These terms apply when you use Not a Supermarket to find, message or buy from a shop. Please read them, especially sections 2, 6 and 9. They are written in plain English on purpose.
1. Who we are
Not a Supermarket is run by Not a Supermarket ("we", "us"). We run an online marketplace where independent farms, farm shops and food businesses ("shops" or "sellers") list and sell their own products. You can contact us at [email protected].
2. We are not the seller
When you buy something, your contract is with the shop you buy from, not with us. The shop is responsible for its products, its prices, what it says about them, packing, sending or handing them over, refunds, and your legal rights as a consumer. We are not a party to that contract.
Your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 are against the shop. Nothing in these terms takes those rights away.
3. Prices and paying
- Prices are set by each shop and shown in pounds sterling. Whether VAT is included depends on the shop's own VAT status.
- You pay the shop directly, using one of the methods that shop offers: card through the shop's own Stripe account, PayPal, bank transfer, or cash or card when you collect. We never hold your money.
- If you choose bank transfer, the shop does not have to send or prepare your order until your payment reaches them.
- Your basket can hold items from several shops. Each shop is checked out and paid separately, because each shop is a separate seller.
4. Collection
If you choose to collect, the shop will tell you when your order is ready. Please collect within the time the shop gives you. Chilled and fresh food may not keep if it is left uncollected, and the shop may cancel or charge for uncollected orders under its own policy. Directions shown on the site come from map services and are a guide only.
5. Delivery
- The shop chooses which couriers it uses (for example Royal Mail, DPD, UPS, Evri, Parcelforce, DHL or its own van) and sets its delivery prices.
- The shop is responsible for packing your order properly, including chilled and frozen items, and handing it to the courier within its stated dispatch time.
- Once a parcel has been handed to a courier, the courier's delivery time is outside the shop's control and outside ours. If a parcel is lost or damaged in transit, contact the shop, who will deal with the courier and put things right in line with your legal rights.
- Please check your order when it arrives and put chilled or frozen food away straight away.
6. Changing your mind
You normally have 14 days to cancel an online order. By law this right does not apply to goods that go off quickly (such as fresh meat, fish, dairy, bread, fruit and vegetables), to goods made to your order, or to sealed items such as drink or food that have been opened after delivery for health or hygiene reasons. Non perishable items (for example unopened jars) can usually be returned within 14 days. Each shop may offer more generous terms. If something is faulty, not as described or not fit for purpose, you are entitled to a remedy from the shop.
7. Allergens and food information
Shops must give allergen information for the food they sell. We show what the shop tells us, but we do not check it. If you have an allergy or intolerance, please contact the shop before you order and check the label when your food arrives.
8. Age restricted items
Alcohol and some other items can only be sold to people aged 18 or over. By ordering them you confirm you are 18 or over. Shops or couriers may ask for ID and can refuse to hand items over.
9. Our responsibility to you
- We provide the website so that you and the shops can find each other. We check new shops before they go live, but we do not inspect their premises, test their food or check every listing.
- We are not responsible for the products sold by shops, for their quality, safety, labelling or legality, for how a shop runs its business, or for delays, losses or damage caused by couriers.
- Listings marked "Not on Not a Supermarket yet" are directory entries made from publicly available information so people can find local producers. Those businesses have not joined and have not agreed anything with us. Please check details with them directly.
- If we are responsible for a loss you suffer through using the site, our total liability to you is limited to £100, except that nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be limited or excluded by law.
10. If something goes wrong
Not a Supermarket works like a shopping centre: we host the shops, but each shop is its own business and deals with its own customers. If there is a problem with your order, open it from your confirmation email and press Report a problem. It goes straight to the shop, who is responsible for putting it right, including any refund or replacement.
We do not handle complaints, refunds or disputes about orders and cannot make decisions for a shop. If a shop does not sort things out, you can raise a dispute with PayPal or your card provider if you paid online, or get free advice from the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133. Please also tell us at [email protected], because we remove shops that repeatedly let buyers down.
11. Reviews
Only people who have placed an order can leave a review. Reviews must be honest and about your own experience. Rate the shop on the things it controls: quality, value, whether the item matched the description, packaging, communication and how quickly it got your order ready or sent it. Courier performance is rated separately and never counts towards a shop's score. We may remove reviews that are abusive, fake, include personal information or break the law.
12. Your account
You do not need an account to buy, but it lets you track orders, save favourite shops and leave reviews. Keep your password safe. We may suspend accounts that are used to abuse shops or other people, or to commit fraud.
13. Your information
When you order, we pass your name, contact details and address to the shop you buy from so it can complete your order. See our privacy notice for more.
14. General
We may update these terms. The version on the site when you place an order applies to that order. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you can also bring claims in your local courts.