Terms of Service

BookFreely is an online marketplace that connects customers with independent local service providers. Customers browse services, book appointments, and pay securely online; businesses manage bookings and receive payouts through Stripe Connect. BookFreely is not a service provider itself. All services are performed by the independent Businesses acting on their own behalf. BookFreely does not employ, supervise, direct, or control any Business or any individual providing services through the platform.

Each Business is an independent third party solely responsible for the services it offers, including its quality, timeliness, safety, workmanship, licensing, insurance, and compliance with applicable law. BookFreely disclaims any warranty regarding the accuracy of Business listings, availability, credentials, or the outcome of any booking.

BookFreely enforces the following age requirements. If we discover an account has been created in violation of these rules, we will suspend or terminate it and cancel any pending bookings.

• Under 13 — Not permitted to create any BookFreely account.
• Customers 13–17 — May use BookFreely only with the permission and supervision of a parent or legal guardian. A guardian’s full name and email must be on file at signup.
• Customers 18+ — May use BookFreely independently.
• Business owners 18+ — May independently create and operate a business account, including completing identity verification and receiving payouts.
• Business owners 13–17 — May operate a business account only under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian. The guardian’s full name and email must be on file, and the guardian is legally responsible for identity verification, tax reporting, payout account ownership, and compliance with these Terms.

By using BookFreely you confirm you meet these requirements. Date of birth is collected at signup and cannot be changed by the user afterward — please contact bookfreely.support@gmail.com for corrections.

Customers agree to:

• Provide accurate booking information.
• Treat Businesses respectfully.
• Verify the identity of any provider arriving on-site before granting access or making payment.
• Resolve most service-quality issues directly with the Business.
• File good-faith reports through the platform when policies are violated.

Businesses agree to:

• Provide accurate profile and service information.
• Hold any licenses, permits, and insurance required by law.
• Complete Stripe Connect identity verification (KYC) — this is the sole identity verification BookFreely performs. Once Stripe confirms a Business, the Business automatically becomes active on BookFreely; there is no additional manual review.
• Perform booked services professionally, safely, and on schedule.
• Respond to customer messages within a reasonable time.
• Comply with BookFreely’s Community Guidelines (Section 8).
• Accept BookFreely’s automated deposit routing and the 5% platform fee model.

BookFreely relies exclusively on Stripe Connect for Business identity verification. Government-issued IDs, business formation documents, tax information, and bank details are collected, verified, and held by Stripe under Stripe’s own terms and privacy policy. BookFreely does not collect, store, or manually review any government-issued ID or other KYC document separately from Stripe. A Business becomes active on BookFreely automatically once Stripe confirms verification and the Business’s subscription is active. The same process applies to Businesses offering in-person, mobile, or in-home services — there is no separate approval workflow.

BookFreely uses Stripe Connect for all payments. Customer deposits are charged on the BookFreely platform account and automatically routed to the Business’s connected Stripe account minus a 5% platform fee. Customers pay a processing fee on top of the deposit (currently 3.85% of the deposit, subject to change). Subscription fees are billed to Businesses directly. Refunds, when issued, reverse the destination transfer and the platform fee.

Customers may report Businesses through the platform. Reports are automatically summarised and severity-scored by an AI moderation assistant to help human reviewers prioritise their queue. The AI moderation assistant never issues punitive action on its own. Every warning, strike, suspension, or permanent removal is reviewed and finalised by a BookFreely administrator.

Strike ladder:

• Strike 1 — final warning.
• Strike 2 — temporary suspension.
• Strike 3 — permanent removal from BookFreely.

BookFreely may suspend, restrict, or terminate any account — customer or business — that violates these Terms or the Community Guidelines, engages in fraud, forges documents, threatens safety, abuses staff, or otherwise poses risk to the community. Such action may be taken with or without prior warnings, at BookFreely’s reasonable discretion, and subject to applicable law. Terminated Businesses may lose access to their listings, upcoming bookings, and subscription features.

Deposit refundability is set by each Business at the time of listing. BookFreely does not guarantee refunds outside the refund policy in effect at the time of booking. Chargebacks and disputes are handled through Stripe. Service-quality disagreements should first be resolved directly with the Business.

You may terminate your BookFreely account at any time. Business accounts entering deletion begin a 30-day grace period during which they are hidden from discovery and their subscription is cancelled. Booking history, payments, and dispute records are retained for tax, legal, Stripe, and fraud-prevention purposes as required by law.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, BookFreely (and its officers, directors, employees, and agents) shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, data, use, goodwill, or other intangible losses, resulting from (a) your use of, or inability to use, the platform, (b) the conduct or content of any Business or third party on the platform, including any personal injury, property damage, workmanship dispute, scheduling dispute, cancellation, or other issue arising from services provided by independent Businesses; or (c) unauthorized access to or use of our servers, except where such liability cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

BookFreely’s total cumulative liability arising out of or relating to these Terms will not exceed the greater of USD $100 or the total platform fees paid to BookFreely by you in the 12 months preceding the claim.

Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the platform shall first be attempted to be resolved through good-faith negotiation. If unresolved, disputes shall be settled by binding arbitration on an individual basis under the rules of a mutually agreed arbitration provider, in the Business’s or Customer’s local jurisdiction where required by law. Class-action waivers apply to the extent permitted by law. Nothing in this Section prevents either party from seeking injunctive or equitable relief in a court of competent jurisdiction for intellectual property or confidentiality claims.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of [PLACEHOLDER] and the United States, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles, except where local mandatory law provides otherwise.

Please see our Privacy Policy for details on how BookFreely collects and uses information.

Questions or notices under these Terms may be sent to bookfreely.support@gmail.com.