Vendor Terms & Listing Standards

Last updated: August 12, 2026

Overview

These Vendor Terms ("Vendor Terms") apply to sellers using the MineralCache marketplace. They form part of our Terms of Service and incorporate our Shipping Policy, Returns & Refunds Policy, Live Shows Policy, Promotions & Giveaways Policy, Copyright & IP Policy, and Privacy Policy. By listing items or accepting orders, you agree to these Vendor Terms.

Eligibility & onboarding

• You must be 18+ and able to enter binding contracts.
• Provide accurate business and contact information and maintain it up to date. We may require identity, address, phone number, and tax verification.
• All prospective vendors must apply for approval to sell on MineralCache. Vendor approval is a manual review process and is granted at the sole discretion of MineralCache.
• MineralCache may approve vendors only from countries that the platform and its payment providers currently support. Supported seller countries may change over time and may differ from buyer shipping destinations.
• Submission of an application does not guarantee approval. MineralCache reserves the right to approve, deny, suspend, or revoke vendor status at any time, with or without notice, for any reason, including compliance with marketplace policies, legal requirements, or quality standards.
• Approved vendors must maintain accurate seller-country, business-name, and private business/return-address details in their vendor account. MineralCache may pause onboarding, selling access, or payouts until required information is complete and accurate.

Account, fees & payouts

• You authorize MineralCache to deduct applicable marketplace fees and payment processing fees from each transaction total.
• Payout timing and methods are governed by these Vendor Terms and applicable payment provider policies. MineralCache may delay, withhold, net, retain as a rolling reserve, or recover negative balances, refunds, chargebacks, reversals, fees, or other amounts owed.
• Vendor onboarding, connected-account availability, and payout functionality may depend on seller-country support, payment-provider onboarding availability, and payment-provider compliance requirements. MineralCache does not guarantee that every applicant country or payout path will remain available at all times.
• Unless MineralCache expressly states otherwise, customer charges, marketplace accounting, commissions, refunds, vendor proceeds, and MineralCache transfers are denominated in United States dollars (USD). Stripe or the receiving financial institution may convert a vendor's bank deposit, apply currency-conversion or receiving fees, and determine the exchange rate. MineralCache does not set or guarantee the deposited currency, exchange rate, conversion cost, or final amount received in a vendor's bank account.
• Unless accelerated payout eligibility applies, vendor proceeds (less current vendor fees of 10% payment processing) become eligible for payout after the item(s) are accurately confirmed delivered in MineralCache records and the standard seven (7) day post-delivery hold is complete. Vendors are responsible for ensuring shipment and delivery-related information is updated truthfully and promptly.
• Payout eligibility and completion of an applicable hold indicate when MineralCache may submit eligible proceeds for transfer to the vendor's connected Stripe account; they do not mean that funds have reached the vendor's bank. A successful MineralCache transfer records movement to the connected Stripe account. Stripe's payout schedule and the vendor's financial institution determine final bank availability and arrival. Weekends, holidays, account reviews, reserves, payout-account issues, and banking delays may affect timing, and MineralCache does not guarantee a bank-arrival date. This distinction applies to standard, accelerated, Open Box, and Live Class payout eligibility.
• MineralCache may designate selected vendors for a feature labeled Instant Payout. This feature provides accelerated payout eligibility and is not a payment-provider bank Instant Payout product or a guarantee of immediate transfer, settlement, or bank availability. For future eligible orders created while the setting applies, vendor proceeds may become eligible after customer payment is successfully confirmed instead of after delivery and the standard post-delivery hold. Creating or authorizing a PaymentIntent without confirmed payment is insufficient.
• Enabling or disabling accelerated payout eligibility affects future payout commitments only and does not retroactively alter an existing payout's captured timing policy. MineralCache may enable, disable, delay, withhold, or revoke accelerated eligibility at its discretion. All payouts remain subject to scheduled processing, available platform funds, connected-account readiness, payment-provider review, administrative holds, reserves, offsets, refunds, disputes, chargebacks, reversals, recoveries, and other marketplace or compliance safeguards.
• Accelerated payout eligibility does not modify a vendor's listing, shipping, delivery, return, refund, dispute, or other fulfillment obligations. Vendors remain responsible for amounts arising after payout, including refunds, disputes, chargebacks, reversals, fees, negative balances, and other recoverable amounts.
• For Live Show Open Box transactions, merchandise proceeds and any later combined-shipping proceeds are evaluated as separate payout allocations. Eligible merchandise proceeds may receive accelerated eligibility after confirmed merchandise payment. Charged combined-shipping proceeds become eligible only after that shipping payment is confirmed. Shipping tax is not vendor proceeds, and free or waived shipping creates no shipping payout.
• Under the standard payout policy, paid Live Class admission proceeds become eligible for payout seventy-two (72) hours, or three days, after the class's actual completion recorded by MineralCache. The scheduled start, registration closing, or start of the broadcast does not by itself establish class completion. Applicable admission tax is not instructor proceeds.
• If the instructor's captured payout policy is Instant Payout, eligible admission proceeds may instead become eligible after admission payment is successfully confirmed. The captured policy applies to that admission even if the vendor setting later changes. Instant Payout does not excuse class delivery, scheduling, conduct, cancellation, or refund responsibilities and remains subject to scheduled processing, available funds, connected-account readiness, holds, reserves, offsets, disputes, reversals, and recovery.
• MineralCache may hold, reverse, offset, or recover Live Class admission proceeds and related fees when a class is cancelled, refunded, disputed, not delivered as described, affected by fraud or policy violations, or otherwise requires correction. This authority applies even when admission proceeds were previously transferred or received accelerated payout eligibility.
• MineralCache may place a manual administrative hold on all or part of a vendor payout while reviewing buyer disputes, shipping or delivery issues, suspected fraud or marketplace risk, item/order issues, refunds, chargebacks, or other marketplace-integrity concerns. Releasing a manual hold returns the payout to the normal payout schedule; it does not guarantee an immediate transfer if the automatic payout window has not yet passed.
• MineralCache reserves the right to adjust payout timelines for new vendors, high-risk accounts, or where dispute activity exceeds acceptable thresholds.
• Vendors authorize MineralCache to charge the vendor's connected payment account for amounts owed where permitted by applicable payment processor policies.
• MineralCache processes customer payments, refunds, disputes, and chargebacks through its payment processor. Vendors remain financially responsible for refunds, chargebacks, reversals, and associated fees arising from vendor-related issues, including misrepresented listings, damaged items, incorrect items, non-delivery, shipping-documentation errors, customs noncompliance, or failure to fulfill an order.
• If refunds, disputes, fees, or reversals exceed a vendor's available balance, the vendor agrees to remit the outstanding amount within seven (7) business days of notice. Failure to do so may result in suspension, additional collection actions, or recovery through lawful means.
• Vendors acknowledge that MineralCache may act as a marketplace facilitator for tax purposes in certain jurisdictions and may calculate, collect, and remit sales or similar transaction taxes as required. Vendors remain solely responsible for all other taxes, including income, franchise, use, customs-related, import, export, or taxes arising from sales made outside the MineralCache platform.
• Cross-border vendors remain responsible for seller registration, income and business taxes, export obligations, reporting, records, and other obligations applicable to their location or business. MineralCache checkout-tax handling for a buyer destination does not replace those vendor responsibilities.
• If there is any issue with payouts, vendor dashboard, Stripe, or other anomalies, contact vendors@mineralcache.com immediately.

Listing standards & authenticity

• Listings must be accurate and not misleading, including species, locality, dimensions/weight, condition, treatments, and any restorations or repairs.
• Condition assessments may involve reasonable vendor judgment and opinion. Vendors must still describe condition in good faith, disclose known issues, and avoid material misrepresentation.
• Listings should use clear, accurate photos and/or videos of the actual item whenever possible. Listing media must accurately represent the item, condition, size, color, locality, quantity, and included materials.
• Watermarked media is prohibited. Do not use photos, videos, audio, music, images, text, or other content without rights or permission; see our Copyright & IP Policy.
• Listing media may not include nudity, sexually explicit content, vulgar or obscene material, hateful, threatening, harassing, discriminatory, illegal, unrelated, deceptive, or misleading content.
• Listing media may not include off-platform payment or contact solicitation, unintentionally visible private or personal information, or copyrighted background music, radio audio, television audio, or other third-party audio unless properly licensed.
• Disclose provenance when known, do not guess, and list as unknown if necessary. Do not imply certifications you do not have.
• Each listing must reflect current availability and price; promptly remove or update sold-out items.
• Comply with all applicable laws, including wildlife and cultural heritage protections.

Assisted listings

If MineralCache assists a vendor with creating, editing, formatting, uploading, or publishing a listing, the vendor remains the seller of record and remains solely responsible for the item, listing accuracy, authenticity, legality, availability, pricing, shipping, fulfillment, refunds, disputes, taxes, customs obligations, and all vendor responsibilities under these Vendor Terms. MineralCache listing assistance does not make MineralCache the owner, seller, consignor, authenticator, appraiser, agent, or representative of the vendor or item. Vendors are responsible for reviewing assisted listings and promptly notifying MineralCache of any errors before or after publication.

Offer responsibilities

• Vendors may enable offer modes only for eligible Buy-It-Now listings supported by MineralCache offer tools.
• Accept, decline, or counter buyer offers only through MineralCache. Do not use offers to move negotiation, payment, or order completion off platform.
• Vendors must respond to offers and counter offers before the deadline shown by MineralCache. Expired offers or counter offers may no longer be accepted and may require a new offer if the listing remains available.
• Accepted offers are binding marketplace transactions when payment succeeds and an order is created. Vendors are responsible for honoring the accepted price, shipping settings, listing details, and fulfillment obligations shown through MineralCache.
• Vendors must keep offer-enabled inventory available and accurately represented while offers are open. If an accepted offer cannot be fulfilled, contact vendors@mineralcache.com immediately.
• MineralCache may cancel, restrict, or investigate offers, counter offers, listings, orders, or vendor accounts for fraud, abuse, destination restrictions, listing errors, payment failure, policy violations, or marketplace-integrity concerns.

Shipping destinations and cross-border sales

• You are responsible for selecting only those listing destination countries you can lawfully and operationally serve.
• If a listing allows international destinations, you represent that you can ship the item into each selected destination in compliance with applicable law, carrier rules, and destination-country restrictions.
• You are responsible for required permits, accurate customs declarations, truthful descriptions and values, tariff or classification information where required, and any other shipping documentation needed for the selected destination countries.
• You may enable Canada only when you can lawfully and operationally export the item from its disclosed dispatch origin and fulfill it to the Canadian destinations offered. MineralCache's Buyer on Import route does not remove or transfer your export, declaration, classification, documentation, carrier, packaging, insurance, or fulfillment responsibilities.
• You must not promise buyers that a Canadian order will have no duties, GST/HST, provincial taxes, customs charges, carrier handling fees, or brokerage fees. You must not separately collect off-platform any tax or import amount that MineralCache states it has collected through checkout or settlement.
• You are responsible for maintaining a valid private business/return address that can operationally support the markets you choose to serve and any return, customs, carrier, or enforcement issues that arise from those sales.
• You are responsible for ensuring your listing is not offered into countries where the item is prohibited, restricted, embargoed, or otherwise noncompliant.
• If a shipment fails, is delayed, is seized, is rejected by customs, or generates extra costs because of the vendor's documentation, declaration, classification, compliance, or destination-selection error, the vendor remains responsible for resulting refunds, reversals, fees, and losses.

GeoCache responsibilities

• If you create or manage a GeoCache, you are solely responsible for its lawful placement, safety, accuracy, and ongoing compliance with applicable laws, land-use rules, and private-property restrictions.
• Do not place, direct users to, or maintain GeoCaches in unsafe, prohibited, environmentally sensitive, or unauthorized areas.
• You are responsible for accurate cache details, clue content, specimen descriptions, and claim-code handling. MineralCache may remove, limit, disable, or investigate any GeoCache at any time for safety, accuracy, fraud, or policy concerns.

Live Show responsibilities

• If you host a Live Show, you are responsible for creating accurate show details, Live List items, claim IDs, sale modes, prices, quantities, auction timing, item descriptions, and any other information presented to buyers.
• You must accurately represent each item shown live, including material, locality when known, size, condition, repairs, restoration, treatments, inclusions, damage, and any material limitations.
• You are responsible for ensuring Live Show items are available, lawful to sell, and shippable to the destinations enabled for the show or item.
• You must use MineralCache live item controls, orders, payments, and fulfillment workflows for Live Show transactions. Do not direct buyers to claim, bid, pay, or complete Live Show purchases off-platform.
• You must protect stream keys and broadcast credentials. Do not publish, share, display, or otherwise expose private stream credentials to buyers or the public.
• If you appoint Live Show moderators, you must select trusted users and promptly revoke assignments that are no longer appropriate.
• Moderator assignments may be used only to enforce MineralCache policies. MineralCache may restrict or revoke moderator access at any time.
• Live Show content must comply with marketplace standards. Illegal, unsafe, deceptive, harassing, hateful, infringing, sexually explicit, exploitative, or otherwise abusive live content is prohibited.
• MineralCache may monitor, review, restrict, end, cancel, remove, or investigate Live Shows, items, claims, bids, orders, or vendor accounts for policy, payment, safety, legal, operational, or marketplace-integrity reasons.

Live Class instructor responsibilities

• If you offer a Live Class, you are responsible for accurate class titles, descriptions, schedules, admission prices, capacity, instructor information, prerequisites, included materials, and any material limitations or participant requirements.
• Before publishing a Live Class, you must review and accurately update its Safety & Requirements to disclose material tools, materials, hazards, protective equipment, ventilation, workspace, physical capability, and experience requirements specific to the class. Do not rely on MineralCache's default wording when additional or different precautions are material.
• You may not minimize known risks, make unsupported safety guarantees, instruct participants to disregard manufacturer guidance, or encourage activity that is unlawful or that you know or reasonably should know is unsafe. Stop or redirect an activity when continuing it would present an apparent safety concern.
• You must have the knowledge, rights, qualifications, permissions, equipment, and lawful authority reasonably necessary to deliver the class as represented.
• You must conduct the class professionally and safely, comply with MineralCache content and conduct standards, and avoid deceptive, dangerous, infringing, harassing, discriminatory, or otherwise prohibited instruction or activity.
• You are responsible for starting and delivering the class at the scheduled time, maintaining suitable broadcast equipment and connectivity, and making reasonable efforts to restore the class after an instructor-side interruption.
• If a schedule change is necessary, update the class through MineralCache promptly and provide as much advance notice as reasonably possible. Do not represent a class as available at a time or capacity you cannot reasonably honor.
• If you cannot deliver a scheduled class, use MineralCache's class cancellation workflow promptly and cooperate with admission cancellation, refund, review, dispute, and recovery handling. Do not simply fail to appear or privately tell attendees that the class is cancelled.
• Class admission, registration, payment, access, schedule changes, cancellation, and related attendee communications must remain on MineralCache. You may not request or accept off-platform admission payment, transfer access between accounts, share gated access, or use a class to evade marketplace fees or records.
• Any merchandise offered during a Live Class is a separate Live Show transaction. You remain responsible for its listing accuracy, inventory, tax, shipping, Open Box, fulfillment, return, refund, and payout obligations under the rules applicable to that merchandise purchase.
• MineralCache may review class content, admission records, schedule history, stream activity, communications, complaints, cancellations, refunds, and payout activity and may restrict, cancel, refund, hold, offset, reverse, recover, suspend, or otherwise resolve activity when needed to enforce policy, address legal or operational concerns, or protect marketplace integrity.

Promotion and giveaway responsibilities

• If you create or sponsor a promotion, you are responsible for accurate promotion details, eligible products, dates, code settings, usage limits, discount terms, item availability, and compliance with applicable law.
• Promo Giveaway Listings must be tied to eligible active buy-now listings and must accurately describe the item, including title, listing media, condition, quantity, listed value, and any material limitations.
• You must keep giveaway inventory available after creating a Promo Giveaway Listing and promptly disable or update the promotion if the item is no longer available.
• If you run a contest, sweepstakes, drawing, social-media giveaway, or similar promotion, you are responsible for official rules, eligibility requirements, entry methods, winner selection, winner notification, required disclosures, and any no-purchase entry method required by law.
• You may not use promotions or giveaways to mislead users, evade fees, manipulate marketplace activity, collect unauthorized data, require off-platform payment, or pressure users into off-platform transactions.
• You are responsible for fulfilling confirmed giveaway orders through MineralCache order and shipping workflows unless MineralCache cancels the order or provides different written instructions.
• MineralCache may cancel, disable, edit, restrict, or investigate promotions, giveaway codes, listings, orders, or vendor accounts for fraud, abuse, legal concerns, inventory issues, policy violations, or marketplace-integrity reasons.

Product availability

Vendors are responsible for ensuring that all listed items, Live Show items, and Live List items are accurately represented and available at the time they are offered. While cross-posting items on other platforms is not prohibited, vendors must maintain accurate availability across all channels. If an order cannot be fulfilled for any reason, email vendors@mineralcache.com immediately; repeated occurrences may result in suspension or removal from the platform. If a product is unavailable after a purchase is processed, the vendor may be responsible for any associated processing or transaction costs in the event the purchase amount is refunded.

Prohibited items & activities

• Illegal items, stolen property, or items sourced in violation of law or permits.
• Specimens restricted by law or treaty, including CITES-listed materials, without proper documentation.
• Counterfeit, misidentified, or materially misrepresented items.
• Harmful, hazardous, or improperly packaged materials.
• Spam, fee avoidance, off-platform transactions for items discovered on MineralCache, manipulation of reviews, auctions, Live Shows, bids, claims, or abusive conduct toward users.

Orders, shipping & delivery

• Accept and fulfill orders promptly, including paid Live Show orders. Ship within the time indicated in the listing, show, item, and our Shipping Policy, provide tracking, and package to prevent damage.
• Ship to the address on the order. Changes require buyer confirmation on-platform.
• Risk of loss transfers to the buyer upon confirmed carrier acceptance unless otherwise required by law.
• If an order cannot be fulfilled for any reason, email vendors@mineralcache.com immediately; repeated occurrences may result in suspension or removal from the platform.
• If an item is falsely marked shipped or delivered, this may result in suspension of the account.

Returns, refunds & disputes

• Honor our Returns & Refunds Policy, including evidence and timelines.
• For covered buy-now or auction orders shipping to destinations in the European Union or the United Kingdom, comply with any mandatory cancellation, withdrawal, return, and refund obligations that apply, including accepting covered returns where required and cooperating with any standard outbound shipping refund treatment required by law or MineralCache policy.
• Vendors are responsible for keeping a valid return contact and return address on file with MineralCache and for accepting returns at that address where required by law, carrier process, dispute handling, or MineralCache policy.
• For approved damage-in-transit returns, vendors are responsible for reasonable return shipping costs unless applicable law requires a different result or MineralCache provides different written instructions.
• For damage in transit, cooperate with carrier claims, packaging inspections, and any return or reimbursement instructions provided by MineralCache. MineralCache may recover approved damage-in-transit return shipping costs from vendor payouts or other amounts owed, where appropriate.
• When a refund is approved, it will be issued to the buyer's original payment method. Payment processing fees may be retained or reversed in accordance with the applicable payment provider's policies.
• Vendor fees may be refunded, partially refunded, or retained at MineralCache's discretion based on the nature of the customer return and the applicable transaction circumstances.

Communications & off-platform conduct

• Vendors must keep customer communications, payment, order coordination, return coordination, and transaction-related activity on MineralCache using the tools we provide.
• Do not use messages, listings, order notes, profiles, package inserts, GeoCache features, Live Shows, or other Services to request, share, or arrange outside contact or outside payment for a transaction discovered, discussed, or started on MineralCache.
• Do not solicit, encourage, or accept off-platform transactions to avoid marketplace fees, vendor commissions, payment processing, taxes, buyer or seller protections, order records, fraud controls, or other platform requirements.
• Normal product questions, order questions, shipping details, support issues, fulfillment coordination, and return-related communications are permitted when handled through MineralCache tools.
• Maintain professional, non-harassing communications with buyers, other vendors, and staff. Violations may result in message restriction, account limits, order cancellation, listing removal, vendor suspension, removal from the marketplace, or temporary or permanent account termination.

Data protection

• Use buyer data only to fulfill orders, support the transaction, comply with law, and meet marketplace requirements.
• Protect buyer data with reasonable security measures and do not use or disclose it for unrelated marketing, resale, profiling, or other unauthorized purposes.

Intellectual property

• You grant MineralCache a non-exclusive, worldwide license to host, display, and promote your listings and media on the Services.
• You represent and warrant that your listings and media do not infringe third-party rights.

Sanctions, export & compliance

• Comply with applicable trade sanctions, export controls, wildlife and cultural heritage protection laws, and postal or carrier rules.
• Do not offer, sell, or ship items into countries or to persons where the transaction would violate sanctions, export controls, import restrictions, or marketplace policy.

Independent contractor

Vendors operate as independent contractors and are not employees, partners, joint venturers, agents, or representatives of MineralCache, LLC. Vendors have no authority to bind or act on behalf of MineralCache, LLC, and no provision of this Agreement shall be construed to create any employment, partnership, joint venture, or agency relationship.

Insurance recommendation

Vendors are responsible for maintaining appropriate commercial liability insurance, at their own expense, sufficient to cover claims arising from their products, services, and business operations.

Suspension & termination

We may suspend or terminate vendor access for policy breaches, excessive disputes or chargebacks, fraud risk, or legal or regulatory reasons. We may remove or edit listings that violate these standards.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, MineralCache, LLC shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of profits, revenue, data, or goodwill, arising out of or related to the Services. MineralCache's total aggregate liability for any claim shall not exceed the amounts paid to MineralCache by the claimant in the six (6) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

Sellers indemnification

Sellers agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless MineralCache, LLC from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of or related to the seller's listings, products, services, representations, conduct, or violation of applicable law.

Survival clause

Sections relating to fees, refunds, chargebacks, tax obligations, indemnification, limitation of liability, dispute resolution, and governing law shall survive termination of a vendor's account.

Disputes; governing terms

Dispute resolution, governing law, and limitations are as stated in our Terms of Service. If these Vendor Terms conflict with the Terms of Service, these Vendor Terms control for seller-specific matters.

Changes

We may update these Vendor Terms from time to time. Material changes will be posted; continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

Contact

MineralCache, LLC · P.O. Box 5, Llano, TX 78643, USA · support@mineralcache.com