In these Terms, unless the context indicates otherwise:

ShopyTide is an online commerce platform operated by BONTRAK (PTY) LTD.

The Platform may facilitate the sale of products directly, through independent sellers, through dropshipping arrangements, or through other lawful fulfilment structures.

Depending on the transaction, the applicable supplier or seller may differ.

Product pages and checkout information should therefore be read carefully before completing a purchase.

Users must provide accurate information when creating an account or placing an order.

Users must have legal capacity to enter into applicable transactions or use the Platform with the involvement and authority of a parent, guardian or other legally authorised person where required.

Users may not use the Platform for unlawful purposes, fraudulent activities or activities that infringe the rights of others.

These Terms form part of the agreement between ShopyTide and the relevant User to the extent applicable to that User's activities on the Platform.

Additional policies may apply to specific services, transactions or users.

Certain Platform functions may require registration.

Users are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their account credentials and should immediately notify ShopyTide if they suspect unauthorised access.

Users must not:

• Create accounts using false identities.
• Impersonate another person or organisation.
• Share authentication credentials improperly.
• Attempt to access another person's account.
• Use an account for fraudulent activity.

ShopyTide may operate as a marketplace connecting Customers with independent Sellers.

Where a Product is supplied by an independent Seller, the Seller remains responsible for its obligations concerning the Product, subject to applicable law and the terms governing ShopyTide's marketplace.

ShopyTide may provide marketplace technology, payment facilitation, customer-support functions, marketing, fulfilment coordination or other services.

The specific relationship applicable to an Order may depend on the Product, Seller, fulfilment model and transaction.

Product descriptions, images, specifications, prices and availability are intended to provide accurate information.

Product appearance may vary slightly because of photography, lighting, screen settings, manufacturing variations or reasonable product updates.

Sellers must ensure that their listings are accurate and lawful.

ShopyTide may remove, suspend or modify listings where there are reasonable grounds to believe that a listing is unlawful, misleading, unsafe, infringing or otherwise violates Platform rules.

Submitting an Order constitutes an offer or request to purchase the selected Product(s), subject to availability and applicable transaction requirements.

An electronic order confirmation does not necessarily mean that an Order has been finally accepted where further verification, payment confirmation or availability checks are required.

ShopyTide or the relevant Seller may cancel an Order where permitted by law, including circumstances involving:

• Product unavailability.
• Material pricing or listing errors.
• Suspected fraud or unlawful activity.
• Payment failure.
• Supplier or fulfilment failure.
• Circumstances outside reasonable control.

Where a transaction is cancelled after payment has been received, applicable refund rights will be handled in accordance with the law and relevant refund policy.

Prices displayed on ShopyTide are normally shown in South African Rand unless another currency is expressly indicated.

Prices may change before an Order is completed.

Promotional offers may be subject to additional terms, eligibility requirements, stock limitations or specified validity periods.

ShopyTide will not use a pricing-error provision to unlawfully deprive a consumer of rights arising under applicable consumer-protection legislation.

Payment methods displayed at checkout may vary from time to time.

Payments may be processed by third-party payment service providers.

An Order may not be processed until payment has been successfully authorised or otherwise confirmed where applicable.

Users must not use fraudulent payment methods or payment credentials belonging to another person without authorisation.

ShopyTide may conduct reasonable fraud and transaction verification procedures.

Delivery times displayed on the Platform are estimates unless expressly stated otherwise.

Delivery may be affected by:

• Courier operations.
• Supplier processing.
• Public holidays.
• Customs or import procedures.
• Weather and natural events.
• Transport disruptions.
• Incorrect or incomplete delivery information.

ShopyTide will endeavour to communicate material delivery problems where reasonably practicable.

ShopyTide may facilitate Orders fulfilled through third-party dropshipping suppliers.

Under a dropshipping arrangement, a Product may be shipped directly from a supplier or fulfilment partner to the Customer.

Depending on the transaction, the supplier may be located outside South Africa.

International fulfilment may involve additional delivery periods, customs procedures, import requirements or other charges where legally applicable.

Sellers using dropshipping are responsible for ensuring that their products and fulfilment arrangements comply with applicable law and ShopyTide's Seller Policy.

A dropshipping arrangement does not by itself eliminate mandatory consumer rights.

Returns, refunds, exchanges and cancellations are governed by the ShopyTide Return Policy together with applicable law.

Depending on the circumstances, consumers may have statutory rights relating to:

• Defective goods.
• Goods that do not correspond with their description.
• Goods that are unsuitable for their intended purpose where applicable.
• Certain electronic transactions.
• Other rights created by applicable consumer-protection legislation.

Nothing in these Terms limits rights that cannot lawfully be limited.

Sellers participating in the ShopyTide marketplace must comply with the applicable Seller Policy and all applicable laws.

Sellers are responsible for:

• Accurate product listings.
• Lawful products.
• Appropriate pricing.
• Product safety.
• Appropriate fulfilment.
• Accurate stock information.
• Appropriate customer support.
• Compliance with consumer-protection requirements.
• Respecting intellectual-property rights.
• Complying with dropshipping requirements where applicable.

ShopyTide may take enforcement action against sellers that breach Platform rules or applicable law.

Sellers grant ShopyTide the permissions reasonably necessary to display, reproduce, format, promote and distribute their submitted product information for operating and marketing the Platform.

Sellers remain responsible for ensuring that content submitted to ShopyTide does not infringe another person's intellectual property, privacy or other legal rights.

Users must not use ShopyTide to:

• Commit or facilitate unlawful activities.
• Commit fraud or payment fraud.
• Sell prohibited products.
• Sell counterfeit goods.
• Infringe intellectual-property rights.
• Upload malicious software.
• Attempt unauthorised access to systems.
• Manipulate reviews or ratings.
• Abuse promotions.
• Misrepresent products.
• Impersonate another person or business.
• Scrape, copy or systematically extract Platform data without authorisation.
• Interfere with Platform security or operation.

Unless otherwise stated, the ShopyTide name, logo, branding, website design, software, graphics, text, interfaces, databases and other Platform materials are owned by or licensed to ShopyTide and are protected by applicable intellectual-property laws.

Users may not reproduce, modify, distribute, sell, publish or commercially exploit ShopyTide intellectual property without appropriate permission.

Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of ShopyTide intellectual property to a User.

Users may be permitted to submit reviews, ratings, photographs, comments or other content.

Reviews should represent genuine experiences.

Users must not submit:

• Fake reviews.
• Reviews created in exchange for undisclosed improper incentives.
• Defamatory material.
• Threats or harassment.
• Personal information belonging to another person.
• Copyright-infringing content.
• Malicious or unlawful material.

ShopyTide may moderate or remove content where reasonably necessary and permitted by law.

Subject to applicable law and the ShopyTide Privacy Policy, ShopyTide may communicate with Users concerning orders, accounts, services, security and other legitimate operational matters.

Marketing communications will be handled in accordance with applicable consent and direct-marketing requirements.

Users may use available unsubscribe or preference-management mechanisms where applicable.

ShopyTide processes personal information in accordance with its Privacy Policy and applicable South African data-protection legislation.

Personal information may be processed where legally permitted for purposes including:

• Creating and managing accounts.
• Processing Orders.
• Processing payments.
• Delivering Products.
• Customer support.
• Fraud prevention.
• Legal and regulatory compliance.
• Platform security and improvement.

Users must not attempt to compromise or circumvent the security of the Platform.

This includes attempting to:

• Access restricted systems.
• Obtain another User's credentials.
• Introduce malware.
• Circumvent authentication mechanisms.
• Interfere with Platform infrastructure.
• Conduct automated attacks or abuse.

Suspected security vulnerabilities should be reported to ShopyTide rather than exploited.

ShopyTide aims to maintain reliable Platform availability but does not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation at all times.

Temporary interruption may occur because of maintenance, upgrades, technical failures, cybersecurity incidents, telecommunications failures or circumstances outside reasonable control.

ShopyTide may integrate with or provide links to third-party services, including payment providers, couriers, suppliers, social-media platforms, analytics providers and other technology providers.

Third-party services may be governed by their own terms and privacy policies.

ShopyTide does not automatically assume responsibility for independent third-party services merely because they are accessible through the Platform.

To the extent permitted by law, ShopyTide will not be liable for losses arising solely from matters outside its reasonable control.

These may include:

• Third-party courier failures.
• Supplier failures.
• Telecommunications failures.
• Internet outages.
• Natural disasters.
• Government restrictions.
• Industrial action.
• Cybersecurity incidents despite reasonable safeguards.
• Other events beyond reasonable control.

To the extent permitted by law, a User may be responsible for losses reasonably arising from that User's unlawful conduct, fraud, intentional misuse of the Platform or infringement of another person's rights.

This provision does not require a consumer to indemnify ShopyTide for matters that applicable law does not permit to be transferred to the consumer.

ShopyTide may suspend or restrict an account or Platform access where reasonably necessary because of:

• Suspected fraud.
• Security concerns.
• Serious or repeated breaches of Platform rules.
• Unlawful activity.
• Payment abuse.
• Intellectual-property infringement.
• Seller compliance failures.

Where appropriate and lawful, ShopyTide may provide notice and an opportunity to address the issue.

Users may request closure of their account through available account functionality or by contacting ShopyTide.

Account closure does not automatically cancel outstanding contractual, payment, return, refund, legal or regulatory obligations.

ShopyTide may retain information where reasonably necessary for legal compliance, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, accounting or other lawful purposes.

Customers are encouraged to contact ShopyTide first so that we can attempt to resolve a complaint internally.

Nothing prevents a consumer from exercising rights available under applicable law or approaching an appropriate regulatory, ombudsman, dispute-resolution or judicial forum where legally entitled to do so.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, subject to any mandatory legal protections applicable to a consumer or transaction.

Where a dispute is subject to a mandatory statutory forum, jurisdiction or dispute-resolution process, the applicable statutory requirement will prevail.

ShopyTide may update these Terms when reasonably necessary to reflect changes in the Platform, business operations, technology, services or applicable law.

The latest version published on the Platform will identify its effective date.

Where applicable law requires specific notice or consent for a material change, ShopyTide will follow the applicable requirements.

31.1 Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unlawful, invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to apply to the extent permitted by law.

31.2 Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with applicable ShopyTide policies and transaction-specific terms, constitute the relevant agreement governing use of the Platform.

31.3 No Waiver

A failure by ShopyTide to enforce a provision immediately does not necessarily constitute a waiver of that provision.

31.4 Assignment

Users may not transfer their rights or obligations under these Terms where doing so would violate applicable law or without required consent.

31.5 Electronic Communications

Users consent to receiving electronic communications from ShopyTide where permitted by applicable law. Electronic records may be retained for transaction, support, security, compliance and other lawful purposes.

31.6 Statutory Rights

Where a provision of these Terms conflicts with a mandatory provision of applicable law, the mandatory legal provision will prevail to the extent of the conflict.