Dollar Dash Merchant Terms
Version 8 — effective 1 October 2026
Key Terms, in plain English
This is a summary to help you understand these Terms before you sign. It isn't a substitute for the full clauses below, and if the two ever conflict, the full clauses control.
| What you get | Your Category Place is protected: one business per Category, per Postcode, for as long as it's active. In an exceptionally large or spread-out Postcode, we may — after careful review, and with your input — approve one additional business too distant to be genuine competition for the same customers. That's the only exception, and we'll always give you notice first. (Clause 4, Clause 5) |
| The exception | We may, after manually reviewing a request, approve an Additional Location — a second site of your own business in the same Postcode (see the Additional Locations note for charges) — or approve a different business for an Additional Placement in your Category and Postcode, for example if the postcode is large or your Listing has gone stale. We'll give you notice first, and you can cancel and get a refund if you don't want to continue. (Clause 5) |
| Billing | When you're approved, you get a short Trial period to add payment details before billing starts. Once billing starts, Fees renew automatically; miss a payment and you get a grace period, then a further protected-but-hidden period, before the place is released to someone else. Your rate is locked in while you stay in good standing — price rises for new Merchants don't apply to you. (Clause 6) |
| Cancelling | Cancel anytime in the Portal; it takes effect at the end of what you've already paid for. (Clause 9) |
| Our liability | Capped at what you paid us in the last 12 months, and we're not liable for indirect losses like lost profit. (Clause 11) |
| Changes | We can update these Terms with notice. For a change that reduces your rights or costs you more, you get to accept it, or leave and get a refund — except your own Fees, which are separately locked in under clause 6.7 while you're in good standing. (Clause 12) |
1. Who we are and accepting these terms
1.1 These Merchant Terms (the Terms) are an agreement between John Patrick Verd, trading as Dollar Dash (NZBN 9429046597755), of Christchurch, New Zealand (we, us), and the business that signs up to the Platform (you, the Merchant).
1.2 You accept these Terms by ticking the acceptance box in the Portal, or by continuing to use the Portal after we notify you of a new version under clause 12. We record which version you accepted, and when.
1.3 In these Terms:
| Term | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | The Dollar Dash website and apps, where consumers find local businesses by postcode and category. | |
| Portal | The merchant dashboard where you manage your Listing, Category Places and billing. | |
| Listing | Your business profile as shown on the Platform. | |
| Category | A business type we define, for example Coffee. | |
| Postcode | A New Zealand postcode. | |
| Category Place | Your placement in one Category for one Postcode. | |
| Fees | The amounts payable for a Category Place, as shown in the Portal. | |
| Effective Date | 1 October 2026 for version 8. |
2. The Service
2.1 We provide the Platform and the Portal (the Service) so you can list your business, hold Category Places, and use our other merchant tools from time to time, which may include creating deals, offers and campaigns; our loyalty card service; and being featured in our news articles, interviews or social media, at our discretion.
2.2 We may change, improve or remove features of the Service. If a change materially reduces what you paid for, clause 12 applies.
2.3 We do not promise any number of views, enquiries, customers or revenue. A Category Place gives you placement, not results, and the same applies to deals, campaigns, loyalty tools, and any editorial or social media coverage — we choose what, when and how often we feature Merchants, and don't guarantee reach, frequency or outcomes.
3. Eligibility and your account
3.1 You must be a business that operates at, or serves customers in, the Postcode you apply for, and you must have authority to bind the business to these Terms.
3.2 You must give accurate information, keep it current, and tell us promptly if it changes.
3.3 You are responsible for everything done under your account. Keep your login secure and tell us straight away if you suspect unauthorised use.
3.4 We may ask you to verify your business or location, and may decline or remove a Category Place if we cannot verify it.
4. Category places and postcode protection
4.1 A Category Place is a limited placement. At the Effective Date we offer one Category Place per Category per Postcode.
4.2 While your Category Place has the status Trial, Active, Grace or Suspended (see clause 6.5), we will not give a Category Place for the same Category and Postcode to another Merchant. The only exceptions are an Additional Placement under clause 5 and correcting a genuine error.
4.3 This protection applies only to Listings on the Platform. We do not promise that consumers will not find other businesses in your Category through search engines, other services or other parts of the Platform, such as results for neighbouring Postcodes.
4.4 We define and may change the Categories and how Postcodes are treated. If a change would affect your Category Place, we will give you at least 30 days' notice and either move you to the closest equivalent place with the same protection or refund the unused part of your prepaid Fees.
4.5 A Category Place is a contractual right to placement on the Platform. It is not property, it does not give you ownership of a Category or Postcode, and you may not sell, transfer or sublicense it without our written consent.
4.6 When your Category Place is Released, your protection ends and the place becomes available to other Merchants.
4.7 You may not hold Category Places through related businesses, extra accounts or nominees to get around any limit we apply. We may limit the number of Category Places one business or group can hold.
5. Additional placements and locations
5.1 We may approve a second Merchant for a Category and Postcode that is already taken (an Additional Placement), but only after a manual review by us. It is never available through self-service.
5.2 We may approve an Additional Placement where we reasonably consider there are genuine grounds, for example:
- the Category is broad and the second Merchant offers a materially different product or service
- the Postcode covers a large area or several separate centres
- the existing Merchant no longer keeps an accurate or active Listing
- consumer demand in that Category and Postcode is not being met
5.3 We will tell the existing Merchant by email at least 14 days before an Additional Placement goes live in their Category and Postcode.
5.4 If an Additional Placement is approved, the existing Merchant may cancel the affected Category Place by notice within 30 days and receive a refund of prepaid Fees for the unused period. This is the Merchant's only remedy for an Additional Placement.
5.5 This clause is the only circumstance, apart from correcting an error, in which we will list more than one Merchant for the same Category and Postcode. We keep an internal record of the reason for each approval.
5.6 Separately, if you already hold a Category Place, you may apply through the Portal for an Additional Location: cover for a second site of your own business within the same Postcode, under your existing Category Place. This is different from an Additional Placement under this clause, which is for a different Merchant, and does not affect your protection under clause 4. Each Additional Location is charged at the same rate as your Category Place — currently $7/month per location.
6. Fees, billing and grace period
6.1 You must pay the Fees shown in the Portal for each Category Place, in New Zealand dollars. GST is not currently charged, as we are not GST-registered. If that changes, GST will be shown separately in the Portal from that point.
6.2 Fees are billed monthly in advance through Stripe and renew automatically until you cancel under clause 9. You authorise us to charge your saved payment method.
6.3 We may change the Fees for new Merchants by giving at least 30 days' notice. Clause 6.7 protects your rate while your existing Category Place stays in good standing. Where a change does apply to you and you do not accept it, you may cancel before it takes effect.
6.4 Fees for a period already started are not refundable, except where these Terms say so (clauses 4.4, 5.4 and 9) or the law requires it.
6.5 Your Category Place has one of four statuses:
| Status | When it applies | Listing visible | Place protected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trial | Approved, before you've added payment details — continues until you add payment, or until we manually review your account | Yes | Yes |
| Active | Fees are paid and you are complying with these Terms | Yes | Yes |
| Grace | A payment has failed, for up to 7 days | Yes | Yes |
| Suspended | Grace has expired unpaid, or we suspend you under clause 9 | No | Yes, for up to 14 days |
| Released | You cancelled, we terminated, or suspension ran out | No | No |
6.6 If you pay the overdue Fees while your place is in Grace or Suspended, it returns to Active. If not, it becomes Released at the end of the Suspended period and may be given to another Merchant.
6.7 If we increase the Fees charged to new Merchants, that increase will not apply to your existing Category Place for as long as it stays in good standing — meaning it has remained Active or in Grace, without becoming Suspended or Released. If your Category Place is Released, for any reason, and you later apply for a Category Place — the same one or a different one — the then-current Fees apply. This clause does not limit clause 6.4 (Fees already paid are not refundable) or your right to cancel under clause 9.
6.8 When we approve your Category Place, it starts in Trial status: your Listing is public and your protection under clause 4 applies straight away, but you haven't added payment details yet and aren't being charged. We ask you to add payment details within 7 days of approval. If you don't, your Category Place stays in Trial — we don't automatically suspend it — but we may review your account and move it to Suspended under clause 6.5 at our discretion, for example once we start billing more broadly. We'll tell you before we do. Adding payment details moves you to Active.
7. Your Listing and your obligations
7.1 You are responsible for your Listing. It must be accurate, current and not misleading, and must be in the Category and Postcode where you genuinely operate.
7.2 You must comply with all laws that apply to your business and your Listing, including the Fair Trading Act 1986, the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and the Privacy Act 2020.
7.3 You must not post content that is unlawful, defamatory, deceptive, infringes anyone's rights, or includes fake reviews or endorsements.
7.4 You must not scrape or copy Platform data, interfere with the Platform, or use it to compete with us.
7.5 You must deal fairly with consumers who contact you through the Platform. We are not a party to your dealings with them.
8. Intellectual property and licence
8.1 You keep ownership of your Listing content, including your name, logo, text and images.
8.2 You give us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, reproduce, resize and display your Listing content on the Platform and in our marketing of the Platform, for as long as you hold a Category Place and for a reasonable time afterwards to remove it.
8.3 You promise that you have the rights to give us this licence and that our use will not infringe anyone else's rights.
8.4 We own the Platform, our brand and the data we compile about Categories and Postcodes. These Terms give you no rights in them beyond using the Service.
9. Suspension, release and termination
9.1 You may cancel a Category Place or your account at any time in the Portal. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you have already paid for, and Fees for that period are not refunded.
9.2 We may suspend or terminate your account or a Category Place immediately if you materially breach these Terms, do not pay Fees after the Grace period, or post content that is unlawful or misleading.
9.3 For a breach that can be fixed, we will first give you 14 days' notice to fix it, unless the breach is serious or repeated.
9.4 We may also end these Terms without cause by giving you at least 30 days' notice. We will refund the prepaid Fees for the period after the end date.
9.5 When a Category Place ends, it becomes Released, your Listing is removed from the Platform within 7 days, and we handle your data as set out in the Privacy Policy.
9.6 Clauses that by their nature should continue after termination do so, including clauses 8, 11, 13 and 14.
10. Business use and consumer law
10.1 You acknowledge that you are in trade and are acquiring the Service for business purposes. You agree that the guarantees under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, and sections 9, 12A, 13 and 14(1) of the Fair Trading Act 1986, do not apply to the Service.
10.2 Unless you have rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 or other legislation that cannot be excluded or limited, there are no warranties, express or implied, in connection with the Service. This includes implied warranties as to merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
10.3 Nothing in clause 10 limits any right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded, or applies to statements we make before you accept these Terms.
11. Disclaimers and limits of liability
11.1 We provide the Service on an "as is" basis. We do not promise it will be uninterrupted or error-free, and we are not responsible for outages of third-party services we rely on.
11.2 To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, revenue, customers or goodwill.
11.3 To the extent the law allows, and regardless of the legal basis of the claim (whether in contract, tort including negligence, equity, under statute or otherwise), our total aggregate liability to you for all claims arising out of or in connection with these Terms or the Service, in any 12-month period, is limited to the total Fees you paid us in the 12 months immediately before the event giving rise to the claim first arose. This cap applies even if we have been advised of the possibility of the loss, and whether the claim is a single claim or a series of related claims.
11.4 You must compensate us for loss and third-party claims arising from your content or your breach of these Terms.
11.5 Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including for fraud or wilful misconduct.
12. Changes to these terms and versioning
12.1 We may update these Terms. Each version has a version number and an effective date, and the current version is always available at https://dollardash.co.nz/merchant-terms. Earlier versions are available on request.
12.2 For a change that is not minor, we will email you and show a notice in the Portal at least 30 days before it takes effect.
12.3 For a change that materially reduces your rights or increases your costs, you must accept the new version in the Portal. Until you do, the version you last accepted continues to apply to your existing Category Places, and we may not renew them on the new version.
12.4 If you do not accept a change, you may cancel before it takes effect and receive a refund of prepaid Fees for the unused period.
12.5 We record the version of these Terms you accepted, the date and time, and the account that accepted them.
13. Privacy
13.1 We handle personal information under the Privacy Act 2020 and our Privacy Policy, including its merchant section, which forms part of these Terms.
13.2 If you give us personal information about anyone else, such as staff, you must have the authority and have told them, as the Privacy Act 2020 requires.
13.3 If either of us has a privacy breach affecting information the other supplied, we will tell the other as soon as practicable and within 72 hours of becoming aware of it, and help with any notification the law requires.
14. General
14.1 New Zealand law governs these Terms, and the New Zealand courts have non-exclusive jurisdiction.
14.2 If there is a dispute, both sides will first try to resolve it in good faith. Either side may give written notice of the dispute, and if it is not resolved within 20 working days, either side may go to court or propose mediation.
14.3 These Terms record our entire agreement and understanding with you regarding the Service and the other subject matter of these Terms. These Terms supersede and extinguish all prior agreements (including earlier versions of these Terms), understandings and marketing information, whether written or oral, including any proposals, promotional materials or presentations shared with you relating to the potential benefits of the Service. You acknowledge and agree that in agreeing to these Terms you have not relied on any such proposals, promotional materials or presentations. You confirm that you have had the opportunity to obtain independent legal advice in connection with entering into these Terms, and that you have agreed to these Terms based on your own knowledge of your business and your own assessment of the potential benefits of the Service.
14.4 You may not assign these Terms without our written consent. We may assign them to a successor to our business.
14.5 We may give notices by email to the address on your account or in the Portal. You may give notices to support@dollardash.co.nz.
14.6 If part of these Terms is unenforceable, the rest continues. Not enforcing a right is not a waiver of it. Nothing in these Terms makes either of us the other's partner or agent.
14.7 These Terms may be accepted electronically.