Terms of Use
Effective date: 7 May 2026 Last updated: 7 May 2026
These Terms govern your use of darebay.com, the DareBay web app, our APIs and related services (together, the "Service"). The Service is run by Ruslan Bei, an individual based in Europe, trading under the name DareBay (the "Operator", "we", "us"). Registration of a UK private limited company (UK Ltd) is planned; once it is completed, the Operator role will pass to that company, and these Terms will be updated to name the new legal entity and its registered office.
By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.
1. What DareBay does
DareBay is a platform where people and brands launch all kinds of activities: challenges, battles, contests and creative briefs. One person (the Organizer) puts up a prize and sets the brief. Others (the Participants) send in works. Viewers watch, vote, comment. The winners get paid. That is all.
We provide the platform and the wallet that moves value between Organizers and Participants. We are not Participants in any contest, not the jury (except where the rules require us to step in), and not a marketing or PR agency for anyone.
2. Accounts
2.1 Who may use the Service
- The minimum age to create an account is 13 years.
- The minimum age to fund contests, receive prizes or withdraw money from the wallet is the age of majority in your country.
- You must not be on UK / EU / UN sanctions lists.
- You may have one active account. We reserve the right to merge or close duplicates.
2.2 Your account is your responsibility
- You are responsible for the security of your password and devices.
- You are responsible for everything that happens under your account unless you have reported a compromise.
- Keep your contact email up to date - it is the channel we use to reach you about the wallet, contests and disputes.
2.3 Verification levels
Three optional levels - BLOGGER, STORE, COMPANY - give an account a verified badge once we (or our verification partner) have checked your identity or business documents. Verified accounts pay a lower commission and are more visible on the platform. Verification is not required in order to use the Service.
3. Acceptable use
You agree not to:
- Run scams - fake contests, fake prizes, contests with no intention of paying out, prizes at someone else's expense.
- Send in fake works - stolen content, works laundered through AI and passed off as original, someone else's content without the author's permission.
- Rig votes or the selection - bot farms, paid voting, manipulation of likes and ratings.
- Post illegal, violent or hateful content - anything that breaks applicable law, depicts minors in sexualized contexts, incites violence or discrimination, or harasses specific people.
- Harass other users - insults, threats, doxxing, mass DMs after a loss.
- Reverse-engineer, scrape or attack the Service, its API or other people's accounts.
- Use the Service for money laundering, tax evasion or processing payments for goods and services unrelated to real contests.
- Break the terms of TikTok, Instagram or YouTube when connecting those accounts.
The response to violations escalates: a warning, restrictions, suspension, a ban. Severe violations (scams, illegal content, laundering, child safety) mean an instant ban with no warning.
4. Contests
4.1 Roles
- Organizer - the user who creates and funds a contest.
- Participant - the user who sends a work into a contest.
- Viewer - anyone who watches, comments, votes, reports.
4.2 Organizer obligations
By publishing a contest, you undertake to:
- Fund the full prize amount at the moment of publication. The prize is locked in the wallet and cannot be spent on anything else.
- Honour the selection method you chose:
- RANDOM - the works with the most likes are picked automatically;
- CREATOR_DECISION - you pick the winners manually within the selection window;
- VIEWER_VOTING - community votes decide the result.
- Honour the rules you wrote into the contest terms.
- Deliver any ITEM prize within the agreed timeframe after the winner is confirmed.
Once submissions have opened, a contest cannot be cancelled without our review and the consent of the Participants affected. Cancellations before submissions open return the money to the wallet (less the commission already taken - see section 7).
4.3 Participant obligations
By sending in a work, you confirm that:
- The work is yours or you have permission to submit it.
- It matches the contest brief and these Terms.
- For imported works from TikTok, Instagram or YouTube you are the author of the source video or you have the author's permission. Ownership must be confirmed through the account connection flow before the work counts.
- One work per Participant per contest, unless the brief allows more.
4.4 Selection and the prize lock
After a contest closes:
- The selection mechanism runs (or the Organizer picks, depending on the selection type).
- The winners are confirmed.
- The Coins prize moves out of the contest lock into the winners' wallets.
- The commission is settled with the Operator.
If the Organizer does not act within the selection window, fallback rules apply (usually an automatic win for the top of the rating, with possible escalation to platform review). The exact fallback for each selection type is described in Quick start → How is the winner chosen.
4.5 Disputes
Contest disputes (for example, "the winner sent in a stolen work") go like this:
- A report inside the platform.
- Operator review with evidence from both sides.
- A decision: leave it, re-select, refund, ban.
The Operator's decision in a dispute is final, but you keep all the rights given to you by the consumer law of your country.
5. The DareBay wallet and Coins
5.1 Coins
The Service uses an internal unit - DareBay Coins - to fund contests and pay winners. Coins are not a currency, not a financial instrument and have no value outside the Service.
You can get Coins through the methods we offer at any given time (for example, through supported payment methods). The rate, the fees and the available methods are shown in the app at the moment of purchase.
5.2 The wallet
Every DareBay account has a wallet that tracks:
- The available balance - Coins you can spend or withdraw.
- The locked balance - Coins tied to active contests.
- The history of all top-ups, contest funding, prizes received, commissions and withdrawals.
5.3 Withdrawals
Withdrawing Coins (where the methods we provide are available) happens:
- Subject to a minimum withdrawal threshold (shown in the app).
- With identity verification where the law requires it.
- Within the timeframe of the chosen method.
- With the fees disclosed before you confirm the withdrawal.
We may suspend withdrawals to investigate suspicious activity or on a lawful demand. We will notify you and record the reason.
5.4 Refunds
Top-ups are generally final. Refunds are possible if a payment failed on our side, if a charge was made in error, or if applicable consumer law requires it.
5.5 Taxes
You are responsible for taxes on prizes and income earned through the Service. We may issue tax reports as the law of our jurisdiction requires.
6. Content licensing
6.1 The rights stay with you
You remain the owner of everything you send to DareBay - contests, works, comments, profile content. Submitting does not transfer copyright.
6.2 The licence you grant DareBay
So that the Service can work, you grant DareBay a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable licence to host, store, reproduce, display and transmit your content only to the extent necessary to:
- Show your contests and works to other users;
- Generate previews, posters and thumbnails;
- Recommend contests and surface them in the feed;
- Promote DareBay (for example, featuring an outstanding work in marketing) - but only public content, and with attribution.
This licence ends when you delete the content, except where we need copies for legal, dispute or backup purposes.
6.3 What you cannot licence to us
You cannot grant us a licence to content you do not own. If a third party claims rights and substantiates them, we will take the content down and may suspend the author's account.
6.4 Infringement notices (DMCA-style)
If you believe that content on DareBay infringes your copyright, send a notice to legal@darebay.com with:
- Your contact details and signature.
- Identification of the infringed work.
- The DareBay URL of the infringing content.
- A statement under penalty of perjury that you are entitled to act on behalf of the rights holder and that the statement is made in good faith.
We act on valid notices and inform the user who posted the content. Repeat infringers are banned.
7. Commission
DareBay takes a commission on contests. It is:
- Deducted from the prize, not added on top.
- Shown in your currency before you confirm, no surprises.
- Lower for verified accounts.
The exact rates and the discounts by verification level are set out in Quick start → What commission does DareBay take? and in the contest creation flow.
8. Connected social accounts
8.1 What connecting does
When you connect TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, you allow DareBay to confirm that you are the owner of the video sent into a contest, by comparing your authenticated handle with the public handle of the source video's author.
8.2 What we do not do
We do not post on your behalf, do not send messages, do not read private messages, and do not use your data from the platform for anything other than confirming ownership. The details are in the Privacy Policy, section 3.
8.3 Disconnecting
You can disconnect at any time in Settings → Connected accounts. Disconnecting deletes the record of the link. Works previously verified through that link stay attached to you, but further verification through that link no longer runs.
9. Suspension and termination
9.1 By you
You can delete your account at any time in Settings → Account → Delete account. Deletion:
- Removes your profile and personal data in line with the Privacy Policy, section 6.
- Pays out winnings and the unlocked balance through the methods you have set up, where available, or holds them under the standard unclaimed funds rules.
- Anonymizes your name in the public contest history as "Deleted user".
You cannot delete an account while there are active contests, locked prize funds or unresolved disputes.
9.2 By us
We may suspend or terminate your account if:
- You have breached these Terms or the Acceptable use rules.
- We are required to by law (a court order, sanctions and so on).
- We have a credible suspicion of fraud, laundering or platform abuse.
For non-urgent suspensions we will explain the reason and give you a chance to respond. In urgent cases (active fraud, illegal content) we act first and explain afterwards.
On termination for cause we may withhold the un-withdrawn balance up to the amount of the fraud proceeds; on termination without cause the un-withdrawn balance is returned through your usual withdrawal methods.
10. No warranties / liability
10.1 "As is"
The Service is provided "as is". We do not guarantee that it will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that any particular contest will attract Participants. We do not insure the quality of works or the taste of the judges.
10.2 Liability cap
To the maximum extent permitted by law, our aggregate liability to you for any claim arising out of the Service is limited to:
- The commission we earned from your activity in the 12 months before the claim, or
- £100,
whichever is greater.
Nothing in these Terms limits liability for fraud, gross negligence, death or personal injury caused by negligence, or any liability that cannot be limited under applicable law.
10.3 Indemnity
You agree to indemnify DareBay against third-party claims arising from your breach of these Terms, unlawful use of the Service, or content that infringed someone else's rights.
11. Governing law and disputes
11.1 Governing law
These Terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, without regard to conflict of law rules, and without prejudice to the mandatory consumer rights you may have in your country of residence.
11.2 Where you can bring a claim
A claim against us can be brought:
- In the courts of England and Wales; or
- In the courts of your country, if its law gives you the right to sue at your place of residence as a consumer.
11.3 Write to us first
Before filing a claim, write to legal@darebay.com describing the problem. Most disputes are settled that way within a few working days.
12. Changes to the Terms
We may update the Terms when the platform or the law changes. Material changes are announced by:
- Updating the Last updated date at the top.
- An email to your account address for material changes.
- A banner on the site for 30 days after the change.
If you do not agree, you can stop using the Service and delete your account. Continuing to use DareBay after the date the change takes effect means you agree to it.
13. Contacts
| General | hello@darebay.com |
| Legal and disputes | legal@darebay.com |
| Privacy | privacy@darebay.com |
| Operator | Ruslan Bei (sole operator), trading as DareBay |
| Postal address | Provided on written request to legal@darebay.com |