Terms of service

1. Who we are

Flatbridge is a storefront platform for Jamaican merchants. We are not a retailer or merchant of record. When you place an order on a merchant’s storefront, you are hiring Flatbridge to buy the goods from that merchant on your behalf — we act as your shopping agent for the individual transaction.

Two merchant tiers: Merchants on Flatbridge are tiered as Trusted or Verified based on the depth of vetting we have completed:

• Verified — TRN registered with Tax Administration Jamaica, Companies Office of Jamaica record on file, business bank account confirmed.
• Trusted — government-ID identity verified, social-history attestation completed (active social-media tenure, physical-storefront verification, or vouching from an existing Verified merchant), live-contact test passed, fraud-check clean. No formal business registration.

The tier appears on every merchant page and on the product. It describes how thoroughly we have verified the business behind the shop. Buyer recourse with Flatbridge does not depend on the merchant’s tier — at either tier, you contact Flatbridge if anything goes wrong with the order, and we resolve it with the merchant.

2. The contract you are entering into

By placing an order on Flatbridge, you are engaging us as your agent for a single shopping run. You authorise us to pay a Jamaican merchant for the specified goods on your behalf, and to arrange delivery of those goods to you. We may carry out the delivery in either of two ways:

• Operator pickup: we collect the goods from the merchant, take brief possession of them for transit, and deliver to you (or arrange pickup with you).
• Direct courier: we arrange for a commercial courier to collect the goods from the merchant and deliver them to you. Flatbridge does not take physical possession of the goods in this case.

In both cases the agency relationship is the same: we are acting on your instructions, with the merchant’s sale being between you and the merchant — Flatbridge is not a party to that sale. Flatbridge’s contract with you is for the shopping service.

Your order is an offer to engage us. The contract is formed when Flatbridge sends an order-confirmation email. Until then, we may decline an order at our discretion, including for stock availability at the merchant, route limitations, or fraud-prevention reasons.

3. Pricing, currency, and the service fee

Each item displays a total price comprising (a) the merchant’s asking price for the goods and (b) our shopping service fee. The breakdown is shown at checkout. Prices default to JMD; diaspora buyers see prices converted to their card’s currency by Stripe at checkout.

Where applicable, sales tax / GCT on the merchant’s sale is collected by the merchant from us on your behalf and included in the goods cost line. Our service fee is for personal-shopping services rendered.

For diaspora buyers receiving items by international shipping, customs duties and import taxes may apply at the destination. These are the buyer’s responsibility unless explicitly collected at checkout.

4. Fulfilment — pickup and delivery

For local buyers, we either deliver to an agreed point or arrange pickup from us. We are not a courier service; delivery is included as part of the shopping run.

For diaspora buyers, we arrange international shipping by commercial courier (Knutsford, DHL, USPS, etc.) with tracking. Estimated transit times are estimates, not guarantees. Risk of loss in international transit passes once the courier accepts the parcel; we file claims with the courier on your behalf if anything is lost.

Direct-courier deliveries:for some items the merchant’s package goes directly from the merchant to you via a courier we arrange — without passing through Flatbridge first. The package’s shipping label and the customs paperwork (for international shipments) name the merchant as the shipper, since that is who handed the package to the courier. Your contract with Flatbridge — and your recourse if anything goes wrong — is unchanged: contact us and we resolve it with the merchant.

5. Returns and refunds

See our returns and disputes policy for full terms, including the return window, who pays return shipping, and how chargebacks are handled.

6. Catalogue accuracy and tier-specific scope

Each merchant’s catalogue lists items the merchant has offered to sell through their Flatbridge storefront. Photography and descriptions are the merchant’s. As your agent, our responsibility is to verify the item matches the catalogue listing before completing the purchase on your behalf — if we find a material mismatch at the merchant, we contact you before charging.

Tier-specific scope:The Verified tier attests to the merchant’s formal business registration (TRN + Companies Office of Jamaica) at time of listing. The Trusted tier attests to identity confirmation and social-history validation but does not attest to formal business registration. Both tiers receive the same buyer recourse from Flatbridge.

Warranties on the goods themselves are between you and the merchant. To the extent permitted by law, Flatbridge disclaims warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose on goods we shop for you, except as provided by mandatory consumer-protection law in your jurisdiction.

7. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Place orders with the intent to fraudulently chargeback.
• Resell Flatbridge products commercially without our written agreement.
• Use the site to violate any applicable law.
• Attempt to circumvent rate limits, security controls, or access other users’ data.

8. Limitation of liability

To the extent permitted by law, Flatbridge’s aggregate liability for any claim arising out of an order is limited to the amount you paid for that order. Nothing in these terms limits liability for fraud, willful misconduct, or any liability that cannot be limited under applicable consumer-protection law, including the Quebec Consumer Protection Act and the Canadian federal Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act.

9. Merchants

If you are applying as a Flatbridge merchant, your relationship with us is governed by a separate merchant agreement that covers the storefront platform terms, settlement, our service fee, and the tier-vetting process. These site terms do not constitute that merchant agreement.

10. Account and termination

You may close your buyer account at any time. We may suspend or terminate access for breach of these terms, suspected fraud, or risk to other users. Open orders at the time of termination will be honoured or refunded.

11. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. Material changes will be communicated by email to registered users at least 30 days before they take effect for orders placed after that date. Orders already placed are governed by the terms in effect at the time of order.

12. Governing law and jurisdiction

These terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Quebec and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein. Disputes will be heard in the courts of the judicial district of Montreal, without prejudice to any mandatory consumer-protection rules in your jurisdiction.

A French-language version of these terms will be made available in accordance with applicable Quebec law.

13. Contact

Questions about these terms can be sent to the contact email posted on Flatbridge.