Terms of Service

Last updated October 21, 2026

Welcome to Tell A Tail Book Center (the "Store"), operated by the Store's owner ("we", "us"). These terms are the agreement between you and us when you visit the Store, buy a book, or join as an author or reseller. Please read them. By using the Store you agree to them. If you don't agree, please don't use the Store.

1. What the Store is

The Store is an online bookstore you can walk through in 3D, plus regular web pages for browsing and buying. Independent authors sell their books and signed copies, and independent resellers sell used, antique and collectible books, comics and magazines.

We also sell some books of our own. Those listings are marked as sold by the Store owner (for example "Tails & Treasure"). See our Disclosures.

2. Accounts

• You don't need an account to browse or buy. Authors and resellers need one.
• You must be at least 18 years old to open an account or sell. Children may browse the Store, including the Children's Wing, with a parent or guardian.
• Give us true information and keep your email address up to date. We send order, payment and account notices there.
• Keep your password private. You're responsible for what happens in your account. Tell us right away if you think someone else has used it.
• We review every new author before they can sell, and we may decline an application. Resellers can start once they confirm their email and start a plan; we review reseller listings and accounts on an ongoing basis.

3. Buying books

• Prices and shipping are set by the seller and shown before you pay. Shipping is either a flat price set by the seller or a live carrier price for your address.
• Payment is handled by Stripe. We never see or store your full card number. Your payment goes to the seller's own Stripe account; any Store fee is taken out of the seller's share, not added to your price.
• Used books are described and graded by the seller using our condition scale (Like new, Very good, Good, Acceptable). We don't inspect items before they ship.
• Signed copies are signed by the author and shipped by the author. A personalized inscription is made just for you, so it can't be resold. Please check the spelling of names before you pay.
• When you start checkout for a used book, we hold it for you for up to 30 minutes so no one else can buy it at the same time.
• Problems with an order, returns and refunds are covered in our Refund and Cancellation Policy.

4. Authors and resellers

• You sell as an independent business. You set your prices, you ship your orders, and you handle your own taxes, including any sales tax you're required to collect, unless the law requires the Store to do it for you.
• You connect your own Stripe account to get paid. Stripe's own terms apply to that account.
• You agree to follow our Store Rules, including shipping on time, describing items honestly, and answering buyers.
• You only list books you have the right to sell. For your own books, you confirm you hold the rights. For used books, you confirm you own the physical copy and it isn't stolen, counterfeit, or marked "not for resale."
• Buyers' names, emails and shipping addresses are shared with you only to complete their orders and answer their questions. Don't use them for anything else, including adding them to your own mailing list without their permission.

5. Plans, add-ons and billing

• Monthly plans: Author plan $25 a month; Reseller plan $12 a month.
• Free first month: new members get their first 30 days free. We ask for a card at sign-up. Unless you cancel before the free month ends, your card is charged automatically on that day and every month after.
• Add-ons (courtyard banner, sidewalk booth, featured shelf, featured seller case, and newsletter spotlight when offered) are optional monthly charges added to the same bill. Add-ons are free during your free month. Add one mid-month and you pay only for the days left. Turn one off and it stops right away, and the unused days are credited on your next bill.
• Automatic renewal: plans renew every month until you cancel. You can cancel any time from "My plan", which opens Stripe's billing page. Cancelling stops future charges. Your plan stays active until the end of the month you've paid for. We don't refund the rest of a month for the plan itself.
• Failed payments: if a payment fails, Stripe will try again over the following days. If it still can't be collected, your plan ends, your listings are hidden from the market and your add-ons come down until you start again. Nothing is deleted; it all comes back when you restart.
• Price changes: we'll email you at least 30 days before a price change applies to your plan. If you don't want to pay the new price, you can cancel before it starts.
• Placement: banners and booths are given out in the order they were bought, so earlier buyers have spots nearer the door. Paid placement doesn't guarantee sales.
• The Store owner's own account doesn't pay for plans or add-ons.

6. Your content

• You keep ownership of everything you upload: covers, photos, trailers, sample chapters, descriptions and your profile.
• You give us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, show, copy (only as needed to run the Store), resize and display that content in the Store, on our pages and emails, and in promotion of the Store, for as long as it's in the Store and for a reasonable time after you remove it so caches and old emails can clear.
• You promise you have the right to upload it, and that it doesn't break anyone else's copyright, trademark, privacy or other rights.
• We review uploads and may decline or remove content that breaks these terms or our rules.
• Copyright complaints: if you believe something in the Store infringes your copyright, email us at our contact address with the item's location, your proof of rights and your contact details. We'll remove it promptly if the complaint is valid, and we remove accounts that repeatedly infringe.

7. Avatars, live chats and offers

• Each author and reseller has an animated avatar in the Store. An avatar is not the real person. When a member is actually signed in and available, the Store shows "In store now" or "Author in store now."
• When you join an author's line and accept their invitation, you chat with the real author in text. Chats are saved so the author and the Store can see them, and to keep the Store safe. Be respectful; our Store Rules apply.
• An offer you make on a used book is a request, not a promise to buy. If the seller accepts or you accept their counter-offer, that price is held for you for 48 hours. Anyone can still buy it at full price before you do.

8. Rules and what's not allowed

Our Store Rules are part of these terms. In short, don't break the law, don't sell anything stolen, counterfeit or pirated, don't harass anyone, don't try to break or overload the Store, don't scrape it or copy its design, and don't try to get around our fees or reviews. We may remove listings or content, limit features, or suspend accounts that break the rules.

9. AI price suggestions

Resellers can ask for a suggested price. That suggestion is produced by an artificial intelligence service that searches the web for recent sales and listings. It's only an estimate. It may be wrong or out of date, and it isn't an appraisal. You decide your own price.

10. Other companies we use

We use other companies to run parts of the Store, such as Stripe (payments and billing), EasyPost and the shipping carriers (shipping prices and labels), our web host and email services, and an AI provider (price suggestions). Their own terms and privacy policies apply to what they do. We're not responsible for their services, outages or mistakes. Some pages link to outside websites, such as other booksellers; we don't control those sites.

11. Disclaimers

The Store is provided "as is" and "as available." To the fullest extent the law allows, we make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement. We don't warrant that the Store will always be available, error-free or secure, that the 3D store will run on every device, or that any listing, description, price suggestion or member statement is accurate. Items are sold by independent sellers, and we don't guarantee their quality, safety, legality or delivery.

The 3D store uses movement and animation. If you're sensitive to motion, flashing or bright effects, take breaks or use the regular web pages instead.

12. Limits on our liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data or goodwill, arising from your use of the Store or any transaction with a seller or buyer. Our total liability for any claim about the Store is limited to the greater of (a) the amounts you paid us (not sellers) in the 12 months before the claim, or (b) $100.

Some places don't allow some of these limits, so they may not all apply to you. Nothing in these terms limits liability that can't be limited by law.

13. Your responsibility to us

If you sell in the Store or upload content, you agree to defend and compensate us for claims, losses and costs (including reasonable legal fees) that come from your listings, your content, your sales, or your breaking these terms or the law.

14. Ending an account

• You can stop using the Store any time. To close your account completely, contact us. Cancel your plan first so you're not charged again.
• We may suspend or close an account, or remove listings, if you break these terms or the rules, if required by law, or to protect buyers, members or the Store. Where it's reasonable, we'll tell you why and give you a chance to fix it.
• Orders already paid for still have to be shipped or refunded after an account closes.

15. Disputes and governing law

If you have a problem with us, please contact us first. Most things can be fixed quickly. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of our home state and the laws of the United States, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute that can't be settled informally will be handled in the state or federal courts located in that state, unless the law where you live gives you the right to bring it somewhere else. You and we may also bring a claim in small claims court if it qualifies.

16. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the Store grows. We'll change the date at the top, and for important changes we'll email members at least 14 days before the changes take effect. If you keep using the Store after that, the new terms apply.

17. Contact

The Store

Email: contact page