Weavae Marketplace Terms

1. Our role

Chimæra World provides the venue. The contract for any design work, sample, component or production run is between the transacting users. We are not a party to it, do not perform it, do not guarantee it, and are not the employer, agent or broker of any user.

The single exception is the settlement of money we are holding: where a milestone is disputed, we decide where that held amount goes, as described in §5. That decision settles the money only. It is not an adjudication of the underlying contract and does not prevent either party pursuing the other elsewhere.

2. Who the parties are

The payee on a contract is the party the brief was assigned to when the quote was accepted, and it is fixed at that moment for the life of the contract.

Where the payee is an agency, the agency is the contracting party and the payee. An agency may internally assign the work to one of its own people; doing so grants that person scoped access to the work and does not alter who the contract is with, who is paid, or who is responsible for performance. A seat at an agency is paid by that agency under whatever arrangement exists between them, to which Chimæra World is not a party and of which it has no record.

3. Milestone protection

A contract may carry a schedule of milestones, each with its own agreed amount. A brand funds a milestone by paying it in advance; the amount is then held and is not available to the payee until it is released. Money that is agreed in a schedule but not funded is not held, is not protected, and confers no security on either party.

The purpose of the hold is symmetrical and both halves are binding on how we operate it: it protects the brand from paying for work that never arrives, and it ensures the payee is paid for work they did.

Release. When a brand approves, the platform releases the milestones for which the work was in fact delivered, and only those. Delivered work is at the same moment published into the brand's workspace. Milestones with no evidence of delivery remain held — neither released nor returned — with the decision recorded.

Automatic release. Once a milestone is marked delivered, the brand has a review period stated in the product to approve it or open a dispute. After that period the milestone releases automatically to the payee and may no longer be disputed. The length of the review period may change; the period applicable to a milestone is the one shown in the product when it was delivered.

Commission. Chimæra World charges a commission on released amounts, deducted from the payee's proceeds and not added to the amount the brand pays. The rate applicable to a contract is fixed when the contract is created and is not changed by any later change to our published rates. A brand paying in a currency we do not settle in, or from a card issued outside our home country, pays a separate surcharge on top of the milestone, disclosed before the payment is confirmed.

4. Ending a contract

Settle before you close. A contract may not be closed while money that has been charged remains unsettled. Where a brand seeks to cancel and an amount is held against work that has not been handed in, the cancellation is refused, the amount is named, and two routes are offered: approve the work if it has in fact arrived, or open a dispute so the amount is decided. A cancellation is likewise refused while any amount on the contract is in dispute, and where an amount is recorded as held but no corresponding payment can be identified.

Effect of a cancellation that proceeds. Amounts already released remain paid; cancellation is not a clawback. Amounts held against work that was handed in remain payable to the payee and are paid out notwithstanding the cancellation. Scheduled amounts never charged are not charged, and the contract is closed so that no further charge can be made against it.

Both parties are notified of the outcome, and the notice states separately what was already paid, what is still to be paid, what was returned, and what will never be charged.

5. Disputes

Either party to a contract may open a dispute on a funded milestone, giving a reason. Opening a dispute freezes that milestone: it cannot be released, automatically or otherwise, while the case is open. The other party is notified, a support conversation is opened with the party the case is against, and both parties may submit evidence.

A milestone whose review period has already closed has released to the payee and cannot be disputed.

A Chimæra World administrator resolves the case by releasing the amount to the payee, refunding it to the brand, or splitting it in a stated proportion, in which case commission is charged only on the portion actually paid to the payee. The resolution disposes of the held amount only.

We give no undertaking as to how quickly a dispute will be resolved. No service level applies to dispute resolution at this time.

6. Conduct in the marketplace

Users must describe their capabilities, capacity, certifications and prior work accurately, and must not misrepresent identity, role or affiliation. Verification indicators, rankings and ratings shown in the Service are provided on a best-effort basis and are not a warranty by Chimæra World of any user or listing.

Users must not take a transaction that began on the platform off the platform in order to avoid commission, and must not use another user's confidential material — designs, specifications, patterns, supplier identities, prices — for any purpose other than performing the contract it was shared for.

7. Taxes and status

Each party is responsible for its own tax position, including sales tax, VAT, income and withholding taxes, and for the correct characterisation of its relationship with its counterparty. Payees may be required to provide identity and tax information before they can be paid, and payouts may be withheld until that information is provided.