Legal

Terms of Service

Effective June 24, 2026

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a binding agreement between you and Homestead Enterprises(“Homestead Enterprises”, “smallbeef”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) governing your access to and use of the smallbeef platform, including smallbeef.com, ranch storefronts hosted on subdomains and custom domains, our applications, and related services (collectively, the “Services”). smallbeef is a multi-tenant marketplace that enables ranchers and other producers (“Ranchers”) to sell meat and related products directly to consumers (“Customers”). By accessing or using the Services, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.

Please read Section 16 (Dispute Resolution) carefully — it requires disputes to be resolved by binding arbitration on an individual basis and waives the right to a jury trial and class actions.

1. Eligibility and accounts

• You must be at least 18 years old and able to form a binding contract to use the Services.
• You are responsible for the accuracy of your account information and for all activity under your account.
• Authentication may use email “magic links”; keep access to your email secure. Notify us promptly of any unauthorized use.
• Ranchers must have the legal authority to bind the business on whose behalf they register.

2. The marketplace; our role

smallbeef provides technology that lets Ranchers operate storefronts and transact with Customers. smallbeef is not the seller, producer, processor, shipper, or handler of any products offered by Ranchers. The contract for the purchase and sale of any product is solely between the Customer and the Rancher. smallbeef is not a party to that contract and does not take title to, store, inspect, or take responsibility for any product, its quality, safety, labeling, or fulfillment, except as expressly stated for payment facilitation. smallbeef does not guarantee any sales, listings, or the conduct of any user.

3. Rancher terms

3.1 Listings and operations

• You are solely responsible for your products, listings, descriptions, pricing, inventory, fulfillment (pickup, local delivery, and shipping), and customer service.
• You must ensure listings are accurate and not misleading, including weights, cuts, availability, and any claims (e.g., “grass-fed”, “no added hormones”, “Product of USA”, “regenerative”).
• You are responsible for cold-chain handling and the safe storage, packaging, and transport of perishable goods.

3.2 Legal and food-safety compliance

• You must comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including USDA/FSIS requirements, state and local food-safety, licensing, permitting, labeling, weights-and-measures, and tax laws, and rules governing interstate versus intrastate sales.
• You are responsible for maintaining traceability records and for conducting or cooperating with any product recall or food-safety action. You will promptly notify affected Customers and smallbeef of any recall or safety issue.
• You are responsible for collecting and remitting any applicable taxes on your sales unless we expressly state otherwise in writing.

3.3 Payments, payouts, and fees

• Payments and payouts are processed through Stripe and Stripe Connect. By onboarding, you agree to the Stripe Connected Account Agreement and Stripe’s terms, and you authorize smallbeef to instruct Stripe on your behalf for transactions through the Services.
• smallbeef may charge platform fees, subscription fees, and/or a per-transaction application fee, disclosed to you through the Services. Fees are non-refundable except as required by law.
• You are responsible for refunds, returns, chargebacks, disputes, and related costs arising from your sales, and you authorize recovery of such amounts from your balance or payment method.

3.4 Your content

You retain ownership of the content you submit (listings, images, descriptions, ranch story, and similar). You grant smallbeef a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, display, and distribute that content as necessary to operate and promote the Services and your storefront. You represent that you have the rights to grant this license and that your content does not infringe others’ rights or violate law.

4. Customer terms

• When you place an order, you make an offer to purchase from the relevant Rancher; the contract of sale is between you and that Rancher.
• Products are perishable. Delivery, pickup, and shipping methods, timing, risk of loss, and handling instructions are set by the Rancher; follow all food-safety and handling guidance.
• Cancellations, returns, and refunds are governed by the selling Rancher’s policies and applicable law. smallbeef may assist but is not obligated to provide refunds for Rancher sales.
• You authorize the charge of the total amount shown at checkout, including taxes, shipping, and any fees.

5. Fees and taxes

Fees applicable to Ranchers are described through the Services and may change with notice. Each party is responsible for its own taxes except where the Services expressly handle tax calculation or remittance. Prices to Customers are set by Ranchers.

6. Acceptable use

You agree not to, and not to enable others to:

• Violate any law or regulation, or sell products you are not legally permitted to sell;
• Post false, deceptive, infringing, or unlawful content, or misrepresent products or claims;
• Interfere with, disrupt, probe, or circumvent the security or integrity of the Services;
• Use the Services to transmit malware, spam, or unsolicited communications in violation of law;
• Scrape, harvest, or misuse other users’ data, or use the Services to build a competing product;
• Engage in fraud, money laundering, or abuse of payment or chargeback mechanisms.

7. Intellectual property

The Services, including software, design, and the smallbeef name and marks, are owned by Homestead Enterprises or its licensors and are protected by law. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the Services as permitted by these Terms. Any feedback you provide may be used by us without obligation to you.

8. Third-party services

The Services rely on third parties (for example, Stripe for payments, cloud infrastructure providers, shipping carriers, and email providers). Your use of those services may be subject to their own terms, and we are not responsible for third-party acts or omissions.

9. Disclaimers

THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. SMALLBEEF DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE. SMALLBEEF MAKES NO WARRANTY REGARDING ANY PRODUCTS SOLD BY RANCHERS, INCLUDING THEIR QUALITY, SAFETY, LEGALITY, OR FITNESS; RESPONSIBILITY FOR PRODUCTS RESTS WITH THE SELLING RANCHER.

10. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, SMALLBEEF AND ITS AFFILIATES WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SERVICES. SMALLBEEF’S TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM RELATING TO THE SERVICES WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE FEES YOU PAID TO SMALLBEEF IN THE THREE (3) MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (US$100). SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN LIMITATIONS, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

11. Indemnification

You will indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Homestead Enterprises and its affiliates, officers, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to: your use of the Services; your products, listings, or content; your violation of these Terms or applicable law; or, for Ranchers, any dispute with a Customer or any food-safety, labeling, or regulatory matter related to your products.

12. Term, suspension, and termination

These Terms apply while you use the Services. We may suspend or terminate access at any time for any reason, including suspected violation of these Terms, risk to users or the platform, or legal requirements. You may stop using the Services at any time. Upon termination, provisions that by their nature should survive (including payment obligations, disclaimers, limitations of liability, indemnification, and dispute resolution) will survive.

13. Changes to the Services and Terms

We may modify the Services or these Terms from time to time. We will post the updated Terms with a revised “Effective” date and, where appropriate, provide additional notice. Continued use after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.

14. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules, except to the extent the Federal Arbitration Act governs the arbitration provisions.

15. Dispute resolution; arbitration; class waiver

Most concerns can be resolved by contacting us first at legal@smallbeef.com. If a dispute is not resolved informally within 30 days, you and smallbeef agree to resolve any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services by binding individual arbitration, rather than in court, except that either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court or seek injunctive relief for intellectual-property misuse. You and smallbeef waive any right to a jury trial and to participate in a class, collective, or representative action. The arbitration will be administered under the rules of a recognized arbitration provider, seated in the State of Delaware, United States unless otherwise required by law. If this class-action waiver is found unenforceable, the remainder of this Section will be void as to the affected claims.

16. Miscellaneous

• Entire agreement: these Terms and any policies referenced (including the Privacy Policy) are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Services.
• Severability: if any provision is unenforceable, the rest remain in effect.
• No waiver: our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver.
• Assignment: you may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
• Force majeure: we are not liable for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control.
• Notices: we may provide notices via the Services or to your account email.

17. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Contact Homestead Enterprises at legal@smallbeef.com or via the Support page. See also our Privacy Policy.