African Shops Terms of Use

Thanks for using African Shops Market Place.
African Shops UK is a leading online marketplace for selling and buying afro-Caribbean products. Our web services bring online shopping to your doorstep, giving you the best way to shop your everyday organic and authentic Afro-Caribbean products with ease.

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) hold the rules and limitations that govern your use of our website(s), products, services, and applications (the “Services”). Please understand the Terms of Use thoroughly, and if you have any questions, remarks, or concerns regarding these Terms or the Services, please contact us at contact@africanshops.co.uk.
These Terms of Use(“Terms”) are a compulsory contract between you and Linkbase Services Ltd (also known for trade as “African Shops”) if your regular residence is within the United Kingdom and European Economic Area
If you are an established residence outside UK, you contract with Linkbase Services Ltd and the applicable terms are here.

1) Declaration
a) In these terms of use, we attribute to “Linkbase Services Ltd (No. 09916757)” or its trading brands as “we “or “us.” We refer to end-users as “you” and the entities that list and sell items as “Merchants.”
b) The Marketplace website enables sellers (“Merchants”) to set up stores that list and sell items to end-users. When you buy an item, the contract for sale is solely between you and the Merchant. That means that when you purchase an item on the africanshops.co.uk website, you are purchasing from the Merchant who listed the item. The Merchant is responsible for fulfilling your order.

2) Acceptance of Contract
a) You can obtain, save, and print out the current Terms of Use during the registration process and at any other time on our website. We do not store this contract text after the conclusion of the contract.
b) Linkbase Services Ltd is your contract associate when using the Services. To make full use of the Services, including inspecting and purchasing items listed on africanshops.co.uk, you must create an account (“Register”). If you buy things, the Merchant is your contractual partner for the purchase.

c) You make a binding offer for the use of the services by registering. Registration happens when you supply an e-mail address and a password or sign up using social media accounts like Facebook or Google, including allowing us to access specific data associated with your social network account.

d) The agreement for the use of our services is concluded when we mail a welcome message to the e-mail address you provided to us as part of the registration process (“Conclusion of Contract”) after receipt of your offer. This confirmation e-mail represents our acceptance of your offer.

e) Payment processing services for Sellers and Buyers on africanshops.co.uk platform are provided by Stripe and are subject to the Stripe Connected Account Agreement, which includes the Stripe Terms of Service (collectively, the “Stripe Services Agreement”). By agreeing to these terms of use or continuing to operate as a Seller or Buyer on africanshops.co.uk marketplace, you agree to be bound by the Stripe Services Agreement, as the same may be modified by Stripe from time to time. As a condition of africanshops.co.uk enabling payment processing services through Stripe, you agree to provide africanshops.co.uk platform  accurate and complete information about you and your business, and you authorise African Shops UK, Linkbase Services Ltd and africanshops.co.uk to share it and transaction information related to your use of the payment processing services provided by Stripe.

3) Our Services
a) Linkbase Services Ltd runs a marketplace that allows Merchants to boost their business, enables users to share purchase-related information, and complete purchases. Merchants are liable for their stores, their items, item listings (including original or discounted prices), and the processing and shipping of your order. Merchants may be located in your country or region, or abroad. If they are located abroad, this may affect taxes, customs, or the applicability of consumer protection or data protection rules.

b) Each final price is defined by or based on a price supplied by the Merchant submitting an item for sale. Merchants provide the other information in the item listings, including any special offers. Merchants are obligated to deliver accurate information, but Linkbase Services Ltd cannot guarantee the truth or accuracy of the information in item listings.

c) Although we are not a party to the contract formed between you and a Merchant when you make a purchase, we may assist with payment processing, returns, refunds, and other customer services. Linkbase Services Ltd does not guarantee
(i) the reality, quality, safety, appropriateness, or legality of any Merchant items or item listings;
(ii) (ii) the truth or correctness of any item descriptions or other content provided by Merchants;
(iii) the truth or accuracy of ratings, reviews, or other User Generated Contents; or
(iv) the performance or conduct of any Merchant or third party. Except if we indicate otherwise, Linkbase Services Ltd does not guarantee any Merchant, item, or item listing. You should make any investigation you feel is appropriate before making a purchase from a Merchant. Please read labels, warnings and directions provided with a purchased item before using it.

4) Your Rights and Responsibilities
a) You are not authorized to use the Services if: (a) You are located in a country fully embargoed by the United Kingdom; you can find an up-to-date list of such countries and/or Nationals here; or (b) you have previously been banned from using any of the Services, unless Linkbase Services Ltd has reversed that ban, in its sole discretion.

b) You may be required to create an account and select a password and user name. You agree to provide us with accurate, complete, and updated information about yourself. Where Linkbase Services Ltd requires that you provide an e-mail address, you are responsible for supplying Linkbase Services Ltd with your most current e-mail address. You are obliged to keep your registration information, including your e-mail address, and inform us about changes without undue delay by updating this information in your user account. You must not select a name for your user name that you don’t have the right to use, or another person’s name with the intent to impersonate that person. You must not transfer your account to anyone else without our prior written permission.

c) Any message or content publicly posted or privately transmitted through the Services is the sole liability of the person from whom such information or material originated. You access all such information and content at your own risk.
d) You are liable for all content you share, in any manner, to the Services, and you express and guarantee you have all the necessary rights to do so, in the way in which you contribute.
e) Our web service may include links or connections to third-party websites or services that are not owned or controlled by Linkbase Services Ltd. When you access third party websites or use third-party services, you accept that there are risks in doing so. We encourage you to be aware when you visit 3rd party websites via our marketplace website and to read the Terms of Use and privacy policy of each third-party website or service that you visit or utilize.
f) Linkbase Services Ltd has no control over the content, accuracy, privacy policies, or practices of or opinions expressed in any third-party websites or by any third party that you interact with through the Services. Besides, Linkbase Services Ltd will not and cannot monitor, verify, judge or edit the content of any third-party website or service.
g) Your interactions with organizations and/or individuals found on or through our market place web services, including payment and delivery of goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such organizations and/or individuals. You should make whatever investigation you feel is necessary or appropriate before proceeding with any of these third parties.
h) If there is a dispute solely between participants on this site, or solely between users and a third party, you agree that Linkbase Services Ltd is under no obligation to become involved.

5) Guidelines for Usage and Limitations
a) You may only use the Services for your own subjective and personal use, and not on behalf of or for the advantage of any third party, and only in a way that complies with applicable Linkbase Services Ltd policies and all laws that apply to you. If any applicable laws prohibit your use of the Services (including the purchase of any items on the Services), then you aren’t allowed to use the Services.
b) You may not distribute your account or password with anyone, and you must preserve the security of your account and your password. You must report to Linkbase Services Ltd immediately through e-mail (contact@africanshops.co.uk) or by post of any unapproved use of your password or any other violation of the security of your account. You’re responsible for any action linked with your account.
c) You must not create multiple accounts, and you must not let others use your account.
d) Any lottery, contests, sweepstakes, reviews, competitions, or similar promotions (collectively, “Promotions”) made available through our Sites may be governed by rules that are separate from these Terms of Use. If the laws for a Promotion conflict with these Terms of Use, the Promotion rules will govern.
e) When entering our website and using the Services, you agree to:
i. Dwell by all laws, rules, regulations, these Terms of Use, and all Linkbase Services Ltd policies;
ii. Only buy items you are legally able to buy in your jurisdiction;
iii. Only use the Services through interfaces provided by African Shops.
iv. Comply with the instructions in any robots.txt file present on the Services.
f) When accessing or using the Services, you agree not to:
i. Violate or infringe the intellectual property rights or any other titles of anyone else (including Linkbase Services Ltd);
ii. Violate these Terms of Use, Linkbase Services Ltd policies, or any law or regulation, including any applicable export control laws;
iii. Engage in an activity that is misleading, intimidating, libelous or offensive;
iv. Evade any terms, policies or rules set forth on the Services including those relating to any promotion, contest or program on the Services;
v. Harvest personal data from users of the Services or use any such information found on the Services;
vi. Engage in an activity that endangers the security of your account or anyone else’s (such as allowing someone else to log in to the Services as you);
vii. Try, in any manner, to obtain the password, account, or other security information from any other user;
viii.Use a third party’s credentials, conceal your true IP address or identity, or otherwise impersonate or falsify your identity and affiliation with any person or entity;
ix. Violate the security of any computer network, or crack any passwords or security encryption codes;
x. Use Maillist, Listserv and any form of auto-responder or “spam” on the Services, or any processes that run and cause a denial of service to our website.
xi. activate any process on our web site while you are not logged into the Services, or that otherwise interfere with the proper working of the Services (including by placing an unreasonable load on the Services’ infrastructure);
xii. “Creep,” “scrape,” or “spider” any page, data, or portion of or relating to the Services or Content (through use of manual or automated means);
xiii.Use malicious code to disrupt our web services or gain unauthorized access to restricted contents
xiv. Venture to do anything, or permit, encourage, assist, or allow any third party to do anything, prohibited in this list of items, or attempt, permit, encourage, assist, or allow any other violation of these Terms.

6) Intellectual Properties and Contents
a) The stocks or services listed through our web services, including, but not limited to, links, writings, graphics, data, articles, photos, images, illustrations, User Generated Contents are protected by copyright and/or other intellectual property laws. You agree to abide by all copyright declarations, trademark rules, information, and restrictions contained in any Content you access through the Services, and you won’t use, copy, duplicate, change, translate, distribute, broadcast, transfer, share, perform, upload, exhibit, license, sell or otherwise misuse for any purpose any Content not owned by you,
(i) without the prior consent of the copyright owner and/or
(ii) in a way that infringes someone else’s (including Linkbase Services Ltd’s) rights.
b) AFRICAN SHOPS UK logo is a trademark of Linkbase Services Ltd Inc., registered in the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Organisation.
c) You understand that Linkbase Services Ltd owns or licenses the Services. You may not modify, reprint, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce (except as expressly provided in this Section), create derivative works based on, or otherwise exploit any of our web services.
d) Subject to your compliance with these Terms of Use, including payment of any applicable fees, Linkbase Services Ltd grants you limited but restricted access to contents o our web services. Linkbase reserves the right to revoke this access when any aspect of this Terms of Use is deemed violated by you.

7) Fees and Charges
a) It is free to access and browse the African Shops UK Marketplace websites and other aspects of the Services. However, you may choose to purchase items through our website from Merchants, and you alone will be responsible for paying the purchase price of any items you buy, in addition to any applicable taxes and shipping costs, if any. Linkbase Services Ltd is not your contract partner when purchasing items from Merchants. As tax rules develop, Linkbase Services Ltd may calculate and collect taxes applicable to some purchases. See our Tax Policy page for additional information. In the event a Merchant needs to make a change to your order, Linkbase Services Ltd will attempt to notify you by contacting the e-mail address, billing address, and/or phone number provided at the time the order at the Merchant was made.
b) By verifying your purchase at the end of the checkout process, you agree to pay the applicable fees as well as any shipping and handling charges or the appropriate taxes. You must appropriately pay all fees or amounts associated with your use of the Services.

c) Some products or services may be available for pickup or delivered at a physical location near you. See the Pickup Policy for additional details and restrictions.

d) Third-Party Checkout Service – When you purchase goods through the Services, we may direct you through a checkout process operated by third parties, such as Stripe or Paypal. Use of Stripe or Paypal services is subject to your consent to the Stripe or Paypal Terms of Use. By purchasing goods through Stripe or Paypal on the Marketplace website, you agree to Stripe or Paypal Terms of Use, a link to which is provided below:
https://stripe.com/gb/ssa
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/trialtermsandconditions

8) Ratings, Reviews, and Feedbacks
a) Linkbase Services Ltd lets you generate ratings and reviews, photos, videos or other content about items and stores on the Marketplace website. These ratings/reviews are called Feedbacks. Feedbacks are for other users or buyers to gain a meaningful picture of the items or the store.
b) Feedback should contain accurate data. Feedback must be under the law and may not violate the rights of third parties, particularly personal rights, trademark rights or copyrights, and data protection regulations. You agree: (i) to base any rating or review you post only on your first-hand experience with the applicable business, product, or service; (ii) you will not provide a rating or consideration for any company, product, or assistance for which you have an ambitious, control or other economic interest, trade relationship or other affiliation; (iii) you will explicitly indicate if your review was sponsored or paid for in any way; and (iv) your review will comply with these Terms.
c) Any use of the feedback system against the preceding paragraphs is forbidden. You are not allowed to include in Feedback information unrelated to the performance of the underlying item, store or contract or from using feedback for any purpose other than the evaluation of the item or the store.
d) If you violate the feedback system, Linkbase Services Ltd is empowered to remove the feedback taking your legal interests into account, in particular your right to freedom of expression. This applies particularly if:
e) Linkbase Services Ltd is legally obliged to remove the feedback, e.g. due to a court ruling
f) the feedback contains obscene, offensive, racist, not youth-free, or criminal sense provoking statements
i) the feedback contains personal data, e.g. name, address, telephone number and/or e-mail address
g) the feedback contains inappropriate links or scripts, e.g. with harmful content
h) the feedback contains inappropriate advertising for third parties

i) the feedback for items contains irrelevant information not related to the item, e.g. customer service of the store, shipping of the item, or site usability issues.
j) Ratings and reviews and photos, videos or other content about items and stores (“Feedback”) posted by users on our Services are User Generated Contents that are not endorsed by Linkbase Services Ltd and do not represent the views of Linkbase Services Ltd. Linkbase Services Ltd does not assume liability for ratings and reviews or for any claims for economic loss resulting from such ratings and reviews. We reserve the right to exclude such feedback for any reason or no reason, without notice to you. For example, we may exclude feedback if we determine, in our sole discretion, that any rating or review could diminish the integrity of the ratings and reviews.

9) Contents Generated By Users
a) Anything you post, upload, share, store, or otherwise provide through the Services is a “User Generated Content.” User Generated Contents may include suggestions, comments, ideas, improvements, or other feedback or materials, and may be viewable by other users. To display your User Generated Contents on our marketplace, and to allow other users to enjoy them (where applicable), you grant us certain rights in those User Generated Contents.
b) For all User Generated Contents, you at this moment grant Linkbase Services Ltd free of charge a royalty-free, continuous, non-exclusive, interchangeable, sub-licensable, worldwide permission to use, store, exhibit, reproduce, save, modify (e.g. for technical purposes, such as making sure your submission is viewable on an iPhone, android and as well as a computer), create derivative works, perform, distribute, translate or otherwise act with respect to such User Generated Contents as we determine is necessary to operate, market and advertise the Services, including to present display or perform such User Generated Content following your preferences.
c) Linkbase Services Ltd will be free to practice, disclose, reproduce, modify, consent, transfer, and otherwise distribute and exploit the User Generated Contents in any manner. Please do not generate content on our marketplace website if you do not agree with 7.3 section of these terms of use.

10) Formal Communications
Notices or declarations can be made in text form , including by e-mail. The communication between Linkbase Services Ltd and you takes place electronically, e.g. by e-mails, texts, mobile push notices, or notices and messages on the Services. If you intends to provide Linkbase Services Ltd formal legal notice via e-mail, the message(s) must be sent to legals@africanshops.co.uk and must include the words “Legal Notice” in the subject line.

11) Privacy
Our Privacy Policy provides data regarding how we collect, use and disclose personal data, including with Merchants. Please review the Privacy Policy for details.

12) Copyrights
With regards to intellectual property rights, and we hold the freedom to remove or disable content alleged to be violating such intellectual property rights, and to cancel the accounts of repeat alleged violators.

13) Warranty
a) Your statutory warranty rights apply to the Services and items purchased on our marketplace site.
b) Where applicable, evidence of purchases made will be requested by us or Merchant and you are responsible for the regular storage of any data or information obtained through the Services.

14) Liabilities and Limitation of Responsibilities
a) To the extent permitted by applicable law, Linkbase Services Ltd limits its liability for:
(i) your use of the Services, including any downtime or periods of unavailability;
(ii) products, information or other content provided by third parties;
(iii) the use of products purchased from Merchants; or (iv) any indirect, consequential or special damages. If Linkbase Services Ltd has any liability to you, then to the extent permitted by applicable law you agree that:
1. you shall take reasonable measures to limit any damages incurred; and
2. Linkbase Services Ltd’s liability shall be limited to those damages that were a foreseeable and direct result of its conduct. Except for liability for death or personal injury caused by Linkbase Services Ltd, Linkbase Services Ltd’s liability shall not exceed the greater of (i) the aggregate amount of your purchases on the Marketplace website s in the six (6) months preceding the event on which your claim is based; or (ii) GBP £200.
b) If your habitual residence is in United Kingdom, the following provisions apply regarding Linkbase Services Ltd’s liability (if any). To the extent there is a conflict between the following provisions and the other provisions of this Section 19, the following provisions shall control:
i) Linkbase Services Ltd is liable for intentional or gross negligence as well as for injury to life, body or health caused by its conduct.
ii) In an event of slight negligence, Linkbase Services Ltd is liable only for breaches of a material contractual obligation. A material contractual obligation in the meaning of this provision is an obligation whose fulfilment makes the implementation of this contract possible in the first place and of which the contractual partner may therefore generally rely.
iii) In a case where Linkbase Services Ltd is liable according to clause 14.b(ii), (i) Linkbase Services Ltd is not liable for any lack of commercial success, lost profits and indirect damages; (ii) Linkbase Services Ltd’s liability is limited to the typical and foreseeable damages at the time the agreement was concluded and you agree to take reasonable measures to mitigate any damages that you incur; and (iii) In the event of loss of data the liability of Linkbase Services Ltd is limited to the costs that would have been incurred if you had properly backed up the data.
iv) These limits on liability apply where things changed as expected to the benefit of the employees, agents and indirect agents of Linkbase Services Ltd.
c) Any mandatory liability on the part of Linkbase Services Ltd is unaffected by this section 14.

15) Cancellations, Refunds, Returns & Exchanges
a) We desire you to be satisfied with your purchase on the Services. Therefore, following our Refund & Returns Policy, we offer you an exceptional opportunity for refunds and returns if you have a problem with an order or purchase. However, this does not limit your statutory withdrawal or warranty rights with the Merchant from which you bought your items. Please get in touch using the process detailed in our Refund & Returns Policy.
b) You agree that:
(i) Linkbase Services Ltd may, per its Refund & Returns Policy, issue a refund to resolve any problems with your order, including the contents of an item listing or the item’s delivery or condition; and
(ii) if you wish to pursue any other remedy, you must seek that remedy directly from the relevant Merchant. Except as described in the Refund & Returns Policy, Linkbase Services Ltd cannot refund, compensate, cover, or otherwise be responsible for any fees not paid to Linkbase Services Ltd, including, without limitation, customs, taxes or VAT as well as any return shipping costs you may incur in a return or refund process.

16) Rewards, Credits, African Shops Cash and Coupons
You could gain from us or our web services rewards, credits, or African Shops Coupons. These may be used for discounts on or pay for eligible purchases made on the website. Rewards, credits, or African Shops Cash/vouchers cannot be redeemed for cash, except in jurisdictions where required by law. African Shops voucher is issued and may be used for purchases of goods or services on our website. The coupons, rewards, credits, and cash are not transferred.

17) Enforcement and Termination
a) This agreement runs for an indefinite period.
b) You are free to discontinue using the web services at any time. Any unpaid amounts you owe Merchants for items purchased will remain due. Linkbase Services Ltd is also open to terminate (or suspend access to) your use of the web services or your account, for any reason in our discretion, including your breach of these Terms upon two weeks’ notice.
c) The liberty to terminate this agreement for a good cause remains unaffected.
d) Account termination may result in the destruction of any User Generated Content or orders items associated with your account, so keep that in mind before you decide to terminate your account.

18) Buying and Selling Abroad
You must not use, export, import, or transfer the Services, including the purchase of any products on the Services except as authorized by United Kingdom law, the laws of the jurisdiction in which you used the Services or purchased any products on the Services, and any other applicable laws. In particular, but without limitation, the Services, including any products purchased on the Services, may not be exported or re-exported (a) into any United Kingdom embargoed countries, or (b) to anyone on the United Kingdom’s banned person list for receiving the associated services/products. By using the Services or purchasing products on the Services, you represent and warrant that (i) you are not located in a country that is subject to a United Kingdom Government embargo, or the UK Government has designated that as a “terrorist supporting” country and (ii) you are not listed on any UK Government list of prohibited or restricted parties. You also will not use the Services nor the products purchased on the Services for any purpose prohibited by national law applicable to you. You can find an up-to-date list of such countries and/or Nationals under https://www.gov.uk/guidance/current-arms-embargoes-and-other-restrictions

19) Force Majeure
a) Should either party to this contract be prevented from fulfilling their contractual obligations by force majeure such as listed
i) natural disasters,
ii) war,
iii) terrorism,
iv) industrial disputes,
v) disease epidemic/pandemic,
vi) sovereign orders or
vii) other circumstances
which are beyond their control or the prevention of which cannot be achieved with reasonable technical or economic effort, the parties are released from their contractual obligations as long as these circumstances and their consequences have not been finally eliminated. In all the cases, as mentioned above of release from performance, the parties are not entitled to claim damages unless the party declaring force majeure is at fault.

20) Consumer Complaints
The European Commission presents an online dispute resolution platform, which you can reach at http://ec.europa.eu/odr. Linkbase Services Ltd is not required or willing to engage in a litigation or dispute settlement procedure before a consumer arbitration body.

21) Disclaimer
Our reluctance to respond to a violation by you or others does not relinquish our right to act concerning subsequent or similar breaches.

22) Changes to Terms or Services
a) Linkbase Services Ltd has the right to change the contractually agreed services and these Terms if and to the extent that this is necessary for a valid reason that could not have been foreseen at the time the contract was concluded, and this change is reasonable for the user, in particular, because the relationship between performance and counter-performance does not significantly change to your disadvantage.
b) Linkbase Services Ltd will provide appropriate notice regarding changes to the Services or these Terms (“Terms of Use Updates”).
c) In the event of changes to the contractually agreed services and these Terms, you have the right to terminate this contract in text form at the time the changes take effect.
d) Changes to the contractually agreed services and these Terms are deemed approved by you if you do not expressly object to them after receipt of the Notice of Changes. Linkbase Services Ltd specifically draws your attention to this legal consequence, the commencement of the period, the period and the date on which the change takes effect. In the absence of such notice or if it is incomplete, the lack of objection does not constitute acceptance of the changes.
e) If you object to the changes, Linkbase Services Ltd has the right to terminate this contract in text form at the time the changes take effect.

23) Sundry
Should a particular provision or some provisions of these Terms wholly or partially violate mandatory law or be unenforceable or incompetent for other reasons, the remaining provisions remain unaffected.