Legal Policies

1. Terms & Conditions of Sale

1.1 Who We Are

Brace is a South African multi-brand fashion marketplace operated from South Africa. Contact us at legal@brace.co.za.

1.2 Eligibility

• —You must be at least 18 years old to register an account or place an Order.
• —By registering, you confirm that all information you provide is accurate and current.
• —You are responsible for all activity under your account.

1.3 Orders and Contract Formation

Placing an Order constitutes an offer to purchase. An Agreement of Sale is only concluded upon delivery of Goods to you. Order confirmation or payment receipt does not constitute acceptance of your offer. We reserve the right to decline any Order — for example, where stock is unavailable, payment is not received, or we suspect fraud.

1.4 Pricing

• —All prices are in South African Rand (ZAR) and are inclusive of VAT at the prevailing rate.
• —We reserve the right to correct pricing errors and, where an Order was placed at an incorrect price, to cancel the Order and issue a full refund.
• —Stock availability is not guaranteed. If Goods become unavailable after payment, we will notify you and refund within 5–7 business days.

1.5 Payment

• —Payment is processed via our secure third-party payment gateway. We do not store your card details on our servers.
• —You warrant that you are authorised to use the payment method presented.
• —All transactions are secured using SSL/TLS encryption.

1.6 Intellectual Property

All content on the Brace platform — including logos, trade marks, product images, and software — is owned by or licensed to Brace and protected by copyright and trade mark law. You may not reproduce or exploit any content without prior written consent.

1.7 Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by South African law, Brace shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential loss or damage arising from use of the platform. Our total liability for any Order shall not exceed the purchase price paid for that Order. We do not exclude liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for fraud, or where excluded by the CPA.

1.8 Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. You consent to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of South African courts without prejudice to your rights under the CPA to approach the National Consumer Commission.

2. Privacy Policy (POPIA-Compliant)

2.1 Who We Are (Responsible Party)

Brace is the Responsible Party as defined by POPIA. Our Information Officer can be contacted at privacy@brace.co.za.

2.2 Personal Information We Collect

• —Account data: your full name, email address, and account creation date.
• —Delivery information: full name, phone number, and delivery address (street, suburb, city, province, postal code) collected at checkout and stored with each order.
• —Order history: products purchased, quantities, prices at time of purchase, order status, and relevant status timestamps.
• —Product reviews: star rating and review text you submit for products you have purchased.
• —Wishlist: products you save to your wishlist.
• —Return requests: reason category, written description, and photographs of the item you upload when requesting a return.
• —Session data: authentication tokens issued by Supabase (our database provider) to keep you signed in. These are short-lived and automatically refreshed.
• —Technical data: IP address, browser type, and pages visited — collected automatically via server logs for security and debugging purposes.

2.3 Why We Process Your Information

2.4 Third Parties We Share Information With

We do not sell your Personal Information. We share it only as necessary with:

All third-party providers are bound by written agreements to process your Personal Information only as instructed and to maintain appropriate security safeguards.

2.5 Cross-Border Transfers

Some of our service providers (Supabase, Resend, Vercel) operate servers outside South Africa. Where we transfer Personal Information internationally, we do so in compliance with section 72 of POPIA, including ensuring recipients maintain adequate data-protection standards or have appropriate contractual safeguards in place.

2.6 Data Retention

• —Account data is retained while your account is active and deleted within 30 days of account closure (subject to legal exceptions).
• —Order records are retained for 7 years to comply with South African Revenue Service (SARS) record-keeping requirements.
• —Authentication sessions expire automatically (typically within 1 hour; refreshed on activity).
• —Return records are retained for 3 years following resolution.

2.7 Security

We implement reasonable technical safeguards including SSL/TLS encryption, Row Level Security on our database (each user can only access their own data), and access controls limiting staff access to Personal Information. No transmission over the internet is 100% secure. In the event of a breach affecting your rights, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as required by POPIA.

2.8 Your Rights Under POPIA

• —Access — request a copy of Personal Information we hold about you.
• —Correction — request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information.
• —Deletion — request deletion of your Personal Information (subject to legal retention obligations).
• —Objection — object to processing based on legitimate interest.
• —Withdrawal of consent — withdraw consent for analytics cookies or marketing at any time.
• —Complaint — lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa.

To exercise these rights, contact our Information Officer at privacy@brace.co.za. We will respond within a reasonable time as required by POPIA.

2.9 Information Regulator

If you are dissatisfied with our handling of your Personal Information, you may contact the Information Regulator of South Africa at www.inforegulator.org.za or by email at inforeg@justice.gov.za.

3. Returns, Refunds & Exchanges

3.1 30-Day Return Window

You may return most items within 30 calendar days of delivery for a full refund or exchange, provided the item meets the conditions below.

3.2 Return Conditions

• —Items must be unworn, unwashed, and in original condition with all tags attached.
• —Items must be in their original packaging (where applicable).
• —Proof of purchase (your order reference) is required.
• —Undergarments, swimwear, pierced jewellery, and items marked "Final Sale" are not eligible for return for hygiene or commercial reasons, except where goods are defective.

3.3 How to Return

• —Log in to your Brace account and navigate to My Orders.
• —Select the order item and click "Request return".
• —Provide the reason and upload photographs of the item.
• —We will review your request within 2 business days and provide further instructions.

3.4 Defective or Incorrect Goods

If you receive a defective, damaged, or incorrect item, you are entitled to a repair, replacement, or refund in accordance with section 56 of the CPA, regardless of the 30-day window. Please contact us at legal@brace.co.za with photographs and your order reference.

3.5 Refund Timeline

• —Once we receive and inspect the returned item, we will process the refund within 5–7 business days.
• —Refunds are returned via the original payment method.
• —If the original payment method is unavailable, we will arrange an EFT to your nominated account.

4. Shipping & Delivery Policy

4.1 Delivery Partner

Brace delivers nationwide across South Africa using The Courier Guy. You will receive a tracking number by email once your order has been dispatched from our warehouse.

4.2 Delivery Timeframes

Timeframes are estimates and not guaranteed. We are not liable for delays caused by The Courier Guy, acts of God, public holidays, or circumstances outside our control.

4.3 Delivery Charges

• —Free delivery on orders of R500 or more.
• —A delivery fee applies to orders below R500. The exact fee will be displayed at checkout.

4.4 Risk and Ownership

Risk of loss or damage passes to you upon delivery. Ownership passes to you upon receipt of full payment.

4.5 Failed Deliveries

If delivery fails because no one is available to receive the parcel, The Courier Guy will attempt re-delivery or leave a notice with collection instructions. Brace is not responsible for additional costs arising from failed deliveries due to incorrect addresses provided at checkout.

5. Cookie Policy

5.1 What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored on your device by websites you visit. They are widely used to make websites work efficiently and to provide information to site owners. Some functionality may be unavailable if cookies are disabled.

5.2 Cookies Brace Uses

5.3 Managing Cookies

You can manage cookie preferences at any time using the “Manage preferences” option in the cookie bar at the bottom of this page (reload the page if it is no longer visible after consenting). You can also clear cookies and localStorage through your browser settings — note that doing so will sign you out of your account.

6. Disclaimer & Limitation of Liability

6.1 Website Accuracy

While we take care to ensure the accuracy of product descriptions, pricing, and stock information on brace.co.za, we do not warrant that such information is complete, error-free, or current at all times. We reserve the right to correct errors without prior notice.

6.2 No Warranties

The Brace platform is provided “as is” and “as available”. To the extent permitted by law, we exclude all warranties, express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

6.3 Third-Party Websites and Suppliers

Brace is a marketplace. Goods are supplied by independent brands. While we vet our supplier partners, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of all supplier-provided information. We are not responsible for the content or practices of any third-party websites linked to or from brace.co.za.

6.4 Force Majeure

Brace shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performing its obligations where such failure or delay results from circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including acts of God, civil unrest, pandemics, load shedding, or telecommunications failures.

6.5 Maximum Liability

Subject to the CPA, our aggregate liability to you in connection with any Order shall not exceed the total amount paid by you for the Goods in that Order. Nothing in this clause limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or where prohibited by law.