Marketplace Terms

These Marketplace Terms apply to everyone who uses the Hightower Marketplace as a buyer, a seller, or both. They sit alongside the Terms of Service and form part of your agreement with [Legal entity name — to be confirmed].

Hightower operates software that helps coffee businesses find each other and start a conversation. Hightower is not a party to any coffee transaction, does not collect payment for coffee, does not take title to coffee, does not warehouse or ship coffee, does not hold escrow, does not pay sellers, and does not guarantee that a transaction will happen or complete.

Hightower does not represent either side in a negotiation and does not act as either party's agent. Nothing here is a legal characterisation of Hightower's status under any particular trade, brokerage or commodities regulation; that characterisation is reserved for review by counsel.

• Marketplace accounts are for coffee businesses and for people acting on their behalf.
• If you act for a business, you confirm you are authorised to represent it, to publish listings for it, to start connections in its name and to accept these terms for it.
• You are responsible for keeping your business, contact and location information accurate and current.
• You are responsible for everything published or sent from your account, including by your team members.

Sellers are solely responsible for what they publish. That includes:

• the accuracy of coffee descriptions, origin, producer, process, variety, harvest, cup score, flavour notes and certifications
• the accuracy and currency of price, currency, unit, quantity and availability
• having the legal right to sell the coffee described, and to use any image published with it
• compliance with applicable labelling, food-safety, certification, trade, sanctions, import and export law

Listing information is a starting point for a conversation, not an offer capable of acceptance, and not a contract. Availability, quantity and price can change at any time, including between the moment a buyer views a listing and the moment a seller replies. A published price is the seller's own figure in the seller's own currency and unit; Hightower does not set, normalise, verify or guarantee it, and only compares prices where the currency and unit are genuinely comparable.

Where a seller or coffee reached Hightower from a public source rather than from a Marketplace member, Hightower labels it as discovered rather than presenting that business as a member, and does not fabricate connections, messages, inventory or activity for it.

Any verification, research, matching, recommendation, mapping, blend or palate feature Hightower provides is informational only. It is not a certification, audit, endorsement, quality guarantee or assurance of a seller's identity, solvency, capability or compliance. Buyers and sellers remain responsible for their own due diligence, sampling and contracting.

Where a location is shown on a map, it is only ever a location a seller published. Hightower does not infer, estimate or guess coordinates, and a region-only origin is never shown as a precise place.

The entire commercial relationship stays between the two businesses. That includes, without limitation:

• samples, sampling protocols, cupping and approval
• inspection, quality specifications, grading, moisture, defects and rejection
• quantity, contract terms, forward commitments and price fixing
• payment terms, currency, payment method, credit and collection
• logistics, shipping, freight, warehousing, insurance and risk of loss
• import and export licences, customs, duties, tariffs and taxes
• certifications, traceability documentation and chain-of-custody records
• warranties, remedies, non-performance and termination of their own agreement

Hightower is not responsible for a counterparty's performance, solvency, honesty, quality, delivery or payment.

• Connections and messages are for genuine sourcing and selling interest.
• Plan allowances and connection credits govern how many new seller relationships you can start; continuing an existing relationship does not consume another connection.
• Do not use messaging for spam, harassment, abuse, discriminatory conduct, or to solicit business unrelated to coffee sourcing.
• Do not share another user's confidential information, contact details or documents outside the purpose they were provided for.
• Do not attempt to circumvent plan limits, connection allowances or access controls, whether through the interface or by calling Hightower's systems directly.

Fraudulent, misleading or materially inaccurate listings are prohibited. Hightower may remove or unpublish a listing, pause a boost, restrict connections or suspend an account where we reasonably believe a listing is fraudulent or misleading, or where a member is using the Marketplace to deceive another business. Reports can be sent to [Legal contact email — to be confirmed].

Boosted placement is always labelled as promoted and never silently changes ordinary Marketplace relevance.

Disputes about coffee, contracts, quality, delivery or payment are between the buyer and the seller. Hightower is not an arbitrator, mediator, insurer or guarantor and has no obligation to resolve, fund or adjudicate a dispute. Hightower may, at its discretion, provide relevant account or message records where required by law or valid legal process.

You release Hightower from claims, demands and damages arising out of a dispute with another user, except to the extent caused by Hightower's own wilful misconduct.

You keep ownership of your listings, images and messages. You grant Hightower a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce and display that content inside the Marketplace and, where you publish it publicly, on public Hightower pages and in search previews of them, for as long as needed to operate the Service.

Hightower may suspend or terminate Marketplace access as described in the Terms of Service. The disclaimers, limitation of liability and indemnity in the Terms of Service apply in full to Marketplace use, including to any loss arising from a dealing with another user.

These Marketplace Terms are governed by [Governing law and venue — to be confirmed]. This provision is pending confirmation of Hightower's operating entity and jurisdiction and is subject to review by counsel.