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Terms of Service
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Section 1

Terms of Service

Terms of Service

Effective Date

[INSERT DATE]

Entity

These Terms of Service are entered into between the user and YKBM, LLC, including its affiliated initiatives, programs, brands, sub-platforms, communities, and experiences, including but not limited to YKBM, EMBER, and ECHOES.

For purposes of these Terms, “YKBM,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to YKBM, LLC and its authorized affiliates, contractors, service providers, officers, employees, volunteers, agents, and representatives.

Acceptance of Terms

By accessing, browsing, creating an account, buying, selling, listing, posting, messaging, uploading content, applying as an artisan, using EMBER, participating in ECHOES, or otherwise using any part of the YKBM ecosystem, you agree to these Terms and all policies incorporated by reference. If you do not agree, you may not use the platform.

Related Policies Incorporated by Reference

These Terms incorporate the following policies:

  • Privacy Policy
  • Marketplace Policy
  • Buyer Policy
  • Artisan / Seller Agreement
  • Payments, Fees, and Payouts Policy
  • Shipping, Returns, Refunds, and Dispute Policy
  • Community Guidelines
  • Content and Intellectual Property Policy
  • AI-Assisted Content Disclosure Policy
  • Reviews, Endorsements, and Promotions Policy
  • Prohibited Items and Restricted Conduct Policy
  • Enforcement and Appeals Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Copyright / DMCA Policy
  • Messaging and Communications Policy

    • YKBM may update these related policies from time to time.

    Eligibility

    To use YKBM, you must:

  • Be at least 18 years old, or have permission from a parent or legal guardian where permitted by law.
  • Have legal capacity to enter into binding agreements.
  • Provide accurate, complete, and current information.
  • Use the platform only for lawful purposes.
  • Comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and platform policies.

    • YKBM may deny, suspend, restrict, or terminate access at its discretion where permitted by law.

    Guest Access

    YKBM allows certain public browsing without an account.

    Guests may be able to:

  • Browse public marketplace listings.
  • View public artisan profiles.
  • View public learning library content.
  • Read public community content.
  • Add items to a temporary guest cart.
  • Explore publicly available site areas.

    • Guests may not:

  • Complete checkout.
  • Post content or comments.
  • Like or follow.
  • Message users or artisans.
  • Leave reviews or save favorites.
  • Access account pages or Studio tools.
  • Save learning progress.
  • Apply as an artisan without creating an account.

    • Account Registration

    To access authenticated features, you must create an account or log in through an approved authentication method.

    You agree to:

  • Provide accurate information.
  • Keep your credentials secure.
  • Notify YKBM of unauthorized account access.
  • Not create fake, duplicate, misleading, or abusive accounts.
  • Not impersonate another person, business, artisan, organization, or brand.

    • You are responsible for activity occurring through your account.

    Platform Role

    YKBM provides tools for discovery, communication, marketplace transactions, learning, community participation, and artisan support. Unless otherwise stated, YKBM is not the manufacturer, owner, seller, shipper, insurer, guarantor, or certifier of third-party products listed by independent artisans or sellers. YKBM may provide moderation, curation, verification, education, promotional tools, technical infrastructure, payment facilitation, or dispute workflows, but these services do not make YKBM a party to every transaction unless expressly stated.

    Marketplace Disclaimer

    Independent artisans and sellers are responsible for their listings, product descriptions, product quality, product authenticity, compliance with laws, shipping obligations, customer support, returns/refunds, taxes, and accuracy of cultural, handmade, or AI-disclosure claims. YKBM may remove listings, suspend sellers, hold payouts, require verification, or limit marketplace activity where risk, fraud, policy violation, consumer harm, or legal concern exists.

    User Conduct

    Users may not:

  • Harass, threaten, abuse, exploit, stalk, or intimidate others.
  • Upload illegal, fraudulent, stolen, counterfeit, infringing, harmful, deceptive, or abusive content.
  • Misrepresent product origin, materials, process, cultural affiliation, artisan identity, ownership, certifications, or production methods.
  • Circumvent platform fees, protections, policies, or checkout systems.
  • Use YKBM to facilitate off-platform transactions intended to avoid fees or protections.
  • Interfere with platform security, or scrape, reverse engineer, attack, or disrupt YKBM systems.
  • Upload malware, or use bots, fake engagement, review manipulation, or deceptive automation.
  • Post spam, scams, phishing attempts, or fraudulent offers.
  • Violate intellectual property, privacy, publicity, or contractual rights.

    • Intellectual Property

    YKBM owns or licenses the YKBM platform, software, interface, visual designs, trademarks, trade dress, workflows, documentation, brand assets, and ecosystem structure. Users retain ownership of their original content, subject to the license granted below.

    User Content License

    By posting, uploading, listing, submitting, sending, or otherwise making content available through YKBM, you grant YKBM a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable license to host, store, reproduce, display, distribute, adapt, crop, resize, promote, market, index, and otherwise use the content in connection with operating the platform, displaying listings, promoting artisans, improving discovery, marketing YKBM, and running community or learning features. This license ends when the content is deleted, except where retention is necessary for legal compliance, backups, or completed transaction records.

    AI-Assisted Content

    Users must truthfully disclose meaningful AI-assisted, digitally generated, synthetic, automated, or adaptive technological involvement in the creation, design, listing, image, story, marketing, or product representation where such involvement could reasonably affect buyer understanding, authenticity, cultural representation, or purchasing decisions.

    Product and Cultural Claims

    Users must not make false or misleading claims about handmade status, cultural origin, tribal/geographic affiliation, sustainability, fair trade, material composition, or country of origin. YKBM may require documentation to support such claims.

    Purchases and Payments

    Purchases must be completed through approved YKBM checkout systems. Payment processing is provided by third-party payment processors. Users agree to comply with those processors' terms, verification requirements, and identity checks. YKBM may delay, cancel, reverse, hold, or investigate payments where fraud, dispute, or risk is suspected.

    Taxes

    Users are responsible for taxes applicable to their activity unless YKBM is legally required to collect, remit, or report certain taxes.

    Messaging

    YKBM may provide messaging tools. Users may not use messaging to harass others, send spam, evade fees, solicit off-platform payments, share illegal content, send phishing links, or request sensitive data. YKBM may monitor, moderate, retain, or review messages for safety, fraud prevention, and dispute resolution.

    Community Areas

    YKBM may moderate community spaces and remove content that violates policy, creates risk, harms users, misleads buyers, or undermines trust.

    Reviews

    Reviews must be truthful, based on real experiences, and free from manipulation. Users may not post fake reviews, pay for undisclosed reviews, threaten negative reviews, or review their own products.

    Third-Party Services

    YKBM is not responsible for third-party services outside its control.

    Beta Features

    Beta, experimental, or pilot features may change, break, or produce incomplete results. Users use beta features at their own risk.

    EMBER and ECHOES

    Additional terms may apply to EMBER and ECHOES participation, submissions, grants, storytelling, education, media features, or creator programs.

    Suspension and Termination

    YKBM may suspend, restrict, remove, demote, delist, freeze, or terminate access for policy violations, fraud, user risk, legal compliance, counterfeits, payment disputes, chargebacks, or misrepresentation.

    Payout Holds

    YKBM may hold seller payouts where necessary to investigate fraud, chargebacks, delivery disputes, product authenticity concerns, policy violations, or buyer protection claims.

    Appeals

    Users may appeal certain enforcement decisions through YKBM's designated appeals process. Appeals do not guarantee reinstatement.

    Disclaimer of Warranties

    The platform is provided "as is" and "as available." YKBM disclaims warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, accuracy, availability, reliability, and uninterrupted operation to the fullest extent permitted by law.

    Limitation of Liability

    To the fullest extent permitted by law, YKBM, LLC, EMBER, ECHOES, and its representatives shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or lost-profit damages. YKBM's total liability shall not exceed the greater of the amount paid by the user to YKBM in the six months before the claim, or $100.

    Indemnification

    Users agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless YKBM from claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses arising from user conduct, listings, products, content, disputes, or violation of law or platform policies.

    Dispute Resolution & Binding Arbitration

    Before filing a claim, users agree to contact YKBM and attempt informal resolution. Except where prohibited by law, disputes shall be resolved through binding individual arbitration rather than court litigation. Users agree to waive any right to participate in class actions, class arbitrations, or representative proceedings to the fullest extent permitted by law.

    Governing Law

    These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Colorado, without regard to conflict-of-law rules, unless applicable law requires otherwise.

    Contact

    YKBM, LLC

    Legal Contact: [INSERT EMAIL]

    Mailing Address: [INSERT ADDRESS]