listing, or experienced a device, connection, or stream delay.

We may reject, correct, or cancel a bid or Transaction affected by a clear error, fraud, manipulation, technical failure, prohibited conduct, payment failure, or legal requirement. If payment fails, we may retry the authorised method, request another method, release the item, cancel the Transaction, collect amounts owed, or restrict the account.

6. Shipping, delivery, and missed packages

The Seller is responsible for correct and timely fulfillment, suitable packaging, accurate parcel information, and handover to the carrier. The Buyer is responsible for a complete delivery address, access to the delivery location, collection where required, and any disclosed import duties or customs steps.

Carriers and shipping providers are independent third parties. Estimates and tracking events are informational and are not guaranteed by Teracotta. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Teracotta is not liable for a package that is late, lost, stolen, damaged, misdelivered, left unattended, returned, held by customs, or missed by the recipient, or for inaccurate carrier scans or delays after handover.

We may help investigate, request evidence, facilitate a carrier claim, cancel an order, or issue a refund or credit under an applicable support policy. Doing so does not make Teracotta the carrier, insurer, guarantor, or seller and does not create an ongoing obligation to cover similar losses. Any mandatory delivery rights remain unaffected.

7. Returns, refunds, and consumer rights

Returns and refunds are governed by the Seller's disclosed terms, our applicable support rules, and mandatory law. A Buyer must inspect an item promptly and report a missing, damaged, counterfeit, incorrect, or materially misdescribed item through Support, with the requested evidence, within the period shown in the Service or required by law.

Where a Seller acts as a business and a Buyer acts as a consumer, mandatory consumer protections may include pre-contract information, remedies for non-conforming goods, and, where applicable, a cancellation or withdrawal right. Exceptions may apply, including to certain auctions, personalised goods, sealed goods, or other legally excluded categories. Purchases from a private Seller may not receive the same consumer protections. No Seller or platform policy may reduce rights that applicable law makes mandatory.

Unless required by law, support decisions, courtesy credits, refunds, and platform protection are discretionary, may require return of the item, and do not constitute an admission of liability. Refunds may be returned only to the original payment method.

8. Fraud, scams, and disputes between Users

Use reasonable judgment before transacting. Keep payment and communication on the Service, review the listing and Seller information, and report suspicious activity. Off-platform payments, side deals, account sharing, false chargebacks, bid manipulation, shill bidding, misleading listings, counterfeit goods, and attempts to evade fees or safeguards are prohibited.

A dispute about an item or Transaction is primarily between Buyer and Seller. We may, but are not obliged to, mediate, review evidence, preserve records, report suspected crime, cooperate with authorities, or take account and payment action. Users remain free to exercise legal rights against one another.

9. Payments, payouts, fees, and taxes

Payment, identity, and payout services are provided through third parties such as Stripe and are also subject to their terms. Card details entered into Stripe's payment form do not pass through Teracotta's servers, although we receive payment status, tokens, and transaction records. We may deduct disclosed fees, refunds, chargebacks, reversals, taxes, reserves, penalties, and amounts you owe from current or future payouts.

Sellers are responsible for determining and meeting their sales, use, value-added, income, customs, business, and reporting obligations. We may collect, withhold, report, or remit amounts and User information where the law or a payment provider requires it.

10. Live streams and User content

You retain ownership of content you submit, including listings, photos, chat messages, profile information, and live audio or video. You grant Teracotta a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable and sublicensable licence to host, store, reproduce, adapt for technical purposes, display, distribute, moderate, and use that content to operate, secure, promote, and improve the Service. This licence lasts while the content is available and for a reasonable backup, legal, fraud-prevention, and enforcement period afterward.

You must own or have all permissions needed for your content and for every person, product, music track, trademark, or other material appearing in it. Live streams may be recorded or reviewed where the feature is enabled, including for replay, transaction evidence, safety, moderation, and dispute handling.

11. Acceptable use

You must not:

• break the law, infringe rights, threaten, harass, deceive, or exploit another person;
• sell stolen, recalled, unsafe, illegal, counterfeit, or restricted goods;
• post false reviews, fabricate activity, manipulate auctions, or interfere with another User's Transaction;
• scrape, reverse engineer, overload, bypass, probe, or introduce malicious code into the Service;
• use another person's account or personal data without authority; or
• use the Service to launder money, finance prohibited activity, evade sanctions, or commit fraud.

12. Moderation, suspension, and termination

We may investigate content or conduct and may remove content, pause a show, cancel a Transaction, hold a payout, limit features, or suspend or terminate an account when reasonably necessary for safety, fraud prevention, legal compliance, payment risk, enforcement, or protection of the Service or Users. We are not required to monitor every listing, stream, message, or User and cannot guarantee that moderation will identify every violation.

You may stop using the Service at any time, but outstanding payment, fulfillment, refund, tax, investigation, and record-retention obligations survive. Provisions that by nature should survive termination remain effective.

13. Teracotta intellectual property

The Service, brand, software, interface, and Teracotta-created material are owned by us or our licensors. We give you a personal, limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the Service as permitted by these Terms. No other rights are granted. Feedback may be used by us without restriction or compensation.

14. Third-party services

The Service relies on independent providers for hosting, authentication, databases, payments, identity checks, shipping, live video, notifications, and other functions. Their services and links may be governed by separate terms and privacy notices. To the fullest extent allowed by law, Teracotta is not responsible for a third party's availability, acts, omissions, security, content, decisions, fees, or performance.

15. Disclaimers

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Service is provided “as is” and “as available”. We disclaim implied warranties of merchantability, satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, quiet enjoyment, and any warranty arising from usage or dealing. We do not promise uninterrupted, secure, error-free, or loss-free operation, or that information, estimates, moderation, verification, or results will be accurate or complete.

You are responsible for protecting your account, devices, content, records, and business continuity. The Service is not professional, legal, tax, authenticity, valuation, investment, insurance, or shipping advice.

16. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Teracotta and its directors, officers, employees, contractors, affiliates, and agents will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive loss; loss of profit, revenue, opportunity, goodwill, data, or business; or loss arising from a User, listing, item, scam, Transaction, stream, payment provider, carrier, delivery failure, unauthorised account use, or third-party service.

For a commercial User, Teracotta's total liability arising from the Service or these Terms will not exceed the greater of (a) the fees that User paid directly to Teracotta in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim and (b) €100. For consumers, our liability is limited only to the extent permitted by mandatory law.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, wilful misconduct, gross negligence where it cannot be limited, death or personal injury caused by negligence, breach of mandatory data-protection duties, or any other liability or consumer remedy that applicable law does not allow us to exclude or limit.

17. Responsibility for claims

If you use the Service as a business or Seller, then, to the extent permitted by law, you will defend and compensate Teracotta and its personnel for third-party claims, losses, penalties, and reasonable costs arising from your listings, items, content, Transactions, taxes, breach of these Terms, or violation of law or another person's rights. This does not apply to the extent a claim was caused by Teracotta's own breach or unlawful conduct and does not reduce mandatory consumer rights.

18. Changes to the Service or these Terms

We may change the Service and may update these Terms for legal, security, operational, or product reasons. We will post the updated date and give additional notice where required. Changes apply prospectively. If you do not agree to a material change, stop using the Service before it takes effect.

19. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the Teracotta operator identified in the Service is established, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. The courts located in that jurisdiction have exclusive authority over disputes involving non-consumer Users. If you are a consumer, you retain the protection of mandatory laws in your place of residence and may bring proceedings in any court available to you under applicable law.

Before filing a claim, please contact Support so we can try to resolve the issue informally. This does not shorten or waive any statutory limitation period or mandatory right.

20. General

These Terms are the entire agreement about the Service. If a provision is invalid, it will be limited or removed only as necessary and the rest remains effective. A delay in enforcement is not a waiver. You may not transfer these Terms without our consent; we may transfer them as part of a reorganisation, financing, sale, or transfer of the Service, subject to applicable law. Headings are for convenience only.

21. Contact

Questions, legal notices, and reports about these Terms can be submitted through Teracotta Support. The operator's current business and contact information will be provided in the Service and applicable Transaction communications as required by law.