Terms & Conditions

These terms apply when you visit or use AERA’s website, create an account, publish or browse an artist profile or gig, post or respond to a project brief, message another member, or use AERA’s payment features when available. By using AERA, you agree to these terms and the Privacy Policy.

AERA is an evolving service. Features may be updated, paused, or withdrawn. If a change materially affects users, AERA will update this page and, where practical, provide notice through the website or the email associated with your account.

AERA is a digital marketplace where buyers can discover creative services, review artist profiles and gigs, and publish project briefs. Artists can present their services and respond to suitable briefs. Members may use AERA messages to discuss potential work.

Artists are independent service providers. Unless AERA expressly agrees otherwise in a separate written arrangement, AERA does not employ artists or perform their creative work. AERA facilitates discovery and, when enabled, payment processing; it does not guarantee that a listing, member, project, or result will meet your expectations. Nothing here limits any responsibility or consumer right that cannot legally be limited.

Use accurate, current information and keep your sign-in details secure. You are responsible for activity under your account and should tell AERA promptly if you believe someone else has accessed it.

Choose the account role that describes how you use AERA: buyer, artist, or both. You must be legally able to enter into agreements you make through the service. If you are under 18, use AERA only with a parent or legal guardian who is responsible for the account and project agreement.

Do not impersonate another person, create misleading profiles, or use contact information or images without permission. Keep your profile, location, service, and payout information accurate and up to date.

Artists must describe their experience, service, price, delivery method, inclusions, exclusions, and portfolio examples honestly and must have the rights and permissions needed to upload their content. Buyers must ensure project briefs accurately describe the requested work, requirements, budget or price expectations, and relevant deadlines.

AERA may review applications, profiles, gigs, project briefs, and proposals before or after publication. Review is a marketplace quality and safety measure, not a guarantee of credentials, suitability, availability, or future performance. AERA may request changes, decline or remove a submission, or restrict an account where content appears misleading, unsafe, unlawful, or inconsistent with these terms.

A proposal, message, profile view, saved listing, or application is not by itself a confirmed booking. Buyers and artists should confirm scope, deliverables, schedule, revisions, usage rights, and any expenses in the project agreement or checkout details before work begins.

Before work begins, the buyer and artist should agree in writing on the deliverables, timeline, revision limits, usage rights, expenses, taxes, communication expectations, and what happens if either side needs to change or cancel the project. The accepted gig, proposal, project agreement, and final checkout summary together describe the order.

When AERA checkout becomes available, an order will be confirmed only after the buyer reviews the checkout summary and the payment provider confirms payment. The checkout summary will identify the artist, project or gig, agreed fixed price or hourly rate and approved hours, any applicable taxes or other charges, the amount charged, and the cancellation/refund terms. The displayed checkout summary controls if it differs from an earlier estimate or discussion.

For hourly work, the buyer and artist must agree the rate and number of hours before payment. Additional hours or scope changes require the buyer’s approval and a separate updated agreement or checkout. No additional amount should be charged without the buyer’s consent.

AERA’s online checkout is not active at the time of this update. Do not treat a profile, gig, project brief, chat, or payment setup screen as a payment receipt or confirmed order. Until checkout is enabled, buyers and artists are responsible for any payment they arrange directly with each other. Verify the recipient and keep your own records.

When checkout is enabled, buyers will pay through the payment method shown at checkout. AERA’s planned marketplace service fee is 15% of the agreed project amount. The artist’s estimated share is 85% of that amount, before any legally required tax withholding or other adjustment disclosed in the applicable checkout or payout terms. AERA plans to cover the payment gateway fee from its 15% share; that gateway fee will not be added to the buyer’s displayed amount or deducted again from the artist’s 85% share. The final amount and fee breakdown will be shown before the buyer confirms payment.

Payments will be processed by the payment provider shown at checkout and remain subject to that provider’s terms, verification requirements, payment-method rules, and applicable law. AERA will not ask you to send a password, card PIN, one-time passcode, or full payment credentials in a chat or support message. AERA does not store full card credentials.

Artist payouts are not active until AERA enables checkout and the artist completes any required identity, tax, and payout-account verification. Artists must provide accurate payout details belonging to them or to a business they are authorised to represent.

Under AERA’s planned payout process, the artist may request completion after delivering the agreed work. The buyer can confirm completion or raise a report through AERA. If the buyer does not raise a report or dispute within seven days after the completion request, AERA plans to release the eligible payout, subject to payment-provider settlement, verification, and legal requirements. An open report, dispute, refund review, chargeback, or provider hold pauses payout while the issue is reviewed.

Payment-provider processing times and banking delays may affect when funds reach an artist. AERA will show the applicable payout status in the account when the payment feature is available. The seven-day review period is not a guarantee of a particular bank transfer date.

Until AERA checkout is active, AERA cannot reverse or refund a payment made directly between a buyer and artist. The parties should agree cancellation, rescheduling, deposit, work-started, and refund terms before direct payment or work begins.

When checkout is enabled, cancellation eligibility and any refund amount will depend on the order terms shown at checkout, the work completed, approved expenses, the facts of the case, payment-provider rules, and applicable law. Any refund approved for an AERA checkout payment will be initiated through the original payment method where supported. The time it takes to appear depends on the payment provider, bank, and payment method; AERA cannot guarantee a bank’s posting time.

Raise a project concern promptly through AERA’s support ticket system and include relevant project messages or delivery details. AERA may review the information, request a response from the other party, and pause an eligible payout while a dispute or refund request is reviewed. AERA’s review does not remove any rights you may have with your bank, payment provider, or under applicable law.

See Cancellations & Refunds for additional guidance. The final order-specific cancellation and refund terms will be shown before checkout is enabled.

Reviews must reflect a genuine project experience and must not contain threats, private information, discriminatory content, or material unrelated to the engagement. AERA may hide or remove a review that violates these terms or applicable law and may investigate reports about members, listings, messages, orders, or payments.

AERA may warn, limit, suspend, or close an account or remove content where reasonably needed to protect members, comply with law, investigate suspected fraud, or enforce these terms. Where practical, AERA will explain the action and provide a way to raise a concern.

You keep ownership of the photos, text, portfolio materials, and other content you submit. You give AERA a limited, non-exclusive permission to host, display, resize, and share that content as needed to operate the marketplace, show your profile, gig, or project brief, and promote AERA in a way that relates to the service. This permission ends when the content is removed, except for copies retained in backups or where law, safety, or a dispute requires retention.

Do not upload content that infringes another person’s rights, breaks the law, exposes someone’s private information, or misrepresents the work being offered.

Do not use AERA for fraud, harassment, threats, discrimination, spam, unlawful services, malware, scraping, or attempts to access another account or private data. Do not use AERA messages to send harmful links or request sensitive credentials.

AERA may investigate reports and take proportionate action to protect members and the service. Members must cooperate with reasonable requests related to a project report, payment review, suspected fraud, or legal obligation.

AERA is an evolving marketplace. We work to keep it available and accurate, but cannot promise uninterrupted access, a particular search result, a match, a member’s availability, or a project outcome. To the extent permitted by law, AERA is not responsible for an independent artist’s work or a buyer’s conduct. Nothing in these terms excludes a right or remedy that cannot legally be excluded or limited.

These terms are governed by the laws of India, subject to any mandatory consumer protections and dispute-resolution rights available to you. Any limitation or allocation of responsibility in these terms applies only to the extent permitted by applicable law.