Marketplace Terms

Each stall on The Holiday Village is operated by an independent creator or seller.

The Holiday Village is a listing platform. We list stalls, collect payment at checkout, and pass order information to the relevant seller. We are not the seller of the products.

When you purchase a product, the seller is responsible for the product being sold, for fulfilling that part of your order, for courier relationships, and for any replacement, return or refund. The Holiday Village does not manufacture, stock, pack or courier those goods, and does not hold liability for them.

Creators are independent businesses. Nothing in these terms creates an employment, partnership, franchise, joint venture or agency relationship between a creator and The Holiday Village.

Creators must provide accurate and current information when applying for or operating a stall.

A creator is responsible for activity conducted through their account and for keeping their login details secure.

Accounts and stalls may not be transferred to another person or business without approval from The Holiday Village.

Where a creator operates as a company or other legal entity, the person accepting these terms confirms that they are authorised to act on behalf of that business.

There is a penalty for not fulfilling orders. That penalty may be deducted from the seller's payout or other amounts held for the seller. Repeated failure to fulfil orders may also result in restriction, suspension or removal of a stall.

Creators are responsible for ensuring that their listings are accurate and up to date.

This includes, where applicable:

• product descriptions;
• photographs;
• pricing;
• stock availability;
• dimensions and weight;
• materials;
• colours and finishes;
• lead times;
• care instructions;
• safety information; and
• any other information that may reasonably affect a customer's decision to purchase.

Listings must not contain false, misleading or deceptive information.

The Holiday Village may edit, standardise, categorise or format listing information where reasonably necessary for consistency, search visibility, advertising, marketplace presentation or technical requirements.

Many products sold through The Holiday Village are handmade, hand-finished or produced in small batches.

Small variations in colour, texture, finish, shape, pattern or dimensions may therefore occur where these variations are inherent to the nature of the product.

Creators should clearly disclose material variations where they could reasonably affect the customer's purchasing decision.

Creators retain ownership of photographs, descriptions, logos, stories and other original content they provide to The Holiday Village.

By uploading or supplying this content, the creator confirms that they own it or have the necessary rights and permission to use it.

The creator grants The Holiday Village permission to use, display, reproduce, resize, crop, format, edit and distribute that content for the purpose of:

• displaying and operating the creator's stall;
• promoting the creator and their products;
• marketing The Holiday Village;
• social media;
• email marketing;
• search engines;
• Google Merchant and advertising platforms;
• marketplace advertising; and
• other reasonable promotional activities connected with the marketplace.

This permission does not transfer ownership of the creator's original work to The Holiday Village.

Creators may only list products, photographs, designs, artwork, trademarks and other material they are legally entitled to sell or use.

Products that infringe another person's copyright, trademark, design rights or other intellectual property rights may be removed.

The Holiday Village does not investigate or handle intellectual-property complaints. We may suspend a listing or stall while a complaint is dealt with between the parties.

Repeated infringement may result in removal from the marketplace.

Creators are responsible for ensuring that their products comply with applicable South African laws, regulations and product-safety requirements.

Creators must not list unlawful, unsafe, counterfeit or prohibited products.

Where a product requires warnings, age restrictions, licences, safety information or special handling, the creator is responsible for providing that information.

Creators prepare, pack and dispatch their own orders. The Holiday Village does not fulfil orders on the seller's behalf.

Some products are ready to ship while others may be made to order.

The creator must dispatch the order within the lead time stated on the product listing.

Delivery time begins once the order has been prepared and handed to the courier.

Creators must notify The Holiday Village promptly if they cannot meet the advertised lead time.

There is a penalty for not fulfilling orders. The seller remains responsible for fulfilling their orders; The Holiday Village does not fulfil them on the seller's behalf.

Creators are responsible for packaging products appropriately for courier transportation.

Packaging should provide reasonable protection against normal handling during collection, sorting and delivery.

Fragile products must be packed with suitable protective materials.

The Holiday Village may provide packaging guidelines that creators are expected to follow.

Creators must provide accurate parcel weight and dimensions when required.

Courier pricing may be based on actual weight, volumetric weight, or a flat fee.

The creator is involved from start to finish with the delivery.

If incorrect measurements supplied by the creator result in additional courier charges, those additional charges may be deducted from the creator's payout.

Sellers hold the courier relationships and are responsible for arranging collection and delivery of their parcels. The Holiday Village does not courier goods and does not hold liability for delivery.

Delivery availability, pricing and estimated delivery time may depend on the collection address, destination, parcel dimensions and the courier service used.

Delivery estimates are not guarantees.

Delays may occur because of courier operations, public holidays, severe weather, remote-area delivery or other circumstances. Investigating delays or lost parcels is the seller's onus, because the seller holds the courier relationship.

Returns, refunds and replacements are the seller's responsibility, in accordance with applicable South African law, the seller's terms and conditions, and the marketplace's published Returns Policy.

The Holiday Village does not handle returns, does not have authority to approve or refuse a return on the seller's behalf, and never pays for return shipping.

The Holiday Village can only pay a refund to a customer if we still hold the funds. There are two SLA scenarios:

Scenario 1 — we still have the payment. If the order is still within the applicable payout SLAs and the money has not yet been paid out to the seller, we still hold the funds. An approved refund can then be processed straight to the customer, and that amount may be deducted from the seller's pending payout.

Scenario 2 — we no longer have the payment. If the funds have already been paid out to the seller, we no longer hold the money and cannot refund the customer from platform funds. The refund then follows a different route: the onus is on the seller to refund the customer directly.

Return eligibility may depend on the product and the reason for the return.

Certain products may have different return conditions where permitted by law, including:

• personalised products;
• custom-made products;
• perishable goods;
• hygiene-sensitive goods; and
• other products for which returns may legally be restricted.

Nothing in these terms removes rights that a customer has against the seller under applicable South African consumer law.

If an order is damaged, incorrect, incomplete, significantly different from its listing, not dispatched within the stated lead time, or otherwise problematic, the onus is on the seller to remedy it. Contact must be made within 7 days of delivery where the issue relates to a delivered order.

The Holiday Village does not hold liability for defective, damaged, incorrect or incomplete products. The seller is responsible for investigating the issue, including with the courier where relevant.

The Holiday Village may assist with dispute resolution between a customer and a seller. That assistance does not make us the seller, give us authority over the return or refund, or place liability for the product on the platform.

Customer payments are processed by a payment institution via The Holiday Village. The Holiday Village is not the payment institution.

Creator proceeds are released according to the marketplace's published payout schedule. The Holiday Village can only pay a customer refund from platform funds if we still hold those funds.

Amounts may be withheld or adjusted where we still hold the funds and it is reasonably necessary for:

• refunds;
• returns;
• payment disputes;
• courier corrections;
• incorrect parcel measurements;
• cancelled orders;
• amounts owed to the marketplace; or
• suspected fraudulent activity.

There is no joining fee.

Creators agree to the success fee and any other marketplace charges that apply to their stall. Fee arrangements may vary and are not limited to one fixed structure.

Optional subscription charges with beneficial add-ons may also be available. Those subscriptions are not mandatory. A creator may trade without taking a subscription.

Details of the charges that apply to a stall are confirmed with the creator. The Holiday Village may update fees from time to time. Creators will be given reasonable notice of material changes.

Orders that originate through The Holiday Village must be completed through The Holiday Village.

Creators may not use their stall, listings, buyer messages, product photographs, packaging inserts or marketplace features to direct customers to complete the same or a related transaction outside the platform in order to avoid marketplace fees or processes.

This includes sending customers:

• external payment details;
• alternative checkout links;
• another online store;
• direct payment instructions; or
• contact information specifically intended to move the transaction off the marketplace.

Dispute assistance only applies to transactions completed through The Holiday Village. It does not mean The Holiday Village is the seller, handles the courier, or holds liability for the product.

Repeated or serious attempts to circumvent the marketplace may result in suspension or removal of a stall.

Creators may receive customer information that is reasonably necessary to fulfil an order, such as a customer's name, delivery address and contact information.

This information may only be used for purposes connected with fulfilling and supporting the customer's order.

Creators must not:

• sell customer information;
• add customers to marketing lists — that is never appropriate;
• disclose customer information unnecessarily;
• use customer information for unrelated purposes; or
• retain personal information longer than reasonably necessary.

Creators are responsible for handling customer information securely and in accordance with applicable privacy laws.

Only reviews from customers who completed and paid for an order for that product are accepted.

Creators may not manipulate reviews, offer improper incentives for misleading reviews, impersonate customers or attempt to interfere with legitimate customer feedback.

The Holiday Village may remove fraudulent, abusive or inappropriate reviews where reasonably necessary.

The Holiday Village may promote selected creators, stalls or products through:

• The Holiday Village;
• social media;
• email;
• Google;
• search engines;
• marketplace feeds;
• paid advertising; and
• other promotional channels.

Participation in promotional placement does not guarantee impressions, traffic, enquiries or sales.

The marketplace may rely on third-party services including:

• payment processors;
• courier companies;
• hosting providers;
• analytics tools;
• search engines;
• advertising platforms; and
• communications providers.

These services may have their own terms and policies.

The Holiday Village is not responsible for outages, delays, failures or losses caused by third-party services, including payment providers and courier companies. Cross-border payment transactions are determined by the credit card provider or other payment provider used at checkout.

Users may not attempt to:

• interfere with the operation of the marketplace;
• gain unauthorised access to accounts or systems;
• introduce malicious software;
• scrape or extract marketplace data without permission;
• impersonate another person or business;
• conduct fraudulent transactions; or
• use the marketplace for unlawful purposes.

The Holiday Village may temporarily restrict, suspend or remove a listing, stall or account where we reasonably believe that:

• these terms have been breached;
• a product may be unsafe or unlawful;
• a listing may infringe intellectual property;
• fraudulent or suspicious activity has occurred;
• customer orders are repeatedly not fulfilled;
• complaints indicate serious quality or service concerns;
• marketplace fees or other amounts remain unpaid;
• the creator is attempting to circumvent the marketplace; or
• continued access could create legal, financial, security or reputational risk.

Where reasonably possible, we will communicate with the creator regarding the issue.

Suspension or closure does not remove responsibility for outstanding orders, refunds, fees, disputes or amounts already owed.

We aim to keep The Holiday Village available and operating reliably, but we cannot guarantee uninterrupted availability.

Features may occasionally be changed, suspended or removed for maintenance, security, technical, legal or operational reasons.

We may also change the way listings are displayed, ranked, promoted or categorised as the marketplace develops.

Products sold through The Holiday Village are supplied by independent sellers.

The Holiday Village does not manufacture, produce or sell those products and does not hold liability for defective, damaged, unsafe or inaccurate products or listings.

The seller remains solely responsible for the quality, safety, legality and accuracy of their products and listings, and for any remedy owed to the customer.

We encourage customers and sellers to resolve reasonable concerns fairly and promptly.

The Holiday Village may assist as an intermediary for dispute resolution. We do not have authority to approve or refuse a return or refund on the seller's behalf.

Our involvement in a dispute does not make The Holiday Village the seller, manufacturer or supplier of the product, and does not place liability for the product on the platform.

These terms may be updated as The Holiday Village develops or where changes are required for operational, legal or regulatory reasons.

Where changes materially affect creators, we may notify them through the platform or by email.

Continued use of the marketplace after updated terms take effect may constitute acceptance of those terms, subject to applicable law.

These terms should be read together with the other policies published on The Holiday Village, including where applicable:

• Seller Terms;
• Privacy Policy;
• Shipping & Delivery Policy;
• Returns & Refunds Policy;
• Prohibited Products Policy; and
• any marketplace fee or payout terms.

Questions about orders, sellers, marketplace policies or these terms can be submitted through the contact page on The Holiday Village.