This policy forms part of our Terms of Use. By opening a Kinwi store, you agree to comply with this Selling Policy in addition to our Terms of Use. You also agree to abide by our Prohibited & Restricted Items Policy and will not list any items that are prohibited from our marketplace. Please read this policy and the links provided carefully and check back from time to time for updates.
Throughout this document, the terms “we”, “us”, and “our” refer to Kinwi Limited. The terms “you”, “your”, and “Vendor” refer to you, the vendor. “Platform” means our marketplace at kinwi.co.nz.
We provide an online marketplace to bring together Kiwi buyers and vendors. You understand that we provide the Platform only and do not act as an agent for either party.
You must reside in New Zealand, have a legitimate New Zealand bank account, and maintain a valid New Zealand residential address to register to sell on the Kinwi marketplace. All items listed must be located in New Zealand, or made to order personally by you. We may contact you to verify your details and request further information regarding the items you are selling.
Licence to Use Our Platform: We grant our vendors a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and revocable licence to use the Kinwi Platform subject to these Terms.
You agree to provide accurate personal information: You must provide accurate information during vendor registration and are responsible for keeping your contact and business details current. Vendors may not impersonate any person or use any business name they are not legally authorised to use. Vendors authorise Kinwi and its verification partners to verify their details to safeguard marketplace integrity and prevent fraud.
High standard of customer service: You agree to respond promptly to customer enquiries and handle any customer concerns in a fair, professional, and timely manner.
Non-discrimination: You must not discriminate in any way on the basis of race, colour, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or age.
Compliance with New Zealand law: You agree not to violate any New Zealand laws in connection with your use of the Platform. It is your responsibility to meet all legal requirements, including product safety, honest descriptions, and the prompt dispatch of goods to fulfil the contract between you and the buyer. You must not sell prohibited or restricted items, engage in fraud, make false claims, or commit unlawful acts.
Intellectual property: You are responsible for ensuring that you hold all necessary intellectual property rights to your content and that your listings do not infringe on any third party’s copyright, trademark, or design rights.
Fee avoidance is strictly prohibited: You agree not to misuse our Platform to promote or complete transactions outside of the Kinwi marketplace, or seek to avoid marketplace fees. Contact details must not be exchanged to circumvent checkout. The price stated on each listing must be the accurate, total price. Vendors may not alter an item’s price after a sale to avoid transaction fees or add surcharges to the buyer. Listings may link to informative third-party content (such as a demonstration video on YouTube), provided that external page does not offer items for sale or display direct contact details.
Taxes: You are solely responsible for calculating, collecting, and paying any applicable New Zealand taxes (including GST) arising from your sales. All prices displayed on your listings must be inclusive of GST (if applicable).
Obligations as a vendor: It is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with the Fair Trading Act 1986 and Consumer Guarantees Act 1993. Please review the guidance provided by the Commerce Commission regarding your legal obligations when selling goods in New Zealand.
When you open a vendor account on the Kinwi marketplace, you are deemed to be “In Trade”. This gives buyers confidence knowing they are protected under the Fair Trading Act 1986 and the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993. When you sell goods in New Zealand, it is essential that you understand and comply with these consumer laws.
The Fair Trading Act covers all aspects of promoting and selling goods. It applies to written descriptions, images, verbal statements, and even important details left unsaid. Listings must be honest, accurate, and substantiated. The Act strictly prohibits false or misleading representations and promotes product safety.
The Consumer Guarantees Act establishes minimum guarantees that apply automatically to all goods and services sold by businesses to consumers. Under the Act, products must:
• Be of acceptable quality (safe, durable, and free from undisclosed defects)
• Be fit for their particular purpose
• Match the description and sample provided
• Arrive on time and in good condition
• Be legally available for sale with clear ownership
If a product fails to meet one of these guarantees, the customer is legally entitled to a remedy from you—either a repair, replacement, or refund depending on whether the issue is minor or substantial.
Product Safety:
You are responsible for ensuring your products comply with mandatory New Zealand product safety standards and unsafe goods notices. If a product you sold has a safety issue, you must act immediately to notify affected buyers and put things right.
When a remedy is NOT required:
Under the Consumer Guarantees Act, you are not legally required to provide a refund or replacement if the customer:
• Simply changed their mind or found the item cheaper elsewhere (unless your store policy voluntarily offers change-of-mind returns)
• Misused, altered, or neglected the product in a way that caused the problem
• Damaged, lost, or disposed of the product after delivery
• Was clearly told about a specific fault before purchasing
• Waited an unreasonable length of time before requesting a remedy
• Experienced a delivery delay caused by events outside your control (such as severe weather disruptions), provided you dispatched the parcel on time
The Kinwi marketplace is dedicated to items that are:
• Crafted by Kiwis
• Grown by Kiwis
• Crafted by Nature (such as ethically sourced crystals, stones, and shells)
• Craft or growing supplies
• Kiwiana & Vintage
All items must be handmade, designed, or grown by you, or be authentic natural treasures. Pre-owned items may only be listed in the “Kiwiana & Vintage” and “NZ Music, Movies & Books” categories. Vintage items must be at least 20 years old. Items listed in Music, Movies & Books must have a clear connection to New Zealand or Kiwi creators. Craft and growing supplies do not need to be handmade, but they must be located within New Zealand.
Craft Definition: Craft encompasses any creative activity requiring manual skill or artistic expression—including woodworking, pottery, knitting, sewing, jewellery making, candle making, baking, soap making, metalwork, art, floral craft, and ingenious Kiwi number 8 wire creations.
All items must be physically located in New Zealand and cannot be shipped overseas. Kinwi reserves the right to remove listings that do not comply with our marketplace standards.
Definitions:
• Made by you: You physically created the finished item. You may have used your own original design, or followed a pattern or template designed by someone else.
• Designed by you: You created an original design, pattern, or prototype, and partnered with a New Zealand-based production partner to produce the physical item (for example, screen-printing your original graphic onto a t-shirt or having a local seamstress sew your original clothing pattern). You must disclose your local production partner in your listing.
• Vintage: The item is at least 20 years old.
Reselling: Commercial reselling of newly manufactured goods that you did not make, design, or grow is strictly prohibited. Reselling is only permitted for authentic vintage items, second-hand Kiwi books/media, and crafting/growing supplies. Assembling gift hampers made solely of pre-packaged commercial supermarket goods is not permitted.
Prohibited Items: Please review our Prohibited & Restricted Items Policy to ensure you do not list items that are prohibited on our marketplace.
Content Ownership
You retain full ownership of the text, photographs, shop names, and videos you upload to your store (“Your Content”). Kinwi does not claim ownership over your intellectual property.
Your Responsibility: You are solely responsible for Your Content. You confirm that you hold all necessary rights and permissions and that your listings do not violate any copyright, trademark, or third-party rights.
Licence to Kinwi: By posting content on our Platform, you grant Kinwi a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to display, promote, and share your listings across our website, newsletter, and social media channels to help promote both your store and the Kinwi marketplace.
Listing Standards:
• Accurate descriptions & images: Listings must be complete and honest. Photos must show the actual item being sold (or an accurate prototype for made-to-order goods). Items received that differ materially from listing descriptions may be treated as “not as described”, and you will be responsible for covering return shipping and refunding the buyer.
• Listing Limit: We currently apply a fair-use cap of 50 active listings per vendor.
• Clear shipping options: You must state clear shipping methods and costs on each listing. Shipping charges must reflect fair and reasonable postage and packaging costs, not inflated for profit.
• Pre-owned Condition Guide: If you sell vintage or media items, please use our condition standards (“As New”, “Very Good”, “Good”, “Acceptable”) to accurately represent item condition.
Substantiating Claims:
Any claims you make regarding product benefits, ingredients, or performance must be backed by credible facts and documentation. Unsubstantiated or deceptive claims violate the Fair Trading Act.
Therapeutic Claims:
Under the Medicines Act 1981 and Fair Trading Act, sellers must not claim that cosmetic or herbal products treat, cure, or prevent medical conditions. Statements such as “provides soothing support for…” are acceptable, whereas claims like “cures eczema” or “prevents arthritis” attract strict legal liability. For further guidance, consult the official Therapeutic Advertising Pre-vetting Service guidelines at https://www.taps.nz.
Categories & Pricing:
Each product may only be listed in a single category, as according to Google Webmaster Guidelines and other SEO and UX this is recommended best practice. It is important that you list your items in the right category as this makes it easy for people to find the items they want. You can list your product again under a different category if multiple categories apply.
All prices must be in New Zealand Dollars (NZD) and include GST (if applicable). Administration and card processing fees are vendor business expenses and must never be added as extra fees to the buyer after checkout.
Intellectual Property Compliance:
Kinwi respects intellectual property rights. If we receive a valid notice or have reason to believe that a listing infringes copyright or trademark laws, we are legally required to remove it. You can learn more about intellectual property at the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ).
Please consult our Vendor Guide for detailed guidance on photography, image dimensions, and listing optimisation.
Shipping is strictly limited to New Zealand addresses. Kinwi does not support international delivery.
Shipping rates should depend on parcel weight, dimensions, and destination (including standard vs rural delivery). Shipping charges must be a fair reflection of postage and packaging costs. Kinwi charges 0% commission on shipping charges, so 100% of the delivery fee you set goes directly to you. The Stripe transaction fees for the total order amount will still apply.
Packaging & Dispatch:
• Vendors are solely responsible for securely packaging items to prevent damage during transit.
• You must dispatch sold items within 2 business days of payment notification, unless you have clearly specified a longer processing time in your listing for custom or made-to-order goods.
• Items must be sent to the delivery address provided on the Kinwi order receipt.
• Tracked Shipping: We strongly recommend using a tracked courier service. Only mark an order as “Shipped” in your dashboard once the package has been handed to the courier or booked with an active tracking number. Entering tracking details provides vital proof of dispatch in the event of a dispute.
Damage in Transit:
If an item arrives damaged due to postal handling, the vendor is responsible for resolving the issue with the buyer (such as sending a replacement or issuing a refund). The vendor can then lodge a compensation claim directly with the postal carrier.
Non-Delivery:
If a buyer reports that an order did not arrive, the vendor must provide valid tracking confirmation showing delivery to the buyer’s specified address. If tracking cannot confirm delivery, the vendor must issue a refund or replacement.
Kinwi partners with Stripe to provide secure, automated credit and debit card processing through Stripe Connect. Each vendor opens a standard Stripe Connected Account to receive payouts directly into their New Zealand bank account.
How Payments Work:
When a customer purchases from your store, the payment is processed by Stripe. Marketplace administration fees and Stripe card fees are automatically deducted, and the net balance is deposited into your bank account.
Identity & Address Verification:
To comply with anti-money laundering and financial regulations, Stripe requires all New Zealand vendors to verify their identity and residential address before payouts can be activated:
• Proof of Identity: Valid New Zealand Driver Licence or Passport (uploaded in full colour).
• Proof of Address: Utility bill, bank statement, or council letter dated within the last 6 months showing your full name and residential address.
• Verification documents are submitted directly to Stripe’s secure dashboard and are never stored on Kinwi servers.
Payout Schedules:
Available funds are transferred directly from Stripe to your nominated New Zealand bank account. For new vendor accounts, Stripe applies an initial 7-day security hold on the very first payout. Thereafter, funds are paid out automatically on a rolling 4-business-day schedule. Banks typically take 1–3 business days to clear funds into your account.
Kinwi believes in transparent, competitive marketplace pricing:
• Free Storefront & Free Listings: Opening a store and listing items is completely free. We do not charge upfront listing fees.
• 0% Commission on Shipping: Kinwi takes 0% commission on delivery charges.
• Free Advertising: If we feature your store or products in marketing campaigns or social media, you are never charged extra.
• Kinwi Administration Fee (Commission): 9% of the item price (excluding shipping). If an order is cancelled or refunded, our 9% administration fee is credited back to your account. This fee is capped at $500.
• Stripe Card Processing Fee: 2.7% + NZ$0.30 per successful card transaction. This covers bank interchange costs, fraud screening, and card network processing. Stripe fees are deducted at the time of purchase and are non-refundable on refunded orders in accordance with standard banking rules.
• Chargeback Dispute Fee: In the event of a chargeback, Stripe charges a non-refundable $25 dispute fee.
If a customer disputes a payment and you challenge it, Stripe may charge you NZ$50 in dispute fees ($25 for receiving the dispute and $25 for challenging it).
If you win: You generally recover the $25 countered fee, but not the initial $25 received fee.
If you lose: Neither fee is refunded, and you generally lose the disputed payment amount too.
Read more about the Stripe Disputes process here.
Setting clear store policies helps build customer trust and significantly reduces the risk of disputes. You will not be able to Update your store settings to make it live until you add your Terms and conditions. You can configure your store policies in your Vendor Dashboard under Settings → Store (https://kinwi.co.nz/vendor-dashboard/settings/store/).
Your store policies appear in a dedicated tab on your Store page and should cover:
• Shipping Policy: Standard processing and dispatch times (especially for made-to-order items).
• Refund & Return Policy: Clear terms regarding when you accept returns, how long buyers have to return items, and who covers return postage.
Returns & Refunds:
• If an item is faulty, damaged, or not as described, the vendor is legally responsible under the Consumer Guarantees Act for providing a remedy and covering return shipping costs.
• If you choose to offer change-of-mind returns, you can state in your store policy that the buyer is responsible for return postage.
• Processing Refunds: You can issue full or partial refunds directly from your Vendor Dashboard under Orders → View Order → Refund. Refunds are returned to the buyer’s original payment card and usually appear on their statement within 5–10 business days.
Prompt, polite communication is essential to running a successful marketplace store. Vendors are expected to respond to customer enquiries within 1 to 2 business days.
Customer Enquiries:
Buyers can send direct product enquiries from your listing pages. You will receive an email notification when an enquiry arrives, and messages can be viewed and answered in your Vendor Dashboard.
Order Notifications:
When an order is placed, you will receive an immediate email confirmation containing order details, customer notes, and the delivery address. You can manage all active and completed orders in your Vendor Dashboard Orders list (https://kinwi.co.nz/vendor-dashboard/orders/).
Messaging Kinwi Support:
If you need assistance from the Kinwi team, you can submit a support ticket via our Contact Us page or email customercare@kinwi.co.nz.
Vendors agree to communicate in good faith to resolve customer concerns directly in the first instance. Most customer issues can be easily resolved through prompt, courteous communication.
Mediation:
If a buyer and vendor cannot reach an agreement, either party may request assistance from Kinwi. Kinwi may review order records, messages, and tracking information to help reach a fair resolution. Kinwi reserves the right to issue a refund on the vendor’s behalf if a listing breaches our policies or New Zealand consumer law.
Vendor Liability:
Vendors will be held responsible for refunding the buyer if:
• The parcel was not delivered and no valid tracking proof is available.
• The item delivered is materially different from the photos or description in the listing.
• The item was dispatched significantly later than the agreed timeframe, rendering it useless for a specific date or event.
Vendor Non-Liability:
Vendors are not held liable where:
• Valid tracking confirms successful delivery to the address provided on the order.
• An item was properly packaged but delayed due to courier carrier disruptions.
• The customer misused, altered, or damaged the product after delivery.
Tips to Prevent Disputes:
1. Provide accurate descriptions and high-quality, honest photos.
2. Always ship with tracked courier delivery and input the tracking number promptly.
3. Keep customers updated if there are unforeseen delays.
4. Keep your store policies clear and complete.
To keep our community safe, please be aware of common online buyer scams:
Red flags to watch out for:
• Strange formatting or vague messages: Scammers often copy-paste generic inquiries across multiple stores (e.g. asking “is the item still available?” without naming the product).
• Overpayment offers: A buyer offers to pay more than the listed price or asks you to include a gift card with the parcel.
• Requests to communicate off-platform: The buyer asks you to email or text them privately outside of Kinwi.
• Refusing Kinwi checkout: Anyone asking to pay via obscure wire transfers or external payment links to bypass our secure checkout.
• Offshore delivery requests: A buyer claiming to be “working offshore” or “at sea” asking for delivery to an unverified third-party freight forwarder.
If you receive a suspicious message, please do not reply and report it immediately to customercare@kinwi.co.nz.
Either the Vendor or Kinwi may close a vendor store at any time. All active orders must be fulfilled and any outstanding fees settled before an account can be closed.
Kinwi reserves the right to suspend or terminate any store or listing that violates our Terms of Use, Selling Policy, Privacy Policy, or Prohibited & Restricted Items Policy, or engages in fraudulent, unsafe, or abusive conduct.
Administration Fee: The 9% marketplace commission (capped at a maximum of $500 per transaction) deducted from the item sale price. Kinwi charges 0% commission on shipping fees.
Content: Any text, photographs, shop names, policies, or videos uploaded to your store.
Item / Product: Goods, crafts, or supplies listed for sale on the Platform.
Listing: The product page and information published about an item in your store.
Marketplace: The Kinwi platform connecting Kiwi buyers and sellers.
Platform: The Kinwi website (kinwi.co.nz) and associated web applications.
Services: All tools, hosting, payment facilitation, and support provided by Kinwi Limited.
Site: Our website at kinwi.co.nz.
Store: A vendor’s individual shopfront on the Kinwi marketplace.
Transaction Fee: The card processing fee charged directly by Stripe (2.7% + NZ$0.30 per transaction), passed through at cost with zero markup.
