Terms of Service

1. About Community Marketplace

Community Marketplace provides a technology platform designed to help consumers discover products available from participating local merchants.

Community Marketplace may integrate with third-party commerce platforms, point-of-sale systems, and other services to synchronize information such as products, pricing, inventory, store information, and other authorized commerce data.

Community Marketplace generally does not manufacture, own, sell, or independently warrant products offered by participating merchants unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Product and merchant availability may vary by geographic area. Community Marketplace is currently focused primarily on participating merchants in New York and may expand into additional markets over time.

2. User and Merchant Accounts

Users may create accounts to access features including product discovery, saved information, communications with merchants, and other functionality.

Merchants may create or authorize accounts to list or synchronize products with Community Marketplace.

Users and merchants are responsible for maintaining accurate account information and protecting their login credentials.

Merchants are responsible for:

• Providing accurate business and contact information.
• Maintaining accurate product descriptions, pricing, availability, and inventory.
• Responding appropriately to customer inquiries.
• Fulfilling any commitments made to customers.
• Complying with applicable laws and regulations.
• Maintaining third-party accounts required to use connected integrations.

We may suspend or terminate accounts involved in fraudulent, misleading, abusive, unlawful, harmful, or otherwise prohibited activity.

Users may request deletion of their accounts through available account-management functionality within the Services. Certain information may be retained where reasonably necessary for legal, security, fraud-prevention, dispute-resolution, or other legitimate purposes as described in our Privacy Policy.

3. Third-Party Integrations

Community Marketplace may connect with third-party platforms such as WooCommerce, point-of-sale providers, commerce platforms, and other technology services.

When a merchant authorizes an integration, the merchant instructs Community Marketplace to access, receive, process, and, where necessary, transmit information required to provide the authorized Services.

Depending on the integration and features enabled, this information may include:

• Store name and business information.
• Store address and contact information.
• Product catalog information.
• Product images and descriptions.
• Pricing.
• Inventory and availability.
• Location information.
• Order or fulfillment information when applicable.
• Customer information when reasonably necessary to provide an authorized feature.

Community Marketplace may use this information to operate the marketplace, synchronize participating stores, provide product discovery, facilitate communications, support merchants and customers, operate authorized commerce functionality, and improve the Services.

Merchants are responsible for ensuring they have the necessary rights and permissions to provide information to Community Marketplace.

Use of third-party services may also be governed by the terms and privacy policies of those providers.

4. WooCommerce Connector

Community Marketplace may provide a WooCommerce plugin or connector that allows merchants to connect their WooCommerce store to Community Marketplace.

Once a merchant voluntarily installs, activates, and connects the integration, the connector may communicate with Community Marketplace servers to synchronize authorized store, catalog, inventory, and other commerce information.

The Community Marketplace service is external to the merchant's WordPress installation and is necessary for the connected functionality provided by the plugin.

Merchants may disconnect the integration or discontinue use of the plugin, subject to applicable legal, security, or data-retention requirements.

5. Product Listings and Inventory

Merchants retain responsibility for the accuracy of their product listings.

Community Marketplace may display information received directly from merchants or from their connected commerce platforms.

We cannot guarantee that inventory, pricing, descriptions, availability, photographs, store hours, or other merchant-provided information will always be accurate or current.

Users should confirm important information with the merchant where appropriate.

Community Marketplace may remove or restrict listings that violate these Terms, applicable laws, or our policies.

6. Product Discovery and Transactions

Community Marketplace primarily provides product-discovery and merchant-communication functionality.

Consumers may use the Services to discover products, view participating merchants, communicate with merchants, obtain store information, and access other local-shopping features.

Unless specifically indicated within a particular feature, Community Marketplace does not itself act as the seller of products displayed through the Services.

Purchases may occur directly between consumers and participating merchants, including at a merchant's physical store or through third-party commerce services.

If Community Marketplace introduces or enables ordering, payment, reservation, pickup, or other transaction functionality, additional terms or third-party terms may apply.

Participating merchants remain responsible for their products, including product quality, availability, fulfillment, returns, refunds, warranties, taxes, and compliance with applicable law.

7. Messaging and User-Generated Content

Community Marketplace may allow users and merchants to communicate through messaging, chat, reviews, reports, or other interactive features.

Users are responsible for content they submit, send, upload, or otherwise make available through the Services.

Users may not submit or transmit content that:

• Harasses, threatens, intimidates, or abuses another person.
• Contains unlawful, sexually explicit, obscene, or exploitative material.
• Promotes violence or unlawful conduct.
• Contains hateful or discriminatory content prohibited by applicable law or our policies.
• Is fraudulent, deceptive, misleading, or intended to facilitate scams.
• Constitutes spam or unauthorized commercial solicitation.
• Impersonates another person or business.
• Violates another person's intellectual-property, privacy, or other rights.
• Contains malware, malicious links, or harmful code.
• Otherwise violates these Terms or applicable law.

Community Marketplace may use automated tools, user reports, manual review, or other reasonable measures to identify, restrict, or address prohibited content.

Community Marketplace does not guarantee that every message or item of user-generated content will be proactively reviewed before it is transmitted or displayed.

8. Reporting, Blocking, and Moderation

Users may have access to tools that allow them to report inappropriate content, messages, accounts, or conduct and to block other users.

Reports may be reviewed by Community Marketplace and may result in actions including:

• Content removal.
• Warnings.
• Restrictions on messaging or other functionality.
• Account suspension.
• Account termination.
• Referral to appropriate authorities when required by law or reasonably necessary to address serious threats or unlawful conduct.

Community Marketplace reserves the right, but is not obligated except where required by law, to investigate activity occurring through the Services.

Misuse of reporting mechanisms, including knowingly submitting false or abusive reports, may itself violate these Terms.

9. Acceptable Use

Users and merchants may not use Community Marketplace to:

• Engage in fraud or deceptive conduct.
• Sell, advertise, or promote unlawful or prohibited products.
• Provide intentionally false or misleading information.
• Harass, threaten, abuse, or exploit another person.
• Send spam or malicious content.
• Interfere with the security or operation of the Services.
• Attempt unauthorized access to Community Marketplace systems or other accounts.
• Scrape, copy, or systematically extract marketplace data without authorization.
• Introduce malicious software or harmful code.
• Circumvent security, moderation, blocking, or access controls.
• Use the Services in violation of applicable law.

We reserve the right to investigate suspected violations and restrict or terminate access where appropriate.

10. Intellectual Property

Community Marketplace and its associated software, branding, designs, technology, and original content are owned by Community Marketplace or its licensors and are protected by applicable intellectual-property laws.

Merchants retain ownership of their trademarks, product information, images, and other content they provide.

By providing or synchronizing merchant content with Community Marketplace, merchants grant Community Marketplace a non-exclusive, worldwide license to host, reproduce, display, distribute, format, and otherwise use that content as reasonably necessary to operate, promote, and provide the Services.

Users retain ownership of content they submit but grant Community Marketplace the rights reasonably necessary to host, transmit, display, moderate, investigate, or process that content in connection with providing and protecting the Services.

11. Privacy and Data

Our collection, use, disclosure, and retention of personal information is described in our Privacy Policy.

Information processed through messaging, reporting, blocking, or moderation features may include user identifiers, message content, report information, timestamps, and related account information where reasonably necessary to operate these features, investigate misuse, protect users, or comply with legal obligations.

By connecting a store or using the Services, merchants acknowledge that information may be transmitted between their commerce systems and Community Marketplace as necessary to provide authorized functionality.

We seek to limit collection and processing to information reasonably necessary to provide, secure, administer, and improve the Services.

12. Geographic Availability

The availability of merchants, products, inventory, and other marketplace content depends on participating businesses in each geographic area.

Community Marketplace is currently focused primarily on New York and may not have participating merchants or product inventory available in all locations.

Users outside currently supported markets may have limited access to local product or merchant information.

Expansion into additional regions may occur without prior notice.

13. Service Availability

We strive to provide reliable Services but do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free availability.

Features may be changed, added, suspended, or discontinued.

Third-party integrations may also be affected by changes, interruptions, policies, or technical limitations imposed by their respective providers.

14. Disclaimer of Warranties

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Services are provided “as is” and “as available.”

Community Marketplace makes no guarantee regarding uninterrupted availability, merchant performance, product availability, sales results, marketplace traffic, the conduct of users or merchants, or the accuracy of information supplied by participating merchants or third parties.

15. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Community Marketplace and its owners, employees, contractors, and affiliates will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages arising from or related to use of the Services.

Community Marketplace is not responsible for losses resulting from merchant conduct, user conduct, product defects, inaccurate merchant information, third-party platform failures, communications between users and merchants, or circumstances outside our reasonable control.

Any limitations in this section apply only to the extent permitted by applicable law.

16. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by applicable law, merchants agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Community Marketplace and its affiliates, officers, employees, and contractors from claims, liabilities, damages, and reasonable expenses arising from the merchant's products, listings, conduct, violation of these Terms, or violation of applicable law or third-party rights.

Users are responsible for claims resulting from their unlawful use of the Services or content they submit, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

17. Suspension and Termination

Users may discontinue use of the Services and may request account deletion using available account-management functionality.

Community Marketplace may suspend, restrict, or terminate access when reasonably necessary because of:

• Violations of these Terms.
• Abuse or harassment.
• Fraudulent activity.
• Security concerns.
• Misuse of messaging or reporting functionality.
• Legal requirements.
• Risks to Community Marketplace, merchants, users, or third parties.

Provisions that by their nature should survive termination will remain in effect.

18. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms as the Services evolve.

When material changes are made, we may provide notice through the Services, by email, or through other reasonable means.

Where required by applicable law, we may request renewed acceptance of updated Terms.

Continued use of the Services after updated Terms become effective constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms to the extent permitted by applicable law.

19. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, except where applicable law requires otherwise.