Brand Owner Terms and Conditions

Marketplace participation, direct fulfilment and 15% platform fee

These Terms replace the earlier Brand Owner draft that referred to a 30% commission. The commercial term used here is a 15% platform fee on the product selling price, excluding separately disclosed delivery charges.

1. Parties and acceptance

These Terms form an agreement between SoWhereTo Access (Pty) Ltd, trading as SoWhereTo>Access ('SoWhereTo>Access', 'we', 'us'), and the approved business or individual supplying products through the platform ('Brand Owner', 'BO', 'you').

By applying, clicking acceptance, listing products or continuing to use the platform, you accept these Terms and the applicable operational policies.

2. Platform services

SoWhereTo>Access provides a digital marketplace, product-listing capability, payment facilitation, marketing and market access, order communication, transaction administration, customer support and ecosystem management. Brand Marketing Agents (BMAs) operate as an extension of the platform to help identify, onboard, market, support and manage participating Brands in accordance with platform processes.

Approval is not guaranteed. We may conduct identity, business, bank, product, quality and compliance checks.

3. Independent supplier relationship

You remain an independent supplier and are not an employee, partner, franchisee or agent authorised to bind SoWhereTo>Access.

You own your business, products and intellectual property. SoWhereTo>Access manages the marketplace customer experience and the customer relationship generated through the platform. BMAs support the Brand’s visibility, onboarding, campaigns, customer-facing market activation and ongoing platform administration, but do not become owners, employees or representatives authorised to bind the Brand Owner.

4. Platform fee and settlement

SoWhereTo>Access retains a platform fee equal to 15% of the Brand Owner’s agreed product cost price for each completed and verified sale, unless another arrangement is agreed in writing.

A further 15% Brand Marketing Agent commission is charged through the customer checkout price on verified sales. Brand Owners must therefore consider the BMA commission and applicable platform charges when submitting their product cost price and recommended selling price.

The Brand Owner’s agreed cost price is used as the commercial basis for settlement. The final customer-facing sales price may include the Brand Owner cost price, BMA commission, platform fees, promotional adjustments, taxes and other properly disclosed charges.

Delivery charges are treated separately unless expressly agreed otherwise. Refunds, chargebacks, reversals and other approved deductions may reduce the settlement amount.

Settlements are processed on the 15th and 30th of each month, or the next business day where the date falls on a weekend or public holiday, subject to verification, delivery evidence, disputes, refunds, reversals and any minimum payout rules displayed on the platform.

5. Product listings and pricing

Provide complete, accurate and lawful descriptions, images, ingredients or materials, dimensions, warnings, origin, cost price, recommended sales price and availability.

Keep stock, production lead times and pricing information current.

Do not list counterfeit, stolen, unsafe, illegal, misleading or unlicensed regulated products.

Ensure that the submitted cost price is commercially sustainable and allows the platform to market the product reasonably.

Brand Owners are encouraged to propose attractive promotional prices, bundles, discounts and campaign offers that stimulate customer purchases while remaining sustainable for the Brand.

SoWhereTo>Access reserves the right to determine, adjust and display the ultimate customer sales price on the platform, taking account of the Brand Owner’s cost price, BMA commission, platform fees, market positioning, campaign strategy, discounts, taxes and other applicable charges.

SoWhereTo>Access will not ordinarily reduce the Brand Owner’s agreed cost price without prior agreement. Where a promotion requires the Brand Owner to contribute to a discount or reduce its cost price, this must be agreed before the campaign is activated.

The customer-facing price displayed on SoWhereTo>Access is the authoritative sales price for platform transactions. Brand Owners must honour accepted orders at that displayed price, subject to correction of a genuine and material pricing error.

6. Direct fulfilment

Brand Owners dispatch directly to customers. You are responsible for stock, quality checks, suitable packaging, correct labelling, timely dispatch, trackable delivery and proof of delivery.

In-stock orders should ordinarily be acknowledged within one business day and dispatched within two to three business days. Longer production times for handmade, customised, made-to-order or pre-order goods must be displayed before purchase.

You must provide tracking details promptly and cooperate with delivery investigations.

7. Customer relationship and non-circumvention

Customers introduced through SoWhereTo>Access remain part of the SoWhereTo>Access marketplace customer relationship. All sales, repeat orders, enquiries and opportunities generated through the platform must be referred to and completed through SoWhereTo>Access.

You may not bypass or attempt to bypass the platform to avoid its marketplace process, customer-service standards or platform fee.

This restriction does not prevent you from serving a customer relationship you can reasonably demonstrate existed independently before the SoWhereTo>Access introduction.

8. No direct marketing or diversion

You may not use a SoWhereTo>Access customer’s contact or delivery information to market directly, request future direct purchases, or move the customer to another sales channel.

You may not share, display or include any website address, online-store link, social-media handle, direct-order telephone number, sales email address, messaging contact, QR code, payment details, catalogue, flyer, business card, discount code or other material that enables or encourages a customer to purchase outside SoWhereTo>Access.

This restriction applies to product packaging, parcel inserts, delivery notes, electronic messages, calls and any direct interaction arising from a SoWhereTo>Access order.

Only product-use instructions, product-care information, safety notices, warranty information, legally mandatory manufacturer or supplier details, and material expressly approved by SoWhereTo>Access may be included.

Where legally required supplier details include contact information, they must be limited to the information legally necessary and must not be presented as an invitation for direct sales.

SoWhereTo>Access may issue approved co-branded packaging or inserts that identify the Brand while directing repeat purchases, enquiries and customer support back to the platform.

9. Use of customer information

Customer information is provided only to fulfil the applicable order. You must use it only for packaging, delivery, active-order communication, product-safety or legal obligations.

You must keep it confidential and secure, restrict access, ensure couriers and contractors use it only for fulfilment, and report any loss or unauthorised use immediately.

You may not add a customer to a database, mailing list or messaging group; profile the customer; share the information; market through websites, social media, telephone, email or messaging services; or contact the customer for any unrelated purpose. Any customer marketing consent must be collected and managed by SoWhereTo>Access through approved platform processes.

10. Customer communication and support

Customer enquiries, complaints, cancellations, returns and refunds are managed or coordinated through SoWhereTo>Access.

Direct contact is permitted only where reasonably necessary to confirm delivery, resolve unavailable stock, approve a substitution, provide order-specific information or complete delivery. Such contact may not be used to solicit sales.

11. Returns, refunds and chargebacks

You must comply with the published Returns and Refund Policy and applicable consumer law.

You are financially responsible where a refund, replacement, return, redelivery, chargeback or loss arises from defective or unsafe goods, inaccurate listings, insufficient stock, incorrect fulfilment, inadequate packaging, failure to dispatch, unauthorised customer contact or another breach by you.

We may deduct valid amounts from current or future settlements and may hold an affected settlement while a genuine dispute is investigated.

12. Brand and content licence

You grant SoWhereTo>Access a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence during your participation and for a reasonable wind-down period to host, reproduce, adapt for format, display, promote and distribute your approved brand name, logo, product images, descriptions and campaign content for platform and marketplace marketing.

You warrant that you own or have permission to use all submitted content and that it does not infringe another person’s rights.

13. Compliance and records

Comply with consumer, product-safety, labelling, tax, data-protection, intellectual-property and sector laws.

Maintain required registrations, licences, approvals and insurance where applicable.

Keep accurate order, stock, dispatch, delivery, complaint and refund records.

Cooperate with reasonable audits, verification and quality checks.

14. Service standards and performance

We may monitor dispatch time, cancellation rate, delivery success, customer complaints, product quality, refunds, responsiveness and compliance.

Repeated or serious failures may result in listing removal, settlement review, remedial action, suspension or termination.

15. Suspension and termination

Either party may terminate participation on written notice, subject to completing active orders and outstanding obligations.

We may suspend immediately where there is suspected fraud, unlawful conduct, customer-data misuse, unsafe products, material non-circumvention, significant customer risk or a serious platform-security concern.

For other breaches, we may provide notice and a reasonable opportunity to respond or correct the issue.

Termination does not remove obligations relating to completed orders, refunds, customer information, fees, confidentiality, intellectual property, disputes or amounts owed.

16. Confidentiality

You must protect non-public platform, customer, pricing, campaign, technology, operational and partner information and use it only for approved platform activities.

17. Warranties and indemnity

You warrant that products are authentic, lawful, safe, of acceptable quality, correctly described and fit for any expressly stated purpose.

To the extent permitted by law, you are responsible for claims, loss or cost arising from your products, content, fulfilment, unlawful marketing, customer-data misuse or breach of these Terms.

18. Limitation of liability

Neither party excludes liability that cannot legally be excluded. Subject to that, SoWhereTo>Access is not liable for indirect or consequential losses, or for failures caused by a Brand Owner, courier, payment provider or event outside reasonable control, except to the extent caused by SoWhereTo>Access’s own unlawful conduct.

19. Disputes

Raise disputes through support@sowheretoaccess.com. The parties will first attempt good-faith resolution. Unresolved matters may be referred to mediation or another agreed process before litigation, where appropriate.

These Terms are governed by South African law.

20. Changes

We may update these Terms for legal, operational, commercial, security or service reasons. Material changes will be communicated through the platform or registered contact details. Continued participation after the effective date constitutes acceptance where permitted by law.

21. Company details

SoWhereTo Access (Pty) Ltd, trading as SoWhereTo>Access or SA>App in short

Registration number: 2026/224849/07

Registered-office details are available upon lawful or reasonable request.

Email: brands@sowheretoaccess.com

Tel: +27 60 846 6708