Terms & Conditions

1. What this service is

Start The Barter is a listing and messaging platform where members offer goods and services and negotiate direct trades with each other. There are no tokens, app coins, credits or digital currencies of any kind, and we never hold, escrow or transmit money on behalf of a trade.

Every trade is a private agreement between the two members involved. We are not a party to it, not a broker, not an agent, not an auctioneer, not a dealer and not an insurer.

2. Eligibility and your account

You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter contracts. You are responsible for the accuracy of your listings, for keeping your login secure, and for everything done through your account.

One person, one account. You may not impersonate anyone, resell access, or scrape the platform.

3. What you may not list or trade

You may not list anything you cannot legally own, transfer or perform, including: firearms, ammunition and weapon parts where transfer requires a licence; explosives; illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia and prescription medication; tobacco, vapes and alcohol where prohibited; live animals in violation of local law; stolen, counterfeit or recalled goods; human remains or bodily fluids; hazardous waste; personal data; adult services; anything requiring a professional licence you do not hold (electrical, plumbing, medical, legal, firearm or vehicle work where licensing applies).

You must obey every law that applies to your trade, including licensing, permits, food-safety, animal-welfare, transport and tax rules. Barter income may be taxable where you live; reporting it is your responsibility, not ours.

4. Meeting and completing trades

You and the other member choose your own meeting place and time inside the deal chat. We do not suggest, vet, endorse, inspect or supervise any location, and we never store street addresses.

Use your judgement: meet in daylight in a place you are comfortable with, bring someone, inspect goods before handing anything over, and walk away from anything that feels wrong.

5. Free and Pro membership

The Free tier is supported by advertising. Pro membership is billed monthly at the price shown at checkout and renews automatically until you cancel. Payments are processed by Stripe; we never see or store your card details.

You can cancel Pro at any time and keep your benefits until the end of the paid period. Except where the law requires otherwise, payments already made are non-refundable.

6. Pro trade contracts

For Pro members the app can generate a generic Bill of Sale and Service Agreement from the terms you both entered. It is an automated template, not legal advice, and neither we nor anyone at the company is acting as your lawyer.

Whether such a document is enforceable, and what it means where you live, depends on your local law. Have it reviewed before you rely on it for anything significant.

7. Ratings, flags and community juries

Members may rate each other, flag a no-show, and put a disputed trade to a jury of randomly drawn, uninvolved members who read both anonymous accounts and vote.

A jury outcome is community feedback recorded on the platform. It is NOT arbitration, mediation or a legal ruling, it does not bind either party, and it does not stop either of you from pursuing any legal remedy. We do not enforce outcomes, order payments or transfer property.

8. Reporting, moderation and suspension

Any member can report a listing for spam, scams, prohibited items or offensive content. Reports are private: they are never shown on the listing, never counted publicly, and the trader is not told who reported them. A listing is only brought to a moderator's attention once several different members have reported it, so a single member cannot have an honest listing taken down.

A report is a request for a human to look, not an automatic penalty. Nothing is hidden or deleted automatically. A moderator may review all of a member's listings when assessing a report.

We may remove a listing, delete an account and block the email address behind it where a member spams, trolls, breaks these terms, harms other members, or exposes us to legal risk. That decision is ours, and we are not obliged to explain or reverse it. Where practical we will tell you why.

Your listings stay published until you pause or delete them. Completing a trade does not remove your listing, because what you offer may be ongoing.

9. Limitation of liability

We take no responsibility for anything that happens between members. We are an app that introduces two (or more) people to each other and gives them somewhere to talk. What you agree, what you hand over, what you receive, whether either of you turns up, and anything that happens at a meeting, is entirely between you.

The service is provided "as is". To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss, or for lost profits, lost goods, personal injury or property damage arising out of a trade, a meeting, a listing, a contract template or a jury outcome.

Where liability cannot be excluded, our total liability to you is limited to the greater of the membership fees you paid us in the previous three months or twenty US dollars.

10. Changes, law and contact

We may update these terms; continued use after an update means you accept the new version. These terms are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the operating entity is established, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.

Questions: support@startthebarter.example.