Terms of service
Please see the below two sets of Terms and Conditions for State Of The Art Marketplace LTD for both customers and artists:
CUSTOMER TERMS AND CONDITIONS:
1. About us
1.1. We are State of the Art Marketplace Ltd: incorporated in England and Wales under company number 13132003 and registered at 1 Vicarage Lane, London, E15 4HF. In these terms and conditions, we refer to ourselves as we, us, our and SOTA.
2. How to contact us
You can contact us by visiting the ‘Contact’ page of our website, sotamarketplace.co/pages/contact, and populating the form.
3. These terms and conditions
3.1. These terms and conditions (which we’ll refer to as T&Cs from here) apply to your use of our website and any purchases you make on our website. Please read these T&Cs carefully before you place any orders on our website, as they set out important information both your and our rights and obligations. Please note that you must agree to these T&Cs before you place any order.
3.2. For the purposes of these T&Cs, you are a consumer if you are buying products from our website as an individual for purposes wholly or mainly outside of your trade, business, craft or profession. You are a business customer if you are buying products from our website for purposes relating to your trade, business, craft or profession. Some T&Cs only apply to your order if you are a consumer, and other T&Cs apply to your order if you are a business customer. We indicate in these T&Cs where this is the case, so please make sure you read these T&Cs carefully.
3.3. References to you and your in these T&Cs is to the consumer or business customer placing an order on our website.
3.4. If you are a consumer, you must be at least 18 years old or otherwise legally capable of entering into binding contracts. You must also be resident in either the United Kingdom or another state approved for sale by our payment provider, Shopify.
3.5. If you are an individual placing an order on behalf of a business customer, you confirm that you have authority to place such order for and on behalf of the business customer. You must also be based in either the United Kingdom or another state approved for sale by our payment provider, Shopify.
3.6. We may make changes to these T&Cs at any time. However, the T&Cs which apply to your order will be those in force at the time you place your order with us.
3.7. Please save a copy of these T&Cs and any emails from us for your records, as we will not save or file a copy for you.
3.8. These T&Cs are only available in English. If they are translated into any other language, the meaning and interpretation under the English version will prevail.
4.1. Your use of our website is subject to this section 4. By using our website, you will be deemed to have accepted and agreed to be bound by this section 4.
4.2. We reserve the right to restrict your access to our website or any part of it. Access to restricted areas of our website may be subject to registration and other conditions. If we grant you permission to access a restricted area, we may withdraw that permission at any time (including where you breach any of these T&Cs).
4.3. We will use reasonable endeavours to ensure our website is available at all times. However, we cannot guarantee that our website or any individual function or feature of it will always be available or error free. Our website may be unavailable during periods when we are implementing upgrades to, or carrying out essential maintenance on, our website.
4.4. The intellectual property rights in our website and all of the text, layout of pictures, videos and other content made available on it are owned by us and our licensors. You may not print or otherwise make copies of any such content without our express prior permission.
4.5. We provide our website on an ‘as is’ basis and make no representations as to the quality, completeness or accuracy of any content made available on our website.
4.6. Your permission to use our website is personal to you and non-transferable. Your use of our website is conditional on your compliance with the rules of conduct set out in this section 4 and you agree that you will not:
(a) use our website for any fraudulent or unlawful purpose;
(b) use our website to defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten or otherwise violate the rights of others, including without limitation others’ privacy rights or rights of publicity;
(c) impersonate any person or entity, falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity in connection with our website, or express or imply that we endorse any statement you make;
(d) interfere with or disrupt the operation of our website or the servers or networks used to make our website available, or violate any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of such networks;
(e) transmit or otherwise make available in connection with our website any virus, worm, Trojan horse or other computer code that is harmful or invasive or may or is intended to damage the operation of, or to monitor the use of, any hardware, software, or equipment;
(f) reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell, or otherwise exploit for any commercial purposes, any portion of, use of, or access to our website;
(g) modify, adapt, translate, screenscrape, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any portion of our website or aggregate data from our website. If you wish to reverse engineer any part of our website to create an interoperable program you must contact us, and we may provide interface data subject to verification of your identity and other information;
(h) remove any copyright, trade mark or other proprietary rights notice from our website or materials originating from it;
(i) create a database by systematically downloading and storing our website content; or
(j) use any manual or automatic device in any way to gather our website content or reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of our website without our express prior written consent.
4.7. Our website may provide links to other websites and online resources. We are not responsible for, and we do not endorse, such external sites or resources. Your use of third-party websites and resources is at your own risk.
5. Contractual relationship
5.1. SOTA operates as a marketplace that facilitates sales of artwork between independent artists and consumers/business customers.
5.2. You acknowledge that SOTA acts as an intermediary in the transaction between you and independent artists, authorised to display artwork, to facilitate the transaction, and to receive payment under the transaction only. The contract for the sale of any product(s) is between you and the artist directly. We are not a party to the transaction. We are not an auctioneer. Unless otherwise stated, we do not own or have possession of any products listed or sold on our website.
5.3. We cannot guarantee the existence, quality or safety of any products listed on our website, nor can we guarantee the accuracy or truthfulness of any details provided by an independent artist. We also cannot guarantee performance of an independent artist’s obligations in respect of any transaction or order placed. However, we do require all our independent artists to ensure the products match the description given by the independent artist on SOTA and to comply with their own terms of sale. If you find that any product you have purchased does not match the description given by the independent artist, or if an independent artist has not complied with its obligations in respect of any transaction or order placed, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can take steps to rectify the situation.
5.4. Please note that independent artists may have sales policies that apply to your order. Please ensure that you read the sales policies of the independent artist from which you are making a purchase, as well as these T&Cs. You are responsible for complying with the sales policies and we are not liable to you if a purchase is not completed due to your failure to comply with such sales policies.
6. Orders
6.1. Please check your order carefully and correct any errors before you place it.
6.2. Your order is an offer to buy products from the independent artist via SOTA on the basis of these T&Cs.
6.3. After you place your order, we will send you an acknowledgment email to let you know that we have received your order. This does not mean that your order has been accepted by the independent artist.
6.4. If your order has been accepted by the independent artist, we will send you an email confirming that your order has been accepted, which we’ll refer to as the Order Confirmation. The contract between you and the independent artist will only be formed when we send you an Order Confirmation.
6.5. The contract between you and the independent artist will relate only to the products that are confirmed in the Order Confirmation. Neither we nor the independent artist will be under any obligation to supply any other products which have been part of your order until such products are confirmed in a separate Order Confirmation.
6.6. If your order is not accepted for any reason, we will email you using the details you provided when you placed your order. We and the independent artist have the right to reject any order for any reason.
7. Availability
7.1. All orders are subject to availability. We cannot guarantee that any product will be available at any given time. In certain circumstances beyond our reasonable control, we may need to stop advertising certain products for sale and independent artists may need to stop selling certain products. If this happens and it affects your order, we will notify you by email, cancel your order, and provide you with a full refund if payment has already been taken.
8. Making changes to your order
If you would like to make any changes to your order after you have placed it, please contact us as soon as possible and we will let you know if it is possible to change your order.
9. Product descriptions
9.1. Descriptions of the products are set out on our website. You are responsible for reading the full product description before placing an order.
9.2. Pictures and images of the products or their packaging on our website are for illustration purposes only. Your products and their packaging may vary slightly from those pictures or images.
9.3. We cannot guarantee that the colours displayed on the device will match exactly the appearance of your products. The colours of the products displayed on our website may vary depending on what device you are using and your settings.
10. Use restrictions
10.1. If you are a consumer, you must use the products for domestic and personal use only. You must not use the products for commercial, business or resale purposes.
10.2. If you are a business customer, you must use the products for internal business purposes only. You must not use the products for resale purposes.
11. Intellectual property
You will not obtain the copyright or any other intellectual property rights existing in the products. All intellectual property rights existing in the products will be retained by the relevant independent artist or their licensors at all times.
12. Prices
12.1. Prices for the products are set out on our website. All prices are shown in the local currency of the state in which you are placing your order and include VAT (or any equivalent applicable sales tax at the applicable rate unless otherwise stated, but exclude delivery charges.
12.2. Prices for the products and delivery charges may change at any time. Except as set out in section 12.3 below, such changes will not affect existing orders.
12.3. If there has been an error on our website regarding the pricing of any of the products and this affects your order, we will try to contact you using the contact details you provided when you placed your order. We will give you the option to re-confirm your order at the correct price or to cancel your order. If we are unable to contact you, we will cancel your order and notify you by email.
12.4. Discount codes may be redeemed at checkout. A discount code is applicable to full price products and is not redeemable against any sale or promotional products.
13. Payment
13.1. We accept all major credit and debit cards. You can also pay by Apple Pay, Google Pay and Klarna. All credit and debit card payments must be authorised by the relevant card issuer.
13.2. We will take payment as soon as your order is accepted by the independent artist. If the payment is unsuccessful, we will try to contact you using the contact details you provided when you placed your order. If we are unable to contact you, we will cancel your order and notify you by email.
14. Delivery
14.1. The independent artist with whom you have placed the order will deliver your order to the address specified by you when you placed your order. Once you have received the Order Confirmation, you will receive details regarding delivery of the products that have been confirmed.
14.2. Delivery costs for the product will be applied at checkout.
14.3. Any delivery dates stated during the order process, or in your Order Confirmation, or any other communication between us or with the independent artists, are estimates and indicative only.
14.4. If your delivery is delayed, we will email you to let you know as soon as reasonably possible. However, we are not liable to you for any losses you incur if delivery is delayed because of circumstances beyond our reasonable control (e.g. severe weather, accidents or unpredictable traffic delays). We are not liable to you for late or failed delivery due to any act or omission of an independent artist.
14.5. Please examine the products as soon as reasonably possible after delivery and notify us of any fault or damage as soon as reasonably possible.
14.6. Once your order has been delivered to your address or in accordance with the delivery instructions you provided to us, the risk in the products passes to you from the independent artist and the products will be classed as having been delivered. This means that you are responsible for the products and we nor the independent artist are not liable to you if the products are stolen or damaged after they have been delivered to you. This does not affect your legal rights if the products are faulty or misdescribed.
14.7. Ownership of the products passes to you from the independent artist once you have paid for them in full.
15. International customers
15.1. We require independent artists to comply with all legal, regulatory and any other obligations imposed on the independent artist by applicable law of the country in which deliveries are being made to.
15.2. If the products are to be delivered outside of the United Kingdom, you may be responsible for obtaining and maintaining all licences, clearances and other consents that are necessary for the supply of the products (including any import licences). You may also be responsible for the costs of any import duties, levies or taxes payable on such international delivery. We require independent artists to provide all relevant customs information to enable you to pay the costs of any import duties, levies or taxes payable on international deliveries.
15.3. Our payment provider, Shopify, charges currency conversion fees which vary depending on your location. As a result, all products will be marked up to include this international fee.
16. Consumer cancellation rights
16.1. This section 16 only applies to you if you are a consumer in the United Kingdom. It will not apply to you if you are a business customer and it may not apply to you if you are a consumer placing an order outside of the United Kingdom.
16.2. If you are placing your order within the United Kingdom, you will have 14 days from the delivery date to change your mind and cancel your order. This does not apply to bespoke or personalised products.
16.3. To cancel your order, please contact us at info@sotamarketplace.co. You can also use the cancellation form available at [X]. To help us process your cancellation quickly, please include your order number when contacting us or include it in the cancellation form you send to us.
16.4. If you have already received your order, you must return the products within 14 days of telling us that you want to cancel your order. The deadline is met if you send the products back to the independent artist with whom the order was placed before the 14-day period has expired. We strongly recommend that you get proof of postage. We may withhold the refund until we have received confirmation that the products have been returned, or until you have provided us with evidence that you have sent the products back (whichever is earlier).
16.5. Products must be returned to the independent artist with whom you placed the order in a new and unused condition and, to the extent possible, in their original packaging. We may make a deduction from the refund amount if you have handled the product in a way that has diminished the value of the product, or if such handling was beyond what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the products. You are responsible for the products while they are in your possession.
16.6. The independent artist will be responsible for the cost of any returns if your products are faulty or misdescribed. Otherwise, unless otherwise stated by the independent artist’s sales policy, you are responsible for the cost of returning the products.
16.7. We will provide you with a full refund (including basic delivery charges) as soon as possible. If you cancelled before you received any products, we will issue the refund no later than 14 days after the day on which you told us that you want to cancel. If you have sent products back to the independent artist with whom the order was placed, we will issue the refund no later than 14 days after the day the independent artist receives the products back from you or, if earlier, 14 days after the day you provide us with evidence that you have sent the products back.
16.8. We will issue your refund to the same payment method you used when you placed your order.
16.9. If you are placing your order outside the United Kingdom, please take local legal advice to establish whether you have a right to change your mind and cancel your order under this section 16.
17. Faulty products – consumers
17.1. This section 17 only applies to you if you are a consumer in the United Kingdom. It will not apply to you if you are a business customer or if you are a consumer placing an order outside of the United Kingdom.
17.2. The products that the independent artist provides to you must be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality. The independent artist is under a legal duty to supply products that are in conformity with its contract with you.
17.3. If your products are faulty or misdescribed, please contact us as soon as reasonably possible.
17.4. During the expected lifespan of your product, you are entitled to the following:
(a) up to 30 days: if your product is faulty, you can get an immediate refund; and
(b) up to 6 months: if your product cannot be repaired or replaced, you are entitled to a full refund in most cases.
17.5. This is a summary of some of your key rights. They are in addition to your cancellation rights set out in section 13 of these T&Cs. For more detailed information on your rights, please visit the Citizens Advice website at citizensadvice.org.uk or call 0808 223 1133.
18. Faulty products – business customers
18.1. This section 18 only applies to you if you are a business customer. It will not apply to you if you are a consumer.
18.2. The independent artist will warrant that the products will, for a period of 3 months from the date of delivery, (the Warranty Period):
(a) conform in all material respects to their product descriptions on our website;
(b) be free from material defects in design, material and workmanship; and
(c) be of satisfactory quality within the meaning of the Sale of Goods Act 1979.
18.3. As your sole and exclusive remedy, the independent artist will (at its option) repair, replace (where possible) or refund any products that do not comply with section 18.2, provided that:
(a) you notify us within the Warranty Period;
(b) you provide us with sufficient information as to the nature and extent of the defects;
(c) you give us and the independent artist reasonable opportunity to examine the defective products; and
(d) you return the defective products to the independent artist at your expense.
18.4. Except as set out in this section 18, we and the independent artist give no warranties and make no representations in relation to the products, and all warranties and conditions (including the conditions implied by ss.13-15 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979), whether express or implied by statute, common law or otherwise are excluded to the extent permitted by law.
19. Events beyond our control
We are not liable to you if we fail to comply with these T&Cs because of circumstances beyond our reasonable control.
20. Our liability to consumers
20.1. This section 20 only applies to you if you are a consumer. It will not apply to you if you are a business customer.
20.2. If we breach these T&Cs or are negligent, we are liable to you for foreseeable loss or damage that you suffer as a result. By ‘foreseeable’ we mean that, at the time the contract was made, it was either clear that such loss or damage would occur or you and we both knew that it might reasonably occur, as a result of something we did (or failed to do).
20.3. We are not liable to you for any loss or damage that was not foreseeable, any loss or damage not caused by our breach or negligence, or any business loss or damage.
20.4. Nothing in these T&Cs excludes or limits our liability for any death or personal injury caused by our negligence, liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that the law does not allow us to exclude or limit.
21. Our liability to business customers
21.1. This section 21 only applies to you if you are a business customer. It will not apply to you if you are a consumer.
21.2. Subject to the below, our liability under or in connection with these T&Cs (regardless of whether such liability arises in tort, contract or in any other way and whether or not caused by negligence or misrepresentation) will not exceed the total price paid for the products.
21.3. We will not be liable to you under or in connection with these T&Cs (regardless of whether such liability arises in tort, contract or in any other way and whether or not caused by negligence or misrepresentation) for consequential, indirect or special losses, or for any of the following (whether direct or indirect):
(a) loss of profit or loss of revenue;
(b) loss of contract or loss of business opportunity;
(c) loss of savings, discount or rebate (whether actual or anticipated); or
(d) harm to reputation or loss of goodwill.
21.4. Nothing in these T&Cs will limit or exclude our liability for:
(a) death or personal injury caused by negligence;
(b) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or
(c) any other losses which cannot be excluded or limited by law.
22. Your information
Any personal information that you provide to us will be dealt with in line with our privacy policy, available at sotamarketplace.co/pages/privacy-policy, which sets out what information we collect and hold about you, and how we collect, store, use and share such information.
23. Complaints
23.1. If you are unhappy with us or the products you ordered, please contact us by visiting the ‘Contact’ page of our website, sotamarketplace.co/pages/contact, and populating the form.
23.2. If you are a consumer and your complaint cannot be resolved by us directly, you may want to submit your complaint to ADR. ADR stands for ‘alternative dispute resolution’ and it is a process for resolving disputes that does not involve going to court. If you do not wish to use ADR, or you are unhappy with the outcome of ADR, you can still bring court proceedings.
24. Governing law and jurisdiction
24.1. If you are a consumer, the laws of England and Wales apply to these T&Cs, although if you are resident elsewhere you will retain the benefit of any mandatory protections given to you by the laws of that country. Any disputes will be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales. This means that you can choose whether to bring a claim in the courts of England and Wales or in the courts of another part of the UK in which you live.
24.2. If you are a business customer, these T&Cs and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them, their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) will be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of England and Wales. You and us both irrevocably agree that the courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with these T&Cs, their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims).
25. General terms
25.1. You are not allowed to transfer your rights under these T&Cs to anyone without our prior written consent. We may transfer our rights under these T&Cs to another business without your consent, but we will notify you of the transfer and make sure that your rights are not adversely affected as a result.
25.2. If any provision of these T&Cs (or part of any provision) is or becomes illegal, invalid or unenforceable, the legality, validity and enforceability of any other provision of these terms will not be affected.
25.3. If you breach these T&Cs and we take no action, we will still be entitled to use or enforce our rights and remedies in any other situation where you breach these T&Cs.
25.4. If you are a business customer, any variation to these T&Cs will not be binding unless expressly agreed in writing between you and us.
25.5. If you are a business customer, you and we both agree that these T&Cs constitute the entire agreement between you and us in relation to your order. You acknowledge that you have not entered into these T&Cs in reliance on any representation or warranty that is not expressly set out in these T&Cs and that you will have no claim for innocent or negligent misrepresentation on the basis of any statement in these T&Cs.
ARTIST TERMS AND CONDITIONS:
1. Introduction
These terms and conditions (which we’ll refer to as the T&Cs) and the SOTA Marketplace Privacy Policy, located at sotamarketplace.co/pages/privacy-policy, and all policies posted on our website set out the terms on which SOTA offers you access to and use of our website, services, and associated and integrated applications and tools (such as the Artist Dashboard) (collectively, the Services). You agree to comply with all of the above when accessing or using our Services. For information regarding the processing of personal data, please see our Privacy Policy.
2. About SOTA
SOTA is a marketplace that allows users to offer, sell and buy affordable artworks. SOTA does not have or take ownership or possession of anything listed or sold through SOTA. The contract for the sale is directly between buyer and you as the seller. SOTA acts as an intermediary to handle the payment processing once an order is made and takes an 8% commission upon a sale. Shopify Payments are our payment provider and may charge additional credit card fees which are outside of our control. While we may provide guidance on pricing, postage, listing and other forms of guidance in our Services, such guidance is solely informational, and you may decide to follow it or not. To use SOTA as an artist, artists must have a dedicated artist website and Instagram page for verification purposes.
3. Using SOTA
3.1. In connection with using or accessing the Services you will not:
(a) post, list or upload objectively inappropriate content or items;
(b) breach or circumvent any laws, third-party rights or our systems or policies;
(c) sell any counterfeit items or any items that otherwise infringe the copyright, trademark or other rights of third parties;
(d) use our Services if you are not able to form legally binding contracts (for example if you are under 18), or are temporarily or indefinitely suspended from using our Services;
(e) fail to deliver items sold by you,
(f) manipulate the price of any item or interfere with any other user's listings;
(g) post false, inaccurate, misleading, defamatory, or libellous content;
(h) take any action that may undermine the feedback or ratings systems on the website;
(i) transfer your SOTA account (including Feedback) and user ID to another party without our consent;
(j) distribute or post spam, unsolicited or bulk electronic communications, chain letters, or pyramid schemes;
(k) use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access our Services for any purpose;
(l) bypass our robot exclusion headers, interfere with the working of our Services, or impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure;
(m) harvest or otherwise collect information about users, such as email addresses, without their consent; or
(n) circumvent any technical measures we use to provide the Services.
4. Abusing SOTA
4.1. Without limiting other remedies, we may limit, suspend, or terminate your user account(s) and access to our Services, restrict or prohibit access to, and your activities on, our Services, remove or demote or otherwise restrict the visibility of listings, delay or remove hosted content, remove any special status associated with the account, reduce or eliminate any discounts, and take technical and legal steps to keep you from using our Services if:
(a) we think that you are creating problems or possible legal liabilities for us, our users, suppliers or other third parties;
(b) we think that such restrictions will improve the security of the SOTA community or reduce our or another SOTA user's exposure to financial liabilities;
(c) we think that you are infringing the rights of third parties;
(d) we think that you are acting inconsistently with the letter or spirit of these T&Cs or our policies or abuse our employees or users; or
(e) despite our reasonable endeavours, we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us.
5. Fees
5.1. SOTA charges 8% commission on a purchase.
5.2. We use the Shopify Payments system which may charge additional fees to credit card transactions. These will be typically 2% but please refer to the below table for all additional transaction fees. Shopify also charge for currency conversion on international transactions. As a seller, you are liable for transaction fees arising out of all sales made using some or all our Services. You are required to have a valid payment method on file when selling on SOTA. If your payment method fails or your account is overdue, we may collect fees owed by charging other payment methods on file and retaining collection agencies or legal counsel.
5.3. You authorise SOTA to automatically charge your chosen payment method in accordance with these T&Cs and the applicable billing agreement(s) you agree to when setting up or changing your payment method, for future charges and fees incurred in relation to the Services. We may display third party advertisements (including links and references thereto) or other content in any part of our Services, at our sole discretion.
5.4. If you are based outside of the United Kingdom, we will remit payment of fees to you via Wise or any other third party that we nominate. The fees remitted to you will be subject to any currency conversion fees charged by Wise or the relevant nominated third-party from time to time.
6. Listing conditions
6.1. When listing an item, you agree to comply with the following:
(a) you are responsible for the accuracy, content and legality of the item listed and agree to list in accordance with our values, these T&Cs and all other relevant policies;
(b) content that violates any of SOTA's policies may be modified, obfuscated or deleted at SOTA’s discretion; and
(c) in accordance with these T&Cs, we may revise item data associated with listings to supplement, remove, or correct information.
6.2. The appearance or placement of listings in search and browse results will depend on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:
(a) buyers' location, search query, browsing site and history;
(b) item's location, listing format, price and shipping cost, terms of service, end time, history, and relevance to the user query;
(c) seller's history, including listing practices, Detailed Seller Ratings, SOTA policy compliance, Feedback, and defect rate; and
(d) number of listings matching the buyer's query.
6.3. URL links that are included in a listing will be removed or altered so as to not affect third party search engine results.
6.4. We may provide you with optional recommendations to consider when creating your listings. Such recommendations may be based on the aggregated sales and performance history of similar sold and current listings; results will vary for individual listings. To drive the recommendations experience, you agree that we may display the sales and performance history of your listings to other sellers.
6.5. We may reject any images or content that does not meet the standards required by SOTA. We will endeavour to inform you of these standards and the changes required in order to render such images or content compliant with such standards.
7. Faulty items
7.1. The items that you supply to consumers in the United Kingdom must be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality. The items you supply must also be in conformity with your contract with the consumer. These are statutory requirements that apply to you as the party to the contract with the consumer.
7.2. If any item you supply is faulty or misdescribed, consumers in the United Kingdom have up to 30 days from delivery to get an immediate refund. If the faulty item cannot be repaired or replaced, consumers in the United Kingdom may be entitled to a full refund in most cases up to 6 months from delivery.
7.3. If items are objectively or demonstrably faulty, we will comply with the legal requirements in all respects and issue refunds to customers on your behalf. You will indemnify us in full and on demand for all refunds we issue for faulty items in accordance with these statutory requirements.
7.4. The above requirements may also apply to international consumers; i.e. consumers that have placed an order from outside the United Kingdom. We will advise you if that is the case.
7.5. The items that you sell to business customers must, for a period of 3 months from the date of delivery, conform in all material respects to their product descriptions, be free from material defects in design, material and workmanship, and be of satisfactory quality within the meaning of the Sale of Goods Act 1979.
7.6. If any item you supply to a business customer does not comply with any of the above, you must repair, replace (where possible) or refund any such items, provided that:
(a) we or the business customer notify you within 3 months from delivery;
(b) we or the business customer provides you with sufficient information as to the nature and extent of the defects;
(c) we or the business customer gives you reasonable opportunity to examine the defective items; and
(d) the business customer returns the defective items to the independent artist at your expense.
7.7. You will indemnify us in full and on demand for any losses we suffer or incur as a result of any claim by any consumer or business customer for faulty items, or otherwise for any non-compliance with legal obligations relating to product safety, product compliance, or returns.
8. Seller policy
8.1. All artists must ship to all territories as found in the Artist Dashboard however, it remains optional to send to the EU & NI based on new GPSR regulation. It is compulsory for artists to state which territories they ship to in their Artist Seller Policy. Please see the below template for the seller policy:
8.2. All artworks are shipped from the ‘x’ and packaged in ‘x’. I ship to the UK, Europe, US and Canada and the rest of the world via an insured shipping service. Shipping fees are calculated at checkout and involve high quality handling. Customers are responsible for duties and taxes. Returns are accepted within 14 days of receiving the artwork. In this case, please email info@sotamarketplace.co to arrange. Please ensure the artwork is packaged and sent back in its original condition- if the artwork is damaged in transit, the return shipping fee will be covered (photo evidence must be sent to SOTA). If the artwork is not to a customer's liking, they are responsible for the return shipping fee and the return must be insured to the artwork's value. The SOTA customer service team will handle all communication regarding order queries, returns and refunds on behalf of their artists.
8.3. You will be responsible for complying with all legal, regulatory and any other obligations imposed on you by applicable law of the territories to which you will ship to, including all product laws of such territories such as the General Product Safety Regulations (the GPSR) in Europe. You will also be responsible for providing all relevant customs information to enable customers to pay the costs of any import duties, levies or taxes payable on international deliveries.
9. Content
When providing us with content (including causing content to be posted using our Services), you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual (or for the duration of any copyright or other rights in such content), irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicensable (through multiple tiers) right to use the content (including, without limitation, creating and using derivative works). We may in particular use your content, including any photographs you upload, for marketing and promotional purposes.
10. Sales and discounts
10.1. We may at any time launch a ‘flash sale’ on any artwork at our sole discretion. All discounts will be applied to the final selling price and SOTA commission will be taken from the discounted amount after the sale.
10.2. You may request bespoke discount codes to be created and applicable on any of your artwork, redeemable by customers. Please contact us if you wish to exercise your right to do so.
11. Data protection and privacy
11.1. Please read our privacy policy, located at sotamarketplace.co/pages/privacy-policy for details on how we process your personal information.
11.2. You will process the personal information of customers in accordance with all data protection law, including the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation, Assimilated Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (also known as the UK GDPR) and the United Kingdom Data Protection Act 2018, and all other analogous legislation elsewhere in the world applicable to you.
11.3. You will not communicate directly or attempt to make contract with any customer outside of SOTA, nor will you add any customer details to any external mailing lists.
11.4. You will indemnify us in full and on demand for any losses we suffer or incur as a result of any claim by any individual and/or fine or penalty imposed by any regulator arising in connection with your breach of any applicable data protection law.
12. Returns and change of mind
12.1. You acknowledge that in respect of consumer sales, consumers in the United Kingdom will have, and consumers outside the United Kingdom may have, 14 days from the delivery date to change their mind and cancel their order. This does not apply to bespoke or personalised items. SOTA will inform you if a consumer exercises this right to cancel. You must comply with your legal requirements in respect of a consumer exercising their right to change their mind.
12.2. If the consumer has already received their order, they must return the items within 14 days of telling us that they want to cancel their order. The deadline is met if the consumer sends the item back before the 14-day period has expired.
12.3. Items must be returned in a new and unused condition and, to the extent possible, in their original packaging. SOTA/you may make a deduction from the refund amount if the item has been handled in a way that has diminished the value of the item, or if such handling was beyond what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the items.
12.4. You will be responsible for the cost of any returns if the items are faulty or misdescribed. Otherwise, unless you state you will cover the cost of returns in any other scenario in your seller policy, the consumer is responsible for the cost of returning the items.
12.5. A full refund (including basic delivery charges) must be refunded as soon as possible. SOTA will handle the refund on your behalf.
12.6. For non-statutory returns and returns for non-consumer customers, you are able to create rules to automate returns and refunds under certain circumstances. You may remove or customise your returns preferences in their account settings within their artist dashboard. When an item is returned, to refund the buyer, (and provided the transaction was not processed via managed payments), you authorise SOTA to request to Shopify to reverse the refund amount (in the same or other currency). You will usually be responsible for return postage costs. The cost of return shipping for an item that is not as described is the seller's responsibility.
12.7. When a transaction is cancelled, you authorise SOTA to request Shopify to reverse the refund amount (in the same or other currency) from your bank account to the buyer. Where you are found at fault, we will notify you and charge the reimbursement amount to your chosen payment method, or invoice you for the reimbursement amount. You must have a payment method on file with SOTA. You may change this payment method by via the Artist Dashboard.
13. Correcting mistakes in payments
We reserve the right to fix any processing errors we discover.
14. Delivery options
Delivery is carried out by you. Delivery and tracking information can be sent to the customer via the Artist Dashboard once an order has been accepted. As a SOTA seller, you agree to send the artwork in the displayed condition, with safety packaging and as quickly as possible.
15. Liability
15.1. We try to keep SOTA and its Services safe, secure, and functioning properly, but we cannot guarantee the continuous operation of or access to our Services.
15.2. We will not be liable to you in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise for any indirect losses, or any of the following losses (whether direct or indirect): loss of data, loss of profits, loss of revenue, loss of business or business opportunity, goodwill, reputation or business interruption or for any losses which are not reasonably foreseeable by us arising, directly or indirectly from:
(a) your use of or your inability to use our Services;
(b) pricing, postage
(c) delays or disruptions in our Services;
(d) viruses or other malicious software obtained by accessing, or linking to, our Services;
(e) glitches, bugs, errors, or inaccuracies of any kind in our Services;
(f) damage to your hardware device from the use of any SOTA Service;
(g) the content, actions, or inactions of third parties, including items listed using our Services or the destruction of allegedly fake items;
(h) a suspension or other action taken with respect to your account or breach of our values
(i) the duration or manner in which your listings appear in search results
(j) your need to modify practices, content, or behaviour or your loss of or inability to do business, as a result of changes to these T&Cs or our policies.
15.3. You accept sole responsibility for the legality of your actions under laws applying to you and the legality of any items you list on any of our sites.
15.4. Although we use techniques that aim to verify the accuracy and truth of the information provided by our users, user verification on the internet is difficult. SOTA cannot and does not confirm, and is not responsible for ensuring, the accuracy or truthfulness of users' purported identities or the validity of the information which they provide to us or post on our sites.
15.5. Nothing in these T&Cs will limit or exclude our liability for fraudulent misrepresentation, for death or personal injury resulting from our negligence or the negligence of our agents or employees, or for any other liability that cannot be limited or excluded by law.
16. Indemnity
You will indemnify us in full and on demand for any losses or costs, including reasonable legal fees, we incur arising out of any breach by you of these T&Cs, your improper use of SOTA’s Services or your breach of any law or the rights of a third party.
17. General
17.1. If any provision of these T&Cs is held to be invalid, void or for any reason unenforceable, such provision shall be struck out and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.
17.2. You agree that we may at any time and without notice set-off any of the amounts held in SOTA user accounts held or controlled by you with any fees, charges or other amounts you owe us and (unless prevented by insolvency law). Our right to set-off means that we may deduct such fees, charges or other amounts mentioned in this paragraph from a SOTA credit balance held or controlled by you.
17.3. Our failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches. We do not guarantee we will take action against all breaches of these T&Cs.
17.4. If you have a dispute with one or more users, you release us (and our affiliates and subsidiaries, and our and their respective officers, directors, employees and agents) from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes.
17.5. We may amend these T&Cs at any time by email. All amended terms shall automatically be effective 30 days after they are initially posted. Your continued use of our Services after the effective date of these amended terms constitutes your acceptance of them. These T&Cs may not be otherwise amended except through mutual agreement by you and a SOTA representative authorised to do so. The policies posted on our sites may be changed from time to time.
17.6. No agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer or franchiser-franchisee relationship is intended or created by these T&Cs. A person who is not a party to these T&Cs has no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of these T&Cs, but this does not affect any right or remedy of a third party specified in these T&Cs or which exists or is available apart from that Act.
17.7. These T&Cs and all policies posted on our website are the entire agreement between you and SOTA and supersede all prior understandings and agreements of the parties.
18. Exhibitions
SOTA will take out public liability insurance for any exhibitions it holds in the UK. All works will be subject to our sales commission of 10% exclusive of transaction fees (subject to change if a third-party gallery has involvement with the exhibition, such commission to be agreed with you in advance). There will be no submission fees and artists are responsible for the delivery and pick-up of unsold work to and from an agreed address as set out by SOTA.