CultureCloset terms and conditions.
These terms govern your use of CultureCloset. By making an account, listing a garment or buying something, you accept them. They are written to be read: if a clause here is unclear, that is our failure and we would like to hear about it.
Who we are, and what we are not
CultureCloset is a marketplace, operated from Lombard, Illinois, in the United States. Members list garments; other members buy them.
We are not the owner of the garments. When you buy, the agreement about that garment is between you and its seller. We provide the platform, take the payment, arrange the delivery, and decide disputes under a published rubric. We are not a party to the sale itself, and we do not warrant the condition, authenticity or fitness of a garment beyond what this agreement says we check.
Two words are used throughout. A SELLER is a member who lists a garment. A BUYER is a member who buys one. A member is usually both.
Who may use it
You must be 18 or over and able to enter a contract. You must give accurate information and keep it accurate. One person, one account.
We may ask you to verify your identity with a government document, and we ask it of anybody who is to be paid.
CultureCloset serves the United States. If you use it from elsewhere, you do so on your own initiative and you are responsible for your own local law.
Your account
Keep your sign-in to yourself. Tell us at once if you think somebody else has it. You are responsible for what happens under your account until you tell us.
If you list a garment
When you list, you confirm that:
- you own the garment and have it in your possession;
- your description, measurements, photographs and declared condition are honest;
- the declared value is what it would genuinely cost to replace;
- the packed weight you give is accurate, because delivery is priced from it;
- it is not counterfeit, stolen, or unlawful to send.
A designer claim may require authentication before the listing carries it.
You set your own price. You are responsible for sending a clean, wearable garment that matches its listing, and for sending it promptly once it has been bought.
If you hold several identical pieces, say how many. Each sale takes one off the shelf, and the listing shows a buyer how many are left.
If you buy a garment
You agree to give an accurate delivery address, and to tell us promptly if the garment arrives damaged, late, or not as described, so that the record shows it was not you.
A purchase is yours. There is no deposit, no return date and no inspection.
What an order does
Placing an order reserves the garment and takes payment. On payment:
- the garment is held for you and is no longer offered to anybody else;
- the delivery address is released to the seller so the parcel can be sent.
The seller marks it sent. You tap "It arrived" when it comes, which is what pays them. If you never tap it, the order counts as arrived a week after it was sent, so a seller is not left waiting on somebody who has stopped opening the app.
What you pay, and what we charge
Buyers pay two things, and each is shown separately before you pay:
- **the price of the garment**, set by its seller;
- **delivery**, at the carrier's price with nothing added. A delivery price shown to you is held for one hour and you pay what you were shown.
We charge buyers no fee of our own.
Sellers pay a commission of **15% of a sale**, deducted from what they receive and shown before a listing is published. It may change on notice.
**Nothing else is deducted. If you list a garment at $200, you receive $170.**
You do not pay the card processing fee: it is never deducted from your share. You do not pay the postage either: the buyer pays it at checkout and we buy the label with their money, so that every parcel is tracked and neither of you pays anything at the counter.
The commission is charged on the price of the garment and never on the delivery, and what a buyer pays for postage is what the carrier charged, with nothing added.
Sales tax is added where the law requires it, shown as tax and paid to the authority rather than kept by us.
Payments and payouts are handled by Stripe. To be paid, you will complete Stripe's own onboarding and accept its terms; we never see your bank details or your full card number.
Your share is sent once the garment has reached the buyer, or a week after you marked it sent, whichever comes first. You never have to ask for it: it is paid automatically. Card payments take a couple of working days to clear, so your payout is tied to the order it came from and released as soon as that money has settled; Stripe then pays your bank on its own schedule. A payout is held only while a dispute is open on the order or the buyer's bank is disputing the payment.
Delivery, and the date that matters
You tell us your event date, and we do not offer a delivery service that cannot reach you before it with room to spare. Carriers still fail. If a parcel is late, tell us; we will help and, where the fault is ours or the carrier's, we will make it right.
Every parcel is tracked. Garments worth **$500 or more** travel with two things added: somebody must sign for the parcel, and it is insured with the carrier for the seller's declared value. Both cost money and both are included in the delivery price you are shown before you pay.
That threshold is the DECLARED VALUE OF THE GARMENT, which is what it would cost to replace, and never the price of your order. What is at stake if a parcel is lost is the garment.
Cancellation and refunds
The cancellation policy is a document of its own, published alongside these terms, and it is shown to you before you pay. In short: an order can be cancelled and refunded in full at any time before the seller sends it, a seller may refund you after that and before they have been paid out, and a made-to-order drop that misses its promised date refunds itself from your order page.
Your rights in law are not affected by anything in that policy or in these terms.
Disputes about a garment
If a garment does not arrive, or is not what was described, tell us. Disputes are decided on the condition evidence recorded before it was sent, which is why a seller is asked to photograph a garment every time. A decision cannot exceed the declared value.
When money is owed
If an award or a refund exceeds what we are holding, the remainder is a debt.
We may pursue it, place it with a collection agency, or sell it to a purchaser of debt. If we do, we will transfer with it the information needed to identify you and prove the debt, as set out in the privacy policy. We would rather it be written here than come as a surprise.
Drops
A drop is a limited release with a window, sizes and quantities: you pay when you order, and the maker ships either from stock or after making it, on the date stated before you pay. If a made-to-order drop passes its promised date and the grace period after it without shipping, you may take a full refund from your order page.
Custom orders
Where offered, a custom order is made by tailors we engage, not by another member. Price and date are quoted before you accept. Nothing is charged until you do.
What may not be listed or done here
Do not list:
- anything you do not own or do not have in your possession;
- counterfeit goods, or anything sold as a designer piece that is not;
- weapons, hazardous goods, or anything unlawful to post;
- anything you have altered in a way the listing does not disclose.
Do not use CultureCloset to:
- harass, threaten, impersonate or discriminate against anybody;
- take a transaction off the platform in order to avoid its protections, its fees or its record;
- post content that is unlawful, hateful, explicit, or somebody else's to post;
- interfere with the service, scrape it, or attempt to reach data that is not yours;
- open more than one account, or open one after we have closed yours.
Messages between members
Messages are for arranging a sale. Contact details are hidden from the other person until an order is placed. We may read a conversation that is reported to us, and we keep messages while they may be needed to resolve a dispute.
Photographs and other things you post
You keep ownership of your photographs and your words. You give us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, display and reproduce them on CultureCloset and in material promoting the marketplace, for as long as the listing exists and for a reasonable period afterwards. You confirm you have the right to give that licence.
Uploaded images may be checked automatically before they are shown. An image the check refuses is not published; tell us if you think that is wrong and a person will look.
What belongs to us
The CultureCloset name, logo, wordmark, the design of the site and the software behind it are ours. Nothing in these terms gives you a right to use them beyond using the service as intended.
Suspending or closing an account
We may restrict, suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, is used to defraud another member, or is the subject of an unresolved dispute. Where we can, we will say why.
You may close your account at any time. Closing it does not end an obligation already outstanding: an order already paid for must still be sent, and a debt is still owed.
What we do not promise
The service is provided as it is. We do not promise it will be uninterrupted or free of error. We do not promise that a garment will fit, that a photograph is a perfect likeness, or that another member will behave well, though we do act when they do not.
To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss. Where we are liable, our liability to you for any claim is limited to the greater of the amount you paid on the transaction it concerns and one hundred dollars. Nothing here limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited, including for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by negligence.
Your responsibility to us
If you break these terms and that costs us money, including a claim brought by another member because of what you did, you will cover that cost.
The law, and where disputes go
These terms are governed by the law of the State of Illinois, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. Disputes go to the state and federal courts sitting in DuPage County, Illinois, and you and we both agree to that.
Nothing stops either of us from bringing a claim in a small claims court where it belongs.
Changes
We may change these terms. The version in force when you ordered governs that order. Material changes are notified, and continuing to use CultureCloset after they take effect is acceptance.
Contact
support@culturecloset.app
CultureCloset, Lombard, Illinois, United States.
The version that applies to an order is the one stored with that order, not this one. Publishing a new version never changes terms somebody has already agreed to.