Legal

Terms and conditions

Last updated October 4, 2026

These terms govern your use of Joytich, including the community features and the shop. By creating an account or placing an order, you agree to them.

1. Accounts

  • You must give accurate information and keep your password secure. You're responsible for activity on your account.
  • One person, one account. Don't impersonate anyone else.
  • You must be at least 13 years old to create an account.

2. Roles, critics and verification

  • Members can comment on reviews, vote reviews helpful and shop.
  • Critics are members approved by our administrators to publish reviews and ratings. Critic status may be granted or withdrawn at our discretion.
  • The verification checkmark means an administrator has confirmed an account's identity. It doesn't endorse that person's opinions.
  • Points and ranks are for fun and recognition. They have no monetary value.

3. Your content

You keep ownership of the reviews and comments you post. You give Joytich a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to display, distribute and promote them on the service. You're responsible for what you post.

4. Community rules

Don't post content that:

  • harasses, threatens or discriminates against anyone
  • is spam, advertising or deliberately misleading
  • infringes someone else's copyright, for example by copying long passages from books
  • reveals someone's private information
  • is a review written in exchange for payment or a free product without disclosing it

We may remove content and suspend accounts that break these rules.

5. Orders, payment and delivery

  • Prices are in Kenyan shillings (KSh) and include any applicable taxes. Delivery of printed books is free on orders of KSh 4,000 or more; otherwise a flat fee is shown at checkout.
  • You can pay by M-Pesa, card (through Paystack), USDT (through NOWPayments) or, for printed books, cash on delivery. USDT amounts are converted from KSh at our rate at checkout.
  • An order is confirmed once payment is received. Items are reserved for a limited time while you pay; unpaid orders are cancelled automatically.
  • You can cancel a printed-book order until it ships; if you've paid, you'll be refunded.
  • We may cancel an order if an item is out of stock or was listed at the wrong price. You'll be refunded in full.

6. eBooks and digital files

  • Buying an eBook gives you a personal, non-transferable licence to download and read it. You may not share, resell or publish it.
  • Downloads are available from your library for as long as your account exists.
  • Because digital files can be copied, eBooks aren't refundable once downloaded, except when the file is faulty or not as described (see Buyer protection below).

7. Selling on Joytich

  • Critics may list their own books, either as eBooks sold here or as links to another store. Every listing is reviewed before it goes live, and we may reject or remove listings at our discretion.
  • You must own, or be licensed to sell, everything you upload. Don't upload other people's books, pirated material, malware, or anything illegal. We remove infringing listings when notified and may suspend repeat infringers.
  • For eBooks sold here, Joytich collects the payment and keeps a platform fee of 10% of the price. The rest is your share.
  • Links to other stores are free. The sale happens on that store, under its terms.

8. Buyer protection, escrow and payouts

  • When you buy from an independent seller, their share is held in escrow for a hold period (currently 7 days) before it becomes available to them. You can release it sooner by confirming everything's fine.
  • If something is wrong (for example, the file won't open or isn't what was described), report it from your order page before the hold ends. The payment stays held while an administrator reviews it, then is either refunded to you or released to the seller. Our decision is final for the purposes of the platform.
  • Sellers can request a payout of their available balance (minimum KSh 500) to M-Pesa or a USDT wallet. We aim to send payouts within 2 business days. You're responsible for any taxes on your earnings.
  • Refunds go back to the original payment method: cards through Paystack (usually 5–10 business days), and M-Pesa and USDT sent by our team.

9. Our content

The Joytich name, design and software belong to us. Book titles and author names belong to their respective owners.

10. Ending your account

You can delete your account at any time from Settings, once any seller earnings have been paid out. We may suspend or close accounts that break these terms.

11. Disclaimers and liability

Joytich is provided "as is". Reviews reflect their authors' opinions, not ours. To the extent the law allows, we aren't liable for indirect or consequential losses arising from your use of the service.

12. Changes

We may update these terms. If we make significant changes, we'll update the date above and let signed-in members know. Continuing to use Joytich means you accept the updated terms.

13. Contact

Questions about these terms? Email hello@shelfnotes.example.