These terms cover all use of the Top Hat Records website, as an online marketplace service provided by Top Hat Records Ltd. By using Top Hat Records, you agree to be bound by these Terms.

By accepting the terms, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms. You also acknowledge that you have the legal right to use the service for purpose of buying or selling products displayed on Top Hat Records. If you are agreeing as part of an organisation, you acknowledge that you have the authority to agree to the terms on behalf of your organisation or legal entity.

Please be aware that our terms can change without warning, and that the only valid version is that available on our website. This version will supersede any other version, other than a written and signed agreement between both parties. Use of Top Hat Records commits you to check for changes periodically and to ensure that your use of the system stays within these terms. Use of the system after a change to the terms indicates your ongoing acceptance of the terms.

Terms and Conditions of Products Purchased on the Marketplace Sold by Top Hat Records

In addition to the terms and conditions for use of the Top Hat Records website as detailed below, this section of the terms and conditions only applies to products purchased on the marketplace directly from Top Hat Records and does not apply to any other marketplace vendor.

We endeavour to provide you with quality products every time. If any of our records do not meet your high standards, we have a 7 day no quibble refund policy (7 days from received date). Records must be returned at buyer's cost, in original packaging and in received condition. Refunds will be issued within 48 hours after we've received the records, provided that we are satisfied with their condition.

We take no responsibility for any damage caused in transit of our products; any issues as such are up to the buyer to resolve with the appropriate postage service/courier.

All records are sold in good faith and whilst every care is taken to provide the correct images and information, some errors may occur and will be corrected by the admin as soon as practical. All images are photographs of the actual records that are for sale. As the large majority of our records are not brand new, we take great care in grading our records and do not want to mislead our customers in any way.

Records are shipped in cardboard sleeves and plastic sleeves. Orders will be shipped to the address provided by the customer. It is the customer's responsibility to ensure address and contact details are correct at the time of placing the order. We will not be held responsible or offer compensation for orders sent to incorrect addresses provided by the customer.

Terms and Conditions for Use of Top Hat Records Marketplace and Website

License, Ownership and Usage

Top Hat Records Ltd grants you the right to use Top Hat Records in accordance with these terms. That right is non-exclusive, non-transferable (unless with written agreement from Top Hat Records Ltd) and can not be sub-licensed to any party. Top Hat Records Ltd retain the ownership of all code, imagery, logic, branding and guidance materials associated with Top Hat Records.

While using the platform, you will observe the following:

  • You will use the service as it is provided, and will not attempt to over-ride or change any parts of the system
  • You will not attempt to access or reverse engineer any parts of the system
  • You will use the system in accordance with the laws governing you or your organisation
  • The system will be used by you and your organisation to process and manage data in accordance with regulations in force for your organisation

Intellectual Property Rights

All content of Top Hat Records, including text, code, images, branding or other displayed material are the property of Top Hat Records Ltd. You are not allowed to reproduce, sell or modify any of this content without prior written consent from Top Hat Records Ltd.

Content added by you, the user of Top Hat Records, remains your property. You will not add any content to Top Hat Records for which you do not own the copyright, without the written permission of the copyright holder. Top Hat Records Ltd will not be responsible for any claims or damages relating to material you have added to the system, should it result in any claim for copyright infringement.

You, as a user of Top Hat Records give us a license to use your content on the platform. You will retain the copyright, but we will have the rights to use it on your behalf as part of Top Hat Records for as long as the arrangement lasts.

Legal Use of the Platform

In order to sell products on Top Hat Records, you must have the legal rights to sell any product that is added to the system. You are responsible for all of the legal obligations of running your business, including your financial records. Top Hat Records Ltd does not assume responsibility for any of your legal obligations, or for the contracts between you and your customers. You are responsible for providing your own terms and conditions to your own customers.

In order to buy products on Top Hat Records, you must have the legal rights to do so. The Terms and Conditions of the marketplace vendors from whom you have ordered products from will apply to your purchase(s) from that marketplace vendor. Top Hat Records Ltd does not assume any responsibility for any of the contracts between and the marketplace vendors.

We retain the right to review all data added to Top Hat Records to ensure that it is both legal and suitable for its intended purpose of providing a mechanism for the buying and selling of products.

Marketplace Fees and Payment

There are no fees associated with buying products from the Top Hat Records marketplace, except for the payment due to the marketplace vendor on checkout completion for the products purchased.

Your Top Hat Records marketplace vendor account is invoiced on a monthly rolling basis from your signup date, with payment being due immediately. Subscriptions will automatically renew via the PayPal Subscription Agreement that was created when you first registered as a marketplace vendor. Should the subscription fail to renew, your marketplace vendor account will be cancelled immediately.

The format and price of the marketplace subscription plans are subject to change at any time and without notice. You have the option to switch between subscription plans at any point. If you choose to upgrade or cancel your subscription before the end of the subscription period, differences in price will not be refunded.

By accepting these terms you agree that abuse of the marketplace may result in your account being suspended without notice. The definition of marketplace abuse is at the sole discretion of Top Hat Records Ltd.

Payment Systems

All payments processed through Top Hat Records, either to purchase marketplace products or to subscribe to a marketplace subscription, require an active PayPal account. When a marketplace vendor receives an order for a product, the buyer pays the marketplace vendor directly via their PayPal account using the PayPal integration provided by our systems. This transaction is handled by PayPal, and Top Hat Records Ltd does not have access to any sensitive payment details.

Although we provide these connections, they can change without notice and through Top Hat Records Ltd does not accept any liability for any failed payments between a buyer and marketplace vendor, even if Top Hat Records indicates that these payments have been successful. It is your responsibility to verify all payments with your banking system.

Where refunds are agreed between a buyer and a marketplace vendor our system allows for you to record a refund for your administrative purposes, it is unable to implement refunds. This is an action that you must take within the administration panel of your PayPal account.

All records on the website showing in stock are available to purchase, however on rare occasions it is possible that two customers may order the same record at the same time. Under such circumstances the marketplace vendor is advised to honour the order completed and paid for first. It is the responsibility of the marketplace vendor to issue a refund if the product if no longer available. Payment must be made by PayPal immediately upon placing an order. Records will not be removed from stock or orders processed before payment has been confirmed as received. We reserve the right to cancel orders where our terms and conditions as detailed here are not adhered to.

Data Protection

The entire Top Hat Records system is backed up on an 6-hourly basis to an external cloud-based server. It is unlikely that any software or hardware failure at our end will lead to loss of data, but we do recommend you save copies of your orders as a failsafe should you need it.

Top Hat Records Ltd is compliant with the GDPR regulations.  It is your responsibility to ensure that your use of the system is also compliant, and that you do not use any of the data you obtain through use of Top Hat Records in a way which contravenes GDPR.

Service Uptime

We understand that uptime is essential to your operation, which is why our service is hosted on specially selected servers, giving us excellent levels of uptime. The unexpected can sometimes happen, however, and as soon as we are aware of the issue we will commit all necessary resources to resolve any issue found.

Top Hat Records Ltd does not accept any liability for loss of business or loss of goodwill or lost revenue due to system downtime.

Confidentiality

Top Hat Records Ltd is committed to maintaining complete confidentiality in all areas of operation. We will not share your data with any party other than you and those individuals you authorise to access your account. Top Hat Records Ltd acknowledges that in the course of providing you with the service, it will gain access to confidential data. This data shall only be used for the purposes of providing the service to you, and will not be shared to any third parties without your written permission.

Top Hat Records Ltd will not share your customers' data in any way with 3rd parties, and neither will we contact your customers, unless specifically requested by you in writing or required by law.

You agree that Top Hat Records Ltd may identify you / your organisation as a client during the course of promotional activities and in promotional materials.

User Access and Security

Top Hat Records will ask you to choose a username and password for use of the system during the signup process. It is your responsibility to keep this information safe and secure. We recommend that you do not share login details for security reasons; you are responsible for the security of your account.

We do not allow users to set up other users, in order to ensure data security and confidentiality.

Top Hat Records maintains a log of all actions on your account and will not be responsible for any loss of data or revenue or maliciously damaged records due to actions from anyone logged in to the system using your account.

You have the facility to change passwords on your account, and recommend you do so immediately, should you have concerns about the security of the password.

A standard Top Hat Records marketplace vendor account is designed for use by a single business.  We reserve the right to immediately suspend an account without warning should we identify that it is being used for multiple businesses. 

User Responsibilities

Marketplace vendors are solely responsible for the accuracy of any products that they have listed on the marketplace. Top Hat Records Ltd does not assume the responsibility for the accuracy of any products listed on the marketplace and strongly recommend that buyers check this prior to making any purchases.

Buyers and marketplace vendors will communicate directly with each other to resolve any and all issues using third party methods of communication, using professional and courteous language at all times.

Marketplace vendors are responsible for setting up their own shipping rates within the marketplace. They are also responsible for shipping products ordered by a buyer in a timely manner, and for displaying clear and correct shipping information on all packages shipped.

Buyers are responsible for any and all customs fees, import taxes, or other delivery-related charges once the item has been shipped by the marketplace vendor.

Buyers and marketplace vendors are expected to comply with all rules set by their accepted payment methods, including requirements for refunds and returns.

It is at the discretion of the marketplace vendor to approve a refund request from a buyer, and will outline their procedures for this within their own terms and conditions of sale on the Top Hat Records marketplace. It is also the responsibility of the marketplace vendor to outline a procedure that states which party should be responsible for the cost of shipping products back to the marketplace vendor.

If a buyer and a marketplace vendor cannot agree on a solution if a problem arises, they are required to open a dispute case with PayPal. Top Hat Records Ltd does not accept any financial responsibility or liability for any missing, lost, delayed, miss-sold, or damaged products provided by a marketplace vendor.

Marketplace vendors who are required to charge VAT on sales may not add VAT to the price of products after they have been purchased via the marketplace.

System Updates, Bugs and Feature Requests

We do periodically need to shut our system down for essential maintenance or updates. When this happens, we will always aim to make that down time as quick as possible, and we will also endeavour to give you advance notice. However, please be aware that there may also be occasions when this maintenance happens at short notice. There may also be occasions when we make changes to the system and features which are not announced.

Should you identify bugs or faults in Top Hat Records, we request that you inform our team at your earliest convenience. We will always aim to correct any bugs in the shortest space of time possible.

We are always happy to hear from you with feature requests, but implementation cannot be guaranteed.

Acceptable Use Policy

Use of Top Hat Records is subject to the following acceptable use stipulations:

  • You will not use the service in any way which damages the service or restricts its availability to other users
  • You will not use the service in any way that is unlawful or directly abusive
  • You will not use the service in any way that is likely to cause offence or is considered to be discriminatory
  • You will not use the service to carry out any fraudulent activities
  • You must own the copyright to all information on the system
  • You will not enter or display any information on the system which is obscene, pornographic, libelous or likely to cause offence to users
  • You will not use the system to publish personal details of any individuals without express permission
  • You will not use the service to conduct any crime or promote any criminal activity
  • You will not use the system to conduct mass mailing activities other than those required to fulfill your contractual relationships with your customers
  • The content you publish must be factually correct, and must not mislead users
  • You will only upload content to the system that is directly required to display your products and sell your products effectively, and will not use the system for general storage of documents or images
  • You will not conduct any systemic or automatic data mining activities on the system
  • You will not buy or sell bootlegs, counterfeits, pirate copies, or items that do not comply with usual copyright laws in the international space

This acceptable use policy applies to your use of the system, and to all data and content that you enter on to the system either for administrative purposes or on display to the public. If you are unsure about any content or usage scenarios we recommend contacting us prior to publication.

Cancellation / Termination

Top Hat Records Ltd reserves the right to terminate your use of the system at any time or any reason with 2 weeks (14 days) notice in writing. In cases of severe violation of these terms, we reserve the right to terminate your use of this system immediately without notice.

Your license to use the Top Hat Records marketplace shall end if you fail to pay for that subscription as agreed. We will usually notify you should you violate our terms and conditions of use, and request that you correct any violations. We do, however, reserve the right to terminate your account should we deem it in the best interests of the platform and its reputation.

You have the right to cancel your marketplace subscription to the service at any time. This can be done by cancelling the subscription from with your PayPal account. Should you cancel your service midway through a billing period, a full or partial refund will not be given as your account will remain active until the end of the billing period. On cancellation, Top Hat Records Ltd will restrict access to the system, and reserves the right to remove your data from the platform. It is your responsibility at this time to ensure you have a back up of all necessary data.

Indemnity

Top Hat Records Ltd has no liability for you and you shall hold Top Hat Records Ltd harmless from any claims that arise from:

  • Use of a modified version of Top Hat Records
  • Use of Top Hat Records in combination with any software or service not provided by Top Hat Records Ltd
  • Use of anything other than the latest version of Top Hat Records
  • Use of Top Hat Records for any purpose other than that for which it was designed

Warranty / Limits of Liability

Top Hat Records is provided 'as is' and without any warranty or condition. You agree that Top Hat Records may not be suitable for your particular requirements, may not hold all of the features you require, may not be free from errors or offer uninterrupted service, due to the nature of the service itself and the dependence upon factors outside of our control.

Top Hat Records Ltd shall not be liable in any way for direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages due to loss of data or the ability to use the system, stoppage of work, loss of profit or goodwill, based on use of the system.

You agree that Top Hat Records Ltd is not liable for any failures or delays due to events or circumstances that fall outside of its control. This may include government acts, war, sabotage, flood, fire, strike, failure in third party services, labour supply or loss of power. It may also be due to other reasons beyond reasonable control not listed here.

Disclaimer

Due to the nature of the service provided, and the risks that exist with all internet-based technology, Top Hat Records Ltd does not guarantee that the Top Hat Records service will be completely uninterrupted, error free or completely secure. By use of the system you acknowledge this. While all reasonable measures will be taken by Top Hat Records Ltd to ensure the security and continuity of the service, you remain responsible for determining the system's suitability for your ongoing requirements.

Last Updated: 24th November 2019