Vendor Terms of Service Agreement

Qualifications. To qualify as a seller on 218 Marketplace, vendors must manufacture, curate, design, or operate within the State of Minnesota (with preference and primary placement given to the 218 area code region), or provide products clearly themed around Northern Minnesota culture and heritage.

Account Integrity. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your portal credentials. You warrant that all information provided during registration — including tax IDs, business entity status, and contact details — is accurate and up to date.

Automated approval & listing review. 218 Marketplace approves eligible seller applications automatically, based on the attestations the seller makes in this Agreement. Storefronts and listings may therefore go live immediately upon application, before any manual review. From the moment of publication, sellers must remain in full compliance with every standard in this Agreement (including product safety, licensing, labeling, and prohibited-item rules), and 218 Marketplace retains the right to review, remove, or suspend any storefront or listing at any time after publication.

Identity & licensing attestations. Sellers verified with ID & licensing attestations. Every seller must attest to the accuracy of their identity and, where required by law, to holding every license, certification, permit, and insurance policy their listings demand; these attestations are binding under this Agreement, and 218 Marketplace may require supporting documents and review, remove, or suspend any storefront or listing whose attestations are false or unmet.

Allowed items. Handcrafted artisan goods, apparel, decor, woodcraft, and jewelry. Regional books, media, maps, and digital guides. Packaged shelf-stable food products adhering to Minnesota Cottage Food laws or commercially licensed kitchen standards.

Prohibited items. Mass-produced counterfeit goods, trademark-infringing merchandise, or unauthorized drop-shipped inventory from non-regional factories. Hazardous materials, firearms, explosives, illegal substances, or regulated goods without prior written approval. Unsafe second-hand items — including recalled products such as baby gear, car seats, cribs, or electronics, and items failing required safety standards. Fencing-prone items are banned outright: goods with deliberately removed or altered serial numbers, commercial copper wiring, and electronics still locked to another person's account (iCloud or Google activation locks). Content that promotes hate speech, harassment, or illegal acts.

Second-hand certification. By listing any second-hand, resale, or vintage item, the vendor certifies that they are the legal owner of the item with the unrestricted right to sell it, that it is authentic and not counterfeit or stolen, and that it complies with applicable U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission standards and has not been subject to a recall. Vendors must check the CPSC recall database before listing used children's products, furniture, and electronics. Items that cannot be certified on all three points must not be listed.

Federal produce-safety compliance. Before listing any produce on 218 Marketplace, the vendor must understand and agree to follow federal produce-safety standards, including the FDA Produce Safety Rule (FSMA, 21 CFR Part 112) as applicable to their growing and handling practices. Vendors agree to maintain the registration, training, and food-safety records required by state and federal law for the produce they sell, to label and handle produce in accordance with those standards, and to furnish proof of compliance to 218 Marketplace or a regulator on request. Listings that do not meet these standards may be removed and the vendor's storefront suspended.

Second-hand provenance & law-enforcement cooperation. To keep 218 Marketplace free of stolen property, second-hand listings for serialized goods (including electronics, tools, and musical instruments) must state the item's serial or model number, or affirmatively confirm the item carries none. For electronics, tools, and musical equipment a serial number is mandatory so that a unique identifier exists to cross-reference if an item is ever flagged as stolen. Second-hand listings priced at $150 or more must include a short statement of how the item was acquired (where purchased and when, with a purchase receipt available on request when one exists). 218 Marketplace may remove any listing and withhold or freeze the seller's pending payouts while theft of the item is under investigation, and vendors agree to cooperate fully with 218 Marketplace and with law enforcement — including local police departments and county sheriff offices — by providing seller identity and listing records when stolen property is reasonably suspected or reported.

Stolen property prohibited (state & federal law). Listing stolen goods on 218 Marketplace is a violation of both Minnesota state law (including Minn. Stat. § 609.52, theft) and federal law (including 18 U.S.C. § 2317, sale or receipt of stolen goods). Sellers who list stolen property will have their account permanently banned, all listings removed, and pending payouts frozen, and 218 Marketplace will report the seller and the listing to the appropriate local authorities — including the Bemidji Police Department and the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office — and will cooperate with any criminal investigation. There is no warning period or second chance for stolen-property listings.

Suspected stolen property: police-report-first policy. Shoppers who spot suspected stolen property on 218 Marketplace must first file a report with their local law enforcement agency; 218 Marketplace does not adjudicate private ownership disputes between buyers and sellers. Once a law-enforcement officer contacts 218 Marketplace with an official police report number or an investigative inquiry, the marketplace will immediately freeze the seller's pending payouts, remove the flagged listing, and provide the seller's onboarding identity-verification (KYC) records — including legal name, taxpayer identification number, and government-issued ID details — to the investigating agency as permitted by law.

AI-generated products prohibited. All artificial-intelligence products are banned from 218 Marketplace. Sellers may not list or sell any goods created, generated, or materially produced with AI tools — including AI-generated imagery, artwork, illustration, writing, music, audio, or video; print-on-demand or apparel carrying AI-generated designs; and digital goods such as prompt packs, AI-produced books or albums, or generated asset bundles. Sellers may not use AI to fabricate product descriptions, reviews, or provenance stories, and may not present AI-generated work as handmade or artisan-made. Listings found to be AI products will be removed and the seller's storefront may be suspended; repeated violations will result in account termination.

Graduated flat-fee pricing. Selling on 218 Marketplace is subscription-free: there are no monthly fees, no setup costs, and no per-listing fees, with unlimited product listings. On each completed sale the platform deducts a graduated flat fee from the gross order total: $2.95 on sales under $15.00, $5.00 on sales of $15.00 to $50.00, $7.50 on sales of $50.01 to $100.00, $10.00 on sales of $100.01 to $200.00, and $20.00 on sales of $200.01 to $400.00. On sales of $400.01 and more, the platform fee is 5% of the order total, capped at $75.00. Buyers, not sellers, pay the checkout surcharges: shipping, Minnesota sales tax, and a payment-processing fee of 2.9% of the order subtotal plus $0.30 per order, each shown to the buyer as a separate line at checkout. None of these buyer-paid charges are deducted from the vendor's payout.

Payouts. Net proceeds are recorded in the platform payout ledger at the time of each completed sale and remitted to the vendor on a weekly rolling payout schedule via Base44 Payments, using the payout method (PayPal or direct bank deposit) saved in the vendor dashboard.

Sales & use tax. 218 Marketplace operates as a Marketplace Facilitator. The platform automatically calculates, collects, and remits Minnesota State and local sales tax on eligible transactions conducted through the site.

Return policy standard. Vendors must maintain a clear return/exchange policy on their storefront page. The default platform policy grants customers 14 days from delivery to request returns for damaged or defective items.

Dispute resolution. Vendors agree to respond to customer inquiries within 24–48 business hours. If a vendor fails to resolve an unfulfilled or defective order dispute within 5 business days, 218 Marketplace reserves the right to issue a refund to the buyer and charge back against the vendor's outstanding payout balance.

Vendor ownership. Vendors retain full copyright and ownership of all intellectual property, product designs, brand assets, and photographs uploaded to their storefront.

Platform license. By uploading media to 218 Marketplace, Vendor grants the Company a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to display, resize, and feature product imagery across 218 Marketplace digital channels, social media ads, regional print materials, and marketing campaigns for promotional purposes.

Termination by vendor. Vendor may close their storefront at any time with 30 days' written notice, provided all outstanding orders are fulfilled and resolved.

Termination by platform. 218 Marketplace reserves the right to suspend or terminate any vendor storefront immediately without prior notice for: repeated violations of the fulfillment SLA (e.g., late shipping, invalid tracking); selling prohibited, non-authentic, or infringing goods; attempting to redirect platform buyers to off-platform payment methods (disintermediation); or fraudulent activity or unacceptably high refund/chargeback ratios (>2.0%).

Limitation of liability. 218 Marketplace is provided on an "as-is" and "as-available" basis. In no event shall the Company be liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, lost profits, or server downtime.

Indemnification. Vendor agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless 218 Marketplace and Nippon Promoter LLC, their parent entities, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, and software platform providers, from and against any and all claims, damages, liabilities, losses, fines, penalties, lawsuits, costs, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) — whether brought by buyers, third parties, or government agencies — arising from vendor's products, product defects, bodily injury, personal injury, property damage, allergic or adverse reactions, regulatory non-compliance, intellectual property infringement, misrepresentation, or breach of this Agreement.

Payout processing. All marketplace payouts are processed through the platform's payment provider (Base44 Payments). The provider handles card capture, refund processing, and payout disbursement to the vendor's verified PayPal or bank account. Vendors may not route marketplace sales through off-platform payment methods.

Identity verification (AML/KYC). To comply with federal anti-money-laundering law and the requirements of our payment partners, vendors must complete identity verification before funds can be paid out. This includes providing their legal name, taxpayer identification number (SSN or EIN), and, when required, photo identification and bank account verification. Payouts may be paused until verification is complete, and the platform may request updated information at any time to keep verification current.

1099-K IRS reporting. Vendors who exceed federal or state payment card transaction reporting thresholds will be issued IRS Form 1099-K for the calendar year, filed with the IRS by the platform or its payment processor as legally required, with a copy delivered to the vendor. Vendors are responsible for keeping their tax information accurate and current, for reporting all marketplace income on their own tax returns, and for any taxes owed on their earnings.

Scope. This section applies to every vendor listing food, beverages, tea, or any other edible or consumable product on 218 Marketplace. By listing a consumable, the vendor certifies that the product is safe for its intended use, truthfully described, and produced, packaged, and stored in compliance with all laws that apply to it.

Licensing, registration & FSMA compliance. Sellers must hold and maintain every license, registration, or permit required by the state and federal law that governs what they sell and where they ship or deliver to. Sellers operating a commercial food facility or commercial kitchen must maintain valid health department permits and, where applicable, registration with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Sellers operating under the Minnesota cottage food exemption (Minn. Stat. § 28A.152) must register with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, complete any training Minnesota requires, sell only the non-potentially-hazardous foods the law permits, and stay within Minnesota's annual gross sales cap (currently $78,000 per registered individual). Offering items in violation of cottage food fulfillment rules — including online sales or shipping where state law prohibits them — is a material breach of these Terms.

Mandatory labeling & allergen disclosure. Before handover, local delivery, or shipment, every packaged food, beverage, or consumable item must carry a legible label meeting federal (FDA) and state requirements, including: a statement of identity (the product's common or usual name); the business name and physical address of the producer or packager (or a valid state registration number where the law allows it); the date the item was prepared or packaged; a complete ingredients list in descending order of predominance by weight; clear allergen disclosures for major food allergens under FALCPA and the FASTER Act; net weight, volume, or count in U.S. customary and metric units; and any statement the state requires, such as Minnesota's cottage food disclaimer, "These products are homemade and not subject to state inspection."

Cottage food fulfillment restrictions. Cottage-food items travel by in-person pickup or by delivery performed by the seller (or the seller's employee) only — never by common carrier. Sellers must honor this restriction on every cottage-food listing; listings that offer carrier shipping on cottage-food items will be corrected or removed.

Health claims prohibited. Food, beverage, and consumable listings may not claim that a product diagnoses, treats, cures, prevents, or mitigates any disease or health condition, and may not make any drug-like or medical claim prohibited by the FDA or FTC. Listings carrying unauthorized health claims are removed and the seller's storefront may be suspended.

Food-safety indemnification. Vendor agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless 218 Marketplace from any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, fines, penalties, lawsuits, costs, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of the sale, preparation, consumption, packaging, labeling, handling, or distribution of any edible or consumable product sold through the platform — including any foodborne illness, bodily injury, allergic reaction, contamination, or foreign object caused by a seller's product — and from any failure to obtain, maintain, or renew required licenses, registrations, or permits, or any violation of food safety, labeling, advertising, or consumer protection statutes.