Shelfd Terms & Conditions

Last updated: 8 June 2026

These Terms govern your use of the Shelfd mobile app and website (“Shelfd”). Shelfd is operated by Photon Labs Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (ICO registration ZC136232). By creating an account or otherwise using Shelfd, you agree to these Terms.

If you do not agree, please do not use Shelfd.

Related documents: Privacy Policy · Trade Protection Agreement · Security

1. Who Can Use Shelfd

Shelfd is for users aged 18 or over. Buying, selling, trading, and receiving payouts all require you to be 18+, and receiving payouts as a seller is additionally subject to identity verification by our payment partner, Stripe. We do not knowingly provide the service to, or process a transaction for, anyone under 18.

You must provide accurate information when you create your account and keep it up to date. You are responsible for all activity that happens under your account, and for keeping your password secure.

2. What Shelfd Is

Shelfd helps blind-box and designer-toy collectors:

• Track which figures you own, want, and have duplicates of
• Browse a curated catalogue covering Pop Mart, Jellycat, Baby Three, Bandai, Dodo Sugar, Dreams Inc., Kenji, Miniso, SureFun and other designer-toy brands (the brand list grows over time)
• Watch for drops and receive push alerts when items you’ve followed go live
• Use one marketplace listing to sell a figure for a fixed price, swap it with another collector, or both — buyers can purchase in-app, send a swap offer, or (for cross-border) ask the seller to ship to their country

Shelfd is a peer-to-peer marketplace. Collectors buy from, sell to, and trade with each other. Shelfd is not the seller of any item and does not own, ship, inspect, or warrant the items listed. The condition, authenticity, and delivery of an item are the responsibility of the collectors involved. Shelfd’s role is to provide the catalogue, the listing and matching tools, the in-app payment and payout rails, the shipping-label integration, and the buyer-protection process described below.

Shelfd is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Pop Mart International Group Limited, Jellycat Ltd, Bandai Co. Ltd., or any other manufacturer named in our catalogue. All trademarks and product images are the property of their respective owners and are used for catalogue identification purposes.

3. Buying and Selling

When a seller lists an item for sale and a buyer purchases it, a contract for that item is formed between the buyer and the seller. Shelfd is not a party to that contract, but — unlike an off-platform sale — Shelfd processes the payment and holds the funds until the order completes, so that buyer protection applies.

How a purchase works:

• The buyer pays in-app through our payment partner Stripe. The buyer’s total is the item price, the shipping cost shown at checkout, and the Shelfd service fee (see §5).
• Shelfd receives and holds the payment (via our Stripe account) while the order is fulfilled. The seller is not paid at the point of purchase.
• The seller posts the item — in the UK, using a tracked label generated in-app through our carrier partner; for some routes, using their own tracked postage (“self-arranged”) and entering the tracking number.
• The buyer has a 2 working day window after delivery is recorded to report a problem (item not received, not as described, or counterfeit). If no problem is reported within that window, or the buyer confirms all is well sooner, Shelfd releases the seller’s payout to their connected Stripe account.
• If a problem is reported, the payout is paused and the dispute process in §6 applies.

Sellers agree to: list only genuine items they own and may lawfully sell; describe condition accurately; post within the stated handling time using a tracked service; and complete Stripe identity verification before receiving payouts. Buyers agree to pay through the app and to use the reporting window in good faith.

4. Trading (Swaps)

When you list a figure for swap or accept a trade, you enter into an agreement with another collector. Shelfd is not party to the trade. We provide the matching service (including multi-party swap chains), an optional escrow facility (Trade Protection — see §6), and the shipping-label integration. Shelfd does not own, ship, inspect, or warrant the items being traded.

You agree not to use Shelfd to:

• List, sell, or trade counterfeit goods, or items you do not own or may not lawfully sell
• Conduct fraudulent transactions or chargebacks in bad faith
• Harass, threaten, or abuse other users
• Circumvent our fees or buyer protection by completing a matched sale or trade off-platform
• Use automated scripts, bots, or scrapers against Shelfd

We may suspend or terminate accounts that breach these rules.

5. Fees and Payments

Shelfd is free to join and free to use. We charge the following fees, all VAT-inclusive where applicable:

• Service fee (on purchases) — added to the buyer’s total on a sale: 5% of the item price, with a minimum of £1.30 and a maximum of £15. This is what keeps Shelfd running — it covers the marketplace, in-app payment and payout processing, and buyer protection. The seller receives the full item price they set.
• Shipping — the buyer pays the shipping cost, shown at checkout before payment. In the UK this is a live tracked-carrier rate; internationally it is either a live tracked rate or a cost the seller sets for self-arranged postage.
• Trade Protection fee (optional, on swaps) — when you choose to protect a swap with escrow, currently 49p base + 1.5% of your stake in the UK (+1.0% for international trades). Covers funds-holding, dispute mediation, and refund processing. See the Trade Protection Agreement.

Seller payouts. Shelfd holds the buyer’s payment during the buyer-protection window and then transfers the seller’s share (the item price) to the seller’s connected Stripe account. Service and shipping amounts are retained by Shelfd to cover the marketplace and the carrier. Fees are non-refundable as they cover costs already incurred; the item price and shipping are refundable to the buyer where an order is cancelled before dispatch or a dispute is upheld.

Payments and payouts are handled by Stripe Payments UK Limited and Stripe Connect. Shelfd never sees or stores your card number. By making a payment or receiving a payout, you also agree to Stripe’s terms: stripe.com/gb/legal.

6. Buyer Protection and Disputes

On a purchase, you are covered by buyer protection: you pay in-app (never directly to the seller), the seller ships with tracking, and you have 2 working days from recorded delivery to report that the item never arrived, isn’t as described, or is counterfeit. Reporting pauses the seller’s payout while Shelfd reviews the order, the tracking, and any photos or messages, and reaches a decision. If a report is upheld, the buyer is refunded; if not, the payout is released to the seller. Shelfd aims to review reports within 5 working days.

On a swap with Trade Protection, you and your trade partner are bound by the separate Trade Protection Agreement, which governs how stakes are held and released and how disputes are adjudicated. In both cases, Shelfd administrators may apply reasonable discretion to the financial outcome of a dispute where the evidence is inconclusive, with a written explanation recorded against the dispute.

7. International and Cross-Border Orders

Some items can be bought from, or shipped to, outside the United Kingdom. Where this is available, the buyer is shown the international shipping cost before paying, and the item is sent either with a tracked international label or by the seller’s own tracked postage. The buyer is responsible for any customs duties, import taxes, or charges levied on delivery in the destination country; these are not included in the price paid through Shelfd. Where Shelfd generates the international label, the customs declaration reflects the item and the price paid.

8. Affiliate Links

Some product links shown in the app or on the Shelfd website are affiliate links — meaning Shelfd may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through them.

We currently use:

• Amazon Associates UK (tag dralexunboxed-21) — primarily on Pop Mart product links
• AliExpress Affiliate Programme — on selected reseller storefront links

These commissions never change the price you pay. We do not let the existence of an affiliate relationship influence which products we surface in the catalogue.

9. Your Content

You retain ownership of content you create on Shelfd (profile photos, listing and proof photos, messages, custom items added to the catalogue). By posting content, you grant Shelfd a worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, display, and share that content as necessary to operate the service (e.g. showing your listing photo to buyers or your proof photo to a matched counterparty).

You confirm that any content you upload does not infringe anyone else’s intellectual property rights.

10. Our Content

The Shelfd app, website, catalogue structure, design, and code are owned by Photon Labs Ltd. You may use Shelfd for personal, non-commercial purposes only. You may not copy, redistribute, or build derivative services from our catalogue data without written permission.

11. Privacy and Security

How we handle your personal data is set out in our Privacy Policy, and how we protect it is described in our Security overview.

12. Termination

You can delete your account at any time from Account → Delete Account. We may suspend or close accounts that breach these Terms, are inactive for extended periods, or otherwise pose a risk to the service or other users.

On account closure, we delete or anonymise your data in line with our Privacy Policy. Some records (notably strike, dispute, and financial transaction records) are retained in anonymised form for legal compliance.

13. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Shelfd’s total liability to you for any claim arising out of your use of the service is limited to the greater of (a) £100, or (b) the total fees you have paid to Shelfd in the 12 months preceding the claim.

Nothing in these Terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any liability that cannot be limited under UK law, and nothing affects your non-waivable rights as a consumer.

14. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any dispute will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales, except where a non-waivable consumer right applies.

15. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes via email or in-app notification, and the “Last updated” date at the top will reflect the most recent revision. Continued use of Shelfd after a change constitutes acceptance.

16. Contact

Operator: Photon Labs Ltd
Email: Shelfd@photonlabs.dev
In-app: Account → Contact Shelfd