Terms of Service

1. Accounts

You may create one account per legal entity. Brand operators use Crescence to list and sell products; offices, workplaces, and other business buyers (each, a “Buyer”) use Crescence to discover and purchase from those brands. You agree to provide accurate information at sign-up and to keep it current. You are responsible for safeguarding your credentials and for every action taken under your account.

2. Acceptable use

You must use the Service consistently with the rules in this section. Violations are grounds for product suspension, account suspension, or account termination depending on severity. Brands are additionally bound by the Brand Merchant Agreement.

2.1 Prohibited products and content

The following may not be listed or sold on Crescence:

• Alcohol (beer, wine, spirits). Crescence does not hold the required permits.
• Cannabis, CBD, and hemp-derived THC products in any form.
• Controlled substances of any schedule.
• Tobacco, nicotine, and vaping products.
• Firearms, ammunition, weapons, and weapon accessories.
• Counterfeit, replica, or knock-off branded goods.
• Live animals or animal products requiring USDA APHIS permits the brand does not hold.
• Raw milk in states where retail sale is prohibited.
• Products requiring FDA pre-market approval that the brand does not hold.
• Products making unsubstantiated health claims (for example, cures cancer, prevents COVID, treats diabetes).
• Items requiring cottage-food permits in the destination state when the brand does not hold one for that state. Crescence enforces a cottage-food matrix at checkout per ship-to state.

2.2 Brands: allergen labeling

The brand operator must accurately disclose the FDA Big-9 allergens (peanut, tree-nut, dairy, egg, soy, wheat, fish, shellfish, sesame) on every SKU. Removal of an allergen tag triggers downstream office alerts for any office that already added the SKU to their pantry. Undeclared changes are grounds for product suspension.

2.3 Brands: off-platform solicitation

During the term of a brand operator's account, the brand operator may not solicit Crescence Buyers off-platform for substantively similar products. This protects the commission economics that fund the discovery surface, payment rails, and dispute infrastructure. After account closure, the restriction lifts. Brands may not use Crescence buyer information, order data, messages, or introductions to avoid Crescence fees or move Crescence-originated transactions off-platform. This does not restrict a pre-existing relationship that did not come from Crescence.

2.4 Buyers: off-platform redistribution

Buyers may not resell products purchased on Crescence as their own brand (private-label). Products purchased on Crescence are for your own consumption or, in the case of office Buyers, for distribution to your team or patrons under the original brand name.

2.5 Communication conduct

In-app messages, Maia drafts you approve, and reviews must be truthful, non-defamatory, and free of harassment. Crescence monitors messages for off-platform contact attempts, harassment patterns, and spam. Flagged messages are reviewed by ops; severe violations result in account suspension.

2.6 Security and abuse

You may not: attempt to access another account's data; probe our infrastructure for vulnerabilities without first following our coordinated disclosure policy at /.well-known/security.txt; reverse-engineer the Maia AI assistant; scrape catalog data beyond your own use of the discovery surface; or interfere with the operation of the Service.

2.7 Reporting violations

If you see a listing or behavior that violates this section, email hellocrescence@gmail.com. We acknowledge reports within one business day and resolve them within five business days for non-urgent matters; safety-impacting reports are escalated immediately.

3. Brand terms: commission, payments, payouts

Brand operators are bound by the Brand Merchant Agreement in addition to these Terms. Crescence charges a 13% commission on every order.

When a payout is released depends on the order type. For a consolidated or multi-brand order fulfilled through the Crescence distribution center, the payout is released after Crescence receives and accepts the brand's shipment at the distribution center, subject to any shortage, damage, verification, dispute, fraud review, chargeback, refund, or other issue. For a single-brand order that ships directly to the office, the payout may be tied to delivery confirmation to the Buyer. Payouts run through Stripe Connect, and the Brand Merchant Agreement governs the details.

4. Marketplace facilitator and fulfillment

Crescence is a marketplace facilitator. We provide the storefront, the discovery surface, the payment rails, and the messaging tools.

Depending on the order, products may ship directly from the Brand to the Buyer, or from the Brand to Crescence for consolidation before final delivery to the Buyer. Crescence does not take title to inventory; products remain the property of the Brand until sold to the Buyer. Crescence may, however, have physical custody of products for fulfillment, consolidation, inspection, return handling, disposal, or related operational purposes.

Each transaction is between the Brand and the Buyer; Crescence facilitates it.

5. Sales tax

Where Crescence is required and configured to collect sales tax, Crescence will calculate, collect, and remit applicable taxes on the facilitated taxable sales. Buyers and brands remain responsible for providing accurate tax information and exemption certificates, and for any tax obligations not handled by Crescence.

Some Buyers may be tax-exempt or eligible for an exemption depending on their status and documentation. Where supported, Crescence may collect and review exemption certificates; eligible Buyers can upload a certificate from the tax exemption section of their account settings, and Crescence reviews it before any exemption takes effect.

Brands remain responsible for their own tax registrations, for tax on their off-platform sales, and for reporting their gross sales on their own returns where required. This section is general information, not tax advice.

6. Intellectual property

Brand operators retain all rights, title, and interest in their product listings, photography, copy, and brand marks. By posting content on Crescence, brand operators grant Crescence a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to display, reproduce, and distribute that content through the Service for the duration of the brand's account plus 90 days after termination (to fulfill outstanding orders).

The Crescence platform itself, including the software, the design system, the Maia AI assistant, and the trademarks “Crescence” and “Maia,” is owned by Crescence Inc. and protected by intellectual property law. You may not copy, reverse engineer, or create derivative works of the platform except as the law expressly permits.

Trademark, patent, publicity, and other non-copyright IP reports follow the process in the DMCA Copyright Policy under the trademark section. Copyright notices follow the DMCA procedure on that same page.

7. AI features (Maia)

Maia is Crescence's AI assistant. Maia can suggest products, draft actions, summarize feedback, support marketplace operations, and, where you enable autopilot features, prepare or place orders based on the preferences, budgets, approval settings, product rules, and reorder cadences you select.

You are responsible for the preferences, budgets, approval settings, and automation rules you enable, and you can review, pause, change, or disable Maia automation from your account at any time. Maia's other outputs are suggestions, and you remain responsible for the actions you approve.

Crescence does not permit its AI service providers to use your account data to train their general-purpose models.

8. Disclaimers

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available.” Crescence disclaims all warranties to the maximum extent permitted by law, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

Crescence does not manufacture, package, label, or independently verify every product sold by brands. Brands are responsible for product safety, ingredients, allergens, labeling, regulatory compliance, claims, recalls, and fulfillment accuracy. Product availability, delivery dates, replenishment estimates, and Maia recommendations are not guaranteed.

9. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Crescence's aggregate liability for any claim arising out of these Terms or the Service is limited to the greater of (a) $100 and (b) the fees Crescence collected from you in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim. In no event is Crescence liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages, even if advised of the possibility.

Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited under applicable law, including liability for gross negligence, willful misconduct, fraud, or a party's indemnification or confidentiality obligations.

Operational matters specific to brands, including lost or damaged inventory, fulfillment errors, chargebacks, refunds, shipping failures, and payout holds, are addressed in the Brand Merchant Agreement.

10. Indemnification

Brands agree to indemnify and hold Crescence harmless from any third-party claim arising out of their products, including product defects, ingredients, allergens, labeling, health or disease claims, recalls, regulatory violations, intellectual property infringement, false advertising, order fulfillment failures, and violation of law.

Buyers agree to indemnify and hold Crescence harmless from any third-party claim arising out of their misuse of the Service, unlawful resale, account misuse, or violation of these Terms.

In each case this is in addition to any indemnification set out in the Brand Merchant Agreement.

11. Termination

You may close your account at any time from your account settings. Crescence may suspend or terminate your account for material breach of these Terms, repeated violations of the Acceptable Use section, or fraud. We will give you reasonable notice unless the breach is severe enough to warrant immediate action.

On termination, outstanding orders complete on the normal schedule; pending payouts are released or held under the Brand Merchant Agreement; inventory in Crescence's custody is returned, disposed of, or otherwise handled under the Brand Merchant Agreement; unresolved disputes, refunds, and chargebacks continue to be worked through; brand listings are removed from discovery; and legally retained records are kept per the Privacy Policy. The Brand Merchant Agreement governs brand-specific details.

12. Dispute resolution: arbitration

Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service is resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by JAMS in Chicago, Illinois, under JAMS' Streamlined Arbitration Rules. The JAMS Mass Arbitration Procedures and Guidelines then in effect also apply to any coordinated or mass filings. The arbitrator may not consolidate claims and may not preside over a class action. Either party may bring a small-claims action in lieu of arbitration.

You may opt out of arbitration within 30 days of first agreeing to these Terms by emailing hellocrescence@gmail.com with the subject “Arbitration opt-out” and your account email.

13. Choice of law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, excluding its conflicts-of-law rules. Any matter that proceeds in court (small claims or non-arbitrable claims) is brought in the state or federal courts located in Cook County, Illinois.

14. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms as the Service evolves. We notify your account email of material changes at least 30 days before they take effect. Continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree, you can close your account before the effective date.

15. User content and third-party content

Brand listings, product descriptions, images, messages, and other materials provided by users are third-party content. Crescence is an interactive computer service provider and is not the author or publisher of user content. We may, but are not obligated to, review, moderate, or remove content that violates these Terms or the Acceptable Use section above. You are responsible for the content you provide and for having the rights to it.

16. Copyright and DMCA

Crescence responds to notices of alleged copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The full notice-and-takedown procedure, counter-notice procedure, Designated Agent contact, and repeat-infringer policy live at the DMCA Copyright Policy. Send copyright notices to the address listed there.

17. General

• Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.
• Assignment. Crescence may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets; you may not assign without our prior written consent.
• Entire agreement. These Terms and (for brands) the Brand Merchant Agreement are the entire agreement between you and Crescence.
• Waiver. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it.
• Force majeure. Neither party is liable for delays or failures caused by events beyond its reasonable control.
• Notices. We give legal notices to you by email to the address on your account; you send notices to Crescence at the contact email and address below.
• Export and sanctions. You represent that you are not located in, or a resident of, a country or on a list subject to US sanctions, and that you will comply with US export control laws.
• Survival. The sections on intellectual property, fees owed, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification, dispute resolution, and these general provisions survive termination.

18. Contact

Legal questions: hellocrescence@gmail.com.

Crescence Inc.
5500 S University Ave
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

19. Accessibility

Crescence is committed to making the marketplace usable for everyone. Crescence aims to conform to WCAG 2.2 Level AA and partially conforms today. We treat accessibility issues with the same urgency as functional bugs.

What we do:

• Every UI surface is keyboard-navigable. We do not ship interactive components that require a mouse.
• Every interactive element passes axe-core in our automated test suite; axe failures are build-blocking.
• Color contrast meets WCAG AA on text and meets AA-large on supporting copy. Our design tokens are tuned to keep this true by default.
• Every form field has an explicit label. Validation errors are announced to screen readers via aria-live.
• Animations honor prefers-reduced-motion. With OS reduced motion enabled, no animation longer than 0 ms plays.
• Touch targets are at least 44x44 px on viewports below the medium breakpoint.

Requesting an accommodation: if something does not work for you, please email hellocrescence@gmail.com. We acknowledge requests within one business day and aim to resolve within ten business days. If a fix cannot happen in that window, we provide an alternate path so you can complete the task.

We run automated accessibility checks on every pull request and conduct a manual full-platform audit at least every six months. We review this statement at least once a year.