Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of afrovendors.ca ("AfroVendors," "the platform," "we," "us"). By using AfroVendors — whether as a customer browsing listings or a vendor with a listed business — you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the platform.

AfroVendors is operated from Ontario, Canada. These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein.

AfroVendors is a directory and discovery platform. We connect customers with African-owned businesses in Canada. We are not a party to any transaction, service agreement, or contract between a customer and a vendor. Specifically:

• We do not provide, endorse, guarantee, or warrant any vendor's products or services.
• We do not process payments between customers and vendors.
• We do not verify that vendors hold any particular licence, certification, or insurance unless explicitly stated on their profile.
• Any agreement you enter into with a vendor is solely between you and that vendor.

When you use AfroVendors to find a vendor, you agree to:

• Use contact buttons for genuine inquiries only, not spam or harassment.
• Submit reviews only for vendors you have genuinely engaged with, and ensure your review is accurate and honest.
• Not submit false, defamatory, or misleading reviews. Reviews that violate this may be removed without notice.
• Conduct your own due diligence before hiring any vendor, including verifying licences, insurance, and references where relevant.

By submitting a listing or maintaining a vendor account, you agree to:

• Provide accurate, complete, and up-to-date information in your listing. Listings containing false or misleading information will be removed.
• Ensure all photos you upload are images you own or have the right to use commercially. Do not upload copyrighted images belonging to others.
• Respond to customer inquiries in a timely and professional manner.
• Not list services that are illegal, harmful, or that violate any applicable law.
• Update your listing promptly if your business closes, changes contact information, or materially changes the services offered.
• Not create multiple listings for the same business without our prior written approval.

You understand that a free listing does not guarantee any particular number of inquiries, customers, or business outcomes. AfroVendors makes no representations about the volume of traffic or leads your listing will receive.

All vendor applications are reviewed before going live. We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to:

• Reject any vendor application without explanation.
• Remove or suspend any listing at any time if it violates these Terms, contains false information, receives credible complaints, or for any other reason we deem appropriate.
• Modify the content of a listing (such as correcting a category or formatting error) without notice.

If your listing is removed and you believe this was in error, contact us at hello@afrovendors.ca and we will review the decision.

When paid listing tiers are available, the following additional terms apply:

• Subscriptions are billed monthly and renew automatically until cancelled.
• You may cancel at any time. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period — no partial refunds are issued for unused time within a billing period.
• If your payment fails, your listing will be downgraded to the free tier until payment is resolved.
• Prices may change with 30 days' written notice to the email on your vendor account.
• "Featured" placement is limited to a small number of slots per category per city. If all slots are filled when you subscribe, you will be placed on a waitlist and notified when a slot becomes available.

The AfroVendors platform, including its design, code, and original content, is owned by AfroVendors and protected by Canadian copyright law.

By uploading photos or submitting listing content, you grant AfroVendors a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to display, reproduce, and distribute that content on the platform and in marketing materials promoting the platform (such as social media posts featuring your listing). You retain ownership of your content and may revoke this licence by removing the content from your listing.

You must not upload content that infringes the intellectual property rights of any third party. If we receive a valid complaint that your content infringes someone else's copyright, we will remove the content and notify you.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, AfroVendors and its operators shall not be liable for:

• Any loss or damage arising from your reliance on information in a vendor listing.
• Any dispute, harm, or loss arising from a transaction or engagement between a customer and a vendor.
• Any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from your use of the platform.
• Any temporary or permanent unavailability of the platform.

Our total liability to any user for any claim arising under these Terms shall not exceed the amount paid by that user to AfroVendors in the three months preceding the claim (or CAD $50 if no payment was made).

AfroVendors is not a mediator or arbitrator of disputes between customers and vendors. If you have a dispute with another user, you are responsible for resolving it directly. We may, at our discretion, remove content or listings that are the subject of credible complaints, but we are not obligated to investigate or resolve disputes between users.

We may update these Terms at any time. We will notify vendors of material changes by email with at least 14 days' notice. Your continued use of AfroVendors after the effective date of changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

For questions about these Terms, contact us at hello@afrovendors.ca.