The Index / terms

Terms

By placing a bid you accept these. They are short because the product is.

1. What this is

Oust sells sponsored placement on pages for English dictionary words. A placement shows the bidder's name, logo, copy and link on a word's page and beside it on the public board. The site is operated by an individual based in India; see the imprint.

2. Bidding

• An unheld word opens at $1. A held word is taken by bidding at least $1 more than it stands at.
• Bids are whole US dollars from $1, with no upper limit. Above $1,000 the bid form asks for the amount a second time. The practical ceiling on a single card payment is the payment provider's and the card network's, not ours; larger bids can be arranged by writing to us.
• A bid counts only once its payment completes. The board changes when the payment provider confirms it, not when checkout opens.
• If you already hold a word you may raise your own bid at any time for the same floor; nobody can take your position by matching it.
• Bidding on a word gives you no ownership of, trademark in, or rights to that word anywhere outside this site.

3. What you receive

The placement, from the moment your payment completes until someone bids more. The amount you paid, your listing name and link remain in the word's public history permanently. Nothing is transferable and nothing is resold.

4. Refunds

A completed bid is refunded in full, and only, when:

• two bids at the same price completed at the same moment and yours was the later — the board moves once, the loser is refunded automatically;
• we made an error and the listing you paid for was never shown;
• we retire the word under section 9 while you hold it.

Losing a word to a higher bid is not a refund event. You held the placement for the period you held it, and that is what the bid bought.

5. Your listing

• Everything in it — name, logo, copy, offer, link — must be your own or something you are entitled to use. You may not present as a brand you are not, or imply an affiliation you do not have.
• The link must be a product website or a social profile. Chat and invite links, link shorteners and tracking parameters are stripped or refused. No sexual content.
• The domain your link points to is displayed beside your name wherever the name appears.
• Any offer or code you publish is yours to honour. We do not verify offers and will not arbitrate them.
• We may remove a listing that breaks these terms, is unlawful, or is the subject of an upheld dispute. Removal for a breach by you is not refunded.

6. Impersonation

No word is subject to dispute. A dictionary word belongs to nobody, and no complaint removes a word from the board; a company named after a word takes it by bidding, as anyone does.

A listing that presents itself as a company or brand the bidder is not may be reported by anyone at /disputes. If the report is upheld the listing is removed within one business day, the bidder's payment is forfeited under section 5, and the word reopens at $1. A listing that advertises the bidder's own product on a word someone else also uses as a name is not impersonation and stands. Every decision is published.

7. Payment

Payments are taken by Dodo Payments as merchant of record. For the transaction, Dodo is the seller: their terms govern the charge, they handle applicable tax, and they may bill you in your local currency. The amount recorded on the board is the US-dollar bid.

8. Email

We send one kind of email: a notice when someone takes a word you hold, to the address your payment was made with. Each carries a link that stops further notices. See the privacy page for what else we hold.

9. Availability and changes to the board

The service is offered as-is and we do not guarantee uptime. We may retire a word from bidding where continuing to offer it would be unlawful or would break these terms; a current holder of a retired word is refunded in full.

10. Liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for the performance of your placement — clicks, visitors, sales or any outcome from it — nor for loss arising from interruption of the service, nor for the content of other bidders' listings. Our total liability to you for any claim is limited to the amount of the bid concerned.

11. Changes to these terms

We may change these terms. Changes take effect for bids placed after they are published here; a bid already placed stays on the terms it was placed under.

12. Law

These terms are governed by the laws of India.

13. Contact

contact@oust.ink. We answer within one business day.