These terms apply when you register with BackMyTown or buy through it. Please read them; the short version is that you buy directly from the local business, we provide the marketplace, and a share of our fee goes to the community group you choose.
1. Who we are
BackMyTown is operated by BackMyTown Ltd, registered in England and Wales (company number 17360461, registered office 10 Beaufort Close, Reigate, RH2 9DG, United Kingdom). Contact us at hello@backmytown.com.
BackMyTown is an online marketplace where local businesses ("vendors") sell things like event tickets, pre-orders, gift cards, seasonal boxes and subscriptions, and where a share of our fee goes to local community groups (schools, PTAs, clubs, churches and similar).
2. You buy from the vendor, not from us
When you buy through BackMyTown, your contract is with the vendor named on the product page, not with us. The vendor sets the price, takes your payment into its own account, supplies what you bought, and is responsible to you for it. We introduce you, provide the ordering and payment technology, and pass your order to the vendor.
Your order is an offer to buy from the vendor. The contract forms when the order is confirmed and your payment succeeds. The vendor's name and contact details appear on the product page and your order confirmation.
We never hold your money. Payment goes through Stripe, our payment processor, directly to the vendor's own Stripe account. Our fee is charged to the vendor and deducted from the vendor's proceeds; it is not added to your price.
3. Prices and payment
Prices are as shown at checkout and include VAT where the vendor charges it. Payment is by the methods offered at checkout, through Stripe. We never see or store your card details; Stripe handles them under its own terms and security standards.
If you add an optional "round up" for your group at checkout, the whole round-up goes to the group. It is voluntary and never our revenue.
4. Your rights as a consumer
Nothing in these terms reduces your statutory rights. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described, and services must be carried out with reasonable care and skill. These rights are against the vendor as the seller.
Cancelling an online order. For most online purchases you can cancel within 14 days of receiving goods (or of ordering, for services) without giving a reason, and get a refund, under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. This right does not apply to:
- fresh or perishable food (for example bakery items, meat and veg boxes);
- tickets for an event on a specific date;
- items made to your specification or personalised;
- sealed items that cannot be returned for health or hygiene reasons once opened.
The product page states whether the cancellation right applies to an item. If you cancel a service or subscription that you asked to start straight away, you pay for what was supplied before you cancelled.
5. The community-group share
When you register or check out, you can choose one or more community groups as your beneficiaries. If you do, we pay those groups a share of our own fee on your purchases. To be completely clear:
- The share comes out of the fee we charge the vendor. Your price is the same whether or not you choose a group.
- It is a commercial fundraising payment made by us under a written agreement with the group. It is not a donation by you or by us, and Gift Aid does not apply.
- Each group's share builds up as you shop and is paid to the group monthly by bank transfer. Refunded or reversed purchases do not produce a share.
Where we say that shopping benefits a particular group, the method is this: the group receives the group-share rate set for your town (shown on the group's page; in Reigate, 2% of the sale value) out of our fee on each qualifying purchase where you have chosen that group. Where the group is a charity, we make this statement as a commercial participator under Part II of the Charities Act 1992. If you choose no group, we keep our full fee. Group membership is self-declared; we do not verify it.
6. Problems and refunds
Because your contract is with the vendor, raise refunds, quality issues and delivery problems with the vendor first, using the details on your order confirmation. Any refund the vendor agrees is paid through Stripe to your original payment method.
If you cannot resolve it with the vendor, contact us at hello@backmytown.com. We will pass your complaint on, chase it, and help where we reasonably can, but we do not decide disputes between you and a vendor and we hold no funds to refund you ourselves. Your card chargeback rights, and section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 for credit card purchases over £100, are unaffected.
7. Your account
Keep your registration details accurate and current. You must be 18 or over. A household can belong to more than one group and can change its beneficiaries at any time in account settings.
Do not misuse the platform: no fraudulent orders, no abuse of vendors or groups, no interference with the service. We can suspend or close accounts used in breach of these terms.
8. Our responsibility to you
We are responsible for foreseeable loss caused by our breach of these terms or our negligence. We are not responsible for the acts, products or services of vendors (the vendor is responsible for the sale), for losses that were not foreseeable, or for business losses; the platform is for personal use.
Nothing in these terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law does not allow us to exclude, and nothing affects your statutory rights.
9. Messages we send
We send order and account messages (confirmations, receipts, service notices) as part of running the service. Optional service updates are on by default and can be turned off in settings. Marketing, such as the weekly featured-offers email, is sent only if you opt in, always with a working unsubscribe, and never over WhatsApp. Details are in our Privacy Policy.
10. General
We may update these terms. We will tell you about material changes before they take effect, and the version in force when you order is the one that applies to that order. If part of these terms turns out to be unenforceable, the rest still applies. These terms do not give anyone else rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. You can bring claims in the courts of England and Wales, or in your local courts if you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland.