1. Acceptance
By creating an account or using Village, you agree to these Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the service. If you are under 18, your parent or legal guardian must also agree to these Terms on your behalf.
2. Eligibility
To use Village, you must:
- Be at least 13 years old
- Be a real individual (not a company, bot, or fictional identity)
- Be able to provide a verifiable home address near an active Village neighborhood
Users aged 13–17 must have a parent or legal guardian approve their account before it is activated. The guardian is jointly responsible for the minor's compliance with these Terms.
One account per person. Creating multiple accounts is prohibited.
3. Your Account
You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials. All information you provide must be accurate and current. You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account, whether or not you authorized it. If you believe your account has been compromised, contact us immediately at joinvillage.life@gmail.com.
4. The Village Credit System
- Credits are community currency used within the Village platform. They are not cash, cryptocurrency, or financial instruments.
- Credits are earned through exchanges, listings, gifts, and monthly subscriptions.
- Credits are non-refundable once purchased or granted.
- Unused credits expire 18 months after they are earned. Expired credits are not lost — they flow into your neighborhood's community pool.
- Credits cannot be transferred between unrelated accounts, sold, or exchanged for cash outside the platform.
- Village reserves the right to adjust credit earning rates or expiry rules with 30 days' notice to affected users.
5. Subscription
- Monthly subscription is $4.99/month, billed by Stripe.
- Users under 18 require guardian approval to subscribe; the guardian's payment method is used.
- A subscription grants 5 credits each billing cycle and includes identity verification (processed by Didit).
- You may cancel at any time from Settings; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period.
- No prorated refunds for mid-cycle cancellations.
- Village reserves the right to change subscription pricing with 30 days' notice.
6. Listings and Exchanges
- You are responsible for the accuracy of your listings.
- Exchanges are agreements between individual members; Village Life, LLC is not a party to any exchange.
- Village does not guarantee the condition of items, quality of services, or outcomes of any exchange.
- Village is not responsible for disputes between members.
- Members are encouraged to resolve disputes directly. Village may assist at its discretion but is not obligated to do so.
7. User Content
- You retain ownership of content you post (listings, photos, reviews, messages).
- By posting content, you grant Village Life, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to display, store, and distribute that content in connection with operating the platform.
- You are solely responsible for the content you post.
- You must not post content that is illegal, harmful, deceptive, harassing, or that infringes the rights of any third party.
8. Prohibited Conduct
Village runs on neighborly trust — be a good neighbor. The following undermine that trust and are not allowed. You may not:
- Create fake accounts or impersonate any person or entity
- Use Village for commercial reselling, arbitrage, or non-personal use
- Circumvent, manipulate, or exploit the credit system
- Harass, threaten, stalk, or harm other members
- Post illegal content or use the platform to facilitate illegal activity
- Scrape, crawl, or automate access to the platform without written permission
- Use Village in a neighborhood where you do not actually reside
Restricted Items & Services
Listings may not offer, request, or advertise any of the following, regardless of payment method:
- Firearms, ammunition, explosives, or other weapons
- Illegal drugs, controlled substances, or drug paraphernalia
- Counterfeit or replica branded goods
- Adult content or sexual services
- Gambling, betting, or lottery products
- Money transmission, payday loans, or investment/cryptocurrency schemes
- Fireworks, hazardous materials, or radioactive substances
- Endangered species, live animals for sale, or animal parts
Listings matching this policy are blocked automatically at posting. If you believe a listing was blocked in error, or you spot one that shouldn't be here, please contact support.
9. Guardian Accounts
- Users under 18 must have a linked guardian (parent or legal guardian) who approves their account before it is activated.
- Guardians may view the teen's credit balance and full exchange history at any time.
- Guardians may transfer credits between their account and the linked teen's account.
- Guardians may enable notifications for when the teen accepts an exchange.
- Guardians may deactivate a linked teen's account at any time.
- By approving a minor's account, the guardian agrees to these Terms on the minor's behalf and accepts joint responsibility for the minor's activity on Village.
- When a minor turns 18, they may convert their account to a standard independent account.
10. ID Verification
Individual neighbors may require ID verification before agreeing to an exchange. If a neighbor requires it and you decline, that exchange cannot proceed — this is the neighbor's prerogative, not a Village requirement.
Verification is processed by Didit, our identity verification provider. Village receives only a verified / not-verified result and the verified name from your document, and does not store copies of your documents. Providing false or fraudulent identity documents is grounds for immediate permanent termination.
11. Payments
- All payments are processed by Stripe. By purchasing credits or subscribing, you also agree to Stripe's Terms of Service.
- Users aged 13–17 have their own Stripe account with their guardian as the authorized representative; the guardian sets up the payment method.
- Village charges a 12% platform fee on completed cash transactions, deducted from the provider's payout via Stripe. A 1-credit connection fee is charged to both the requester and the provider when a cash booking's service date is confirmed, and is non-refundable. Service swaps carry no platform fee.
- Cash payments are charged to the requester's card in full when the requester confirms the service is complete (no advance hold). Cash services have a $10 minimum; smaller exchanges use the credit economy.
- Providers who accept cash set up a Stripe payout account; Stripe verifies their identity and bank details to enable payouts. Village does not receive or store provider bank details, and the provider is paid via Stripe after Village's fee.
- Providers who earn $600 or more in cash through Village in a calendar year must provide tax information (for IRS Form 1099) before completing further cash bookings. This information is stored securely and used only for required tax reporting.
- Users under 18 require guardian approval to subscribe; the guardian's payment method is used.
- Guardians may transfer credits between their account and a linked teen's account.
- All credit purchases are final and non-refundable.
- In the event of a billing error, contact joinvillage.life@gmail.com within 30 days.
12. Termination
- You may delete your account at any time from Settings.
- Village may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms, with or without notice depending on severity.
- Credits are forfeited upon termination for cause, with no refund.
- Sections that by their nature should survive termination — including User Content license, Disclaimers, Limitation of Liability, and Governing Law — will survive.
13. Disclaimers
The Village platform is provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. Village does not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of harmful components. Village makes no representations about the quality, safety, legality, or accuracy of items or services exchanged between members.
14. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Village Life, LLC's total liability to you for any claim arising out of or related to your use of the service is limited to the greater of (a) $100 USD or (b) the total amounts you paid to Village in the 12 months immediately preceding the claim. Village Life, LLC is not liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages, regardless of the cause of action or the theory of liability.
15. Governing Law
These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without regard to its conflict of law principles. Any dispute not resolved informally shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Virginia.
16. Changes to Terms
We will notify registered users by email at least 30 days before making material changes to these Terms. Continued use of Village after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.
