Privacy Policy & Platform Terms

1. Who we are

DistiStore is operated by X Digital Platforms Ltd., and is a B2B marketplace connecting Distributors (businesses that list and sell products) with Members (verified resellers who buy at trade pricing, often to resell on to their own customers) and Guests (anyone buying directly without an account). We operate the marketplace, process payment at checkout, and provide the tools distributors and members use to trade with each other - we are not the manufacturer, stockist, or shipper of any product listed on the site.

2. How Distributors work with the system

• Distributors create an account, complete identity/company verification (KYC), and list products with pricing, stock levels and images - either manually, or by connecting an external store (see Store Connect below) so pricing and stock stay in sync automatically.
• When an order is placed for a distributor's product, a corresponding fulfillment order is created on that distributor's dashboard with the buyer's delivery details.
• Delivery is the distributor's responsibility. Distributors dispatch and deliver products to the end customer themselves, using their own courier or delivery arrangements. DistiStore does not pick, pack, ship, or handle any physical product, and is not a party to the delivery itself.
• Returns and refunds are also the distributor's responsibility - see the Returns and Refunds policy below.
• Distributors are paid based on their own product price (see "Payments" below) and can track pending and processed payouts from their Billing dashboard.
• Distributor accounts operate on a free trial followed by a paid annual membership; an active membership is required to keep listings live and orders flowing. See Site Fee and Advertising policies below for the other charges that may apply to a distributor account.

3. How Members (resellers) work with the system

• Members register and submit KYC/business verification. Until approved (and while their membership is active), a Member is priced the same as a Guest.
• Once approved with an active membership, a Member unlocks trade pricing - the distributor's price plus VAT, without the guest markup - across the whole catalog.
• Members can build carts and quotes on behalf of their own customers, adding their own margin (percentage or fixed amount) on top of trade price before sharing a payment link with that customer, or checking out themselves.
• Members can save carts to their dashboard for later, and message distributors directly through the site's messaging feature.

4. How Guests work with the system

• No account is required to browse the catalog or buy - guest checkout is always available.
• Guests are shown the standard marked-up guest price (see "Pricing and VAT" below), and pay in full via card at checkout.
• Every order - guest or otherwise - gets an order reference and a tracking link to check status without needing to create an account.

5. Our role and reliability

DistiStore operates the marketplace, verifies distributor and member identities before unlocking trade pricing, processes payment centrally so buyers only ever deal with one checkout regardless of how many distributors are involved, and enforces that distributors are always paid out based on their own real product price - never a marked-up or margin-inflated figure a reseller may have added on top for their own customer. Product accuracy, stock availability, quality and delivery remain the responsibility of the distributor who listed the item; DistiStore's role is to facilitate the trade and the payment, not to inspect, warehouse, or ship goods.

6. Payments

All card payments on the site are processed securely through Stripe. We never see or store full card numbers.

• Guests pay the full guest price (product price + guest markup + site fee) at checkout, in one transaction.
• Members buying for themselves pay their unlocked trade price (product price + VAT + site fee) at checkout.
• Members buying for their own customer (via a quote or a shared cart payment link) - their customer pays the trade price plus the member's own margin; the member never handles the card payment directly, it goes through the same secure checkout.
• Distributors are not charged at checkout. Instead, the buyer's payment already includes the distributor's product price; that amount accrues to the distributor as a pending payout, shown on their Billing dashboard, and is settled to them directly by DistiStore on a regular basis.

7. Returns and Refunds policy

DistiStore is a marketplace, not the seller of the goods listed on it. Each Distributor is the seller of record for the products they list, and is solely responsible for handling returns, exchanges, and refunds arising from their own orders.

• To request a return, exchange, or refund, contact the relevant Distributor directly using the details on your order confirmation or via the site's Messaging feature. Goods must not be returned to DistiStore; we have no facility to receive, inspect, or process physical returns.
• Each Distributor sets their own return window and conditions (for example, requiring goods to be unused or in original packaging) for orders they fulfil. Check the product listing, or ask the Distributor, before returning an item.
• Refunds, once agreed or otherwise due, are issued by the Distributor directly to the original payment method. DistiStore does not hold funds on a Distributor's behalf once a payout has been settled, and does not control the timing of a Distributor-issued refund.
• Nothing in this policy limits or excludes any statutory right you may have as a consumer, including under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (goods must be as described, of satisfactory quality, and fit for purpose) and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (a right to cancel most online orders within 14 days of delivery), where you are buying as a consumer rather than in the course of a business. Those rights are owed to you by the Distributor as seller of the goods and are unaffected by this policy or by any different return window a Distributor may otherwise offer.
• If a Distributor does not respond to, or fails to resolve, a valid return or refund request, contact compliance@dististore.co.uk and we will assist in escalating the matter with the Distributor. DistiStore facilitates this escalation but is not itself liable for a Distributor's failure to honour a return or refund.

8. Pricing and VAT

A distributor's listed product price is treated as their final, all-in selling price (product price + VAT already included by the distributor) - this is what a Member or Guest pays as the base price before any site fee or reseller margin. DistiStore itself is not currently VAT-registered, so no separate VAT line is added by the platform on top of a distributor's price. Once DistiStore becomes VAT-registered, this policy will be updated to reflect VAT being applied by the platform where applicable, and this section will be revised accordingly.

9. Site Fee policy

A platform fee is added at checkout to cover the cost of running the marketplace (payment processing, hosting, verification, support). The fee is calculated as a small percentage of the order subtotal, subject to a minimum fee per order, and is shown as its own line item before payment is confirmed - it is never hidden inside the product price. The site fee is separate from, and does not affect, the amount a distributor is paid out for their product.

10. Annual Subscription policy

Distributor and Member accounts operate on a free trial period followed by a paid annual membership required to keep trade pricing and full marketplace features active.

• New accounts begin on the Free Trial plan, with full access to list, browse and transact at trade pricing for the trial period shown on your dashboard.
• After the trial ends, continued access requires an active paid annual plan. Current plans are an Annual £500 + 2% of every sale processed through your account, or a flat Annual £1000 with no per-sale percentage. Published pricing may change for future terms; any change will not alter the price of a term you have already paid for.
• The annual fee covers a 12-month term from the date it is activated. It is not billed automatically to a card on file - payment must be made, in the manner agreed with DistiStore, before or at renewal to continue an active membership without interruption.
• If a membership lapses - the trial ends, or a paid term expires without renewal - the account reverts to guest-equivalent pricing and marketplace features are restricted until renewed (see "Pricing and VAT" and "Our role and reliability" above).
• Annual fees are non-refundable once a term has begun, except where required by law or otherwise agreed by DistiStore in writing. There is no automatic renewal or ongoing card charge to cancel - simply do not renew to let the current term run out.

11. Advertising policy

Verified distributors with an active membership can create promotional banners targeted by category or industry, shown to Members and on the homepage. At present, creating and running promotional banners is included as part of an active distributor membership at no additional charge. DistiStore reserves the right to introduce paid or sponsored placements in the future; if introduced, pricing and terms will be published here in advance of any charge applying. Distributors are responsible for the accuracy and legality of the content in any promotion they create.

Store Connect (Shopify / WooCommerce / custom API)

When a distributor connects an external store (Shopify, WooCommerce, or their own API/database) to DistiStore, we collect and store the credentials they provide (API key, access token / consumer secret, store URL, or database connection details) for the sole purpose of retrieving that distributor's own product catalog on their behalf.

• Credentials are encrypted at rest and are never displayed back in full once saved.
• Connecting a store causes DistiStore's servers to make direct, server-to-server calls to the distributor's own store or database using the credentials supplied, on a schedule the distributor controls.
• Only product data (name, SKU, price, stock, images, category) is retrieved and stored - never customer or order data from the external store.
• Disconnecting a store, or a distributor account being closed, removes the stored credentials from our database.
• Credentials are never shared with any other distributor, member, or third party.

12. Data we collect and why

We collect different data depending on how you use the site:

• Everyone: order details, delivery address, email, and messages sent through the site - to fulfil and track orders and let you communicate with distributors/members.
• Members and Distributors: account details, company/business information, and KYC verification documents - to verify identity, prevent fraud, and unlock trade pricing.
• Distributors: bank/payout details and Store Connect credentials (see above) - to pay out order proceeds and sync product catalogs.
• Everyone: a small amount of technical data (login sessions, guest cart contents) stored via secure cookies/local storage to keep you logged in and your cart intact between visits.

We do not sell personal data to third parties.

13. Who we share data with

• Stripe - to process card payments. Card details are entered directly into Stripe and never touch our servers.
• Companies House - to verify a distributor or member's registered company details during KYC, where a company registration number is provided.
• Our email provider - to send order confirmations, payout notifications, and account emails.
• A distributor's own connected store/database (Shopify, WooCommerce, or custom API/DB) - only when that distributor has enabled Store Connect, and only to read their product catalog.

14. Data protection and your rights

Passwords are stored hashed, never in plain text. Sensitive credentials (Store Connect API keys, payout details) are encrypted at rest. Access to personal and business data within DistiStore is restricted to what's needed to operate the account or order in question.

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:

• Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Ask us to correct inaccurate data
• Ask us to delete your data, subject to any legal or accounting obligation to retain order records
• Object to or restrict certain processing
• Complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you believe your data has been mishandled

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in "Contact" below.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or requests relating to your data, can be sent to the site administrator via the Messaging feature, or by email to compliance@dististore.co.uk.