Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using PokéBay, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree, you may not use the platform. These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you and PokéBay.

2. Platform Nature & Independence

PokéBay is an independent, third-party marketplace that facilitates peer-to-peer sales of authentic, second-hand Pokémon Trading Card Game cards between private collectors. PokéBay is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or connected in any way to The Pokémon Company International, Nintendo Co. Ltd., Game Freak Inc., or Creatures Inc. The use of the term "Pokémon" is solely to describe the category of trading cards available on the platform, and all related trademarks belong to their respective owners.

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to use PokéBay. If you are under 18, you must have parental or guardian consent. By creating an account, you represent that you meet these requirements.

4. Account Responsibilities

You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials. You must not share your password or allow others to use your account. All activity under your account is your sole responsibility. Accounts found to be compromised must be reported to us immediately.

5. Seller Authenticity Obligations

This section is critical and non-negotiable. By listing any item on PokéBay, sellers explicitly represent and warrant that:

• Every card listed is an authentic, genuine Pokémon TCG card produced by or under license from The Pokémon Company International, Nintendo, or their authorized licensees.
• The card has not been counterfeited, replicated, proxied, trimmed, resealed, or altered in any way that misrepresents its authenticity or condition.
• The listing description, photos, condition grading, and all other details accurately represent the actual item.
• You have the legal right to sell the item and it is free from any claims, liens, or encumbrances.
• If the card is graded, the grading slab and label are genuine and unaltered.

Sellers who violate these obligations are solely and personally liable for any resulting harm to buyers, third parties, or the platform. PokéBay reserves the right to pursue all available legal remedies against sellers who knowingly list counterfeit items.

6. Listings and Sales

• All listings must accurately represent the item being sold, including condition, set, and card number.
• Sellers are responsible for shipping items as described and within a reasonable timeframe.
• A $0.15 platform fee applies to each transaction processed through the platform.
• A 10% platform commission is deducted from the final sale price on all completed transactions.
• Auction listings are binding — winning bidders are obligated to complete the purchase.
• PokéBay reserves the right to cancel, remove, or modify any listing at its sole discretion without prior notice.
• Sellers may use the CSV bulk import tool to create multiple listings at once. Each imported listing is subject to all listing policies and fees identical to individually created listings.

7. Prohibited Items & Activities

• Counterfeit, proxy, replica, or fake Pokémon cards of any kind
• Cards with altered artwork, borders, or attributes intended to deceive buyers
• Resealed booster packs or sealed product that has been tampered with
• Trimmed cards or cards altered to artificially improve grading outcome
• Stolen goods or goods to which you do not have clear legal title
• Items unrelated to the Pokémon Trading Card Game
• Shill bidding, bid manipulation, or any form of auction fraud
• Creating multiple accounts to circumvent bans or policies
• Harassment, threats, or abuse of other platform users
• Abusing the referral program through self-referrals, fictitious accounts, or any scheme to obtain fee waivers fraudulently

8. Platform Rights — Listing Removal & Account Suspension

PokéBay expressly reserves the following rights, which may be exercised at any time, with or without notice, and at our sole discretion:

• Remove any listing that violates these Terms, appears suspicious, or is reported by other users, regardless of whether a violation has been conclusively established.
• Suspend or permanently ban any account involved in fraudulent activity, policy violations, counterfeit listings, or any conduct harmful to the PokéBay community.
• Withhold or reverse payments associated with fraudulent or policy-violating transactions.
• Report users to The Pokémon Company International, law enforcement agencies, or other relevant authorities where counterfeit sales or fraud is suspected.
• Cooperate fully with any law enforcement investigation relating to activity on the platform.

Users who believe their listing or account was actioned in error may contact us at support@pokebay.shop. We will review appeals within 5 business days.

9. Counterfeit Reporting & Takedown Process

PokéBay operates a zero-tolerance counterfeit policy with the following enforcement process:

1. Report: Any user may report a suspicious listing using the "Report Counterfeit" button on the listing page, or by emailing counterfeit@pokebay.shop.
2. Review: Our team will review the report within 24–48 hours. During review, the listing remains visible unless it presents an immediate risk.
3. Investigation: We may contact the seller for additional photos, documentation, or proof of authenticity. Sellers must respond within 48 hours.
4. Action: If a listing is confirmed or strongly suspected to be counterfeit, it will be removed immediately, the seller account suspended, and any pending payments withheld.
5. Buyer Protection: Buyers who received a confirmed counterfeit item are eligible for a full refund processed through Stripe. Documentation may be required.
6. Escalation: Confirmed counterfeit cases may be reported to The Pokémon Company International, Beckett, PSA, or law enforcement as appropriate.

10. Platform Fees

PokéBay charges a 10% commission on all successful sales plus a $0.15 transaction fee per order. These fees are used to maintain platform infrastructure, fraud prevention, and buyer/seller support services. Listing a card is free.

Promotional fee waivers (such as those granted via the referral program) are time-limited, non-transferable, and applied automatically at checkout. PokéBay reserves the right to modify, pause, or discontinue any promotional fee offer at any time with reasonable notice.

11. Referral Program

PokéBay operates a referral program that grants a 7-day, 0% platform fee period to both the referring user and the newly registered user. The following conditions apply:

• Each referral code may only be used once per new account. An email address or device associated with an existing account is not eligible.
• The 7-day fee waiver applies to the platform commission (10%) only; the $0.15 transaction fee still applies per order during the promotional period.
• The promotional period begins at the time the new account is created and expires after 7 calendar days. Extensions are not granted.
• Self-referrals (using your own code on a secondary account) are strictly prohibited and will result in permanent bans for all associated accounts and forfeiture of any earnings during the promotional period.
• PokéBay reserves the right to revoke referral bonuses, retroactively collect waived fees, and terminate accounts where abuse is detected.
• The referral program terms may be changed at any time. Changes do not affect bonus periods already granted prior to the change.

12. Verified Seller Badge

The "Verified Seller" badge is granted at the sole discretion of PokéBay administrators to sellers who have demonstrated a consistent track record of authentic listings, timely shipping, and positive buyer reviews. The badge does not constitute an endorsement of any specific listing or guarantee of authenticity. PokéBay reserves the right to revoke the badge at any time if seller conduct falls below the required standard.

13. Dispute Resolution

PokéBay provides an in-platform dispute system for buyers and sellers to raise and respond to post-purchase concerns. The process works as follows:

• Opening a dispute: Buyers may open a dispute within a reasonable period after an order is marked as shipped, by navigating to their order detail page.
• Seller response: Sellers have 48 hours to respond to a dispute through the platform messaging thread.
• Admin review: If the dispute cannot be resolved between the parties, a PokéBay administrator will review the case and issue a binding resolution, which may include a full or partial refund processed via Stripe.
• Finality: PokéBay's administrative decision on any dispute is final. Users agree not to initiate chargebacks while an active dispute is under PokéBay review; doing so may result in account suspension.

For disputes with PokéBay itself (rather than between users), users agree that claims will be resolved through binding arbitration rather than court proceedings, except where prohibited by applicable law.

14. Watchlist & Price Alerts

Users may save listings to their watchlist to monitor price changes. When a listing price drops 10% or more below the price recorded at the time of adding to the watchlist, PokéBay may send an automated email notification. By using the watchlist feature, you consent to receiving these price-alert emails. You may remove a listing from your watchlist at any time to stop alerts for that item. Price alert emails are transactional in nature and are not subject to general marketing opt-out preferences.

15. Abandoned Cart Notifications

When a buyer wins an auction and does not complete payment within 2 hours, PokéBay may send an automated reminder email to the registered email address. This is a transactional notification related to an order you initiated and cannot be opted out of while the order remains unpaid.

16. Tax Reporting & 1099-K

Sellers are solely responsible for understanding and complying with applicable tax laws in their jurisdiction. PokéBay provides an annual earnings summary on the payouts dashboard for informational purposes only; this is not tax advice. Where required by law, PokéBay or its payment processor (Stripe) may issue IRS Form 1099-K or equivalent documentation to sellers who meet the applicable threshold. PokéBay does not withhold taxes on seller earnings. Sellers should consult a qualified tax professional regarding their obligations.

17. Account Verification & Fraud Prevention

To protect buyers and sellers, PokéBay operates the following verification and anti-fraud controls. By using the platform you consent to these controls:

• Email verification: A valid, working email address must be verified before you can buy, sell, or receive payouts.
• Stripe Connect cooldown: Newly registered accounts are subject to a randomized 3–6 hour cooldown before they can begin Stripe Connect onboarding to receive payouts. This window mitigates rapid create-account-and-cash-out fraud.
• Duplicate-account detection: We normalize email addresses to prevent the same person from operating multiple accounts. Usernames and normalized emails must be unique across the platform.
• IP / device monitoring: We record the IP address used at registration and at checkout. Orders where the buyer and seller registered from the same IP are automatically flagged for manual review and seller payouts held pending admin clearance.
• Self-purchase prohibition: You may not purchase your own listings, bid on your own auctions, or coordinate with another party to do so on your behalf. Detected self-purchases will result in payout reversal, listing removal, and account ban.
• Payout hold rights: PokéBay reserves the right to hold, delay, or reverse any seller payout where fraud, chargeback risk, counterfeit suspicion, or policy violations are reasonably suspected.
• Connected account requirement: Sellers must complete Stripe Connect onboarding (identity verification handled directly by Stripe) before any earnings can be paid out.

18. Limitation of Liability

PokéBay is a marketplace platform and is not responsible for the quality, authenticity, legality, or safety of items listed by third-party sellers. We do not guarantee the accuracy of any listing or the conduct of any user. To the maximum extent permitted by law, PokéBay's liability is limited to the amount of fees paid by you to PokéBay in the 12 months preceding the claim.

19. Intellectual Property

All Pokémon-related trademarks, trade names, logos, and intellectual property are the property of The Pokémon Company International, Nintendo, Game Freak, and/or Creatures Inc. PokéBay claims no ownership of these marks. PokéBay's own platform design, code, and branding are proprietary to PokéBay. Users may not reproduce or use PokéBay's branding without written permission.

20. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms at any time. We will notify registered users of material changes by email or platform notification. Continued use of the platform after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

21. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Contact us at support@pokebay.shop
Counterfeit reports: counterfeit@pokebay.shop