
Terms of Service
Effective date: July 3, 2026
These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern access to and use of The Open Row — the websites, dashboard, storefronts, and tools operated by The Open Row ("The Open Row," "we," "us," or "our") that help cottage-food and farm-stand vendors run their stand and sell in person and online (the "Service").
The Open Row is operated as a sole proprietorship at https://theopenrow.com. We may reorganize under a different entity type (such as an LLC) in the future; if we do, these Terms will continue to apply to the Service.
The Service is available at https://theopenrow.com, https://app.theopenrow.com, vendor storefronts at {name}.theopenrow.shop, and optional custom domains connected by vendors.
The Service is used by vendors (sellers who create accounts) and shoppers (customers who buy from vendors). By accessing or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service. Sections that apply only to vendors or only to shoppers are labeled.
1. Eligibility
You must be at least 18 years old and able to form a binding contract to use the Service. Vendors must be legally permitted to operate their business and sell their products.
2. Our Role — The Open Row Is a Platform, Not the Seller
The Open Row provides software and tools that let vendors list products, take payments, and manage their stand. We are not the seller of any vendor's products. Each vendor is an independent business and the seller of record for its own goods. Purchases are contracts between the shopper and the vendor. We do not produce, inspect, handle, store, or deliver any vendor's food or products, and we do not guarantee their quality, safety, legality, or accuracy of description. Questions, complaints, refunds, and disputes about a purchase are between the shopper and the vendor.
3. Vendor Accounts and Responsibilities (vendors)
To use vendor features you must create an account using email/password or Google sign-in. You agree to provide accurate information, keep your credentials secure, and be responsible for all activity under your account. Notify us promptly at hello@theopenrow.com of any unauthorized use.
As a vendor, you are solely responsible for:
- The accuracy of your listings, prices, photos, availability, and descriptions;
- The quality and safety of your food and products, including proper preparation, handling, storage, labeling, and allergen disclosure;
- Compliance with all applicable laws — including cottage-food laws, licensing and permits, food-safety and labeling rules, weights-and-measures rules, and consumer-protection laws in your jurisdiction;
- Collecting and remitting any applicable sales or other taxes;
- Fulfilling orders you accept, honoring your stated hours and pickup/delivery terms, and handling your own customer service and refunds; and
- The terms of your own connected payment accounts.
4. Market and Legal Information Is Not Advice (vendors)
Features such as the Opportunity Finder, price bands, cost calculator, and any "legal-filtered" gaps or jurisdiction rules are provided for general informational purposes only. They are estimates and summaries, may be incomplete or out of date, and are not legal, tax, financial, or business advice. You are responsible for independently verifying rules with the relevant authorities and for your own pricing and business decisions.
5. Payments and Fees
Customer payments. Card payments are processed through the vendor's connected Stripe account (Stripe Connect) and are subject to Stripe's terms. Cash App, Venmo, PayPal, and cash payments are handled directly between shopper and vendor; we are not a party to them and do not process or hold those funds. Checkout is available on a vendor's stand only after the vendor completes payment onboarding.
Platform fees and subscriptions (vendors). Core stand tools are currently offered at no platform charge, and pricing is still being finalized and may change. Optional paid add-ons — for example, local market data and additional email Drops contacts — are billed on a recurring basis through our payment processor. Subscriptions renew automatically each billing period unless cancelled beforehand; you may cancel from your billing settings, with cancellation effective at the end of the current period. Except where required by law, fees are non-refundable. We will provide notice of price changes, and revised prices apply to the next billing period. Some accounts may remain on legacy plans, which are managed in billing settings.
6. Loyalty Rewards (vendors and shoppers)
Vendors may enable optional phone-based loyalty rewards. Shoppers identify themselves by phone number only, with no login or verification. You acknowledge that, in the current version, anyone who knows a phone number may view and redeem the balance associated with it. Vendors set reward rates and are responsible for honoring balances; The Open Row is not responsible for the value of, or disputes over, loyalty balances.
7. Email Drops (vendors)
If you use email Drops, you are responsible for having a lawful basis to contact your subscribers and for complying with anti-spam laws (including CAN-SPAM), including honoring unsubscribe requests and including a valid postal address. Sending is subject to the Service's rate and volume limits, which may change.
8. Vendor Content and License (vendors)
You retain ownership of the content you upload (products, photos, recipes, storefront materials, and similar) ("Vendor Content"). You grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, display, and process Vendor Content as needed to operate and promote the Service and your storefront. You represent that you hold the rights necessary to share your Vendor Content and that it does not infringe others' rights or violate any law. AI-assisted drafts you generate are provided for your review; you are responsible for what you choose to publish.
9. Community Data Contribution (vendors)
By maintaining your catalog, you contribute anonymized, region-level list-price observations that power aggregated market insights shown to other vendors. Only aggregated statistics are shared, and we design these features so your identity and stand-level figures are not exposed. You grant us the right to use these anonymized, aggregated contributions to operate and improve the Service.
10. Acceptable Use
You agree not to:
- Use the Service unlawfully or to sell items you are not legally permitted to sell;
- Post false, infringing, harmful, or misleading content;
- Attempt to gain unauthorized access to accounts, data, or systems;
- Interfere with or disrupt the Service, including introducing malware or scraping data without permission; or
- Misuse loyalty, Drops, market data, or other features (for example, submitting fake price data or spamming subscribers).
11. Shopper Terms (shoppers)
You can browse and buy from vendors without an account. Your purchase is a contract with the vendor, who is responsible for the product, its safety and description, fulfillment, receipts, and refunds. If you provide an email for a receipt or a phone number for loyalty, you consent to that use as described in the Privacy Policy. Direct product questions, refund requests, and disputes to the vendor.
12. Intellectual Property
The Service itself — including its software, design, brand, and content we provide (excluding Vendor Content) — is owned by The Open Row and protected by intellectual property laws. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service for its intended purpose. You may not copy, modify, distribute, reverse-engineer, or create derivative works from the Service without our written permission.
13. Third-Party Services
The Service relies on and links to third-party services (including Stripe, Resend, OpenAI, Google, Railway, and the payment apps listed above). Your use of those services may be subject to their own terms, and we are not responsible for them.
14. Custom Domains and Storefront Hosting (vendors)
Vendors may use a provided subdomain or connect a custom domain to their storefront. You are responsible for your domain registration and DNS configuration and for the content of your storefront. We may suspend a storefront that violates these Terms or applicable law.
15. Termination
You may stop using the Service at any time. We may suspend or terminate access, with or without notice, for violation of these Terms, to protect the Service or others, or if we discontinue the Service. On termination, your right to use the Service ends; provisions that by their nature should survive (including Sections 2, 8, 9, 12, 16, 17, and 18) remain in effect. Vendors are responsible for exporting their own data before termination where such tools are provided.
16. Disclaimers
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT MARKET DATA, PRICE ESTIMATES, OR LEGAL SUMMARIES ARE ACCURATE OR COMPLETE. WE MAKE NO WARRANTY REGARDING ANY VENDOR'S PRODUCTS OR THEIR SAFETY, AND WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN VENDORS AND SHOPPERS.
17. Limitation of Liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE OPEN ROW WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) THE SERVICE. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM OR $100.
18. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless The Open Row and its officers, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from your use of the Service, your Vendor Content, your products or sales, or your violation of these Terms or any law. This includes claims arising from a vendor's food or products.
19. Governing Law and Disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Arizona, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Disputes will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in the State of Arizona, and you consent to their jurisdiction.
20. Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the effective date and, where appropriate, notify vendors. Continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.
21. Contact Us
The Open Row (sole proprietorship)
Website: https://theopenrow.com
Email: hello@theopenrow.com