Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of Matey, an online marketplace operated from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Matey connects people who need AI-related work done ("Posters") with freelancers who offer AI-related skills ("Mateys"). By creating an account or otherwise using the site, you agree to these Terms.

1. Who can use Matey

You must be at least 18 years old and able to form a binding contract to use Matey. When you create an account, the information you give us must be accurate, and you're responsible for keeping your login details secure and for anything that happens under your account.

2. What Matey is — and isn't

Matey provides the platform: posting jobs, browsing Mateys, messaging, leaving reviews, and taking payment for jobs and holding it until the work is done (see section 3). We are not a party to any agreement a Poster and a Matey make with each other, we don't employ Mateys, and we don't supervise, inspect, or guarantee the work either side performs. Mateys are independent operators, not Matey employees or contractors; Posters are not employers by using the platform.

3. Payments

Posters can pay for a job through Matey. Payments are processed by our payment provider, Stripe. Matey never sees or stores your full card details.

• Held until the job is done. When a Poster pays, the money is held by Matey through Stripe. It's released to the Matey once both the Poster and the Matey confirm the job is done, then paid out to the Matey's bank account on Stripe's payout schedule.
• Matey's fee. Matey keeps a platform fee of 10% of the job amount. It comes out of the amount released to the Matey. Posters pay the job amount shown at checkout, with nothing added on top. Prices are in Australian dollars.
• Who's selling. Payments are made on behalf of the Matey doing the job, so the Matey's name can appear on the Poster's receipt and card statement.
• Getting paid as a Matey. To be paid, Mateys must connect a Stripe account and complete Stripe's identity and bank checks. By doing so they agree to the Stripe Connected Account Agreement, which includes the Stripe Services Agreement. Mateys are responsible for their own tax, including GST if they're registered for it.
• Refunds and problems. A Poster can get a full refund while the money is held and before the Matey has confirmed the job is done. After that, if you disagree about the work, use "Report a problem" on the job: the money stays held while we look into it. See the Refund Policy for details.
• Chargebacks. If a payment is reversed by the Poster's bank after it's been released because of a Matey's conduct (for example, the work was never done), we may recover that amount from the Matey, as far as the law allows.
• Paying outside Matey. If you choose to pay or be paid outside the platform, it isn't held, protected or refundable through Matey.

4. Acceptable use

• No illegal, fraudulent, or deliberately misleading job listings or profiles.
• No spam, harassment, or abusive messages to other users.
• No scraping, reverse-engineering, or automated bulk use of the site.
• No posting content that infringes someone else's rights.

We may remove content or suspend accounts that breach this.

5. Reviews

Reviews must reflect a genuine experience with that specific job. Don't post fake reviews, review your own work, or offer incentives in exchange for a review.

6. Your content

You keep ownership of what you post — job descriptions, your profile, photos, messages — but by posting it on Matey you give us a licence to display it on the platform as part of running the service.

7. Disputes between users

If something goes wrong between a Poster and a Matey, we encourage resolving it directly first. If a payment is being held for the job and you can't agree, use "Report a problem" on the job. The payment stays held while we look at what both of you tell us, and we'll then release it, refund it in full, or refund part of it, acting reasonably. Outside of payments held through Matey, we can't force either party to act, since we're not part of the underlying arrangement between you.

8. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or remove an account that breaches these Terms. You can delete your own account from Settings, which removes your jobs, conversations, reviews, and profile. You can't delete it while a payment is in progress for you (held for a job, or a checkout started in the last 24 hours). Finish or refund the job first. Records of past payments are kept without your name or details, because we're required to keep financial records.

9. No warranty, limitation of liability

Matey is provided "as is." To the maximum extent permitted by law, we don't guarantee the quality, safety, legality, or outcome of any job listed or work performed through the platform, and we aren't liable for any loss or damage arising from an arrangement between a Poster and a Matey.

Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or changes any rights you have under the Australian Consumer Law or other laws that can't be excluded.

10. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time as the platform grows. Continuing to use Matey after a change means you accept the updated Terms.

11. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia.

12. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Email us at hello@matey.work.