Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("Client", "Subscriber", or "you") and Sputnik Devs (Pty) Ltd ("Sputnik Devs", "we", "us", or "our"), a company registered at 292 Surrey Avenue, Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.

By subscribing to our SaaS E-Commerce Platform, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms.

To subscribe to the Platform, you must:

• Be at least 18 years of age or the age of legal majority in your jurisdiction.
• Register for a Sputnik Devs account with a valid email address and accurate personal information.
• Verify your email address before completing a purchase.
• Have a valid payment method supported by our payment processor (Paystack).

You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials. Any activity that occurs under your account is your responsibility.

We offer three subscription tiers for our E-Commerce Platform, each available with monthly or annual billing:

All prices are in South African Rand (ZAR) and include VAT where applicable. Pricing is subject to change with 30 days' written notice.

3.1 Tier Upgrades & Downgrades

• You may upgrade or downgrade your subscription tier at any time through your account dashboard.
• Upgrades take effect immediately. A prorated charge may apply for the remainder of the current billing cycle.
• Downgrades take effect at the start of the next billing cycle. You retain access to higher-tier features until then.
• Feature availability adjusts automatically upon tier change.

3.2 Annual Subscriptions

• Annual plans are billed at 12× the monthly rate as a single upfront payment for the full year.
• Annual subscriptions automatically renew unless cancelled at least 7 days before the renewal date.

4.1 Payment Processing

• All payments are processed securely through Paystack, a PCI-DSS compliant payment gateway.
• We accept payments via Visa, Mastercard, and other methods supported by Paystack in your region.
• Sputnik Devs does not store your full card details — all payment data is handled directly by Paystack.

4.2 Recurring Billing

• Subscriptions are billed on a recurring basis (monthly or annually) according to your selected plan.
• Your billing date is determined by the date of your initial subscription purchase.
• You authorise Sputnik Devs (via Paystack) to charge your payment method automatically at each billing cycle.

4.3 Updating Payment Method

You may update your payment card at any time through your account dashboard or via the card update link provided in payment-related communications. If your subscription is past due or suspended, updating your card will automatically reactivate your store.

Upon successful payment, your e-commerce store is automatically provisioned through our fully managed deployment pipeline:

5.1 Server Regions

During checkout, you may select from the following server regions: New York, San Francisco, London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Singapore, Bangalore, Sydney, and Toronto. Your store data is hosted in the region you select. Region migration may be available upon request.

5.2 Custom Domain

• You must provide a valid domain or subdomain during checkout (e.g., store.yourdomain.com).
• You are responsible for configuring your domain's DNS records as instructed after provisioning.
• SSL certificates are provisioned automatically once DNS propagation is complete.

5.3 Admin Credentials

Unique admin credentials for your store's admin panel are generated during provisioning and sent to your registered email address. You are responsible for changing your admin password upon first login and keeping these credentials secure.

If your recurring payment fails (e.g., expired card, insufficient funds), the following process is initiated:

If your grace period expires without payment being resolved:

7.1 What Happens When Your Store is Suspended

• Your e-commerce store becomes inaccessible to your customers. Visitors will not be able to browse products or place orders.
• Your store's admin panel becomes inaccessible.
• All your data (products, orders, customer information, settings) is preserved during the retention period.
• A 30-day retention period begins, during which you may reactivate your subscription at any time.

7.2 Retention Period Communications

During the 30-day retention period, we will send the following communications:

• Day 7 (Suspension Day): Notification that your store has been suspended, with instructions to reactivate.
• Day 14: A follow-up reminder encouraging you to reactivate your subscription.
• Day 21: A reminder that your data retention period is progressing.
• Day 30: Final warning — your data will be permanently deleted in 7 days.
• Day 37: Confirmation that your data has been permanently deleted.

7.3 Reactivation

8.1 Voluntary Cancellation

• You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account dashboard.
• Upon cancellation, your store remains active until the end of your current billing period.
• After the billing period ends, your store enters the same 30-day retention period described in Section 7.

8.2 Refund Policy

• Monthly plans: No refunds are provided for partial months. Your store remains active until the end of the current billing cycle.
• Annual plans: If you cancel within the first 14 days of your annual subscription, you may request a prorated refund for the unused portion of the year, minus a reasonable administration fee. After 14 days, no refunds are offered for the remaining term.
• Refund requests should be submitted to sputnikdevs@sputnikdevs.com.

• Product listings, images, and descriptions
• Customer and order data
• Store configuration and branding settings
• Server infrastructure (the dedicated server is deprovisioned)
• Domain and SSL certificate configurations
• All associated databases and file storage

This action is irreversible. Sputnik Devs cannot recover deleted data. You are solely responsible for exporting any data you wish to keep before your retention period expires.

9.1 Data Export

We recommend that you regularly back up your data. Before cancellation or during the retention period, you may request a data export by contacting sputnikdevs@sputnikdevs.com.

You agree not to use the Platform to:

• Sell or distribute illegal, counterfeit, or stolen goods.
• Engage in fraud, money laundering, or any unlawful activity.
• Distribute malware, viruses, or any harmful software.
• Infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others.
• Host content that is defamatory, obscene, or promotes hate speech or violence.
• Send unsolicited commercial communications (spam) through the platform's email functionality.
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to our systems, other subscribers' stores, or any related infrastructure.
• Overload or interfere with the Platform's infrastructure or services.
• Violate any applicable local, national, or international laws or regulations.

Violation of these terms may result in immediate suspension or termination of your subscription without refund.

11.1 Our Property

The Platform, including all software, code, design, features, documentation, and AI models, is the intellectual property of Sputnik Devs (Pty) Ltd. Your subscription grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the Platform for the duration of your subscription.

11.2 Your Content

You retain ownership of all content you upload to your store (product images, descriptions, branding assets, etc.). By using the Platform, you grant Sputnik Devs a limited licence to host, display, and transmit your content solely for the purpose of operating your store.

11.3 Restrictions

You may not reverse-engineer, decompile, copy, redistribute, resell, or sublicence any part of the Platform software.

• We strive to maintain high availability for all stores but do not guarantee 100% uptime.
• Scheduled maintenance will be communicated in advance where possible.
• We are not liable for downtime caused by third-party providers (including hosting, DNS, or payment providers), force majeure events, or circumstances outside our reasonable control.
• Store performance may vary depending on the selected server region, traffic volume, and plan tier.

To the maximum extent permitted by South African law:

• The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied.
• Sputnik Devs shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of revenue, profits, data, or business opportunities.
• Our total liability for any claim arising from or related to these Terms shall not exceed the total subscription fees paid by you in the 12 months preceding the claim.
• We are not responsible for any losses arising from transactions between you and your customers through your store.
• You are solely responsible for complying with the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), and any other applicable regulations when operating your store.

• Sputnik Devs reserves the right to update or modify these Terms at any time.
• Material changes will be communicated via email to your registered address at least 30 days before taking effect.
• Continued use of the Platform after changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.
• If you do not agree with any changes, you may cancel your subscription before the changes take effect.

• These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa.
• Any disputes arising from these Terms shall be resolved in the courts of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.
• Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any rights you may have under the South African Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008, the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002, or the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.

If you have questions about these Terms of Service, please contact us: