Dear Sister Society
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Terms of Service

Effective 2026-11-07

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are an agreement between you and Dear Sister Society ("Dear Sister," "we," "us," or "our"), a business based in San Diego County, California. They govern your use of the Dear Sister website, mobile app, and related services (together, the "Service").

Please read Section 15 carefully. It requires most disputes to be resolved by individual binding arbitration, waives class actions and jury trials, and explains how you can opt out within 30 days.

By checking the box when you create an account, or by using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service. Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect and use your information.

1. Who can use Dear Sister

  • You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or use the Service.
  • You must be able to form a binding contract and not be barred from using the Service under applicable law.
  • You may have only one account, and the information you give us must be true and kept up to date.
  • You are responsible for everything that happens under your account and for keeping your login credentials secure. Tell us right away at hello@dearsistersociety.com if you think your account has been compromised.
  • The Service is available in many countries, and you agree to follow the laws that apply where you live. Marketplace purchases currently ship only to addresses in the United States, and all prices are in US dollars.

2. What Dear Sister is — and what it is not

Dear Sister is a community platform where members share posts, good news, tips and thoughts; discover and connect with other members nearby; post and find events; and buy and sell handmade goods.

  • We are a platform, not a party to members' interactions. Members create the posts, host the events, and make and sell the goods. We do not employ, screen, background-check, endorse, or supervise members, event hosts, or sellers.
  • Not professional advice. Content on the Service — including content posted by members or by us — is for general community and informational purposes only. It is not medical, mental-health, legal, financial, or other professional advice, and using the Service does not create a professional or therapeutic relationship with anyone, including Dear Sister or its owners. If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or call 911.

3. Your content

"Your Content" means anything you post or upload, including text, photos, listings, event details, and profile information.

  • You own Your Content. You grant Dear Sister a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, display, adapt (for example, resizing images), and distribute Your Content for the purpose of operating, improving, and promoting the Service. This license ends when you delete Your Content or your account, except for copies kept in backups for a limited period, as required by law, or where others have already shared it.
  • You are responsible for Your Content. You confirm that you have all rights needed to post it and that it does not violate these Terms, anyone else's rights, or the law.
  • We may, but are not required to, review, moderate, remove, or limit the visibility of any content for any reason, including to comply with law or protect members.

4. Community rules

Dear Sister is built on members lifting each other up. You agree not to:

  • harass, bully, threaten, stalk, intimidate, or demean anyone, or post hate speech or content that promotes violence or discrimination;
  • post sexually explicit content, graphic violence, or content that is otherwise objectionable;
  • post content that is false or misleading, impersonate any person, or misrepresent your identity, age, or affiliation;
  • share another person's private information (such as their address, phone number, or location) without their permission;
  • post spam, scams, pyramid schemes, or unsolicited advertising, or solicit money from other members outside the Marketplace;
  • infringe anyone's intellectual property, privacy, or publicity rights;
  • use the Service for any illegal purpose or to sell or promote illegal goods or services;
  • scrape, crawl, reverse engineer, interfere with, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service or other members' accounts; or
  • create accounts by automated means or after we have suspended or banned you.

We have zero tolerance for objectionable content or abusive members. We review reports promptly, and we may remove content and suspend or permanently ban accounts that break these rules. If you see something that breaks these rules, use the Report option on the post, event, listing, or member, or email hello@dearsistersociety.com. You can also Block any member to stop seeing their content.

5. Meeting other members and events

Features such as Friends Nearby, Snail Mail Sisters, and member-posted events may lead you to meet other members in person or exchange mail with them.

  • We do not screen members or verify their identity, background, or intentions, and we do not organize, supervise, or vet member events or venues. Event details are posted by members, and we are not responsible for their accuracy.
  • You are solely responsible for your interactions with other members, online and in person. Use good judgment: meet in public places, tell a friend where you are going, arrange your own transportation, and leave any situation that feels unsafe.
  • To the fullest extent permitted by law, you voluntarily assume all risks of meeting, communicating, or attending events with other members, including risks of personal injury, property damage, or other harm.
  • Snail Mail Sisters (pen pals). If you join, you may exchange mailing addresses with pen pals, who may live in other countries. A pen pal's address is shared with you only so you can send letters to that pen pal. You may not use it for any other purpose, share or publish it, or visit or contact the pen pal there without an invitation. Never ask a pen pal for money, gifts, financial details, or payment-app information, and do not send cash or valuables by mail. You are responsible for following the postal and customs rules of your country and your pen pal's; do not mail anything illegal, dangerous, or prohibited in either country. We do not handle or deliver mail and are not responsible for mail that is lost, delayed, damaged, or never sent. Misusing a pen pal's address or asking a pen pal for money is grounds for permanently removing your account.
  • Location-based features show approximate information. Do not rely on them for safety or navigation.
  • Event tickets. Some members ("Hosts") sell tickets to events they host. Tickets are sold by the Host, not by Dear Sister: you pay the Host directly through Stripe on the Host's own account, and Hosts are bound by our Seller & Host Agreement. If a Host cancels an event or materially changes its date, time, or location, the Host must give you a full refund; otherwise refunds follow the policy stated in the event details. Contact the Host and hello@dearsistersociety.com if a refund is owed and not given. We share your display name with the Host of any event you buy a ticket for.

6. The Marketplace

The Marketplace lets members ("Sellers") list handmade goods for sale to other members ("Buyers").

  • Sellers, not Dear Sister, are the sellers of Marketplace items. Sellers are responsible for their items, listings, shipping, and customer service, and are bound by our Seller & Host Agreement. We do not manufacture, inspect, store, or ship items, and we do not guarantee their quality, safety, legality, or that they match their listing.
  • Payments. You check out in the app, but you pay the Seller directly: the payment is processed by Stripe on the Seller's own Stripe account, and the Seller's business name appears on your statement. By making a purchase, you also agree to Stripe's terms. Your payment information goes directly to Stripe; we do not store full card numbers. Dear Sister receives a commission from the Seller, not from you.
  • Order messages. Order messages are for questions about an order. Be kind, follow the Community rules, and don't use them to arrange payment outside Dear Sister Society.
  • Sales tax. Sellers are responsible for any sales tax on their sales, unless a law requires Dear Sister to collect it. Where tax is being collected, it is calculated and shown at checkout.
  • Shipping. Items currently ship only to addresses in the United States. Each Seller sets their own shipping price (or offers free shipping), which is shown on the listing and charged at checkout. Each listing shows how long the Seller takes to make and ship the item. Sellers ship the items; delivery times are estimates.
  • Buyer protection — refunds. Every Seller must offer a full refund (including shipping charges paid) if (a) an item never arrives, or (b) an item arrives significantly not as described in its listing, including if it arrives damaged. Report the problem to the Seller and to hello@dearsistersociety.com within 30 days of the estimated delivery date. Sellers may offer more generous return policies in their listings. Other returns are at the Seller's discretion. If a Seller does not resolve a qualifying problem, we may help, but our role is limited to facilitating communication and payment adjustments through Stripe.
  • Disputes and chargebacks. Please contact us before disputing a charge with your card issuer so we can try to help.
  • Prohibited items are listed in the Seller & Host Agreement. Report listings that break our rules using the Report option on the listing.

7. Fees

Creating an account and using community features are free. Marketplace Buyers pay the listed price plus any applicable tax and shipping shown at checkout, and ticket buyers pay the ticket price shown. Seller and Host fees are described in the Seller & Host Agreement. If we introduce new fees for any feature, we will tell you in advance, and the fees will not apply to you unless you agree to them.

8. Our intellectual property

The Service, including its design, text, graphics, logos, and software, and the "Dear Sister" name and marks, are owned by Dear Sister or its licensors and are protected by law. Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service for its intended, non-commercial community purposes (and, for Sellers, as permitted by the Seller & Host Agreement). If you send us feedback or ideas, we may use them without obligation to you.

9. Copyright complaints (DMCA)

We respect intellectual property rights. If you believe content on the Service infringes your copyright, send a notice to our designated agent at hello@dearsistersociety.com (Attn: Copyright Agent), or by mail to Dear Sister Society, 1106 2nd St, Ste 103 #721, Encinitas, CA 92024, including: (1) your physical or electronic signature; (2) identification of the copyrighted work; (3) identification of the infringing material and where it is located on the Service; (4) your contact information; (5) a statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and (6) a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the owner or authorized to act on the owner's behalf. We may remove the material and, in appropriate circumstances, terminate the accounts of repeat infringers. If your content was removed and you believe it was a mistake, you may send a counter-notice as described in 17 U.S.C. § 512(g).

10. Third-party services

The Service relies on third parties such as Stripe (payments), Apple and Google (app distribution and sign-in), and our hosting providers. Your use of their services is governed by their terms and privacy policies, and we are not responsible for them. Links to third-party websites are provided for convenience only.

11. Ending your account

You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time in the app (Profile → Delete account) or by contacting hello@dearsistersociety.com. If you sell, you must first ship any paid orders. We may suspend or terminate your access at any time, with or without notice, if we believe you have violated these Terms, created risk or legal exposure for us or other members, or if we discontinue the Service. Sections that by their nature should survive termination — including Sections 3 (license to content already shared), 5, 6 (for completed purchases), 8, and 12 through 17 — will survive.

12. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free, or that any content is accurate. We make no warranties about any member, event, or Marketplace item, and we are not responsible for the conduct of any member, online or offline. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties, so some of these exclusions may not apply to you.

13. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, DEAR SISTER AND ITS OWNERS, CONTRACTORS, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE, YOUR INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER MEMBERS, ANY EVENT, OR ANY MARKETPLACE ITEM, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICE IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID TO DEAR SISTER (EXCLUDING AMOUNTS PAID THROUGH TO SELLERS) IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM AROSE, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100).

These limitations do not apply to liability that cannot be limited by law, including liability for fraud, willful injury, or gross negligence, and they do not limit rights you have under consumer-protection laws that cannot be waived.

14. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Dear Sister and its owners, contractors, and agents from any claims, losses, liabilities, damages, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from Your Content, your use of the Service, your interactions with other members, items you sell, or your violation of these Terms or the law.

15. Dispute resolution — binding arbitration and class-action waiver

Informal resolution first. Before filing any claim, you and we agree to try to resolve the dispute informally by sending a written description of the dispute to the other party (to us at hello@dearsistersociety.com) and negotiating in good faith for at least 60 days.

Agreement to arbitrate. If we cannot resolve it informally, you and Dear Sister agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved by final and binding individual arbitration, except that either party may (a) bring an individual claim in small claims court if it qualifies, and (b) seek relief in court for infringement or misuse of intellectual property. The arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules then in effect, before a single arbitrator. The arbitration may be held by video, by phone, or based on written submissions, or in person in San Diego County, California, or the county where you live. Payment of filing and arbitrator fees will be governed by the AAA's rules. The Federal Arbitration Act governs this Section.

Class-action and jury-trial waiver. You and Dear Sister may bring claims against each other only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding. You and Dear Sister each waive the right to a jury trial. The arbitrator may award relief only to the individual party seeking it and only to the extent necessary to provide relief for that party's individual claim.

Public injunctive relief. Notwithstanding the above, a request for public injunctive relief will be decided by a court in San Diego County, California, after the individual claims are arbitrated, and the court proceeding will be stayed until the arbitration is complete.

30-day opt-out. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by emailing hello@dearsistersociety.com within 30 days after you first accept these Terms, with the subject line "Arbitration Opt-Out" and your name and account email. Opting out will not affect any other part of these Terms.

Severability. If the class-action waiver is found unenforceable for a claim, that claim will proceed in court, not in arbitration. If any other part of this Section is found unenforceable, the rest of it will still apply.

Members outside the United States. If you are a consumer who lives outside the United States, this Section 15 — including the arbitration agreement and the class-action, collective-action, representative-action and jury-trial waivers — does not apply to you. Nothing in these Terms limits any mandatory consumer rights, remedies, applicable-law protections or court rights available to you, and you may bring a claim in the courts available to you under your consumer laws, including the courts of the country where you live. This paragraph controls over any conflicting provision of these Terms.

16. Governing law and venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, except that Section 15 is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act. Any claim that is not subject to arbitration will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in San Diego County, California, and you and we consent to their jurisdiction. If you live outside the United States, nothing in these Terms takes away the protection of the mandatory consumer laws of the country where you live, and you may also bring a claim in the courts there.

17. General terms

  • Changes. We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you in the app or by email and ask you to accept the updated Terms before you continue using the Service. Changes will not apply retroactively.
  • Entire agreement. These Terms, the Seller & Host Agreement (for Sellers and Hosts), and the policies referenced here, including our Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and us about the Service.
  • No waiver; severability. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest of these Terms remain in effect.
  • Assignment. You may not transfer these Terms without our consent. We may transfer them, including to a successor business entity such as a limited liability company formed to operate the Service.
  • Notices. We may send you notices through the Service or to the email on your account. You may send notices to hello@dearsistersociety.com or by mail to Dear Sister Society, 1106 2nd St, Ste 103 #721, Encinitas, CA 92024.

18. Apple App Store terms

If you downloaded the app from Apple's App Store, you and we also acknowledge that:

  • These Terms are between you and Dear Sister only, not Apple, and Dear Sister — not Apple — is solely responsible for the app and its content.
  • Your license to use the app is limited to a non-transferable license to use it on Apple-branded products that you own or control, as permitted by the App Store's Usage Rules.
  • Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for the app.
  • To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no warranty obligation with respect to the app. If the app fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price (if any) for the app.
  • Apple is not responsible for addressing any claims by you or any third party relating to the app, including product-liability claims, claims that the app fails to conform to legal or regulatory requirements, and consumer-protection or privacy claims.
  • Apple is not responsible for the investigation, defense, settlement, or discharge of any third-party claim that the app or your use of it infringes that party's intellectual property rights.
  • You represent that you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. government embargo or designated as a "terrorist supporting" country, and that you are not on any U.S. government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
  • You must comply with applicable third-party terms (such as your wireless carrier's) when using the app.
  • Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you.
  • Questions, complaints, or claims about the app should be directed to Dear Sister at hello@dearsistersociety.com or by mail to Dear Sister Society, 1106 2nd St, Ste 103 #721, Encinitas, CA 92024.

19. Notice to California residents

Under California Civil Code Section 1789.3, California users are entitled to the following consumer-rights notice: The Service is provided by Dear Sister Society, hello@dearsistersociety.com. Community features are free to use; Marketplace purchases and event tickets are charged as shown at checkout. If you have a complaint, you may contact us at hello@dearsistersociety.com or the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs in writing at 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112, Sacramento, CA 95834, or by telephone at (800) 952-5210.

20. Contact

Dear Sister Society
hello@dearsistersociety.com
1106 2nd St
Ste 103 #721
Encinitas, CA 92024