Terms of Service

These terms are a working draft and have not been reviewed by a lawyer. Do not rely on them for a live business until they have been.

gogoplates is operated by gogoplates LLC (“gogoplates”, “we”, “us”). By using gogoplates.com you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

1. What gogoplates is — and is not

gogoplates is a marketplace. We connect people who want home-cooked food with independent home cooks in their community. Orders are placed ahead and collected in person from the cook. We do not deliver.

We do not cook, prepare, handle, package, store, or inspect any food. Every cook on gogoplates is an independent seller, not our employee, agent, partner, or contractor. The contract for the food itself is between you and the cook. We provide the venue, the listings, and the payment mechanism.

2. You must be 18

You must be at least 18 years old to buy or sell on gogoplates. By using the service you confirm that you are.

3. Food safety, allergens and your assumption of risk

Food sold on gogoplates is prepared in private home kitchens. These kitchens are not commercial facilities and are not subject to the same routine inspection as restaurants.

Food may contain, or have come into contact with, allergens including milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy and sesame. We cannot and do not verify allergen information. If you have a food allergy or intolerance, contact the cook directly before ordering, and understand that cross-contamination in a home kitchen is possible even when a cook takes care.

You acknowledge that eating food prepared by another person carries inherent risk, including the risk of foodborne illness, and you accept that risk when you order.

4. Rules for cooks

If you sell on gogoplates, you are responsible for all of the following:

• Holding every permit, licence, registration and food-handler certification your city, county and state require — including, in California, a Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation (MEHKO) permit or other applicable cottage food or home kitchen authorisation.
• Operating within any legal limits attached to those permits, including sales and volume caps.
• Describing your food accurately, including ingredients and known allergens.
• Preparing, storing and handling food safely and hygienically.
• Reporting and paying your own taxes. You are self-employed; we do not withhold tax.
• Honouring orders customers have paid for, at the time and place agreed.

You are the seller of your food and you are legally responsible for it. We may suspend or remove any cook at any time, including for suspected permit, safety or quality problems.

Permit verification

We do not currently verify cook permits before listing, and a listing on gogoplates is not a representation that a cook holds any permit or has been inspected by anyone. We record permit information when cooks provide it. Where we have not verified a permit, we do not display any badge or claim suggesting we have.

5. Orders, prices and payment

Cooks set their own prices. At checkout you pay the food subtotal plus a $1.49 service fee. gogoplates retains a 12% commission on the food subtotal plus the service fee; the remainder is paid to the cook.

Payments are processed by Stripe. We never receive or store your full card number. Your use of payment features is also subject to Stripe’s terms. Cooks are paid through Stripe Connect and must complete Stripe’s identity verification to receive money.

Cooks may be charged a subscription fee for selling on gogoplates. Current pricing is shown during cook signup. We will give notice before changing fees.

6. Cancellations and refunds

Because food is prepared to order and perishable, orders cannot generally be cancelled once a cook has begun preparing them.

• Cook cancels, or you arrive and there is no food: you receive a full refund, including the service fee.
• You do not collect your order: no refund. The cook has made the food.
• Something was wrong with the order: contact us within 48 hours at hello@gogoplates.com. We will look into it and may refund some or all of the order at our discretion.

Refunds return to your original payment method and may take several business days.

7. Pickup and addresses

A cook’s exact street address is private until your order is paid for, after which it is released to you for collection. You may use that address only to collect your order. Do not share, publish, or reuse it.

8. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Use gogoplates for anything unlawful, or to sell anything other than food you prepared.
• Sell alcohol, cannabis, or any controlled substance.
• Post false, misleading, abusive, harassing or infringing content.
• Attempt to bypass gogoplates to avoid fees on orders that began here.
• Scrape, probe, overload or attempt to gain unauthorised access to the service.

9. Your content

You keep ownership of the text and photos you upload. You grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to display and promote that content in connection with operating and marketing gogoplates. You confirm you have the right to grant that licence.

10. Disclaimers

The service is provided “as is”, without warranties of any kind, to the fullest extent the law allows. We do not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted or error-free, and we make no warranty as to the quality, safety, legality or fitness of any food sold through it.

11. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, gogoplates is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for any illness, injury, loss or damage arising from food purchased through the service.

Our total liability for any claim relating to the service is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the three months before the claim or $100.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so parts of this section may not apply to you. Nothing here limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited.

12. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold gogoplates harmless from claims, damages and reasonable legal costs arising out of your use of the service, your breach of these terms, or — if you are a cook — the food you sell and your compliance with law.

13. Suspension and termination

You may stop using gogoplates and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate access at any time, with or without notice, including for breach of these terms or for risks to safety. Sections that by their nature should survive termination will do so.

14. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict of law rules. Disputes will be brought in the state or federal courts located in San Joaquin County, California, and you and gogoplates consent to that jurisdiction.

We encourage you to contact us first at hello@gogoplates.com — most problems are quicker to fix than to litigate.

15. Changes

We may update these terms. When we do, we will change the date at the top and, for significant changes, notify you. Continuing to use gogoplates after a change means you accept the updated terms.