Marketplace Terms

These terms apply to everyone using the eCrate marketplace — the part of eCrate where merchants hire partners (influencers and marketers). They are in addition to the Terms of Service, which continue to apply.

1. What the marketplace is

eCrate introduces merchants and partners, records the deal they agree, and moves money between them. The commercial agreement is between the merchant and the partner. eCrate is not a party to it, does not employ partners, does not guarantee results, and does not vet the quality of anyone's work.

Partners are independent contractors. Nothing here creates an employment, agency, partnership, or joint-venture relationship, and each party is responsible for their own taxes.

2. Deals

A deal starts as an offer — a merchant may offer work to a partner, or a partner may pitch a merchant. An offer becomes binding only when the receiving party accepts it. Either party may withdraw an offer before acceptance, and a deal that is not accepted expires.

A deal records its terms: the commission rate, any one-time flat fee, and any limits on which products it covers. Those terms are fixed at acceptance — changing them means agreeing a new deal.

3. Commission

Where a deal carries a commission, it is calculated on the value of the products covered by the deal in a qualifying order, excluding tax, shipping, and any discount applied.

• Commission is withheld at the time the shopper is charged, so the merchant's settlement for that order already accounts for it.
• It matures 30 days after the order is paid. The waiting period exists so refunds and chargebacks land before money leaves the platform.
• A refunded or cancelled order reverses the commission it earned.

4. Attribution — whose sale is it?

An order is attributed to a partner when:

• the shopper arrived through that partner's tracked link within the last 30 days (last click wins — a more recent partner link replaces an older one); or
• the shopper used a discount code that belongs to that partner's deal.

Where both apply, the discount code wins. A partner's own purchases are never attributed to them, and only accepted, live deals attribute at all.

5. Flat fees and escrow

Where a deal carries a one-time flat fee, accepting the deal is what triggers payment: the merchant's card is charged at acceptance and eCrate holds the fee in escrow rather than passing it straight on.

• The merchant releases it by confirming the work was delivered.
• If they do neither, it auto-releases to the partner 14 days after the charge.
• Either party may raise a dispute before release. A disputed fee stays held until eCrate resolves it — by releasing it to the partner or refunding the merchant. eCrate's decision on a dispute is final as between the parties and does not affect any other right either of them has.

eCrate holding a fee does not make eCrate a bank, an escrow agent in the regulated sense, or a party to the underlying work. Held funds earn no interest.

6. Payouts

Partner earnings are paid out to the payout account the partner connects through our payment provider, whose own terms apply and whose identity and anti-money- laundering checks must be completed before any payout can be made.

• Payout runs are made monthly.
• A balance must have matured and reached the minimum payout threshold ([MINIMUM PAYOUT AMOUNT]) to be included; anything below it rolls into the next run.
• eCrate retains a platform fee ("rake") of [RAKE PERCENTAGE] of partner earnings. The published figure is the current rate and may change on reasonable notice.

Unclaimed or unpayable balances are handled under applicable unclaimed-property law.

7. What partners must do

Partners must:

• disclose the commercial relationship in every promotion, clearly and conspicuously, as required by the advertising rules where their audience is (in the US, the FTC's endorsement guidance);
• make only claims about a merchant's products that the merchant has authorized and that are true;
• not bid on the merchant's brand terms, spam, cookie-stuff, buy fake traffic, or drive traffic by any means the deal does not permit;
• not promote through unsolicited email or messaging; and
• own the rights to whatever they publish.

Breaching this section voids the commission on any affected order and may end the deal and the partner's marketplace access.

8. What merchants must do

Merchants must describe the work accurately, not withhold confirmation of delivered work in order to delay a fee, honour accepted deal terms, and supply partners with accurate product information and any assets the deal requires.

9. Suspension and removal

eCrate may suspend or remove a listing, a deal, or an account for breach of these terms, for fraudulent or manipulated attribution, or where a payment provider requires it. Where money is in escrow at the time, eCrate will resolve it under section 5 before closing the account.

10. Disputes between merchants and partners

eCrate's role in a dispute is limited to what it controls: releasing or refunding an escrowed fee, and reversing a commission. Anything beyond that — the quality of the work, a separate agreement between the parties — is between the merchant and the partner to resolve.

11. Changes and contact

We may update these terms on reasonable notice. Changes do not alter the terms of a deal already accepted. Questions: [MARKETPLACE CONTACT EMAIL].