This Cratejoy Payments Policy (this “Policy”) is a part of and is hereby incorporated into Cratejoy, Inc.’s (“Cratejoy” or “we” or “us”) Terms of Service. In the event of a conflict between any provisions of this Policy and the Terms of Service, the provisions of this Policy shall govern and control. By using Cratejoy Payments, you agree to be bound by this Policy, our Terms of Service and any additional terms and conditions and policies referenced herein or therein and/or available by hyperlink.
- Accepting These Terms
- Overview
- Third-Party Services
- Cratejoy’s Rights and Responsibilities
- Seller Rights and Responsibilities
- Appointment of Cratejoy as Limited Payment Collection Agent for Sellers
- Deposits
- Recoupment
- Payment Processing Fees
- Reporting Obligations
- Termination
This Policy sets out your rights and responsibilities when you use Cratejoy Payments on Cratejoy’s services (we’ll refer to Cratejoy.com and other services, affiliated websites and domains as our “Services”), so please read it carefully.
The Policy is a legally binding contract between you and Cratejoy.
2. Overview
Cratejoy Payments allows users who sellers products, goods and services via the Services (“Sellers”) to (a) accept payment by authorized credit and debit card transactions, PayPal (where available), transactions using Apple Pay, and transactions using Google Pay, (b) have those funds credited to a seller’s payment account with Cratejoy, and (c) have those funds deposited into a Seller’s designated bank account. Cratejoy reserves the right to add or remove payment methods accepted by Cratejoy Payments in its sole discretion, with notice where required by applicable law.
Cratejoy Payments is only available to Sellers who are at least 18 years old who register and are approved for a payment account with Cratejoy. Cratejoy Payments is currently available only to Sellers in the United States.
Sellers may only use Cratejoy Payments for the sale of items listed on Cratejoy’s Services, and agree to ship sold items once a payment transaction is complete and reflected in their payment account. Cratejoy reserves the right to terminate a Seller’s access to Cratejoy Payments if the seller uses Cratejoy Payments in any other manner.
Buyers and Sellers benefit from Cratejoy having visibility into payments made on Cratejoy via Cratejoy Payments, because it can make the Services easy to use and enables Cratejoy to more effectively provide support to Sellers or buyers where relevant. It also can help reduce fraud and other types of misuse of the Services.
3. Third-Party Services
Cratejoy has engaged third-party service providers that provide you with regulated payment services and perform many of the services related to payment processing, including card processing, disbursements, currency exchange, identity verification, fraud analysis, and regulatory compliance.
Cratejoy partners with Stripe, PayPal, and other licensed payment providers to facilitate card payments and other payments and the disbursement of funds to sellers. The provider and processing time for your payment will vary based on the geography in which you’re located.
Cratejoy may share your personal or transactional information with those third-party service providers for purposes related to payments processing in accordance with Cratejoy’s privacy policy located here.
If Cratejoy receives notice that a Seller’s store content or activity violates a third party’s service agreement, Cratejoy may at our sole discretion take action against the Seller’s account to comply with Cratejoy’s policies. Such actions may include canceling a transaction, disabling listings from such Seller’s store, suspending or terminating Seller’s selling privileges, or removing certain payment methods.
4. Cratejoy’s Rights and Responsibilities
Cratejoy Payments functionality may be made available, modified, or discontinued by us at any time without notice and is subject to the limitations in Cratejoy’s Terms of Use.
As a security measure, we may impose transaction limits on buyers and Sellers. For example, we may impose limits relating to the value of any transaction, deposit, or adjustment, or limits relating to the cumulative value of all transactions, deposits, or adjustments during a period of time. We may also impose limits related to the number of transactions per day or other period of time. We will not be liable to a Seller: (a) if we do not proceed with a transaction, deposit, or adjustment that would exceed any limit established by us, or (b) if we permit a buyer to withdraw from a transaction.
Cratejoy may refuse service of Cratejoy Payments to anyone, for any reason, at any time.
Cratejoy reserves the right to decline or refund transactions that we believe to be high risk, fraudulent, in violation of trade sanctions, or otherwise in violation of Cratejoy’s Terms of Service.
Cratejoy maintains records associated with transactions on Cratejoy Payments and does not pass any secure data, including credit card numbers or bank account information, to any Sellers. Sellers will only receive shipping information and limited buyer account information necessary to complete the order. Cratejoy’s Privacy Policy further explains how Cratejoy handles user information.
5. Seller Rights and Responsibilities
A. Use of Cratejoy Payments. If a Seller lives in a country in which Cratejoy Payments is available, Seller is required to sign up for Cratejoy Payments, except as otherwise determined by Cratejoy in its sole discretion. Using Cratejoy Payments will result in a Seller store accepting payment through authorized credit and debit card transactions, PayPal, Cratejoy Gift Card, Cratejoy Credits, Cratejoy Coupons, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and or other methods (where available). For Seller to sign up for Cratejoy Payments and receive payment for transactions made through Cratejoy Payments, Seller must provide all required information and complete all required steps, including in some markets, verifying Seller’s bank account, for compliance purposes. Without this information, payment cannot be made to Seller and, in some cases, your account functionality may be otherwise limited. Sellers can find instructions about how to upload bank account information here. If Seller lives in a country in which Cratejoy Payments is available and Seller does not provide Cratejoy with this information, Cratejoy may refuse you access to the Services until Seller does so.
B. Payment Accounts. A payment account allows Seller to track payment amounts, refunds, and fees related to transactions and Seller services. Sellers must provide accurate personal information as requested during registration, and are responsible for maintaining and updating that information as necessary. Sellers will not impersonate any person or use any name they are not legally authorized to use. Sellers authorize us, and authorized agents, to verify their information (at registration and on occasion when using the Services) by accessing public records and obtaining credit reports about the sellers. Cratejoy verifies Sellers’ information in order to safeguard the integrity of the marketplace and reduce the risk of fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, and the violation of trade sanctions.
Payment accounts are only available to individuals who are eligible to be Sellers on Cratejoy’s Services and who have a valid credit or debit card on file with Cratejoy, unless they are exempt from this requirement.
C. Disputes. Sellers agree to resolve any order issues directly with a buyer or with the assistance of the customer management and refund tools available on Cratejoy, and in accordance with our Seller Policy and Terms of Service. In the event that an order issue is escalated to Cratejoy’s Support Team, Cratejoy reserves the right to issue a refund to a buyer and recoup such funds from the Seller if a transaction is found to be in violation of Cratejoy’s policies.
In the event that a buyer submits a formal dispute, or chargeback, through their bank Cratejoy will respond to the bank and credit card networks on behalf of the Seller involved in the transaction; the Seller agrees to provide any requested information to us within five calendar days of the request. Cratejoy reserves the right to recoup funds associated with buyer disputes from the Seller. Disputes cannot be refunded, Cratejoy will contest all disputes and either win or accept disputes based on the credit card networks’ further investigation.
D. Communications. We will inform Sellers of each transaction, or of other information pertaining to Cratejoy Payments, using our standard communication procedures, including by email or through Cratejoy’s Messages tool.
E. Refunds. Refunds or adjustments paid by Cratejoy to buyers for payments made through Cratejoy Payments may be initiated using the refund functionality in the Seller’s payment account for a period of 180 days after the purchase was made. The Cratejoy Payments Platform does not have refund functionality after 180 days from the original purchase date. Any such funds paid by Cratejoy to cover refunds will be deducted from the Seller’s payment account balance. If there are insufficient funds to cover the amount of the refund, the balance will be charged to the seller’s card on file or added to the seller’s payment account. Refunds issued by Cratejoy will be in the original form of payment, and if such payment is not available, a Cratejoy credit will be issued.
For full refunds to buyers who used a Cratejoy Coupon towards their underlying purchase, the buyer will be refunded the amount they paid as part of the purchase, and Cratejoy will be refunded the amount contributed by Cratejoy via the Cratejoy Coupon. For partial refunds to buyers who used a Cratejoy Coupon towards their underlying purchase, refunds will be made to the buyer and Cratejoy proportionate to the amount contributed to the underlying purchase (in Cratejoy’s case via a Cratejoy Coupon). You can read more about how refunds are treated in the case of purchases made using Cratejoy Coupons here.
Cratejoy reserves the right to refund buyers and recoup such refunded amounts from the Seller where the Seller has been refused service by Cratejoy in accordance with Cratejoy’s Terms of Service; and/or in circumstances where a Seller is under Reserve as detailed in Section 7 (Deposits); and/or in circumstances where the Seller has unfulfilled or overdue orders.
Fully refunded transactions may be eligible for shipment cancellation.
F. International Trade Laws. You agree that your use of Cratejoy Payments will not involve any countries, entities, individuals, or items prohibited by sanctions, embargoes, regulations, or orders administered by the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) or other government agencies.
G. Information on Cardholder Charges. Please note that your bank or card provider may charge additional fees (including cross-border fees) for transactions that you make on Cratejoy. These fees are not charged by Cratejoy and are at the discretion of your bank. Please contact your bank for further details.
6. Appointment of Cratejoy as Limited Collection Agent for Sellers
Each Seller appoints Cratejoy as its agent for the limited purpose of receiving, holding, and settling payments to Seller. Cratejoy will settle payments that are actually received by Cratejoy to each Seller, less any amounts owed to Cratejoy and subject to this Policy. Each Seller agrees that a buyer payment received by Cratejoy, on behalf of Seller, satisfies the buyer’s obligations to make payment to Seller, regardless of whether Cratejoy actually settles such payment to Seller. If Cratejoy does not settle any such payments as described in this Policy to a Seller, such Seller will have recourse only against Cratejoy and not the buyer.
7. Deposits
A. Payment Account. All funds resulting from a completed transaction will be reflected as a balance in a Seller’s payment account. Transactions are considered complete at the later of once the payment is approved by Cratejoy or our fraud analysis service provider. Any refunds, adjustments, or other amounts paid to buyers in connection with purchases, or for funds received since the last payment day, are also applied to the Seller’s payment account balance.
Funds displayed in a Seller’s payment account balance are eligible for deposit (the “Available Funds”) into a Seller’s bank account, subject to any applicable reserve(s) and corresponding reserve limit, hold, or deposit delay, as described in Section B. Reserves; Holds and Delays below, and as otherwise determined by the Seller’s bank.
For deposits below designated thresholds in certain markets, a deposit fee will apply. See Section 9 below for details on deposit fees. A deposit minimum also applies to deposits in certain markets. Funds will only be available for deposit if they exceed the applicable deposit minimum.
B. Reserves; Holds and Delays. To protect the security and integrity of our marketplace, the users of the Services, and Cratejoy, Cratejoy may take account-level or transaction-level actions based on risk-based criteria, like the criteria listed below. Some of our decisions about reserves, holds and delays may be based on criteria that demonstrates a Seller’s ability to fulfill orders in a manner consistent with Cratejoy’s policies. These criteria are essential to our management of risk and the protection of Cratejoy and our users. Cratejoy reserves the right to use a combination of reserves, deposit delays, and holds on your account.
(1) Reserves
A “Reserve” is an amount of money pending settlement as indicated in a Seller’s payment account. Cratejoy reserves the right to apply Reserves on any account. A Reserve may be placed on your account if we believe there may be a high level of financial risk associated with a Seller, Seller’s account, Seller’s business model, or Seller’s transactions.
When a Reserve is applied on a Seller’s payment account, it means that a percentage of the funds in Seller’s payment account balance is held on an ongoing basis, and will not be made available for disbursement as Available Funds for a specified period of time. The Reserve percentage applies to amounts from Seller’s sales that would otherwise be available for disbursement. The percentage Reserve applied to Seller’s account is determined by Seller’s risk level and is used to create a threshold amount (explained in detail below) that applies to Seller’s payment account balance while Seller has a Reserve. Sellers will be notified by email if a Reserve is applied to Seller’s Payment Account. The email Sellers receive notifying Seller that it has an amount in Reserve will include details of the Reserve, including the period of Reserve and the percentage applied to Seller’s Payment Account.
(2) Threshold Reserve Amount applicable to your Account
The threshold reserve amount is the amount of funds you must have in your Payment Account while you’re in Reserve before you’ll have money available to disburse to your bank account (the “Threshold Reserve Amount”). The Threshold Reserve Amount will maintain the percentage Reserve that has been applied to Seller’s account. As a result, it may increase and decrease as appropriate to reflect new activity in your payment account, like sales Seller’s received, refunds and chargebacks, charges to your payment account where applicable, as well as and Reserve amounts released to Seller. The Threshold Reserve will also determine the amount of funds available to be disbursed to Seller’s bank account as Available Funds and the amount of funds that are pending, because Seller is still in Reserve. Funds in excess of the Threshold Reserve Amount are available to Seller for disbursement as described in Section 7A above. Funds below the Threshold Reserve Amount are Seller’s Reserved funds and are not available for disbursement until the end of the applicable Reserve period. If Seller’s Reserve funds are used to cover any charges and Seller’s Reserve funds fall below the Threshold Reserve Amount, funds from subsequent sales will be applied to Seller’s Reserve funds to help Seller meet and maintain Seller’s Threshold Reserve Amount. Sellers can view Threshold Reserve Amount, as well as any Reserved funds and funds available to Seller for disbursement (Available Funds), in Seller’s Payment Account.
Reserve funds will be used to address potential financial risk such as refunds, chargebacks, claims, or seller fees and charges, where Seller’s Available Funds do not sufficiently cover such charges. Reserve funds that are not used to address refunds, chargebacks, claims or seller fees, where applicable, will be released to Seller in full at the end of the corresponding Reserve period on a rolling basis. However, Reserve funds will not be released if, during the Reserve period relating to a particular sale, a buyer raises a case against Seller, or files a chargeback, and Seller does not have sufficient funds in Seller’s Available Funds to cover a potential refund. Cratejoy relies on different risk factors (and whether and how these factors have changed over time) to determine whether and how much of a Reserve should be applied to Seller’s payment account, including:
- How long Seller has been in business on Cratejoy (including how long since Seller made its first sale)
- Details of sales (including volume and average sales earnings)
- The extent of any backlog of orders from Seller’s store
- The amount of unshipped liabilities (prepaid but unshipped orders)
- Availability of shipping tracking information
- Types of goods Seller sells (whether ready to ship or made to order)
- Ratio of cases (disputes) opened by buyers in respect of Seller’s sales
- Suspensions or warnings already received
- Estimated delivery times; and
- Shipping status of active orders
A “fixed reserve” is a fixed percentage of Seller’s payment account balance at the time a Reserve is placed on Seller’s account, which will be held for a specified period of time. After that, the same percentage of each of Seller’s subsequent sales will be held in Reserve, each for a specified period of time. Reserve funds will be held for such period and where applicable, will be used to address chargebacks, refunds, and pay seller fees. Reserve funds will be released on a rolling basis after the corresponding Reserve period expires, unless a case is raised against Seller by a buyer. Any funds above the Threshold Amount of your Reserve will be available to be disbursed as described in Section 7A.
A “Variable Reserve” is a percentage, determined as appropriate by Cratejoy’s risk team, of a Seller’s payment account balance (i) delayed prior to being included as part of a Seller’s Available Funds for a period of up to 180 days or (ii) deducted from a Seller’s payment account as a reserve for a period of up to 90 days. A Variable Reserve may be placed on a Seller’s payment account balance in addition to any applicable Reserve in Cratejoy’s sole discretion. Variable Reserves are placed on an account on a case by case basis, in reference to the factors listed above and other risk-based criteria, and are reviewed from time to time. Cratejoy may deem a Seller eligible for reduction in the percentage or removal of a Reserve due to a change in our risk-assessment of a Seller based on the factors listed above, or as a result of a Seller’s positive performance, such as a reduction in cases or an improvement in the Seller’s fulfillment of orders. Cratejoy may increase the Reserve percentage held and/or the period for which the Reserve applies based on our re-review of a Seller account against the factors listed above, and other risk-based criteria. If we change the terms of a Reserve due to a change in our risk assessment, we’ll notify Seller of the new terms.
(4) Holds and Delays
In some cases, deposits to a Seller’s bank accounts could be temporarily delayed by an issue at Cratejoy, Cratejoy’s third-party service providers, or a Seller’s bank. We’ll do our best to communicate with any affected Seller as soon as we can.
Separately, if we believe that a Seller’s actions may result in buyer disputes, chargebacks, increased risk of fraud, counterfeiting, or other claims, then we may, in addition to any applicable Reserve and in our sole discretion, put a hold or deposit delay on the Seller’s payment account balance.
A hold may be put on funds associated with a particular transaction if there is a dispute or investigation related to the order, for the shorter of: (a) 180 days after the estimated delivery date, or (b) completion of any investigation regarding the Seller’s actions.
Deposit delays are defined as the number of days between a sale and the day the net amount from the sale becomes available for deposit, provided the payment has been completed. A deposit delay may be between 0 and 180 days. A deposit delay is applied across all transactions for a Seller and the number of days is reflected in each Seller’s payment account.
If Cratejoy places a hold or deposit delay on a Seller’s account, we’ll do our best to communicate with the affected Seller as appropriate as soon as we can.
We always work hard to avoid and minimize any delays. However, please note that Cratejoy is not obligated to refund any fees or reimburse any expenses due to holds or delayed deposits.
C. Country and Currency Options. Available Funds can only be deposited into bank accounts, in the domestic currency of the account, in the United States.
D. Scheduled Deposits. Cratejoy will instruct our payments partners to initiate a deposit of a Seller’s Available Funds into the Seller’s bank account on a daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis. Sellers can select the frequency of disbursements from their payment account in their account settings. When a Seller selects daily disbursements, disbursements will be made on each day that the seller’s payment account has a balance equal to or greater than the minimum daily disbursement thresholds listed below. When a seller selects weekly, biweekly, or monthly disbursements, disbursements will be made on every applicable Monday. In this policy we’ll refer to the date of disbursement as the “Payment Date.” Deposits into a Seller’s bank account will generally be credited within three (3) to five (5) business days from the date Cratejoy initiates the deposit request. The actual timing of the deposit may depend on how quickly a seller’s bank processes the request.
The minimum daily disbursement threshold is currently set to $20.00.
The Payment Date will fall on the next business day (Monday through Friday, excluding bank holidays) if the scheduled Payment Date falls on a non-business day. If a Seller elects to change the frequency of disbursements, the following deposit will be initiated on the next business day if the Seller selects daily disbursements, or on the next applicable Monday if the Seller selects weekly, biweekly, or monthly disbursements. When a Seller either initially provides or later changes their bank account information, the Seller must wait at least five (5) calendar days to request a deposit into a bank account as a security precaution. The next scheduled deposit after a change to bank account information will occur on the next applicable Payment Date after a period of five (5) calendar days from the date of the requested change.
E. Escheatment. If Cratejoy cannot settle funds into a Seller’s bank account, or the Seller is refused service by Cratejoy under Cratejoy’s Terms of Use, the funds will remain with Cratejoy and the balance remains available in the Seller’s payment account. It is the Seller’s sole responsibility to update their bank account information to receive the funds, if applicable. If a Seller fails to update the information to claim the funds within a certain period of time, or Cratejoy cannot release funds to the Seller for compliance reasons, Cratejoy will escheat the funds to the relevant government authority as required in order to comply with applicable escheatment laws.
8. Recoupment
A. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to seek reimbursement from a Seller in any of the following circumstances: (a) we provide a refund to a buyer because a Seller did not promptly deliver the goods or we otherwise determine, consistent with Section 5 (Seller Rights and Responsibilities), that a refund is warranted in a particular circumstance, (b) we discover erroneous or duplicate transactions related to a Seller, (c) we receive a chargeback from a buyer’s credit card issuer or reversal of payment for the amount of a buyer’s purchase from a Seller, or (d) a Seller does not act in accordance with any of Cratejoy’s policies, this Policy or the Terms of Service.
B. We may obtain reimbursement of any amounts owed by a Seller to Cratejoy by deducting from future payments owed to the Seller, reversing any credits to the Seller’s Payment Account balance, charging the Seller’s card on file, charging the seller’s payment account, or seeking reimbursement from the Seller by any other lawful means, including by using third-party collections services. You authorize us to use any or all of the foregoing methods to seek reimbursement. Cratejoy may suspend a Seller’s selling privileges at any time pending payment of Seller’s outstanding balance.
9. Payment Processing Fees
A. Overview. Cratejoy charges a fee (the “Payment Processing Fee”) for each transaction processed through Cratejoy Payments. The fee amount will be assessed on the gross order amount, including shipping and tax (if applicable). Payment Processing Fees will be reflected in Seller’s Payment Account and will be deducted from the total amount of the payment at the time the payment is considered complete. We reserve the right to modify the Payment Processing Fee at any time. For deposits below designated thresholds in certain markets, a deposit fee will apply, as described in the table below. Deposit fees are deducted from Seller’s Available Funds and reflected in Seller’s Payment Account at the time of Seller’s scheduled deposit. In the event of any partial or full refunds credited back to a buyer, the Payment Processing Fee and other applicable fees will be recalculated based on the adjusted sale price. The difference between the original Payment Processing Fee and the adjusted Payment Processing Fee will be applied to the refund amount being credited back to the Seller. Other applicable fees will be refunded to the Seller’s Payment Account. Deposit fees will be refunded if the deposit is returned to a Seller’s Payment Account.
B. Fee Amount. Payment Processing Fees may vary based on the location of a Seller’s bank account. Sellers in the United States who are given access to Cratejoy Payments, currently pay a rate of 2.9% + $0.30 in Payment Processing Fees.
C. Interest. In the United States, Cratejoy may earn interest (or other compensation) from the balances in our bank accounts because of the timing difference between our being paid by buyers and our paying Sellers (when our bank account is being debited to pay Available Funds in payment accounts to Sellers).
10. Reporting Obligations
Internal Revenue Service regulations require that we file a Form 1099-K to report unadjusted annual gross sales information for Sellers located in the United States or being paid in USD in certain circumstances.
To comply with these regulations, Sellers who approach 150 (one hundred and fifty) transactions in a calendar year, regardless of sales volume and aggregated across such Seller’s stores, will be required to provide taxpayer-identification information to Cratejoy.
11. Termination
Sellers may terminate this contract and their acceptance of Cratejoy Payments at any time by adjusting the Settings in their account with Cratejoy. Cratejoy may also terminate or suspend a Seller’s use of Cratejoy Payments at any time.
Upon termination, any non-disputed Available Funds will be deposited into a Seller’s bank account. Cratejoy reserves the right, upon termination of access to Cratejoy Payments, to set off against any payments to be made to the Seller, an amount determined by us to be adequate to cover any anticipated chargebacks, refunds, adjustments, or other amounts that might be paid to buyers in connection with purchases from the Seller’s payment account for a prospective 180-day period. At the end of the 180-day period following termination, we will disburse to the Seller any amount not used to offset chargebacks, refunds, adjustments, or such other amounts paid to buyers, or seek reimbursement from the Seller via any of the means authorized in this Policy for any additional amount required to offset chargebacks, refunds, adjustments, or other amounts paid to buyers, as applicable.