Terms & Conditions
Terms & Conditions
Here are some important items in this document:
Shop the Independents, LLC. and/or its affiliates ("SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS") provide website features and other products and services to you when you visit or shop at www.ShoptheIndependents.com, or use Shop the Independents applications for mobile, or use the software provided by Shop the Independents in connection with any of the foregoing (collectively, "Shop the Independents Services").
As of this date, all sales are through local businesses that set up and maintain their stores on the Shop the Independents e-commerce technology platform.
If you purchase any of the products or services offered by these local businesses or individuals, you are purchasing directly from those third parties, and not from Shop the Independents.
SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS is not responsible for examining or evaluating, and we do not warrant, the offerings of any of these businesses or individuals including the content they create in their stores.
Shop the Independents does not assume any responsibility or liability for the actions, products, and content of any third parties using SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS site. You should carefully review their privacy statements, return policies, guarantees, and other conditions of use.
By using Shop the Independents Services, you agree to the following conditions. Please read them carefully.
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS. When you use Shop the Independents Services or send e-mails, text messages, and other communications from your desktop or mobile device to us or the third party using our site, you may be communicating with us electronically. You consent to receive communications from us electronically, such as e-mails, texts, mobile push notices, or notices and messages on this site or through the other Shop the Independents Services, such as our Message Center or in your personal account, and you can retain copies of these communications for your records. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.
COPYRIGHT. All content included in or made available through any Shop the Independents Service, such as text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, audio clips, digital downloads, data compilations, and software is the property of Shop the Independents or its content suppliers and protected by the United States and international copyright laws. The compilation of all content included in or made available through any Shop the Independents Service is the exclusive property of Shop the Independents and is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws.
TRADEMARKS. In addition to graphics, logos, page headers, button icons, scripts, and service names included in or made available through any Shop the Independents Service are trademarks of Shop the Independents in the U.S. and other countries. Shop the Independents trademarks may not be used in connection with any product or service that is not Shop the Independents, in any manner that is likely to confuse customers, or in any manner that disparages or discredits Shop the Independents. All other trademarks not owned by Shop the Independents that appear in any Shop the Independents Service are the property of their respective owners, who may or may not be affiliated with, connected to, or sponsored by Shop the Independents.
LICENSE AND ACCESS. Subject to your compliance with these Conditions of Use and any Service Terms, and your payment of any applicable fees, Shop the Independents or its content providers grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable license to access and make personal and non-commercial use of the Shop the Independents Services.
All rights not expressly granted to you in these Conditions of Use, or any Service Terms are reserved and retained by Shop the Independents or its licensors, suppliers, publishers, rightsholders, or other content providers. No Shop the Independents Service, nor any part of any Shop the Independents Service, may be reproduced, duplicated, copied, sold, resold, visited, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose without express written consent of Shop the Independents. You may not frame or utilize framing techniques to enclose any trademark, logo, or other proprietary information (including images, text, page layout, or form) of Shop the Independents without express written consent. You may not use any meta tags or any other "hidden text" utilizing Shop the Independents name or trademarks without the express written consent of Shop the Independents. You may not misuse the Shop the Independents Services. You may use the Shop the Independents Services only as permitted by law. The licenses granted by Shop the Independents terminate if you do not comply with these Terms and Conditions.
YOUR ACCOUNT. You will need your own Shop the Independents account to use certain Shop the Independents Services, and you are required to be logged in to the account. When you purchase you will provide a valid payment method to complete your purchase. SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS does not store your credit card information. If there is a problem charging your selected payment method, we may charge any other valid payment method associated with your account.
YOUR CONFIDENTIAL ACCOUNT. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password and for restricting access to your account, and you agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password.
UNDER EIGHTEEN. Shop the Independents does sell products for children, but it sells them to adults, who can purchase with a credit card or other permitted payment method. If you are under 18, you may use the Shop the Independents Services only with the involvement of a parent or guardian. Parents and guardians may create profiles for teenagers in their Shop the Independents Household. Alcohol listings on Shop the Independents are intended for adults. You must be at least 21 years of age to purchase alcohol or use any site functionality related to alcohol. Shop the Independents reserves the right to refuse service, terminate accounts, terminate your rights to use Shop the Independents Services, remove or edit content, or cancel orders in its sole discretion.
REVIEWS, COMMENTS, COMMUNICATIONS, AND OTHER CONTENT. Where applicable you may post reviews, comments, photos, videos, and other content; send e-cards and other communications; and submit suggestions, ideas, comments, questions, or other information, so long as the content is not illegal, obscene, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, infringing of intellectual property rights (including publicity rights), or otherwise injurious to third parties or objectionable, and does not consist of or contain software viruses, political campaigning, commercial solicitation, chain letters, mass mailings, or any form of "spam" or unsolicited commercial electronic messages. You may not use a false e-mail address, impersonate any person or entity, or otherwise mislead as to the origin of a card or other content. Shop the Independents reserves the right (but not the obligation) to remove or edit such content but does not regularly review posted content.
If you do post content or material, and unless we indicate otherwise, you grant Shop the Independents a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, perform, create derivative works from, distribute, and display such content throughout the world in any media. You grant Shop the Independents and sublicensees the right to use the name that you submit in connection with such content if they choose. You represent and warrant that you own or otherwise control all the rights to the content that you post; that the content is accurate; that use of the content you supply does not violate this policy and will not cause injury to any person or entity; and that you will indemnify Shop the Independents for all claims resulting from content you supply. Shop the Independents has the right but not the obligation to monitor and edit or remove any activity or content. Shop the Independents takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any content posted by you or any third party.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY COMPLAINTS. Shop the Independents respects the intellectual property of others. If you believe that your intellectual property rights are being infringed, please send a letter to:
Shop the Independents, LLC.
Attn: Legal Department – Intellectual Property Complaint
8 The Green
Unit #17474
Dover, DE 19901, United States
RISK OF LOSS. All purchases of physical items from Shop the Independents website are made from each of the local businesses using our technology platform, therefore, all shipping is handled by you and the vendor from whom you have made a purchase. This means that the risk of loss and title for such items passes to you upon the carrier selected by you to deliver your product, once that product has been picked up from the local business from whom you have made a purchase.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS. Shop the Independents depends on its vendors to create product descriptions. We, in our Vendor Terms & Conditions, highly encourages all vendors to be as accurate as possible in all their content. However, Shop the Independents does not warrant that product descriptions or other content of any Shop the Independents Service are accurate, complete, reliable, current, or error-free.
PRICING. All pricing, including but not limited to “list price,” “discount price,” and “savings,” is the direct responsibility of each vendor. We do not check vendor List Prices against prices recently found on Shop the Independents and other retailers. Certain products may have a "Was Price" displayed, which is determined using the recent price history of the product on Shop the Independents. Concerning items sold on Shop the Independents, we cannot confirm the price of an item until you order. Despite our best efforts, a small number of the items in our catalog may be mispriced. In the event of any discrepancy, you will need to contact the vendor directly.
CONFIDENTIALITY. You may not issue any press release or make any public statement or post any content online related to the Services, or use our name, trademarks, or logo, in any way (including in promotional material) without our advance written permission or misrepresent or embellish the relationship between us in any way. or in any manner that disparages, or discredits SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS
APP PERMISSIONS. When you use apps created by Shop the Independents, such as the Shop the Independents App, you grant certain permissions to us for your device. Most mobile devices provide you with information about these permissions.
PRODUCTS & SERVICES SOLD ON SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS. Shop the Independents is a technology platform, and it does not operate stores, provide services or software, or sell product lines. All sales are through local businesses that set up and maintain their stores. If you purchase any of the products or services offered by these local businesses or individuals, you are purchasing directly from those third parties, not from Shop the Independents. We are not responsible for examining or evaluating, and we do not warrant, the offerings of any of these businesses or individuals (including the content of their Web sites). Shop the Independents does not assume any responsibility or liability for the actions, products, and content of all these and any other third parties. You should carefully review their privacy statements and other conditions of use.
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY LAW, SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS SERVICES, INFORMATION, CONTENT, MATERIALS, PRODUCTS (INCLUDING SOFTWARE) OR OTHER SERVICES INCLUDED ON OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU THROUGH THE SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS SERVICES, SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS'S SERVERS OR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS SENT FROM SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY LAW, SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING FROM THE USE OF ANY SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS SERVICE, OR FROM ANY INFORMATION, CONTENT, MATERIALS, PRODUCTS (INCLUDING SOFTWARE) OR OTHER SERVICES INCLUDED ON OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU THROUGH ANY SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS SERVICE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, AND CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED IN WRITING.
DISPUTES. Any dispute or claim relating in any way to your use of any Shop the Independents website, http://www.ShoptheIndependents.com/or between you and the local business from whom you have made your purchase is to be resolved through binding arbitration, rather than in court, except that you may assert claims in small claims court if your claims qualify. The Federal Arbitration Act and federal arbitration law apply to this agreement.
To begin an arbitration proceeding, you must send a letter requesting arbitration and describing your claim to:
Shop the Independents, LLC.
Attn: Legal Department – Arbitration Request
8 The Green
Unit #17474
Dover, DE 19901, United States
In your letter detail the dispute and with whom the dispute is with. For example, if a vendor on our site has failed to provide merchandise returns, responded to a defective product claim, etc., Shop the Independents will before helping you move forward with the arbitration will contact the vendor directly and research the dispute. It is our goal to have our vendors resolve all non-frivolous disputes in a fair and direct manner.
Once our research is complete, we will send you a letter and provide you a list of our findings. If we have found that your dispute is not frivolous then the arbitration will be conducted by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its rules, including the AAA's Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes. The AAA's rules are available at www.adr.org or by calling 1-800-778-7879. Payment of all filing, administration, and arbitrator fees will be governed by the AAA's rules. We will not reimburse those fees. You may choose to have the arbitration conducted by telephone, based on written submissions, or in person in the county where you live or at another mutually agreed-upon location.
We each agree that any dispute resolution proceedings will be conducted only on an individual basis and not in a class, consolidated, or representative action. If for any reason a claim proceeds in court rather than in arbitration you and the vendor on the SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS website waives any right to a jury trial.
If your dispute is with Shop the Independents, LLC., we will follow the same procedure.
APPLICABLE LAW. By using any Shop the Independents Service, you agree that the Federal Arbitration Act, applicable federal law, and the laws of the state of Delaware, without regard to principles of conflict of laws, will govern these Terms & Conditions and any dispute of any sort that might arise between you and Shop the Independents.
SITE POLICIES, MODIFICATION, AND SEVERABILITY. We reserve the right to make changes to our site, policies, Service Terms, and these Conditions of Use at any time. If any of these conditions shall be deemed invalid, void, or for any reason unenforceable, that condition shall be deemed severable and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining condition.
ADDITIONAL SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS SOFTWARE TERMS. >span class="eop">
Use of the Shop the Independents Software. You may use Shop the Independents Software solely for purposes of enabling you to use the Shop the Independents Services as provided by Shop the Independents, and as permitted by these Conditions of Use and any Service Terms. You may not incorporate any portion of the Shop the Independents Software into other programs or compile any portion of it in combination with other programs, or otherwise, copy (except to exercise rights granted in this section), modify, create derivative works of, distribute, assign any rights to, or license the Shop the Independents Software in whole or in part. All software used in any Shop the Independents Service is the property of Shop the Independents or its software suppliers and is protected by the United States and international copyright laws.
Use of Third-Party Services. When you use Shop the Independents Software, you may also be using the services of one or more third parties, such as a wireless carrier or a mobile software provider. Your use of these third-party services may be subject to the separate policies, terms of use, and fees of these third parties.
No Reverse Engineering. You may not reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble, tamper with, or bypass any security associated with the Shop the Independents Software, whether in whole or in part.
Updates. We may offer automatic or manual updates to the Shop the Independents Software at any time and without giving notice to you.
Conflicts. In the event of any conflict between these Conditions of Use and any other Shop the Independents or third-party terms applicable to any portion of Shop the Independents Software, such as open-source license terms, such other terms will control as to that portion of the Shop the Independents Software and to the extent of the conflict.
NOTICE AND PROCEDURE FOR MAKING CLAIMS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INFRINGEMENT
If you believe that your intellectual property rights have been infringed by one of the vendors on SHOP THE INDEPENDENTS, please send a letter to our legal department. In your letter, please identify what vendor, a screenshot of infringement, and the type of intellectual property infringement you are claiming: copyright, trademark, or patent claims.
We respond quickly to the concerns of rights owners about any alleged infringement, and we terminate repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances.
You may submit written claims of copyright infringement to our Copyright Agent at:
Shop the Independents, LLC.
Attn: Legal Department – Intellectual Property
8 The Green
Unit #17474
Dover, DE 19901, United States
Written claims concerning copyright infringement must include the following information:
A physical or electronic signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest
A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed upon
A description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the site
Your address, telephone number, and e-mail address
A statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.