Vendor Agreement

This is the contract between you (the “Vendor”) and Novia Wedding (Pty) Ltd (“Novia”) governing your use of the platform. By signing this agreement at the end of vendor onboarding you accept the terms below in full.

1. Listing & Curation

Novia is a curated marketplace. Approval to list is at Novia’s sole discretion and based on portfolio quality, pricing transparency, business legitimacy, and references. Approval may be withdrawn for cause as described in this agreement.

You warrant that you have the lawful right to operate as a wedding service provider in South Africa, that the business name and contact details on your listing are accurate, and that your portfolio images are either your own work or properly licensed.

2. Pricing Transparency Commitment

The core promise of Novia is that couples see real prices and a clear scope of what they get for that price. As a Vendor on the platform you commit to:

• Publishing a real starting price in ZAR. No “price on application”, “contact for quote”, or vague language. If you have wide pricing ranges, list each package separately with its own from-price.
• Completing the structured inclusions for your category (e.g. coverage hours, deliverables, edited photo count, transport, prints) in your vendor profile. Couples will see this on every quote you send.
• Disclosing all known add-ons with their unit prices in your profile so they cannot appear as surprises later.
• Disclosing all fees that are not included at the published from-price (travel beyond X km, public-holiday surcharge, accommodation requirement, etc.).
• Issuing quotes with itemised line items, an “included” list, an “excluded” list, and an “optional extras with prices” section. The platform blocks quotes that do not contain these.

Repeated breaches of this section, or evidence of intentionally vague or misleading pricing, are grounds for suspension and removal under section 11.

3. Quotes, Validity & Re-quoting

Every quote you issue carries a validity date (default 14 days). After expiry the platform will not accept payment against that quote and you must re-issue. If the couple materially changes the brief after acceptance, you may issue an additional quote for the difference; the original deposit is preserved.

4. Cancellation Schedule

Novia operates a default cancellation and refund schedule (see Cancellation & Refund Policy). You may publish your own schedule on each quote, but the schedule shown on the quote at the moment of acceptance becomes the binding one for that booking and you must honour it. You may not retroactively impose a stricter schedule.

4b. Cooling-off & Couple Withdrawal

You acknowledge that under section 16 of the Consumer Protection Act, couples have the right to withdraw from any quote they accept on the platform within 5 business days, with a full refund of all amounts paid. You may not treat a booking as fully confirmed during the cooling-off window and must hold the date but defer any non-refundable third-party commitments until day 6 where reasonable. When a couple withdraws within the window the refund is processed automatically by Novia and you receive a notification.

4c. Change Orders

When a couple submits a Change Order after acceptance, you respond within 5 business days with one of: accept at the original price, decline (with reason), or issue a revised quote for the difference. Material guest-count changes (greater than 10% in either direction) typically warrant a revised quote. The original deposit is preserved against any revised total.

5. Force Majeure & Fuel Surcharge

The same force-majeure events listed in section 8 of the Platform Terms apply to vendors. In the event of force majeure you commit to:

• Working in good faith on rescheduling first.
• Refunding monies not yet committed to third parties promptly when reschedule is impossible.
• Providing reasonable proof of out-of-pocket costs already incurred when retaining any portion.

You may invoke the fuel-surcharge clause (section 9 of the Platform Terms) only when: the index recorded on the quote was real, the index has risen by more than 15% by delivery date, the surcharge is capped at 5% of the affected line items, and the surcharge notice reaches the couple at least 7 days before the event.

5b. Materials Escalation Clause (optional, capped)

For categories with volatile raw-materials cost (florists, caterers, decor) you may opt into a Materials Escalation Clause on your listing. Cap is 8% of the affected line items’ subtotal, and the clause may only be invoked when the official Stats SA Consumer Price Index has risen more than 3% above the index on the quote date. You must produce proof of cost (supplier invoices) and notify the couple at least 7 days before delivery; later notice forfeits the surcharge. Couples may cancel the affected line items without penalty within 48 hours of receiving the notice.

5c. Vendor Cash-flow Protection

When you have delivered a milestone but the couple has not yet confirmed it (and the 30-day auto-release has not yet occurred), you may submit a Request Release with Evidence through the vendor portal. Attach photos of the delivered work, signed delivery confirmations, or other proof. The couple has 7 days to respond. If they confirm or do not respond, Novia’s admin team may fast-track the release. If they raise a dispute it follows the standard dispute path.

6. Commission & Fees

• Platform fee. Novia retains 5% of the gross value of each booking paid through the platform. This is taken at the moment of escrow release or split payment.
• Listing fee. R0. There is no fee to apply, get approved, or maintain a listing.
• Subscription. R0. There are no monthly or annual fees.
• Paystack processing fee. 2.9% of the transaction value, paid by the couple, not the vendor.

Novia may introduce optional paid features (featured placement, priority enquiries) in the future. They will be opt-in and clearly priced.

7. Payouts & KYC

Payouts are processed via Paystack to a bank account in your business’s name in South Africa. Before your first payout you must complete Paystack’s know-your- business verification: registered company name (or sole-prop ID), bank account proof, and SARS tax reference. Novia may require additional documentation in line with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA).

Standard payments are split at the moment of payment. Milestone payments are held in escrow by Novia until released per section 6 of the Platform Terms. Novia does not accrue interest on escrowed funds; interest, if any, is payable to the couple.

8. Response Times & Service Quality

You commit to:

• Responding to platform enquiries within 48 hours.
• Keeping listing pricing, availability, and inclusions current.
• Delivering services as quoted, in accordance with industry-standard professionalism.
• Responding to disputes within 7 days of being notified.

9. Insurance, CIPC & VAT

Insurance. You carry public-liability insurance appropriate to your service category at your own cost. Novia recommends at least R5 000 000 cover for venues and R1 000 000 for mobile vendors. You upload proof of insurance + expiry date in your vendor profile. When valid proof is on file your listing earns an “Insured” badge couples can see.

CIPC registration. If you trade as a registered company or close corporation, your CIPC enterprise number on your profile may be verified by Novia admin. A “Registered” badge appears on your listing once verified. Sole proprietors are welcome and clearly labelled as such.

VAT. If you are VAT-registered you mark this on your profile and provide your VAT number. The platform will then display VAT separately on every quote and invoice you send. You are responsible for your own VAT submissions to SARS. Novia is not your tax agent and does not provide tax advice.

9b. Portfolio Marketing & Photo Use (POPIA)

You may only use photographs, names, or details of a couple’s booking in your public portfolio if the couple has explicitly opted in via the platform. The opt-in is presented to the couple at the moment of quote acceptance and is off by default in line with POPIA’s minimum-necessary principle. Couples may revoke the consent at any time from their account settings; you are required to remove the relevant material from public channels within 14 days of revocation.

9c. Chargebacks

Couples accept these Terms agreeing not to chargeback for milestones that have been delivered, confirmed (or auto-released) and are undisputed. If a chargeback is nonetheless initiated against you, Novia will defend it on your behalf using the evidence in the dispute thread. If the chargeback succeeds despite a clean record, Novia and the vendor share the loss in proportion to their fee share unless gross negligence by the vendor caused the chargeback to be valid.

10. Data & Communication

You must keep all booking-related communication on the Novia platform. Soliciting couples to transact off-platform after they originated through Novia is a material breach and triggers section 11. You may use couple personal data only for the fulfilment of the booking and must comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

11. Suspension & Removal

Novia may suspend or remove your listing for cause, including:

• 3 upheld disputes against you within 12 months.
• Material misrepresentation of pricing, capacity, or inclusions.
• Off-platform circumvention as described in section 10.
• Failing to deliver booked services without reasonable cause.
• Conduct that brings Novia or the wider wedding industry into disrepute.

Where reasonable, Novia gives written notice and a remediation period. Suspension does not pause your duty to honour bookings already accepted.

12. Trust Score & Reviews

Novia operates a Trust Score that reflects responsiveness, on-time delivery, dispute record, and couple ratings. The Trust Score and individual reviews are displayed publicly on your listing. Novia will not edit reviews on your request unless they breach platform community guidelines (defamation, sexual content, off-topic).

13. Intellectual Property

You retain ownership of your portfolio and brand assets. By uploading them to Novia you grant Novia a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to display them on novia.wedding and in marketing material that promotes your listing.

14. Termination

Either party may terminate this agreement on 30 days’ written notice. Termination does not affect bookings already accepted, which must be honoured to completion or refunded according to the cancellation schedule.

15. Governing Law & Disputes

This agreement is governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Disputes between Novia and a Vendor are first attempted in good faith via written correspondence. Failing that, parties may submit to arbitration under the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA) rules.

16. Updates to this Agreement

When Novia materially updates this agreement, vendors are notified and asked to re-sign. The version recorded on your vendor profile reflects the agreement you accepted; you continue to operate under that version until you sign the new one.

17. Acceptance

You accept this agreement by completing the “Sign & Submit” step at the end of vendor onboarding. The timestamp, IP address and user agent of the signature event are recorded on your vendor profile and form the audit record of your acceptance.

Questions before signing? hello@novia.wedding.