Terms of Service

1. Eligibility

To use PartsMeet, you must:

• Be at least 18 years of age (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction, whichever is higher).
• Provide a valid email address and accurate personal information during registration.
• Have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement under applicable law.
• Not have been previously suspended or removed from the Platform.

By creating an account, you represent and warrant that all information you provide is truthful, accurate, and complete. If you are using the Platform on behalf of a business, you represent that you have the authority to bind that business to these Terms.

2. Account Responsibilities

You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account. This means:

• Credentials. Keep your password confidential. Do not share your login credentials with anyone. You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.
• One account per person. Each individual may maintain only one PartsMeet account. Creating multiple accounts to circumvent restrictions, manipulate reviews, or abuse promotional offers is grounds for immediate termination.
• Accurate information. Keep your profile information, payment details, and shipping addresses current and accurate. Outdated information may delay transactions or payouts.
• Notification of compromise. If you believe your account has been compromised, notify us immediately at support@partsmeet.com. We are not liable for losses resulting from unauthorized access that you fail to report promptly.

3. Seller Obligations

As a seller on PartsMeet, you agree to the following:

3.1 Accurate Listings

Every listing must accurately describe the part being sold. This includes:

• Honest and detailed descriptions of the part's condition, including any defects, wear, modifications, or damage.
• Real photographs that you took yourself of the actual part being sold. Stock photos, manufacturer images, or photos from other listings are not permitted.
• Correct fitment data (year, make, model, trim, engine code) so buyers can determine compatibility with their vehicle.
• Accurate condition grading using the Platform's standardized condition scale.

3.2 Shipping Obligations

Once an order is placed and payment is authorized and held, you must:

• Ship the part within the ship-by window shown on the order (typically within 5 days unless a longer window is stated in your listing).
• Use the pre-paid shipping label generated through the Platform, or the Platform's approved shipping methods.
• Package the part securely to prevent damage during transit.
• Provide accurate weight and dimensions when creating your listing so shipping rates can be calculated correctly.

3.3 Identity Verification

All sellers must complete identity verification through Stripe before their first listing can go live and before receiving payouts. This is part of setting up your Stripe Connect payout account. It is required to comply with financial regulations and to protect buyers, and it may involve submitting a government-issued photo ID. Buyers are not required to complete identity verification; buyer payments are authorized and screened through the card network at checkout.

3.4 Legal Compliance

You are responsible for ensuring that your listings comply with all applicable laws, including product safety laws and consumer protection statutes.

4. Buyer Obligations

As a buyer on PartsMeet, you agree to:

• Pay the agreed price. When you purchase a part, you commit to paying the full listed price plus shipping costs, the PartsMeet Protection fee, the Stripe payment processing fee, and estimated duties/taxes, each shown as its own line at checkout. The PartsMeet Protection fee is 3% of the item price, with a minimum of $2.99 and a maximum of $99 per order.
• Inspect promptly. You have 48 hours from confirmed delivery to inspect the part and either confirm the order or open a dispute. This inspection window is critical to the PartsMeet Protection process.
• Act honestly. Dispute claims must be truthful and supported by evidence. Filing false or fraudulent disputes, such as claiming a part was not received when it was, or misrepresenting the part's condition, is a violation of these Terms and may result in account termination.
• Receive shipments. Ensure someone is available to receive the shipment at the delivery address you provide. Failed deliveries due to incorrect addresses or refusal to accept packages may result in forfeiture of PartsMeet Protection.

5. Listing Rules

All listings on PartsMeet must comply with these rules. We reserve the right to remove any listing that violates these standards without notice.

5.1 Permitted Items

PartsMeet is a marketplace for automotive parts and accessories. This includes engine components, drivetrain parts, body panels, interior trim, suspension components, electrical parts, wheels, tires, and related accessories.

5.2 Prohibited Items

The following items may not be listed on PartsMeet:

• Counterfeit parts. Parts bearing trademarks or branding they are not authorized to carry, or parts falsely advertised as OEM or genuine when they are aftermarket reproductions.
• Stolen property. Any part that has been obtained through theft or whose ownership cannot be lawfully established.
• Airbags and airbag components. Due to safety regulations governing the sale and installation of airbags.
• Emissions defeat devices. Catalytic converter deletions, EGR delete kits, DPF delete kits, or any device designed to circumvent emissions controls where prohibited by law.
• Recalled parts. Parts that are subject to an active manufacturer or government safety recall.
• Non-automotive items. Parts unrelated to motor vehicles.
• Hazardous materials. Used fluids (oil, coolant, fuel), batteries not properly packaged for shipping, or any item classified as hazardous material under DOT shipping regulations without proper handling.

5.3 Condition Grading

Sellers must accurately grade each part's condition using the Platform's standardized scale. Intentionally overstating a part's condition constitutes a material misrepresentation and will be treated as a Terms violation.

6. Payment and PartsMeet Protection Terms

How PartsMeet Protection works: When a buyer purchases a part, their payment is authorized and held, not transferred to the seller. The seller only receives payment after the buyer confirms the part arrived as described, or after the 48-hour inspection window expires without a dispute.

6.1 Payment Authorization

When you click "Buy Now," a Stripe PaymentIntent is created with manual capture. This means the funds are authorized on your payment method (the charge appears as pending) but are not captured until the transaction is confirmed. PartsMeet uses Stripe as its payment processor.

6.2 When Funds Are Captured

Payment is captured (the charge becomes final) when one of the following occurs:

• The buyer explicitly confirms the order within the 48-hour inspection window after delivery.
• The 48-hour inspection window expires without the buyer opening a dispute (auto-confirmation).
• A dispute is resolved in the seller's favor.

6.3 When the Seller Gets Paid

After payment is captured, funds are transferred to the seller's Stripe Connect account. Payout timing depends on the seller's Stripe account settings, but typically occurs within 2-7 business days after capture.

6.4 Seller Stripe Connect Accounts

Sellers must create and maintain a Stripe Connect account to receive payouts. Stripe's own terms of service and acceptable use policies apply to your Stripe account. PartsMeet is not responsible for delays or issues caused by Stripe's processes, including identity verification, account holds, or payout schedules.

6.5 What Happens During a Dispute

If a buyer opens a dispute within the 48-hour inspection window, the payment remains held by our payment processor while the dispute is reviewed. See Section 7 (Dispute Resolution) for the full process. Funds are not released to either party until the dispute is resolved.

6.6 Currency

Prices are displayed and charged in US dollars. PartsMeet uses Stripe to process card payments.

7. Dispute Resolution

7.1 Opening a Dispute

Buyers may open a dispute within 48 hours of confirmed delivery. Once the 48-hour window closes, the order is automatically confirmed and the payment is captured. Disputes about a delivered part can only be opened for the following reasons:

• The part does not match the listing description (wrong part, wrong condition, missing components).
• The part was damaged during shipping and the damage was not pre-existing.
• The part is counterfeit when it was listed as genuine.

Item-not-received claims, where the carrier never confirms delivery, run on a separate window: you may file between 21 and 30 days after the expected delivery date, not the 48-hour inspection window.

7.2 Evidence Submission

When opening a dispute, the buyer must provide:

• A written description of the issue.
• Photographic evidence showing the problem (photos of the part as received, packaging, shipping labels, and similar).

The seller will be notified and given the opportunity to respond with their own evidence within 48 hours.

7.3 Resolution

PartsMeet's support team will review the evidence from both parties and make a determination. Possible outcomes include:

• Full refund to buyer. The payment authorization is voided or refunded. The buyer may be required to return the part at the seller's expense.
• Partial refund. A portion of the payment is refunded to the buyer to account for discrepancies, and the remainder is released to the seller.
• Order confirmed. The dispute is resolved in the seller's favor and payment is captured and released normally.

7.4 Return Shipping

If a dispute is resolved in the buyer's favor and a return is required, the seller is responsible for the cost of return shipping. If the listing was materially inaccurate (wrong part, undisclosed damage, counterfeit), the seller bears the full cost of return shipping.

7.5 Finality

PartsMeet's dispute resolution decisions are final within the Platform. This does not affect any rights you may have under applicable consumer protection laws or through your payment provider's chargeback process.

8. Shipping

8.1 Pre-Paid Shipping Labels

PartsMeet generates pre-paid shipping labels through EasyPost. Sellers are responsible for applying the label, properly packaging the part, and dropping it off at the designated carrier location.

8.2 Signature Required

For orders with a total value exceeding $500 USD, signature confirmation is required at delivery. This protects both parties by providing proof of delivery.

9. Fees

9.1 Seller Fees and the Buyer Protection Fee

PartsMeet does not charge sellers a platform fee, listing fee, commission, account maintenance fee, or subscription fee. The price shown on a listing is what the seller is paid when the transaction is confirmed.

Buyers pay a PartsMeet Protection fee of 3% of the item price, with a minimum of $2.99 and a maximum of $99 per order. This fee funds PartsMeet Protection, including the payment hold and dispute resolution, and is shown as its own line at checkout before you complete your purchase.

9.2 Payment Processing Fees

Standard payment processing fees apply to all transactions and are passed through to the buyer at checkout. These fees are set by Stripe and vary by payment method. Current Stripe fee schedules are available at stripe.com/pricing.

9.3 Transparent Pricing

The full cost breakdown, including payment processing fees, is shown to the buyer before any transaction is finalized. There are no hidden fees.

10. Prohibited Conduct

The following activities are strictly prohibited on PartsMeet. Violations may result in immediate account suspension or termination, forfeiture of pending payouts, and potential legal action.

• Off-platform transactions. Attempting to complete transactions outside of PartsMeet to circumvent PartsMeet Protection. This includes sharing personal email addresses, phone numbers, payment app handles, or other contact information for the purpose of circumventing the Platform.
• Fake reviews. Posting reviews for transactions that did not occur, or incentivizing others to post reviews.
• Shill activity. Bidding on or purchasing your own listings, or having associates do so to artificially inflate prices or sales counts.
• Harassment. Threatening, abusing, or harassing other users through messages, reviews, or any other Platform feature.
• Contact information sharing. Sharing personal contact details (phone numbers, email addresses, social media handles, payment app usernames) in messages or listings for the purpose of moving transactions off-platform.
• Fraud. Filing false disputes, misrepresenting parts, identity fraud, or any other deceptive practice.
• Account manipulation. Creating multiple accounts, transferring accounts, or using automated tools (bots, scrapers) to interact with the Platform without authorization.
• Interference. Attempting to disrupt the Platform's infrastructure, exploit vulnerabilities, or interfere with other users' access to the service.

11. Intellectual Property

11.1 Your Content

You retain ownership of all content you upload to PartsMeet, including listing photos, descriptions, and messages. By posting content on the Platform, you grant PartsMeet a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to use, display, reproduce, and distribute that content in connection with operating and promoting the Platform. This license ends when you delete the content or your account, except where the content has been shared with other users or is necessary for ongoing transactions or dispute records.

11.2 PartsMeet Content

The PartsMeet name, logo, design, and all original content created by PartsMeet are our intellectual property. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or create derivative works from our content without written permission.

11.3 DMCA and Takedown Requests

If you believe content on PartsMeet infringes your copyright or trademark, submit a takedown request to support@partsmeet.com with the following information:

• Identification of the copyrighted work or trademark you believe is infringed.
• Identification of the material on PartsMeet that you believe infringes your rights, with enough detail for us to locate it.
• Your contact information (name, address, email, phone number).
• A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use is not authorized by the rights owner, its agent, or the law.
• A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the rights owner or authorized to act on their behalf.
• Your physical or electronic signature.

We will review valid takedown requests and remove infringing content promptly. Repeat infringers will have their accounts terminated.

12. Limitation of Liability

12.1 Platform as Intermediary

PartsMeet is a marketplace platform that connects buyers and sellers. We are not a party to the transaction between buyer and seller. We do not inspect, verify, endorse, or guarantee any parts listed on the Platform. We do not take title to or possession of any parts.

12.2 No Warranty on Parts

PartsMeet makes no representations or warranties regarding the quality, safety, legality, fitness for purpose, or accuracy of description of any part listed on the Platform. All parts are sold by third-party sellers, and any warranties are between the buyer and seller. PartsMeet Protection is a conditional refund program, paid when an order is not as described or is not delivered, and is distinct from any product warranty, which remains solely between the buyer and seller.

12.3 Shipping

PartsMeet facilitates shipping through pre-paid labels. Claims for loss or damage during transit are handled by the shipping carrier under the carrier's terms. PartsMeet will assist in filing carrier claims but is not directly liable for shipping damage or loss.

12.4 Maximum Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, PartsMeet's total aggregate liability to you for any claims arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Platform is limited to the greater of (a) the total fees you paid to PartsMeet in the 12 months preceding the claim, or (b) the amount of the specific transaction giving rise to the claim.

12.5 Exclusion of Damages

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, PartsMeet is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including lost profits, lost revenue, lost data, or business interruption, regardless of the theory of liability, even if PartsMeet has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

12.6 Jurisdictional Limitations

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages. In those jurisdictions, the limitations above apply only to the extent permitted by law.

13. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless PartsMeet, its officers, directors, employees, agents, and affiliates from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to:

• Your use of the Platform or any transaction you participate in.
• Your violation of these Terms.
• Your violation of any applicable law or regulation.
• Any content you post on the Platform, including listing descriptions, photos, messages, and reviews.
• Any dispute between you and another user of the Platform.
• Any claim that a part you sold was defective, misdescribed, counterfeit, or caused injury or property damage.

14. Termination

14.1 Termination by PartsMeet

We may suspend or terminate your account at any time, with or without notice, for any reason, including but not limited to:

• Violation of these Terms or any PartsMeet policy.
• Suspected fraud, abuse, or illegal activity.
• Extended inactivity.
• Request by law enforcement or government agency.
• Discontinuation or material modification of the Platform.

14.2 Termination by You

You may delete your account at any time through your account settings. Account deletion does not cancel any pending transactions. You remain responsible for completing all open orders and resolving any active disputes before or after account deletion. Payouts owed to you at the time of deletion will be processed according to the normal payout schedule.

14.3 Effect of Termination

Upon termination, your right to use the Platform ceases immediately. Sections of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination will survive, including but not limited to: Intellectual Property, Limitation of Liability, Indemnification, Governing Law, and Arbitration.

15. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, United States of America, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Any legal proceedings that are not subject to the arbitration clause below shall be brought exclusively in the federal or state courts located in Delaware.

16. Arbitration and Class Action Waiver

16.1 Binding Arbitration

Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Platform that cannot be resolved through informal negotiation shall be resolved by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. The arbitration will be conducted in English, and the arbitrator's decision will be final and binding.

16.2 Class Action Waiver

You and PartsMeet agree that any dispute resolution proceedings will be conducted only on an individual basis and not as part of a class, consolidated, or representative action. If a court or arbitrator determines that this class action waiver is unenforceable, then this entire arbitration section shall be void.

16.3 Small Claims Exception

Notwithstanding the above, either party may bring an individual action in small claims court for disputes within that court's jurisdictional limits.

16.4 Opt-Out

You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by sending written notice to support@partsmeet.com within 30 days of creating your account. Your notice must include your name, account email address, and a clear statement that you wish to opt out of the arbitration agreement. If you opt out, the Governing Law and jurisdiction provisions in Section 15 will apply.

17. Modifications to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make changes:

• Material changes. For significant changes that affect your rights or obligations, we will provide at least 30 days' advance notice by email and/or a prominent notice on the Platform before the changes take effect.
• Minor changes. For non-material changes (such as clarifications, formatting, or corrections), we may update the Terms without advance notice.
• Continued use. Your continued use of the Platform after the effective date of any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms.
• Disagreement. If you do not agree with the updated Terms, you must stop using the Platform and delete your account before the changes take effect.

The "Last updated" date at the top of this page indicates when these Terms were most recently revised.

18. Sanctions Compliance

PartsMeet is based in the United States and operates as a US marketplace.

You may not use the Platform if you are located in, or a national or resident of, any country subject to comprehensive U.S. economic sanctions (including but not limited to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions of Ukraine). You represent that you are not on any U.S. government restricted parties list, including the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).