Terms of Use

These Terms of Use (the “Terms”) are a binding agreement between you and Dorian Smith LLC, doing business as SquishyTrade (“SquishyTrade,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), the operator of squishytrade.com and its related sites, content, and features (together, the “Service”). By accessing or using the Service, submitting your email, or clicking a box that references these Terms, you agree to be bound by them and by our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

These Terms contain a binding arbitration agreement and a class-action waiver (Section 15). They affect how disputes are resolved — please read them carefully.

1. Who may use the Service (you must be 18+)

You must be at least 18 years old and able to form a binding contract to use the Service or to submit any information to us. By using the Service you represent and warrant that you are 18 or older. The Service is intended for adults — parents, guardians, and adult collectors. It is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13; if you are under 13, do not use the Service or send us anything. If we learn we have collected data from a child under 13, we delete it. See the Privacy Policy.

2. What SquishyTrade is — and what it is not

SquishyTrade is an informational value guide and discovery site for squishy fidget toys. We aggregate and present publicly available resale-market information — estimated values, price history, and rarity — and we provide tools to discover items and (in the future) to connect with other collectors.

We are not a store, a marketplace, an auction house, a broker, a dealer, an escrow agent, an appraiser, an investment or financial adviser, or a payment service. We do not buy, sell, ship, authenticate, inspect, insure, or guarantee any item. We are not a party to any transaction between users or between you and any third-party marketplace.

3. Values are estimates, not guarantees

All resale values, price histories, multiples (“×N retail”), rarity ratings, and similar figures are automated estimates derived from publicly available data. They can be incomplete, delayed, inaccurate, or wrong, and they are not appraisals, guarantees of value, offers, or financial, investment, or purchasing advice. Real-world prices vary by condition, authenticity, source, timing, and demand. You rely on any information on the Service at your own risk. Always do your own research and use your own judgment before you buy, sell, or trade anything.

4. No payments, no transactions, no money flow

SquishyTrade does not process payments, hold or transmit funds, provide escrow, or take any transaction fee or commission on trades between users. We never touch the money. Any purchase you make happens entirely on a third-party marketplace under that marketplace's own terms; any trade you make with another collector happens directly between you and that person.

5. Trades, sales, and exchanges happen at your own risk

Any planned trading feature is matchmaking and reputation only. If and when it launches, SquishyTrade simply helps collectors find and evaluate each other — the actual exchange of items or money happens off-platform, directly between users, entirely at their own risk. Because we are not a party to and have no control over those exchanges:

• We do not verify the identity, age, honesty, location, or trustworthiness of any user, and we do not vet, authenticate, inspect, appraise, or guarantee any item, its condition, its ownership, or its value.
• We do not guarantee that any trade or sale will be completed, that an item or payment will be sent or received, that an item will match its description, or that any user will act honestly or lawfully.
• You are solely responsible for vetting the people you deal with and for deciding whether, how, and on what terms to trade, buy, or sell. You assume all risk of loss arising from any transaction — including lost money, lost, damaged, counterfeit, or non-delivered items (“squishies”), shipping problems, chargebacks, and theft.

SquishyTrade is not liable for any loss of money, items, or property arising from any trade, sale, purchase, or exchange you enter into with another user or any third party.

6. Scams, fraud, and the conduct of other users

We hate scammers as much as you do, and the Service is designed to help you avoid them. But community tools — including any reputation system, reviews, or known-scammer registry — rely on user-submitted reports we do not and cannot independently verify, and they are provided “as is” as informational signals only, with no guarantee of accuracy or completeness. The absence of a warning is not a promise that a person is safe; the presence of one is not a legal determination.

We are not responsible or liable for the acts, omissions, conduct, or content of any user or third party, and that expressly includes if you are scammed, defrauded, deceived, cheated, robbed, harassed, or otherwise harmed by another user or anyone you meet, contact, or transact with through or as a result of the Service. If something feels wrong, walk away. You are responsible for protecting yourself, and we encourage you to report bad actors and to involve law enforcement where appropriate.

7. User content and communications (including future chat)

The Service may now or in the future let users submit content or communicate with one another — for example reviews, reports, listings, profiles, comments, or a messaging or chat feature (“User Content”). You are solely responsible for everything you submit or send, and you represent that you have the right to do so and that it is lawful, accurate, and not infringing, defamatory, harassing, deceptive, or otherwise objectionable.

• SquishyTrade does not create, endorse, verify, or adopt User Content, and it does not represent our views.
• We have no obligation to monitor, screen, or moderate User Content or user communications, but we may at our sole discretion review, remove, edit, restrict, or refuse any content or communication, and suspend or terminate any user, for any reason and without notice.
• We are not responsible or liable for any User Content or for any communication, message, or chat between users, including any false, offensive, infringing, fraudulent, or harmful content, or any harm, loss, or dispute arising from it. Any messaging or chat feature is provided as a convenience “as is,” and you use it at your own risk.
• You grant SquishyTrade a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, display, reproduce, and use the User Content you submit, solely to operate, provide, and promote the Service.

We may preserve and disclose User Content and account or usage information if required by law or if we reasonably believe it necessary to enforce these Terms, respond to claims, or protect the rights, property, or safety of anyone.

8. Release of disputes between users

Because disputes over trades, sales, payments, items, and conduct are between users, you release SquishyTrade (and our officers, directors, employees, contractors, and agents) from any and all claims, demands, damages, and losses of every kind — known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed — arising out of or in any way connected with any dispute, transaction, or interaction between you and any other user or third party. If you are a California resident, you expressly waive California Civil Code §1542, which says: “A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party.” You waive any comparable law of any other jurisdiction.

9. Affiliate links and third-party sites

Some links to resale marketplaces (such as StockX or eBay) are affiliate links: SquishyTrade may earn a commission on qualifying purchases made through them, at no additional cost to you. This is disclosed near the links themselves. The Service also contains links to and content from third-party sites and services we do not control. We are not responsible for those sites, their content, their products, their availability, or their privacy and other practices, and your use of them is governed by their terms, not ours.

10. Acceptable use

You agree that you will not, and will not attempt to:

• use the Service for any unlawful, fraudulent, deceptive, infringing, or harmful purpose, or to harass, threaten, defame, or harm any person;
• scrape, crawl, harvest, data-mine, frame, mirror, or systematically copy the Service or its data except as expressly permitted, or use bots or automated means to access it in a way that burdens our systems;
• interfere with, disrupt, overload, probe, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service, its infrastructure, or other users' accounts or data;
• circumvent any access control, rate limit, or security measure, or remove or alter any notice on the Service;
• post or transmit any false, infringing, malicious, or unlawful content, or impersonate any person or entity.

11. Intellectual property

The Service, including its design, text, graphics, original content, and software, is owned by SquishyTrade or its licensors and protected by intellectual-property laws. We grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service for your own non-commercial use under these Terms. All product names, brand names, logos, and trademarks (for example Mystery Dumplings, Nee-Doh, Squishmallows, Taba, StockX, eBay, and others) are the property of their respective owners. SquishyTrade is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any of those brands or marketplaces; we reference them descriptively (nominative fair use) to identify the items we cover.

12. Disclaimer of warranties

The Service and all information, content, data, values, and features are provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement, and any warranty arising from course of dealing or usage of trade. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, error-free, or accurate, that values or data are correct or current, or that any item, user, transaction, or outcome will meet your expectations. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain warranty exclusions, so some of the above may not apply to you.

13. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, SquishyTrade and its officers, directors, employees, contractors, and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill, items, money, or other intangible or property losses, arising out of or relating to the Service or these Terms, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages. This expressly includes, without limitation, losses arising from your reliance on any value or information, from any trade, sale, or purchase, from being scammed or defrauded, and from any User Content, communication, or chat.

Our total aggregate liability for all claims arising out of or relating to the Service or these Terms will not exceed the greater of (a) the total amount you paid us, if any, in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) US $100. Because the Service is free to use and we never handle your money, this amount is typically zero. These limitations apply regardless of the legal theory and are a fundamental basis of the bargain between us. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so some of the above may not apply to you.

14. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless SquishyTrade and its officers, directors, employees, contractors, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the Service; (b) your User Content; (c) any trade, sale, purchase, or interaction between you and any other user or third party; (d) your violation of these Terms or of any law or the rights of another; or (e) any dispute between you and another user. We may assume the exclusive defense of any matter subject to indemnification, and you agree to cooperate.

15. Dispute resolution — binding arbitration & class-action waiver

Please read this section carefully — it affects your legal rights.

Informal resolution first. If you have a dispute with us, you agree to first contact us at legal@squishytrade.com and try to resolve it informally. You and we agree to make a good-faith effort for at least 60 days before starting a formal proceeding.

Binding arbitration. If we cannot resolve a dispute informally, you and SquishyTrade agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to the Service or these Terms will be resolved by final and binding individual arbitration, rather than in court, except as stated below. The arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, and may be conducted by phone, video, written submissions, or in person in Oregon. The arbitrator's decision is final and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Class-action and jury waiver. You and SquishyTrade agree that each may bring claims against the other only in your or its individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims and may not preside over any class or representative proceeding. You and SquishyTrade also waive any right to a trial by jury. If this class-action waiver is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim (and only that claim) will be severed and proceed in the courts identified below, while all other claims proceed in arbitration.

Your right to opt out. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement within 30 days of first accepting these Terms by emailing legal@squishytrade.com with your name and a clear statement that you opt out of arbitration. Opting out does not affect any other part of these Terms.

Exceptions. Either party may (a) bring an individual claim in small-claims court if it qualifies, and (b) seek injunctive or equitable relief in the state or federal courts located in Oregon to protect intellectual property or stop unauthorized access or misuse of the Service. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this section.

16. Governing law and venue

These Terms and any dispute are governed by the laws of the State of Oregon and applicable U.S. federal law, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. To the extent a dispute is not subject to arbitration, you and SquishyTrade consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts located in Oregon, and waive any objection to that forum. Nothing in this section deprives you of any mandatory consumer protections under the law of your home jurisdiction that cannot be waived by agreement.

17. Time limit to bring a claim

To the fullest extent permitted by law, any claim arising out of or relating to the Service or these Terms must be filed within one (1) year after the claim arose; otherwise it is permanently barred.

18. Suspension and termination

We may suspend, restrict, or terminate your access to the Service at any time, with or without notice, for any reason, including if we believe you have violated these Terms. You may stop using the Service at any time. Sections that by their nature should survive termination — including Sections 3–17 and 19 — survive.

19. General

Changes. We may update these Terms as the Service evolves. We will update the “Last updated” date above, and material changes take effect when posted. Your continued use after a change means you accept the revised Terms.

Entire agreement; severability; waiver; assignment. These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and us about the Service and supersede any prior agreements. If any provision is found unenforceable, it will be limited or severed and the rest remains in effect. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign them. These Terms create no third-party beneficiaries. We are not liable for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control.

20. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Email legal@squishytrade.com (or hello@squishytrade.com for general questions).