Terms of service

1. Introduction

Welcome to BookBramble. These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of the BookBramble website, mobile applications, and services (collectively, the "Service") operated by UNIBOOKTRADE LTD ("BookBramble", "we", "us", or "our").

By accessing or using our Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you disagree with any part of the Terms, you may not access the Service.

2. Definitions

• "Buyer" means a user who purchases items through the Service.
• "Seller" means a user who lists items for sale through the Service.
• "Listing" means an item offered for sale through the Service.
• "Transaction" means a purchase completed and paid for through the BookBramble checkout.
• "User" means any individual who accesses or uses the Service.

3. How the service works

BookBramble provides a platform for the sale and purchase of pre-loved physical books. When a Transaction is completed and paid for through the BookBramblecheckout:

• BookBramble acts as the merchant of record for the Transaction. This means you are purchasing from or selling to BookBramble, not directly to or from another user.
• Buyers pay BookBramble directly, and BookBramble pays Sellers after successful delivery.
• All payments are processed securely through our third-party payment processors.
• BookBramble provides reader protection for the Transaction as described in these Terms.

4. Account registration

To use certain features of the Service, you must register for an account. When you register:

• You must provide accurate, complete, and current information.
• You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials.
• You are responsible for all activities that occur under your account.
• You must notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account.
• You must be at least 18 years old or have parental consent to use the Service.

We reserve the right to refuse service, terminate accounts, or remove content at our discretion.

5. Seller terms

5.1 Listing requirements

When creating a listing, you agree to:

• Provide accurate descriptions of the item's condition, including any defects.
• Upload clear, accurate photos of the actual item being sold.
• Set a fair price that you are willing to accept.
• Only list items you legally own and have the right to sell.
• Only list physical books you are permitted to sell, with accurate details and photos of the copy.

5.2 Shipping obligations

When your item sells, you agree to:

• Create the shipping label, hand the parcel to the carrier, and mark the order as shipped within 5 calendar days of the buyer's payment.
• Use only the prepaid shipping label provided by BookBramble.
• Package the item securely to prevent damage during transit.
• Ship the exact item as described and photographed in your listing.

5.3 Seller fees

Listing and selling are free. Sellers receive the full listed book price after successful delivery, less any applicable refunds or adjustments and any delivery they choose to fund. The buyer pays delivery and reader protection.

5.4 Payment to sellers

BookBramble buys each copy from you when the buyer pays, and sells it to the buyer. The sale completes when the buyer confirms receipt, or 48 hours after delivery. Because buyers may cancel for any reason until 14 days after delivery (section 7.1), the payout for a sale is paid once that window has closed with no cancellation, return or reported problem open. The date is shown on the order.

Payments are made to the bank account or payment method specified in your account settings.

5.5 Returns and refunds to sellers

If a buyer cancels within 14 days of delivery (change of mind), our purchase of the cancelled copies from you is reversed:

• The buyer posts them back, at their own cost, to the address you posted from. We show it only to that buyer, for that return, and never share your phone number or email.
• Confirm on the order when they arrive. They return to your stock, paused, for you to check before selling again.
• You aren’t paid for cancelled copies. If you have already been paid, the amount is taken from your next payout. If the buyer later gets the rest of the order refunded and you were never paid for it, that deduction is cancelled.
• If the books haven’t come back by the return date, confirm that on the order; only then do we close the cancellation without a refund.
• We refund the buyer once they show proof of posting, even before the books reach you. If that proof turns out to be false, BookBramble bears the loss as the seller of the book, not you.

If a buyer returns an item due to it being significantly not as described:

• If you have already been paid, the payment amount will be deducted from your next payout or recovered from your linked payment method.
• BookBramble may, at its sole discretion, return the item to you at your expense, or retain the item.
• If the return was due to an inaccurate or misleading listing description, you may be liable for return shipping costs.
• Repeated returns due to listing inaccuracies may result in account suspension.

A cancellation for a change of mind isn’t held against you: it doesn’t count as a listing problem.

6. Buyer terms

6.1 Purchasing

When you complete a Transaction through the BookBramblecheckout, you agree to:

• Pay the book price plus the displayed delivery charge at checkout.
• Provide accurate shipping information.
• Inspect items promptly upon receipt and tell us about any problem as soon as you can (section 6.3).

6.2 Pricing

Prices shown include reader protection: 8% of the book price plus £0.80, charged once per order, so a basket from one reader pays the fixed part once. Delivery is added at checkout. The total shown at the BookBramble checkout is the price you pay.

• Secure payment processing
• Tracked delivery on every order
• A refund if items don't arrive, aren't as described, are the wrong book or are damaged in the post (section 6.3)
• Customer support and claim decisions by a person

6.3 Reader protection

Purchases completed through the BookBramble checkout are covered by reader protection. You may claim a refund for the affected items (of everything you paid for the order, including reader protection and delivery, when the whole order is affected), or a partial refund you agree with us, keeping the item, if:

• The item does not arrive.
• The item is not as described: its condition, edition or details are worse than the listing as you bought it (its condition grade, writing or highlighting, format, declared details, the seller's note and photos), which we keep from checkout.
• The item is the wrong book.
• The item was damaged in the post.
• The item is counterfeit or illegal.
• A special edition marked “Checked by BookBramble” isn’t the edition we checked. For these copies the refund includes delivery, and we pay to send the book back.

Reader protection does not cover:

• Change of mind: use your right to cancel instead (section 7.1).
• Wear consistent with the listed condition, photos or note.
• Highlighting or annotations that were disclosed in the listing.

Claims are open from posting until at least 14 days after delivery (a missing parcel, from its expected delivery date). How to claim, and the times we commit to, are on our reader protection page. Reader protection is in addition to your statutory rights, including under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and does not limit them: a problem raised after the claim window is still handled under those rights.

7. Returns and refunds

7.1 Your right to cancel

BookBramble sells you every book, so you can cancel any order, or some of the books in it, for any reason, from when you pay until 14 days after the day the books come into your hands. For a collection point, that is the day you collect them.

• Before it’s posted, choose “Cancel this order” on your order page. We refund you in full straight away, or, if the seller has already prepared the parcel, tell them not to post it and our team finishes the cancellation and refund.
• After it’s posted, choose “Cancel and send it back” on your order page and pick the books you’re returning. You can return more of the same order later, while the 14 days last.
• Or tell us any other clear way: email support@bookbramble.co.uk with your name, the order number and the books you’re returning, or send the model cancellation form below. We record it for you from the day you told us.
• Post the books back within 14 days of cancelling to the address shown on your order page (the address the seller posted from, or one we give you). Return postage is paid by you: use a tracked service and keep the receipt, then add the carrier and tracking or receipt number to your order.
• We refund everything you paid for the returned books and haven’t already had back: the book price, reader protection and standard delivery. Delivery is refunded when you return everything left on the order; when you keep some books, the parcel still had to come for them.
• We refund within 14 days of the books coming back or of your proof of posting, whichever is first, to your original payment method. If the books never come back and there is no proof of posting, we can’t refund them.

Model cancellation form

Complete and return this form only if you wish to cancel the contract. You don’t have to use it.

7.2 Problems with a book

If you receive an item that qualifies for reader protection:

• Report the issue through your order page (Something wrong?) within the claim window in section 6.3.
• Provide photos and a description of the issue (photos are not needed for an item that didn't arrive).
• The seller has 72 hours to reply, and we decide within 48 hours of their reply or deadline (or, if the item must come back first, tell you where to send it within that time).
• If we ask you to return the item, use a tracked service; we reimburse the return postage.
• Refunds are sent when we decide them, or once a returned item is back, to how you paid (card or Bramble credit).

7.3 Handling of returned items

When an item is returned to BookBramble, we may, at our sole discretion:

• Return the item to the original seller (seller may be responsible for return shipping costs if the return was due to an inaccurate listing).
• Retain the item for resale or disposal.

The decision on how to handle returned items is made on a case-by-case basis considering the reason for return, item value, and shipping costs involved.

For full details, please see our reader protection and returns page.

7A. Bramble credit

Bramble credit can only be spent on books sold by BookBramble. It isn’t a deposit or e-money: you can’t top it up with a card, send it to anyone else or spend it anywhere else. There are two kinds.

• Earnings are what we owe you for books we bought from you. You can spend them at checkout once a sale completes; while the buyer can still cancel, only up to the limit shown on your Money page at once (at least £50, growing with your completed sales). Earnings you haven’t spent are paid to your bank account once the buyer’s 14-day cancellation window has closed. Earnings don’t expire. When you spend earnings on books they go further by the extra shown at checkout (currently 10%); that extra is bonus credit.
• Bonus credit is credit we give you (goodwill, rewards, or the extra for spending earnings). It can’t be paid out, expires on the date shown wherever your balance appears, can’t be used to buy from a shop whose payouts go to a bank account you have used, and at most £10 of it can be used on one order.

At checkout bonus credit is used first, then earnings, then your card. If an order is cancelled or refunded, the refund goes back to whatever paid for it in the same proportions: to your card, your earnings and your bonus credit. Bonus credit that has expired by then, and the extra for spending earnings, are not given back. If a sale whose earnings you have already spent is later cancelled, the amount is taken from your future earnings; if you have none, we may ask you to repay it.

If your account closes, we pay out your earnings first and your bonus credit is forfeited.

8. Prohibited items and conduct

8.1 Prohibited items

You may not list or sell:

• Counterfeit or pirated materials
• Items you do not own or have the right to sell
• Digital-only products or access codes (unless clearly stated)
• Items that infringe intellectual property rights
• Any illegal items under UK law

8.2 Prohibited conduct

You agree not to:

• Provide false or misleading information in listings
• Circumvent the payment system for a BookBramble Listing or encourage another user to transact off-platform
• Harass, abuse, or threaten other users
• Use the Service for any fraudulent purpose
• Interfere with the proper functioning of the Service
• Create multiple accounts for fraudulent purposes

9. Intellectual property

The Service and its original content, features, and functionality are owned by BookBramble and are protected by international copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws.

By submitting content to the Service (including listing descriptions and photos), you grant BookBramble a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, and display such content in connection with operating and promoting the Service.

10. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, BookBramble shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, data, or goodwill, arising out of or in connection with your use of the Service.

BookBramble's total liability for any claim arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall not exceed the amount paid by you to BookBramble in the 12 months preceding the claim.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless BookBramble, its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including legal fees) arising out of or related to:

• Your use of the Service
• Your violation of these Terms
• Your violation of any rights of another party
• Any content you submit to the Service

12. Dispute resolution

Any disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be resolved through informal negotiation first. If a resolution cannot be reached, disputes shall be resolved through binding arbitration in accordance with the rules of the London Court of International Arbitration, except where prohibited by law.

Nothing in these Terms shall prevent either party from seeking injunctive or other equitable relief from the courts.

13. Governing law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales, without regard to conflict of law principles. You agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in England and Wales.

14. Changes to terms

We reserve the right to modify or replace these Terms at any time. If a revision is material, we will provide at least 30 days' notice prior to any new terms taking effect. What constitutes a material change will be determined at our sole discretion.

By continuing to access or use our Service after any revisions become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised terms.

15. Termination

We may terminate or suspend your account and access to the Service immediately, without prior notice or liability, for any reason, including without limitation if you breach these Terms.

Upon termination, your right to use the Service will cease immediately. Earnings we owe you are still paid out; bonus Bramble credit is forfeited (section 7A). All provisions of these Terms which by their nature should survive termination shall survive, including ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity, and limitations of liability.

16. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is held to be unenforceable or invalid, such provision will be changed and interpreted to accomplish the objectives of such provision to the greatest extent possible under applicable law, and the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

17. Contact us

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at:

• Email: support@bookbramble.co.uk
• Website: https://bookbramble.co.uk
• Registered Address: 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ
• Registered in England and Wales · Company No. 17019570