Terms of Service — Expert Bucket

Last updated: 10 September 2026

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Expert Bucket, which operates the Expert Bucket marketplace at http://localhost/expertbucket and its mobile applications (together, the "Platform"). By creating an account, browsing, or using the Platform in any way, you accept these Terms. If you do not accept them, do not use the Platform.

1. What Expert Bucket is, and what it is not

Expert Bucket is an online venue that lets independent service providers — freelancers, creators, influencers, agencies and consultants ("Sellers") — offer services to clients ("Buyers"), and provides tools for discovery, communication, ordering, payment handling and dispute administration.

We are an intermediary and a technology provider. We are not a party to any contract between a Buyer and a Seller. When an order is placed, the resulting agreement is directly between that Buyer and that Seller. We do not perform, supervise, endorse, review in advance, guarantee or take responsibility for any service, deliverable, campaign, post, endorsement, code, design, translation, or other work offered or delivered through the Platform.

We are not an employer, agent, partner, joint venturer, staffing agency, escrow agent, bank, financial adviser, or legal adviser of any user. Sellers are independent contractors. Nothing on the Platform creates an employment, agency or fiduciary relationship between us and any user, or between a Buyer and a Seller beyond the contract they themselves form.

We do not vet, background-check, licence-verify or credential-verify users except where we expressly state that we do. Any badge, level, rating, ranking, "verified" mark or search position reflects automated signals and Platform activity only. It is not a warranty of skill, honesty, legality, solvency, or suitability, and you must not treat it as one.

2. Eligibility and your account

You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter binding contracts. The Platform is not offered to children, and we do not knowingly permit accounts held by anyone under 18.
You must register with accurate, current and complete information and keep it updated. Impersonation, false identity details, false location, false credentials and false portfolio claims are grounds for immediate termination and forfeiture under clause 16.
One person or legal entity may hold one account unless we agree otherwise in writing. Creating additional accounts to evade a suspension, a rating, a limit, a fee, or a dispute outcome is a material breach.
You are responsible for everything that happens under your account, including all activity by anyone you allow to access it. Keep your credentials confidential, enable two-factor authentication where offered, and tell us immediately at admin@example.com if you suspect unauthorised access.
You may not sell, rent, lease, share or transfer your account, your account history, your ratings or your reviews to anyone.
We may refuse registration, and may suspend or close any account, at our discretion, where we reasonably consider it necessary to protect users, the Platform, or our lawful interests.

3. Listings, offers and content

Sellers are solely responsible for what they list, promise and deliver. By publishing a listing, proposal, custom offer, brief response, portfolio item, message or any other content, you represent and warrant that:

you own it or hold every licence, consent, release and permission needed to publish it and to grant the licences in clause 12;
it is accurate and not misleading, including as to your identity, experience, qualifications, audience size, engagement figures, past results and turnaround times;
it does not infringe any intellectual property, privacy, publicity or contractual right of any person;
it complies with all applicable laws and with our Acceptable Use Policy, which forms part of these Terms; and
where it is promotional, sponsored or affiliate content, it will be disclosed as such wherever it is published, in the manner required by applicable advertising and consumer-protection rules.

We may, but are not obliged to, review, screen, edit, refuse, re-categorise, de-index, restrict the visibility of, or remove any content or listing at any time, for any reason, without notice and without liability. Any such action is not an admission that we monitor content generally.

4. Orders and the contract between users

An order is formed when a Buyer purchases a listing, accepts a custom offer or proposal, or books a consultation slot, and payment is authorised.
The scope, deliverables, revisions, milestones, timelines, usage rights and any additional terms are those stated in the listing or offer as accepted, together with any requirements the Buyer submits. Users are responsible for agreeing scope clearly before ordering.
Sellers must deliver within the stated time. Buyers must supply the briefs, assets, access and approvals a Seller reasonably needs, on time. Delay caused by a Buyer does not entitle the Buyer to a remedy against the Seller or us.
Orders may auto-complete, auto-cancel, or auto-release after the periods shown in the Platform at the relevant time. Those automatic actions are a convenience and do not decide who was right.
Any side agreement between a Buyer and a Seller is entirely between them. We have no obligation to enforce it, honour it, or take it into account in a dispute, and it cannot vary these Terms.

5. Fees, commission and payments

Buyers pay the order price plus any service fee, payment-processing charge and applicable taxes shown at checkout.
Sellers pay a commission on each order, shown before the order is accepted. Commission rates, service fees and any other charges are those published on the Platform at the time of the transaction, and we may change them prospectively at any time. Changes do not apply to orders already in progress.
Payments are processed by third-party payment providers. We do not store your full card details. Your use of a payment provider is also governed by that provider's own terms.
Buyer funds for an order are held and released in accordance with the Platform's payment-protection process. Holding funds is an administrative service, not a trust, escrow agency, deposit-taking or banking relationship. No interest accrues to you on any held or wallet balance.
We may set minimum and maximum transaction limits, hold periods, withdrawal thresholds and withdrawal processing times, and may vary them.
We may withhold, reverse, freeze or recover any amount where we reasonably suspect fraud, chargeback risk, money laundering, sanctions exposure, breach of these Terms, or where required by law or a payment provider.
If a chargeback, reversal or payment dispute is raised, we may deduct the disputed amount, plus any fee we incur, from your balance or future earnings, and may suspend your account until it is resolved.

6. Withdrawals, verification and tax

Sellers may withdraw available earnings using the methods offered on the Platform, subject to the minimum amount, hold period and processing time then in force.
We may require identity verification (KYC), address verification, tax details, or documentary evidence of the right to work or trade before permitting a withdrawal or continued use of the Platform. We may suspend withdrawals until verification is complete.
You are solely responsible for your own taxes. That includes income tax, GST or other indirect taxes, withholding, social contributions, registration and filing obligations arising anywhere in the world. We do not provide tax advice.
Where the law requires us to withhold or deduct tax at source, or to collect and report transaction information, we will do so, and the amount we pay you will be reduced accordingly.
You are responsible for the accuracy of the payout details you give us. We are not liable for funds sent to an account you specified incorrectly.
Where a balance remains inactive and unclaimed, we may deal with it as required by applicable unclaimed-property law after giving notice to the address on your account.

7. No circumvention

The Platform is how we earn revenue and how payment protection, dispute handling and records exist at all. Accordingly, for as long as you use the Platform and for 12 months after your last interaction with a person you met through it:

you must keep all communication, ordering, delivery and payment for services first discussed on the Platform on the Platform;
you must not solicit, accept or make payment outside the Platform for such services; and
you must not share personal contact details, external payment links, or off-platform booking links for the purpose of taking a transaction off the Platform.

If you breach this clause we may, in addition to any other remedy, suspend or terminate your account, withhold funds, remove ratings and reviews earned, and recover from you an amount equal to the commission we would have earned, as a genuine pre-estimate of our loss.

8. Cancellations, refunds and disputes

Cancellations and refunds are governed by our Refund & Cancellation Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

If a Buyer and a Seller cannot resolve a problem between themselves, either may raise it through the Platform's dispute process. We administer that process as a neutral facilitator, applying the Platform's rules to the record available to us. Our determination is final as between us and you for the purpose of what the Platform will do with held funds, an order status, or an account. It is not a judicial finding, it does not determine your legal rights against the other user, and it does not make us a party to your contract or liable for its outcome.

You must raise a dispute within the window stated in the Refund & Cancellation Policy. After that, we may treat the order as accepted and release funds.

9. Reviews and ratings

Reviews must be genuine and based on a real transaction. You must not buy, sell, trade, solicit through incentives, or threaten anyone over a review; write a review about yourself or a competitor; or use a review field for abuse, personal data, or off-platform contact details. We may remove reviews that breach this clause or the Acceptable Use Policy, and we may remove or reset ratings connected to fraudulent or reversed transactions. We do not remove a review merely because it is unflattering.

10. Prohibited conduct

The Acceptable Use Policy sets out what may not be offered, requested or done on the Platform, including prohibited service categories, fraud and manipulation, harassment, and technical abuse. Breaching it is a material breach of these Terms.

11. Third-party services and links

The Platform integrates and links to services we do not control — payment providers, messaging and notification services, analytics, advertising, mapping and location services, social sign-in providers, and content hosted by users. We do not endorse them, we are not responsible for them, and your use of them is at your own risk and subject to their terms.

12. Intellectual property

Ours. The Platform, its software, design, database, trade marks, logos and all material we create remain our property or that of our licensors. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use the Platform for its intended purpose. You may not copy, scrape, mirror, frame, reverse-engineer, resell or create derivative works from it.
Yours. You keep ownership of the content you upload. You grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable, transferable licence to host, store, reproduce, adapt for formatting, publish, display and distribute that content for the purpose of operating, securing, improving and promoting the Platform, including in marketing and in search results. This licence survives closure of your account for content that has been shared with others or that we must retain by law.
Deliverables. Unless the listing or offer says otherwise, ownership of a Seller's deliverable transfers to the Buyer only upon full payment and completion of the order. Until then the Seller retains it. Any licence to third-party assets embedded in a deliverable is the Seller's responsibility to obtain and to disclose.
Feedback. Any suggestion you send us about the Platform may be used by us freely and without obligation to you.
Infringement claims are handled under our Intellectual Property & Takedown Policy.

13. Disclaimers

The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, accuracy, and any warranty arising from course of dealing or usage of trade.

Without limiting that, we do not warrant that: the Platform will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free; any defect will be corrected; any listing, user, review, rating, credential, audience metric or deliverable is accurate, lawful, authentic or of any standard; any Buyer will pay, or any Seller will deliver; any result, income, ranking, engagement, reach or business outcome will be achieved; or that content is free of viruses or harmful components.

You deal with other users at your own risk. Take your own precautions: check credentials, agree scope in writing, and do not part with anything you cannot afford to lose.

14. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law:

We are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, or for loss of profit, revenue, business, opportunity, goodwill, data, or anticipated savings, however arising, even if we were advised such loss was possible.
We are not liable for the acts, omissions, conduct, content, deliverables, non-payment, non-delivery, breach, negligence, fraud or insolvency of any user or third party.
Our total aggregate liability to you for all claims arising out of or relating to the Platform or these Terms is limited to the greater of (a) the total fees and commission we actually received from you in the six (6) months immediately before the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) USD 100.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including for fraud, or for death or personal injury caused by negligence. Where a jurisdiction does not allow some of these exclusions, they apply to the maximum extent that jurisdiction permits.

15. Indemnity

You will indemnify, defend and hold harmless Expert Bucket, its affiliates, directors, officers, employees, contractors and agents from and against all claims, demands, proceedings, losses, liabilities, damages, fines, costs and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or connected with: your use of the Platform; your content; any service you offer, request, deliver or receive; your breach of these Terms or any policy incorporated into them; your breach of any law or of any third party's rights; any dispute between you and another user; and any tax, duty or contribution you were required to pay.

16. Suspension, termination and forfeiture

You may close your account at any time. Closure does not cancel obligations already incurred, including delivery of orders in progress, refunds owed, chargebacks, or fees payable.
We may suspend, limit or terminate your access, remove your content and cancel orders, immediately and without notice, if we reasonably believe you have breached these Terms or any policy incorporated into them, created risk or legal exposure for us or other users, or if we are required to do so by law or by a payment provider.
Where an account is terminated for fraud, circumvention, payment abuse, or a serious breach of the Acceptable Use Policy, we may withhold and forfeit amounts held in that account to the extent needed to satisfy refunds, chargebacks, fees, damages and our reasonable costs. Any surplus will be dealt with under clause 6.6.
Subscription and promotional charges already paid are not refundable on termination for breach.
Clauses 1, 5.6, 5.7, 6.3, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 survive termination.

17. Governing law and dispute resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of India, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules.
Talk to us first. Before starting any formal proceeding, you must send a written notice describing the dispute and the relief sought to admin@example.com, and allow 30 days for us to resolve it informally.
Any dispute not resolved within that period will be referred to and finally settled by arbitration under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, before a sole arbitrator, seated in India, conducted in English. The award is final and binding.
Disputes will be resolved individually. You and we each waive any right to bring or participate in a class, collective, consolidated or representative proceeding.
Nothing in this clause prevents either party from seeking urgent injunctive or interim relief from a court of competent jurisdiction, or prevents us from recovering an undisputed debt in the courts of India.
Any claim must be brought within one (1) year after it arose, or it is permanently barred, except where a longer period is required by law.

18. Changes to these Terms

We may change these Terms. We will post the updated version with a new "Last updated" date and, where the change is material, give reasonable notice through the Platform or by email. Changes take effect when posted, or on the date stated in the notice. Continuing to use the Platform after that date means you accept the change. If you do not accept it, stop using the Platform and close your account.

19. General

Force majeure. We are not liable for any failure or delay caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including outages, network or hosting failures, payment-provider failure, cyber-attack, strike, epidemic, act of government, or natural disaster.
Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, it is severed or read down to the minimum extent necessary and the rest remains in force.
No waiver. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it.
Assignment. You may not assign these Terms. We may assign or transfer them, in whole or part, including on a merger, acquisition or sale of assets.
Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the policies they incorporate, are the entire agreement between you and us about the Platform and replace any earlier understanding.
Notices. We may give you notice by email to the address on your account, or by posting on the Platform. Notice to us must go to admin@example.com.
Language. If these Terms are translated and the versions conflict, the English version prevails.

20. Contact

Expert Bucket
Expert Bucket
Email: admin@example.com