Marketplace Terms

Short version (DRAFT — pending legal review; not yet in force)

• Original artwork is sold by the Agent (the child's parent or guardian) to the Collector. Kidbys runs the marketplace and handles payment. The child is never part of the deal.
• A bid is a promise to pay if you win. Your card is charged only when the auction closes, not when you bid.
• Kidbys holds the payment until the artwork is delivered and the dispute window has passed, then releases it to the Agent minus the platform fee.
• Buyers pay shipping. Agents must ship within 7 days of payment, with tracking, or the buyer is refunded automatically.
• Prints and merchandise are only made if the Agent switches on the print licence for that artwork. The child's Piggy Bank gets a share of each print sale.
• During the beta, no real sales, payments or shipping happen.

Effective date: EFFECTIVE DATE

These Marketplace Terms form part of our Terms of Service. Words like Agent, Collector and Artist have the meanings given there. Refunds and returns are also covered in Refunds, Returns & Shipping.

1. How the marketplace works

1.1 Who sells and who buys

• Original artwork. The contract of sale for an original is between the selling Agent and the buying Collector. Kidbys provides the marketplace, takes and holds payment, and releases it under these Terms. Kidbys is not the seller of originals and does not take ownership of them.
• Prints and merchandise (print-on-demand). Kidbys plans to sell prints and merchandise directly to Collectors and to have them produced and shipped by a print partner.
• The child. An Artist never takes part in a transaction, never sees prices, bids or buyers, and never receives a payout. Payouts go only to the verified Agent.

1.2 Seller status (important for consumers)

Most Agents are private individuals selling their own child's art occasionally, not businesses. When you buy from a private individual, EU and UK consumer-protection laws (such as the 14-day right of withdrawal for distance purchases) generally do not apply to the contract with that seller. We will show on each listing whether the seller has declared themselves a trader or a private individual. Kidbys' own commitments to buyers, including the ship-by refund and the dispute process below, apply either way.

1.3 Country availability

Selling, buying, auctions and payouts are only available in countries where we have enabled them. The app tells you when a capability is unavailable where you live. A sale can only be completed if both the Agent's and the Collector's countries, and the shipping destination, are supported.

2. Listing art for sale (Agents)

• Only a verified Agent can create a sale, and only for art that has passed moderation and is published.
• Each artwork can have only one active sale at a time.
• You choose a fixed price or an auction. Once a sale starts executing (an offer is accepted or an auction goes live with a bid), its terms are locked and cannot be changed. You may cancel an auction only before the first bid.
• You must describe the artwork accurately, including its size, medium and condition, and disclose anything a buyer would reasonably want to know.
• You must own the physical artwork (or have the authority to sell it on the child's behalf) and be able to ship it.
• All prices are in US dollars at launch.

3. Price requests

A Collector can ask the Agent for a price on a published artwork. The Agent may answer, turn the request into a fixed-price offer or an auction, or decline. Unanswered requests expire after 14 days. A price request is not an offer to buy and does not commit either side.

4. Fixed-price sales

When a Collector accepts a fixed-price offer, they agree to buy at that price plus shipping and any taxes shown, and authorise Kidbys to charge their saved payment method. An order is created immediately and follows the same payment, shipping, delivery and dispute rules as an auction win.

5. Auctions

5.1 Format

Auctions are English (ascending) auctions run on Kidbys' server clock, which is the only clock that counts.

5.2 Who can bid

To bid, you must be a signed-in adult Collector (or an Agent bidding on another family's art) in a supported country, with a saved payment method, and you must accept the future-charge mandate in Section 5.3. You cannot bid on your own family's art, and you cannot bid on behalf of the seller.

5.3 Your bid is a promise to pay

When you place a bid, you authorise Kidbys (through its payment provider) to charge your saved payment method for the amount of your bid, plus shipping and any applicable taxes, if you are the winning bidder when the auction closes, or if the artwork is later offered to you under Section 5.5.

• Your card is not charged when you bid. A bid is not a deposit and is not "funded" or guaranteed until the charge succeeds.
• Bids cannot be withdrawn, except where the law gives you that right or Kidbys allows it in exceptional cases (for example an obvious typing error reported immediately).

5.4 When the auction closes

If the reserve (if any) is met, the highest bidder wins and is charged. Your bank may ask you to confirm the payment (for example with strong customer authentication). If so, we will notify you and you must complete the step within PAYMENT ACTION WINDOW. If the charge fails or is not completed in time, your win lapses.

5.5 Second-chance offers to other bidders

If the winning bidder's payment fails or lapses, Kidbys may offer the artwork to the next-highest eligible bidder at their own highest bid, provided it still meets the reserve, and charge their saved payment method under their mandate. This repeats until a payment succeeds or no eligible bidder remains, in which case the artwork returns to the gallery unsold.

6. Payment and held sale proceeds

• Payments are processed by our payment provider (Stripe). We never see or store your full card number.
• When a buyer's payment succeeds, the funds are held in Kidbys' account with our payment provider as held sale proceeds. This is not an escrow account, a trust, or a deposit held for you, and it earns no interest.
• Held sale proceeds are released to the Agent, minus the platform fee, when: the order has been delivered (confirmed by the buyer or carrier, or deemed delivered under Section 7.3), and the dispute window has passed without a dispute, or the buyer confirms release earlier.
• MAXIMUM HOLDING PERIOD — per country, requires counsel and Stripe approval.

7. Shipping and delivery (originals)

7.1 Shipping costs

The buyer pays shipping. The shipping charge is shown before you bid or buy.

7.2 Ship-by deadline

The Agent must ship the artwork within 7 days of the buyer's payment succeeding, and record shipping evidence (such as a tracking number) in the app. If the Agent does not, the buyer is refunded automatically, the sale is cancelled, and the artwork returns to the gallery.

Agents must pack artwork carefully and use a tracked service. Agents are responsible for loss or damage in transit unless they used the shipping method and insurance Kidbys specifies SHIPPING STANDARD AND INSURANCE REQUIREMENT. Never include your child's legal name or other identifying details in the parcel beyond what is necessary for delivery.

7.3 Delivery

An order is delivered when the buyer confirms receipt, the carrier confirms delivery, or DEEMED DELIVERY DAYS — per country, not yet approved days have passed since shipment where a deemed-delivery rule has been approved for that country. Where no rule is approved, delivery requires confirmation and our support team follows up.

7.4 International shipments

Buyers are responsible for import duties and taxes unless they are collected at checkout. Agents must complete any customs paperwork accurately.

8. Buyer disputes

• A buyer can open a dispute from the order screen if the artwork does not arrive, arrives damaged, or is materially different from its description.
• Disputes can be opened from payment until DISPUTE WINDOW — days after delivery, per country, not yet approved after delivery. A dispute opened after the window closes is not accepted, but the buyer may still contact support and keeps any rights under the law.
• While a dispute is open, the held sale proceeds are not released.
• Kidbys support staff decide disputes based on the evidence from both sides, with a second staff member reviewing where required. The outcome is a full refund (with or without return of the artwork) or release to the Agent.
• Decisions do not prevent either party from using any legal remedy they have.

9. Chargebacks and reversals

If a buyer's bank reverses a payment (a chargeback) before release, the held proceeds cover it and the order is refunded. If a chargeback happens after release, the Agent agrees that Kidbys may recover the amount, including any provider fee, from the Agent's future proceeds or payouts, or ask the Agent to repay it, where the law allows. Kidbys will contest chargebacks where there is good evidence, and the Agent must help by providing shipping and delivery evidence.

All refunds, reversals and corrections are recorded as new accounting entries; past records are never edited.

10. Fees

Fees are shown in the app before you list or buy. We will give at least FEE CHANGE NOTICE — e.g. 30 days notice of fee increases; changes never apply to a sale already executing.

11. Payouts (Agents)

• Payouts are made through Stripe Connect to a payout account in the Agent's own name. Stripe collects the identity, bank and tax details it needs under its own terms, the Stripe Connected Account Agreement.
• Payouts are never made to a child, to a third party, or to an account in another person's name.
• Released proceeds are paid out on Stripe's payout schedule for your country.
• We may delay or withhold a payout, or hold a reserve, if we reasonably suspect fraud, a breach of these Terms, a child-safety concern, a custody dispute, or a high risk of chargebacks, or if the law requires it.
• Kidbys mirrors every amount in an append-only ledger and reconciles it daily with the payment provider. Statements are available in the app.

12. Taxes

• Agents are responsible for any income tax on sales and for knowing whether their activity counts as a business where they live. As a marketplace, Kidbys may be required to collect tax information (such as a taxpayer identification number) from sellers and report seller income to tax authorities, for example under the EU DAC7 rules or US information-reporting rules. If you do not provide required information, we may suspend sales and payouts.
• Sales tax, VAT and GST. Where Kidbys is required to collect and remit sales tax or VAT as a marketplace facilitator or as the seller of print-on-demand goods, we will add it at checkout.

13. Prints and merchandise

13.1 The print licence (Agents)

Prints and merchandise can only be made from an artwork if the Agent switches on the print licence for that specific artwork. It is off by default. By switching it on, the Agent grants Kidbys, on their own behalf and the child's, a non-exclusive, worldwide licence to reproduce the artwork on the product types Kidbys offers, and to sell, display and promote those products, for as long as the licence is on. The Agent can switch it off at any time; orders already placed will still be fulfilled. The child keeps the copyright.

13.2 Artist share

For each print or merchandise sale, a share of the retail price (excluding shipping and taxes) is credited to the child's Piggy Bank when the order is delivered: currently POD ARTIST SHARE — planning value 20% of retail; may change to 15% with notice. If the order is refunded, the credit is reversed. See Sparks & Virtual Items Terms for how the Piggy Bank works.

13.3 Buying prints (Collectors)

Products are made to order by our print partners after your payment succeeds and are shipped directly to you. If production fails, we retry or refund you. Returns and defects are covered in Refunds, Returns & Shipping. Product availability depends on your country.

14. Provenance certificates

When an original sale completes, Kidbys plans to issue a digitally signed Kidbys provenance certificate recording the artwork, the Artist's display name, and the sale. Anyone with the certificate can check it on our verification page. A certificate records Kidbys' own sale records; it is not a valuation, an appraisal or an independent authentication. It never contains the child's legal name.

15. Marketplace rules

You must not:

• bid on, or arrange for someone to bid on, your own family's art (shill bidding), or collude with other bidders;
• agree or complete a sale, or take payment, outside Kidbys for an artwork listed on Kidbys;
• list art not made by the attributed child, or describe art misleadingly;
• use stolen payment methods or abuse refunds or disputes;
• contact a buyer, seller or child outside the order flow for any purpose other than completing delivery.

Breaking these rules can lead to cancellation of sales, withholding of payouts, suspension, and reporting where appropriate.

16. Beta

During the beta, sales, bidding, payments, shipping and payouts are switched off. Nothing in the beta creates a contract of sale. See Beta Test Terms.

17. Contact

Order and payment questions: [email protected]. Legal notices: [email protected].