Buyer Policy

This policy is a part of our Terms of Use. By shopping on MERCABL, you're agreeing to this policy and our Terms of Use.

1. Understanding the Role of MERCABL and its Limitations as a Marketplace
2. Communicating with Other Members on MERCABL
3. Purchasing an Item on MERCABL
4. Leaving a Review of an Item
5. Creating and Uploading Content
6. Reporting a Problem with an Order or Returning an Item

1. Understanding the Role of MERCABL and its Limitations as a Marketplace

It's important to note that MERCABL does not take part in the transaction between you and the seller. When you buy on MERCABL, you acknowledge that:

1. You are purchasing from one of the many sellers on MERCABL, rather than directly from MERCABL.
2. MERCABL can't guarantee any items sold on MERCABL, or any content posted by sellers, as we do not pre-screen any of the items listed on MERCABL.
3. Each seller on MERCABL sets their own processing times, shipping options, and shop policies. Read the listings carefully.
4. If you supply any materials for a custom order, you bear full responsibility for the suitability and legality of those materials.

If you encounter an item or shop you believe violates our guidelines, you can confidentially report it to MERCABL for further review.

2. Communicating with Other Members on MERCABL

Messages

MERCABL's Messages (or simply, “Messages”) feature allows you to communicate directly with sellers or other members. Using Messages is a great way to inquire about products or orders. However, you must not use Messages to:

1. Send unsolicited promotions, spam, or requests for donations.
2. Harass or abuse another member or otherwise violate our policies on discrimination or hateful content.
3. Continue contacting someone after they have explicitly asked you to stop.
4. Disrupt or interfere with another member's transaction or business.
5. Exchange personal contact, financial, or other details intended to facilitate an off-platform transaction (such as phone numbers, addresses, emails, social media usernames, external URLs, money transfer instructions, or QR codes).

Always exercise caution when sharing personal information beyond what is strictly necessary to complete an order.

Interference

Interference refers to any deliberate attempt to disrupt another user's shops on MERCABL, and it's strictly prohibited. Examples of interference include:

1. Messaging another member to discourage them from buying from a particular shop or seller.
2. Discuss a personal dispute with another member in public areas.
3. Making a purchase solely for the purpose of leaving negative feedback.
4. Maliciously clicking on a competitor's sponsored listings to deplete their advertising budget (“click fraud”).

Harassment and Discrimination

Harassment of any kind toward other members is strictly forbidden. Communications must also not endorse hatred or violate our rules regarding hateful or discriminatory content. If you encounter any message that breaches these guidelines, please notify us immediately so we can take the appropriate steps.

3. Purchasing an Item on MERCABL

By making a purchase from a shop on MERCABL, you agree that you have:

1. Read the full item description and shop policies before placing an order.
2. Ensure you submit the correct payment for the selected item(s); and
3. Provided accurate delivery information to the seller to avoid delays or issues with your order.

Payment providers and processing times

MERCABL Payments uses Stripe to securely process all transactions on our platform.

When purchasing from sellers using MERCABL Payments, buyers may authorise a payment with any major credit or debit card accepted by Stripe, through Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Klarna, or other payment methods supported by Stripe in their region.

Payment processing times vary based on your location and chosen payment method.

By choosing any of these payment methods, you acknowledge that you may be subject to the respective third-party service agreements in addition to Stripe's and MERCABL's own Terms.

Sharing of Personal Data

To facilitate your purchase, MERCABL may share relevant personal and transactional details with Stripe and other payment providers solely for payment processing. For a detailed overview of how we collect, use, and share personal information, please refer to our Privacy Policy.

Insufficient Funds

If your payment method is declined or there are insufficient funds, MERCABL reserves the right to either contact you directly for an alternative payment method or cancel the transaction.

Off-Platform Transactions

To maintain a secure marketplace and prevent fraud, all purchases must be completed through the MERCABL checkout system. Transactions made outside of MERCABL are not eligible for dispute resolution through our case system.

It is strictly prohibited to share contact details or QR codes with the intent of facilitating off-platform transactions. To discuss order details with a seller, please use MERCABL Messages to ensure transparency and security.

4. Leaving a Review of an Item

Reviews help foster trust in MERCABL by providing valuable insights for future buyers and helping sellers build their reputation.

Buyers can leave a review with a one to five-star rating, and may include a photo or video of their purchase.

Reviews can be submitted within 100 days from the item's estimated fufillment date.

During this 100-day period, buyers can edit their review, including modifying the rating, text, and any attached media, an unlimited number of times.

Reviews and any accompanying content will be publicly displayed on the seller's listing and review pages.

By submitting a review, buyers agree that their content must adhere to MERCABL's policies, including rules for Creating and Uploading Content in Section 5.

• Contain explicit, graphic, or inappropriate language, imagery, or content restricted under our Nudity & Sexual Content Policy
• Criticize elements outside the seller's control, such as shipping carriers, MERCABL policies, or third-party services
• Involve fake reviews, review manipulation, or fraudulent attempts to artificially boost ratings (shilling)
• Disrupt or undermine the integrity of MERCABL's review system

By uploading a video or photograph to MERCABL, you confirm that:

• You either own the content or have obtained the necessary rights or permission to use it.
• You understand that, as outlined in MERCABL's Terms of Use, MERCABL has the right to use, display, and distribute any content you submit.

If a review violates MERCABL's Terms of Use, sellers can report it for review.

Sellers may respond to reviews, but all responses must also comply with this policy.

We reserve the right to remove any review, video, or photograph that breaches our policies or Terms of Use.

5. Creating and Uploading Content

As a MERCABL member, you may create and share content such as listings, messages, text, photos, and videos. However, all content must be used in a manner that aligns with our policies and community standards.

Members must not misuse MERCABL features (such as Messages, Favourites, or Collections) to manipulate, misrepresent, or engage in inappropriate conduct.

To maintain a safe and inclusive community, you agree not to upload or share content that:

1. Contains hateful, discriminatory, or offensive language or imagery in violation of our Discrimination and Hateful Content Policy
2. Threatens, harasses, or engages in extortion, or violates our Interference Policy
3. Infringes on another party's intellectual property rights
4. Is intentionally false, misleading, or deceptive
5. Includes spam, unsolicited promotions, or donation requests
6. Reveals private or sensitive personal information (either your own or someone else's)
7. Encourages or facilitates transactions outside of MERCABL
8. Makes prohibited claims about medical drugs or treatments
9. Depicts or sexualizes minors under the age of 18
10. 1Violates any guidelines outlined in our Prohibited Items Policy

6. Reporting an Order Issue or Returning an Item

Contact the Seller First

If you encounter a problem with your order, your initial step should be to reach out to the seller. You can do this by selecting “Help with Transaction” in the Paid Invoices section of your Order. Please allow the seller up to 48 hours to address and potentially resolve the issue.

If the matter remains unresolved after that period, you may then use MERCABL's case system to alert MERCABL of an unresolved order issue in the event of non-delivery, late delivery, damage, or if an item you receive is not as described in the listing.

MERCABL's Case System

Although MERCABL does not directly participate in any transaction between buyers and sellers, we offer a case system to assist you if your order does not go as planned and you're unable to resolve the issue with the seller.

These issues may be eligible for MERCABL's Purchase Protection Programme. MERCABL reserves the exclusive right to determine whether a transaction qualifies for coverage under this programme.

Ineligible Transactions for MERCABL's case system

Unless required by law, some disputes don't qualify for MERCABL's case system. These include:

1. Items that have been altered, used, worn, washed, or discarded after receipt.
2. Items that are returned without a return agreement.
3. Items that are accurately described but don’t meet a buyer's expectations.
4. Cost of postage disputes.
5. Items that are purchased in person.
6. Transactions where payment is not processed by Stripe.
7. Disputes covered by local warranty or return laws applicable to a seller or their product

If a qualified case is escalated to MERCABL for review, we will evaluate it to the best of our ability. Please be prepared to provide additional documentation if requested.

If your transaction is deemed ineligible for the case system, or if MERCABL decides not to issue a refund, this does not affect any rights you may have against the seller from whom you purchased. Your legal rights remain intact.

By using MERCABL's case system, you acknowledge that MERCABL may use your personal information to help resolve disputes with other members. If you select a refund as your preferred outcome, note that MERCABL only supports on-platform refunds for up to 180 days after the transaction.

Once this 180-day period has passed, MERCABL cannot process on-platform refunds. However, you may still contact the seller directly to seek an off-platform resolution.

MERCABL's Purchase Protection Programme

Although most order concerns can be resolved directly with the seller, or items can be returned according to the seller's return policy, we believe you should always receive the item you ordered—or get your money back. If those expectations aren't met, MERCABL is here to help. Buyers may be entitled to a full refund for orders that never arrive, arrive late, arrive damaged, or are significantly different from the listing description.

Criteria to qualify for MERCABL's Purchase Protection Programme

You may receive a full refund, including all taxes and postage costs, if an order does not meet the following expectations:

• Items are delivered, and arrive when expected.

Each item must be dispatched by its expected fulfillment date, which is calculated based on the item's processing time and preferred shipping day, as informed by the shop at the moment of purchase.

Buyers can see the expected fulfillment date for each item in their invoice details.

Unless otherwise stated, shipments should arrive by the estimated delivery date window shown at checkout, and must be delivered to the address provided by the buyer at the time of purchase on MERCABL.

Updates to processing times or delivery address through Messages or other informal channels will not qualify for MERCABL's Purchase Protection programme.

Please note that if an item was dispatched and has a tracking number, you may be able to open a claim with the delivery company by contacting them directly.

Items that arrive late due to forces outside the seller's reasonable control, such as a carrier strike, natural disaster, war, civil unrest or similar force majeure event, as determined by MERCABL in its sole discretion, do not qualify for MERCABL's Purchase Protection Programme.

• Items arrive undamaged, and are packaged to withstand handling in transit.
• Items match the listing description.

Items received should not be significantly different from the listing description or photos. We may ask the buyer to provide us with documentation to demonstrate that the item is significantly different. Here are a few examples of qualifying scenarios:

• The item received is a different colour, model, version, or size.
• The item has a different design or material.
• The seller failed to disclose that an item is damaged or is missing parts.
• The buyer received the incorrect quantity of items (e.g., the buyer purchased three items but only received two).
• The item was advertised as authentic but is not authentic.
• The condition of the item is misrepresented (e.g., the item is described as new but is used).

If MERCABL determines that the above expectations are not met, the seller will be required to refund the order, including original postage and return postage.

If MERCABL decides the above expectations were not met, the seller will be required to issue a refund, including both original and return postage costs.

Certain exceptions may apply, subject to review by MERCABL's case system.

To be eligible, buyers must have a registered account in good standing (i.e., they are not violating any MERCABL policies). MERCABL, at its own discretion, may exclude any user found to be misusing this programme.

Eligible buyers must have a registered account on MERCABL in good standing (that means you're not violating any of MERCABL's policies). Abuse of this programme could result in programme exclusion at MERCABL's discretion.

Please note that MERCABL may modify, pause, or discontinue this programme at any time and for any reason, without liability for any resulting impact on you. You have no legal claim to coverage under the MERCABL Purchase Protection Programme.

Click here to learn more about cases and the Purchase Protection Programme

Refunds

Refunds will always be issued back to your original form of payment. Refunds can take up to 10 business days to show up in your account. If you doesn't see a credit or adjustment after 10 business days, reach out to us to obtain a refund tracking number.

Requesting a Cancellation

Only sellers are able to cancel transactions. Buyers may request an order cancellation by contacting the seller via Messages, but the final decision rests with the seller. All cancellations must comply with our Discrimination and Hateful Content Policy.

Returning an Item

Each seller sets their own return policy, which should be clearly outlined in their Shop Policies. Not all sellers accept returns, and return conditions may vary. For digital items, return eligibility is determined by the seller's listing details.

If you reside in the European Union or the United Kingdom, you may have a 14-day "cooling-off period" (right of withdrawal), allowing you to return an item for any reason or no reason at all, unless exceptions apply.