Acceptable Use Policy

Effective from: [DATE]

1. The spirit of this policy

Mantis Checkout is designed for small retailers, stallholders, hobbyists, and community operators selling everyday goods and services. The rules below are designed to keep the platform safe, lawful, and welcoming. If something you want to sell isn't listed explicitly but seems borderline, ask us before listing it. If you're not sure, don't list it.

We may update this policy at any time. Your continued use of the Service after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

2. Prohibited Goods and Services

You may not list, sell, or attempt to sell any of the following through the Service:

2.1 Regulated and dangerous items

• Alcohol, tobacco, e-cigarettes, vapes, or any associated products.
• Firearms, ammunition, gunpowder, replicas, knives, swords, or any weapons.
• Fireworks, explosives, or pyrotechnic materials.
• Controlled substances of any kind, including illicit drugs, drug precursors, and drug paraphernalia.
• Prescription medicines, scheduled poisons (Schedule 2–9 under the Poisons Standard), or any therapeutic goods requiring TGA approval that you are not licensed to supply.
• Veterinary prescription medicines.
• Live animals (whether as pets, livestock, or otherwise).
• Endangered species, products derived from endangered species, or ivory.
• Hazardous chemicals (corrosives, oxidisers, flammables, toxic substances) outside their normal retail context.
• Radioactive materials.

2.2 Food safety and consumables

• Raw milk or raw milk products (illegal for human consumption in Australia).
• Raw or undercooked meat products sold without appropriate food-safety registration and refrigeration.
• Home-canned or improperly preserved low-acid foods.
• Any food item you are not legally permitted to sell under your state's food safety legislation. The platform does not certify your compliance; it is your responsibility.

2.3 Legal and regulatory restrictions

• Raffle tickets, sweepstake entries, or any gambling-adjacent items requiring a permit unless you hold the relevant permit and supply us with evidence.
• Donations claiming tax-deductibility unless you hold current Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) endorsement from the ATO.
• Counterfeit goods, knock-offs, or items infringing trademarks, copyright, or registered designs.
• Stolen goods or items obtained unlawfully.
• Goods subject to import restrictions you have not complied with.
• Pornographic, sexually explicit, or adult content of any kind.
• Hate-symbol merchandise (including swastika and nazi-paraphernalia which are prohibited in several Australian states).
• Anything designed to harm, defame, or harass an identifiable person or group.

2.4 Services we cannot facilitate

• Escort services, sex work, or adult entertainment of any kind.
• Financial services requiring an Australian Financial Services Licence that you do not hold.
• Money transmission, currency exchange, or remittance services.
• Lending or credit provision.
• Cryptocurrency or digital-asset trading.
• Gambling, betting, or skill-games for money.
• Multi-level marketing or pyramid schemes.
• Services that require professional accreditation you do not hold (medical, legal, regulated trades).

3. Prohibited conduct

You must not, in connection with the Service:

• Use the Service for any unlawful purpose.
• Process transactions on behalf of another business that has not agreed to these terms ("factoring" or "aggregation").
• Process transactions for goods or services not actually being supplied ("force pay", "money out" arrangements, or any form of payment laundering).
• Use the Service to test stolen or unauthorised card details.
• Manipulate prices to circumvent fees or to deceive Customers.
• Make misleading or deceptive claims about your goods, services, or business in breach of the Australian Consumer Law.
• Collect Customer information beyond what's necessary to fulfil the order, or use it for purposes the Customer has not consented to.
• Interfere with, disrupt, or attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Service or related systems.
• Reverse-engineer, scrape, or systematically extract data from the platform.
• Use the Service in any way that contravenes Stripe's terms of service.

4. Surcharging

If you choose to apply a card surcharge under the platform's surcharge feature, the surcharge must reflect your reasonable cost of acceptance and must not exceed the platform fee Mantis Checkout charges you (currently 2.5% + $0.30 per card transaction). This complies with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's surcharging rules. The platform will calculate and disclose the surcharge automatically; you must not apply additional surcharges outside this mechanism.

5. Marketing and customer communications

You may only send marketing communications (email, SMS, etc.) to Customers who have given you their consent. You must comply with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth), including providing a working unsubscribe option in every commercial message. You must not use Mantis Checkout customer data to bulk-message customers without their consent.

6. Reporting violations

If you become aware of a violation of this AUP by another stall or user, please report it to [REPORTS@COMPANY.COM]. We investigate reports confidentially and act on credible information.

7. Consequences of breach

If we determine, acting reasonably, that you have breached this AUP, we may:

• Remove the offending listing or content.
• Suspend your Stall or your account.
• Terminate your account and refuse future signup.
• Withhold or reverse payments where lawfully permitted.
• Report the conduct to Stripe, law enforcement, or relevant regulatory authorities.
• Recover from you any loss, fines, or penalties we suffer as a result of the breach.

Serious breaches — particularly those involving fraud, illegal goods, or harm to Customers — may result in immediate termination without prior notice.