Terms of Service

These are the terms for using Locates.io. They are a draft and may change before they take effect; you will be asked to accept the final version at sign-in. If a signed deal agreement differs from these terms, the signed agreement controls for that deal.

1. Who we are and these Terms

Locates.io, 312 W. 2nd St #2044, Casper, WY 82601 ("Locates.io", "we", "us"), runs the Locates.io website, apps and services. By checking "I have read and agree" you accept these Terms for your dealership.

2. Eligibility and accounts

Locates.io is only for franchised new-vehicle dealerships and the people they authorize. It is not for consumers.
We verify every dealership before it can list or buy. We may decline or suspend any account.
You confirm you are authorized by your dealership to act for it. Only people set up as signers may sign deal agreements, and each signer confirms that authority when signing.
Sign-in is by a link or one-time code sent to your dealership email address and is tied to your device. Keep your email account secure; you are responsible for activity on your account. Tell us right away at desk@locatesio.com if you think it was misused.

3. What Locates.io does

Locates.io runs a marketplace where dealerships trade new units with each other. We match buyers and sellers, set up the terms with each side, generate the deal agreement, run the part of settlement over or under invoice, and arrange freight when the buyer wants delivery.
We act as the go-between for both dealers on a deal. We are not a party to the vehicle sale. We never buy, hold or take title to inventory. The unit transfers directly between the two dealerships.
We do not inspect vehicles and make no promise about a vehicle's condition beyond the pickup and delivery inspections in section 10.

Until both dealers have signed the deal agreement, neither sees the other's name, address, city, dealer code, VIN (full or partial) or exact distance. Buyers see the vehicle, a freight region, a distance band and an anonymous profile.
A buyer may view a redacted copy of the seller's invoice for a listed unit. Identifying details are removed from it.
Identities and VINs are released in the sealed part of the agreement when it executes.
There is no dealer-to-dealer messaging. All communication runs between each dealer and Locates.io. You agree not to try to identify or contact the other dealer before an agreement executes.

5. Listings

You are responsible for the accuracy of your listings, including the vehicle, VIN, invoice amount and any demo, courtesy or in-service history. One active listing per VIN.
You may list at a price, open to offers, or privately, and you may hide a listing at any time (ask our desk to edit or remove one). A radius setting hides your units from dealers within the distance you choose.
You may list by uploading the factory invoice, by bulk import, or by sending stock numbers to our desk to list for you. You confirm every listing we create for you.
No photos of units are posted to the marketplace. The only photos are of freight damage documented at pickup or delivery.
A listed unit must be yours to sell and available. If it sells elsewhere, mark it unavailable right away (section 11).

6. Fees

Selling on Locates.io is free. The seller pays no listing fee and no platform fee.
The buyer pays a platform fee of $199 per unit, one time, on units bought through Locates.io. Founding 100 members pay $99 per unit (section 12). There is no subscription, listing fee or contract term.
The fee is set by our published pricing rules. The rules in force when a deal's terms are finalized apply to that deal; a later change never affects a deal already finalized.
The fee is locked when terms are finalized and invoiced when both dealers have signed. It is refunded if the deal is cancelled before pickup; once a unit has been picked up, the fee is earned and kept.
We add no margin to the vehicle price and keep none of it. Our revenue is the platform fee and the freight amount in section 7.

7. Freight

The buyer chooses delivery or buyer pickup. For buyer pickup, the freight charge is $0.
Before terms, the buyer sees a freight estimate as a range. An estimate is never a quote.
At terms, the freight charge per unit is the carrier's quote for that load, divided per unit, plus a flat freight margin per unit (currently $75). It is locked when terms are finalized and shown on the deal sheet before signing.
Locates.io arranges the carrier and keeps or absorbs any difference between the locked charge and the carrier's final cost. A locked charge is never re-billed to you.
Carriers are independent. Each unit is inspected at pickup and at delivery, and damage is documented with photos at those two points.

8. Signatures and agreements

Each deal is documented in an agreement with two parts: Part A (the terms, signed without identities) and Part B (sealed identities and VINs, released when the agreement executes).
Buyer and seller sign independently, in either order, in the app or through an emailed signing link. An agreement executes only when both have signed the same current version.
A signed version is never edited. Any change to the terms creates a new version that both sides sign again.
You consent to doing business electronically and agree that electronic signatures and records on Locates.io are valid and binding. Each signer receives a signed copy with a signature certificate.

9. Settlement and payment

Units transfer between the dealers at invoice, by floor-plan swap or by check, as dealer trades are done today. Locates.io never holds the invoice amount.
The amount over or under invoice, the platform fee and the freight charge run through Locates.io. The deal sheet shows each side, before signing, who pays whom and how much. Whoever owes pays Locates.io directly; Locates.io pays whoever is owed.
Payment is due within 10 business days after delivery by wire, ACH or check to the account on our invoice. A check counts as paid when it clears.
We pay what a dealership is owed only after the money it depends on has cleared and delivery is recorded.
Before we pay a dealership the first time, we confirm its bank details by phone. We never act on a bank-detail change sent only by email.
If a payment is returned, the deal is put on hold, no payout is made on it, and the paying dealership must pay again by another method before any unit is released.

10. Delivery, inspection and damage

The carrier inspects each unit at pickup and at delivery. The buyer must note any damage or shortage on the driver's bill of lading at delivery and report it in the app within the claim window shown on the deal (currently 48 hours).
A unit not reported within the claim window is accepted as delivered.
Transit damage is claimed against the carrier's cargo insurance first; we help document and file it.
For damage or misrepresentation that is the seller's responsibility, the seller chooses one remedy: replace the unit with a like unit the buyer approves within 10 business days, credit the written repair estimate, or unwind that unit.
Title documents (MSO) move from the seller, or the seller's floor-plan lender, to the buyer. The seller sends them by tracked delivery within 10 business days after delivery.

11. Cancellation and units no longer available

Before both sides sign, either side may withdraw at no cost.
After the agreement executes, only Locates.io can cancel a deal, at a party's request or for cause, with a reason recorded.
If a deal is cancelled after money was received, the money is refunded, less any amount the agreement says is kept. Once a unit has been picked up, Locates.io absorbs the carrier's cost and the platform fee is kept.
If a committed unit is sold elsewhere, the seller must tell us immediately. The unit is frozen and never shipped. The seller may offer the same or a like unit the buyer approves in writing; otherwise the unit is dropped, or the deal is cancelled and rebuilt. No charge applies to the seller for a unit sold elsewhere.

12. Founding 100

A dealership becomes a Founding 100 member automatically once it has completed 10 units through Locates.io, bought or sold, on deals that are delivered and settled, while spots remain. Only the first 100 dealerships to reach 10 qualify. Listing alone doesn't count, trades between rooftops of the same dealer group don't count, and there is nothing to apply for.
Founding 100 members pay $99 per unit, instead of $199, whenever they buy, for the life of the account while it stays in good standing. This applies to deals whose terms are finalized after the dealership qualifies; earlier deals keep the fee locked at their terms.
We may revoke Founding status from an account that is not in good standing, for example for non-payment, fraud, or trading with itself through related accounts to reach 10. A reason is recorded.

13. Your conduct

Use Locates.io honestly: accurate listings, real intent to trade, prompt signatures and payments.
Do not try to get around the blind rules or the fee. Do not buy or sell a unit introduced to you through Locates.io with the other dealer outside Locates.io; if you do, the platform fee that would have applied is owed.
Keep deal terms, pricing and the other dealer's identity confidential.
Do not scrape, copy or resell marketplace data, interfere with the service, or use another dealership's account. We may suspend an account that breaks these rules.

14. Communications

Sign-in, security and deal emails always arrive while you have an account; they are part of the service.
Marketing and digest emails from the app can be turned off in your notification settings or with the unsubscribe link in them. Outreach emails from our desk can be stopped by replying "no thanks"; we remove you and honor that request permanently. Every marketing email includes our postal address.
If you ask us to stop calling, we stop cold phone outreach to your store. Matches can still reach you in the app or by email.

15. Data and privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains what we collect and how we use it.
You give us the right to use the information you provide (listings, invoices, deal data) to run the service, including showing buyers a redacted invoice for a listed unit.
We may use de-identified, aggregated data (for example, market pricing trends) that does not identify your dealership.
Every meaningful action on Locates.io is written to an audit trail, and signed agreement versions are kept unchanged.

16. Our platform

Locates.io owns the platform, its software and content. We give your dealership a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use it for your own trading under these Terms. Suggestions you send us may be used without obligation.

17. Disclaimers

The platform is provided "as is" and "as available." We do not guarantee that any unit will sell, that a buyer or seller will perform, or that freight estimates will match a carrier's quote. We are not responsible for a vehicle's condition, warranty, recalls or the accuracy of a dealer's listing.

18. Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows, Locates.io's total liability for any claim about a deal is limited to the platform fees paid on that deal, and for any other claim to the fees paid in the 12 months before it arose. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential or lost-profit damages.

19. Indemnity

Your dealership will defend and hold Locates.io harmless from claims arising from its listings, its vehicles, its breach of these Terms or a deal agreement, or its violation of law.

20. Suspension and termination

You may stop using Locates.io at any time. We may suspend or close an account for a breach, non-payment, fraud or risk to other users, with a reason recorded. Deals already finalized continue under their own agreements until they complete, and amounts owed survive.

21. Disputes

Before any formal claim, send written notice to desk@locatesio.com and give us 30 days to resolve it.

22. General

Changes: we may update these Terms. We email account holders before a material change takes effect, and you will be asked to accept the new version at sign-in.
Notices to us go to desk@locatesio.com and our postal address; notices to you go to your account email.
Entire agreement: these Terms, the Privacy Policy and each signed deal agreement are the whole agreement. For a deal's numbers, the deal sheet controls.
If a part of these Terms is unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. You may not assign your account without our consent. Neither side is liable for delays caused by events outside its control.

Questions

Use the contact page.