Exhibitor Policy

Your rights and obligations as an Artist and Curator on The Exhibit.

This policy is part of our Terms of Use. By curating an exhibition or exhibiting as an artist in an exhibition on The Exhibit, you’re agreeing to this policy, our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.

This Exhibitor Policy was last updated on the 7th September 2020

1. Definitions

Artist means the maker or creator of an artwork which is exhibited on The Exhibit. They may or may not be the Curator of that same exhibition.

Artwork means any original unique item included in an exhibition on The Exhibit which has been made by an Artist.

Curator means the person who envisioned, set-up and published an exhibition on The Exhibit. They may or may not be the same person as the Artist/s exhibited in that exhibition.

Exhibition means a group of Artworks curated by a Curator and published together on The Exhibit.

Exhibitor means Artists and Curators who participate in exhibitions on The Exhibit.

Object means any artwork, item, object or specimen which is part of a Cultural Institution’s exhibition on The Exhibit.

2. Prohibited Artworks and Artwork Materials

The Exhibit is an open peer to peer exhibition platform and marketplace. However, we prohibit certain types of artworks or artwork materials from being sold on The Exhibit. The following outlines what is prohibited or restricted from being sold on The Exhibit:

2.1. Artworks which include consumable and/or usable Alcohol, Tobacco, Drugs, Drug Paraphernalia, and Medical Drugs

2.2. Artworks using any animal parts from animal species designated as threatened or endangered by the Trade in Endangered Species Act 1989 (NZ), Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Australia) or listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Click here for more information https://cites.org/eng/app/index.php We expect all of our members to follow their local laws. If you are shipping items across international borders you should also consult CITES for specific information about exporting items that may be threatened due to the nature of this trade. If you sell artworks containing feathers and shells, you should also consult the NZ Wildlife Act 1953.

2.3. Artworks which include cat and dog parts or pelts.

2.4. Artworks which include ivory or bones from ivory-producing animals, including tusks, elk ivory, fossilized ivory and woolly mammoth ivory.

2.5. Artworks which include live animals.

2.6. Artworks which include human remains, except teeth and hair.

2.7. Artworks which include Hazardous Materials, Recalled Items and Weapons. For safety reasons and due to complex legal regulations surrounding certain items, we ask that our members not sell items that could be considered dangerous.

2.8. Artworks that promote, support or glorify hatred towards people or otherwise demean people based upon: race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, disability, or sexual orientation or items or content that promote organisations or people with such views.

2.9. Artworks that unnecessarily promote, support or glorify violence. While violent content can be a legitimate part of artistic expression, it should never be used to promote or glorify violent acts against others.

2.10. Artworks which contain pornography. We are fairly liberal but we do draw the line at pornography, whereas mature content is restricted. We define pornography as a particularly extreme, realistic or explicit version of mature content. See 4. Mature Content below for more information on the exhibition of mature content.

2.11. Artworks which include illegal Items, and highly regulated items. 2.12. Artworks which include Internationally Regulated Items. If you enter into a transaction with someone across international borders, you are responsible for complying with laws and regulations of the country of destination as well as your local laws. You might be prohibited from exporting or importing certain items under laws and regulations of the country of destination. The item you sell may be subject to import taxes, customs duties, fees, and/or other regulations imposed by the country of destination.

2.12. Artworks which are forgeries or stolen.

2.13. Artworks which are not artworks. The Exhibit is not a marketplace for other types of commercial mass-produced goods such as cars, real estate, clothing and homewares.

2.14. Artworks which you do not have permission to include in an exhibition. At The Exhibit, we do err on the side of freedom of expression but we know that art is subject to a variety of valid and sometimes conflicting interpretations and emotional responses. We reserve the right to remove listings that we determine are not within the spirit of The Exhibit. Such listings will be removed from the site, and the member's exhibiting privileges may be suspended and/or terminated. If you see something on The Exhibit that appears to violate these rules, you can report it to us; you can click the Report Exhibition link on the associated exhibition entry page, or email us at support@theexhibit.io.

3. Mature Content

On The Exhibit, all exhibitions containing mature content display a warning notice to visitors before they enter the exhibition. This is so people who are offended by this kind of material don't have to see it.

You must, therefore, disclose that your exhibition contains mature content by checking the mature content disclaimer box when you publish your exhibition. Curators are responsible for disclosing all mature content in their exhibitions.

We define mature content as depictions of male or female genitalia, sexual activity or content, profane language, violent images (within reason; see also 3.ix Violent Items above) and explicit anatomical depictions of humans and animals.

If you find yourself questioning whether your item is mature, then it is likely a good idea to assume that it is mature content, and you should disclose it as such.

4. Exhibiting Artworks

When exhibiting artworks on The Exhibit, you agree not to:

4.1 List the same original artwork as available for purchase ('for sale') in multiple exhibitions on The Exhibit at the same time;

4.2 List an artwork as available for purchase when it is not for sale or has previously sold;

4.3 Relist previously sold artworks in subsequent exhibitions on The Exhibit as available for sale.

5. Shipping

The nominated Exhibitor is responsible for shipping their sold artworks to buyers. This may be either the Curator or Artist depending on who has been specified as the shipper during exhibition set-up.

If you're using a shipping or fulfilment service, please keep in mind that you are ultimately responsible for making sure that your buyers receive the artwork(s) they purchased from your exhibition.

By selling on The Exhibit, you agree to:

5.1. Specify accurate shipping costs for each artwork for sale, including any packaging costs you need to pack the artwork for shipping.

5.2. Always provide shipping costs which are inclusive of sales tax (such as VAT and GST)

5.3. Ship artworks promptly after they are sold. Prompt shipping means that you ship each item within 28 days of purchase unless you have an offline exhibition running in conjunction with your online exhibition on The Exhibit. If you have a corresponding offline exhibition, prompt shipping means that you ship each item within 28 days from the closing date of your online exhibition.

5.4. Comply with all local and international shipping and customs regulations. Certain countries may require certain documentation before the items are sent. If the necessary information is not provided, this may result in delays in the order.

5.5. Shipping to the wrong address is likely to result in a non-delivery case, so make sure to ship to the buyer’s address listed on The Exhibit.

5.6. Mark the order as shipped when you ship it. Remember that you may only mark an order as shipped after you actually have shipped it. When you mark an order as shipped, the buyer will receive a notification. If you have not marked your item as shipped on your account dashboard within the relevant 28 day period, The Exhibit will hold your payout(s) until you have shipped the artwork or have shown proof that the artwork was actually shipped.

5.7. Charge an appropriate amount for shipping.

By entering tracking information on The Exhibit, you're giving us permission to collect and share the tracking information received from your chosen shipping carrier with the buyer.

In the event an order does not arrive, be prepared to provide valid proof of shipping. Valid proof of shipping must show that the item actually was shipped and that it was sent to the address provided on The Exhibit. If a buyer does not receive their order, they may file a case against you. The Exhibit’s support team will assist Exhibitors and buyers with moderating such cases.

6. Taxes

The Exhibit will assist Exhibitors in collecting sales taxes (such as VAT and GST), where applicable, on their share of each artwork sale. The Exhibit will pass any sales tax collected onto the Curator as part of the artwork sale pay-out.

To enable The Exhibit in assisting you in collecting applicable sales taxes, you agree to:

6.1. Exclude applicable sales taxes such as GST and VAT from your listing prices. The Exhibit will use your user account address, your sales tax registration status and the shipping address of the buyer to calculate when sales tax needs to be collected and at what rate it will be collected.

6.2. Be solely responsible for ensuring that all the personal address details provided to The Exhibit are correct and you agree to indemnify The Exhibit for any losses it incurs in connection with using incorrect location information from your user account.

6.3. Disclose to The Exhibit if you are required to charge VAT, GST, or other applicable taxes on the physical artworks you sell. You are solely responsible for ensuring that tax status details provided to The Exhibit are correct and you agree to indemnify The Exhibit for any losses it incurs in connection with using incorrect tax information from your user account.

6.4. Be solely responsible for passing on any sales taxes you receive as part of your pay-out amount to the relevant tax agency, service or department in your tax jurisdiction and in compliance with your local tax laws and regulations.

At The Exhibit we are not international tax specialists so sometimes we may miscalculate sales tax amounts, or not collect sales tax on your share of an artwork sale. If this occurs, you are solely responsible as an Exhibitor for paying any taxes associated with making sales through The Exhibit’s Services.

7. Revenue Sharing

If as a Curator, you exhibit the works of other artists in your exhibitions, you enter into a revenue share arrangement with them. This is so that both parties involved in curating the exhibition and creating the artwork are remunerated for their respective efforts when an artwork is sold.

To make sure the Curator can always cover any fees associated with exhibiting on The Exhibit, the minimum percentage able to be defined during exhibition set-up for a Curator’s share is 7.5% of the displayed artwork price for Exhibitor Pro subscribers or 14% of the displayed artwork price for Free Plan exhibitors. The maximum amount able to be defined for a Curator’s share is 50% of the displayed artwork price.

To make sure the Artist is always fairly remunerated for their artwork, the minimum percentage able to be defined during exhibition set-up for an Artist’s share is 50% of the displayed artwork price. The maximum amount able to be defined for an Artist’s share is 92.5% of the displayed artwork price for Exhibitor Pro exhibitions or 86% of the displayed art for Free Plan exhibitions.

If you are both the Curator and the Artist of your exhibition, you won’t enter into a revenue share arrangement and will receive 100% of the displayed artwork sale price less any fees associated with making the sale.

8. Fees for Curators

Curators may be required to pay the following types of fees when they successfully sell an artwork from an exhibition they have curated on The Exhibit. These fees will be deducted automatically by The Exhibit from your share of the artwork price at the time the transaction is considered complete. Artists are not responsible for covering any fees from their share of the artwork price.

8.1. Payment Processing Fee

When you make a sale through The Exhibit, you will be charged a payment processing fee of 4% of the gross order amount, including shipping and sales tax (if applicable). This covers the cost of processing of the buyer’s credit or debit card and paying out your share of the artwork price to your nominated bank account.

We reserve the right to modify the Payment Processing Fee at any time. In the event of any partial refunds credited back to a buyer, the Payment Processing Fee and other applicable fees will be recalculated based on the adjusted sale price. The difference between the original Payment Processing Fee and the adjusted Payment Processing Fee will be credited back to the Curator.

8.2. Sales Success Fee

When you make a sale through The Exhibit, you will be charged a sales success fee. This is 10% of the price you display for each artwork for Free Plan exhibitions or 3.5% for Exhibitor Pro exhibitions. The Sales Success fee allows us to provide The Exhibit Services to you for free as well as to continue to grow, support and expand the Services we offer you.

8.3. Digital GST (Goods & Services Tax) or VAT (Value-Added Tax)

Depending on where you reside, you may be required to pay tax on our Sales Success Fee. For Curators who reside in the European Union, we may have to charge you VAT at your country’s VAT rate as our Sales Success Fee is considered a cross-border digital service.

8.4. Currency Conversion Fees

All transactions on The Exhibit are processed in New Zealand dollars (NZD) as we are a New Zealand based company. If the currency of the bank account you have nominated to receive your pay-outs is in a currency other than NZD, a currency conversion will take place. If such a currency conversion takes place, you will incur a foreign currency conversion fee of approximately 2% of your pay-out amount. Currency conversion is handled automatically by Stripe at the time of the transaction, using their floating exchange rate.

Please remember that The Exhibit's fees do not include any withholding taxes or other taxes that might apply in your home country. You are required to pay The Exhibit the full amount of our fees and may not deduct any applicable taxes from that amount. Exhibitors are ultimately responsible for paying any taxes associated with using The Exhibit’s services.

9. Other Fees

Exhibitors may be required to pay the following type of fee.  This fee will be charged to your credit or debit card at time of incurring the fee.

9.1. Double-sale Refund Fee

You are responsible for making sure that any artworks you have available for sale on The Exhibit haven’t been already sold elsewhere, either offline or on another online platform. If a customer happens to purchase an artwork on The Exhibit which has been previously sold elsewhere, and as a result we need to refund that customer, the Double-sale Refund Fee is charged to the Curator. This fee is 7.5% of the artwork sale price and covers the fees related to administering the original sales transaction, refunding the customer and mitigating any customer dispute. 

This fee is necessary to avoid abuse of The Exhibit platform, to avoid buyer disputes and to ensure our exhibitors are providing the best experience possible to all art collectors. To avoid this fee, we advise all Exhibitors efficiently update the sales status of any artworks in their exhibition sold elsewhere so that artwork availability on The Exhibit is as accurate as possible.

For further questions about this fee, please email us at support@theexhibit.io.

10. Fee Avoidance

Any action by an Exhibitor to avoid paying a fee is considered fee avoidance and is strictly prohibited by The Exhibit. This includes, for example, encouraging buyers to purchase an artwork exhibited on The Exhibit through another venue. A 'For Sale' artwork transaction initiated on The Exhibit may not be completed off The Exhibit during your ‘open exhibition’ dates. The price stated in each listing description must be an accurate representation of the sale. Exhibitors may not charge excessive shipping fees. Exhibitors may not alter the artwork's price after a sale for the purpose of avoiding The Exhibit transaction fees, misrepresent the artwork’s location, or use another user's account without permission.

11. Payments & Pay-outs

11.1. Curator Responsibility

When you curate an exhibition of your own artworks or those of other artists, you as the Curator are responsible for artwork payouts.

When an artwork sells, the funds are deposited into the Curator’s nominated bank account, even when the Curator and Artist are different parties.

As the Curator you agree to:

11.1.1    Be solely responsible for distributing the correct share of artwork sale revenue to the Artist of the sold artwork. This includes the distribution of any sales tax collected on behalf of the Artist and the shipping costs collected if the Artist is responsible for shipping the sold artwork. 
11.1.2    Be solely responsible for pre-arranging with the Artist how you will distribute any artwork sale revenue to them as this will take place outside of The Exhibit Services.
11.1.3    Be solely responsible for providing the correct Revenue Share information during exhibition set-up on The Exhibit so your exhibited Artists can be provided with the correct transactional information regarding their share of the sale revenue and so that the accurate amount of sales tax can be collected on their behalf.
11.1.4    Manage any disputes which may arise between yourself and the Artist if you fail to distribute the Artist’s share of the artwork sale revenue or alter the amount owed to the Artist.

11.2. Curator Payout Account

When you curate your first exhibition on the Free Plan or curate your first exhibition with a “For Sale” artwork in it on the Exhibitor Pro plan, you will be required to setup a Stripe Connect account (“Payout Account”).

A Payout Account allows you as a seller of artwork to (a) accept payment by authorised credit and debit card transactions, (b) have those funds credited to your Payout Account, and (c) have those funds deposited into your designated bank account.

To create this Payout Account, you must be at least 18 years old and reside in New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Gibraltar, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden or Switzerland.

You must also provide accurate personal information as requested, and you are responsible for maintaining and updating that information as necessary. If you are a minor wanting to exhibit on The Exhibit, the Payout Account must belong to a parent or guardian over the age of 18. You as an Exhibitor shall not impersonate any person or use a name that you are not legally authorised to use. You also authorise Stripe to verify your information (including any updated information) by accessing public records and obtaining credit reports about you in order to approve a Payout Account. Stripe may request additional identification information from you in order to verify Payout Accounts. You also authorise Stripe and The Exhibit to verify the Exhibitor’ information from time to time while you continue to use The Exhibit’s services. Stripe verifies your information in order to safeguard the integrity of the marketplace and reduce the risk of fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, and the violation of trade sanctions.

You may only use The Exhibit’s Payment Processing Services for the sale of items exhibited on The Exhibit’s Services, and agree to ship sold items once a payment transaction is complete and reflected in your Payout Account.

11.3. Appointment of The Exhibit as Limited Collection Agent for Curators

Each Curator appoints The Exhibit as its agent for the limited purpose of receiving, holding and settling payments to the Curator. The Exhibit will settle payments that are actually received by The Exhibit to the Curator, less any fees and amounts owed to The Exhibit and subject to these Terms. Each Curator agrees that a buyer payment received by The Exhibit, on behalf of Exhibitor, satisfies the buyer's obligations to make payment to the Exhibitor, regardless of whether The Exhibit actually settles such payment to the Curator. If The Exhibit does not settle any such payments as described in these Terms to a Curator, such Curator will have recourse only against The Exhibit and not the buyer.

11.4. International Trade Laws

You agree that your use of Payout Accounts will not involve any countries, entities, individuals or items prohibited by sanctions, embargoes, regulations or orders administered by New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Trade or other government agencies in your jurisdiction

11.5. Communications

We will inform Exhibitors of each transaction, or of other information pertaining to Payout Accounts, using our standard communication procedures (detailed in our Terms of Use), including by email or through The Exhibit’s notifications tool.

11.6. Disputes

Exhibitors agree to resolve any disputes directly with a buyer or with the assistance of The Exhibit’s dispute management team, and in accordance with our Exhibitor Policy and Terms of Use. In the event that a dispute is escalated to The Exhibit’s Support Team, The Exhibit reserves the right to issue a refund to a buyer if a transaction is found to be in violation of The Exhibit’s Exhibitor Policy and Terms of Use. In the event that a buyer submits a chargeback, The Exhibit will respond to the credit card networks on behalf of the Exhibitor involved in the transaction; the Exhibitor agrees to provide any requested information to us within five calendar days of the request. The Exhibit reserves the right to recoup funds associated with buyer chargebacks.

11.7. Refunds

Refunds or adjustments paid by The Exhibit to buyers for payments made through Payout Accounts may be initiated by contacting The Exhibit’s Support Team at support@theexhibit.io or reporting you have an issue with a transaction by clicking the link on your user account dashboard. Any such funds paid by The Exhibit to cover refunds will be deducted from the Exhibitor’s Payout Account balance. If there are insufficient funds to cover the amount of the refund, the balance will be charged to the Exhibitor’s credit card.

11.8. Pay-out Deposits

All funds resulting from a completed transaction will be reflected as a balance in a Curator’s Payout Account. Transactions are considered complete once the payment is approved by The Exhibit or our third-party payment provider Stripe. Any fees, refunds, adjustments, or other amounts paid to buyers in connection with the completed transaction are also applied to the Exhibitor’s Payout Account balance. Curators can view the balance of their Payment Account (in NZD) inside the Sale’s Tab on their account dashboard.

Payment Account balances are eligible for deposit 28 days after the date of the related completed transaction and only if the artwork has been marked as shipped in the Curator’s or Artist’s account. If multiple completed transactions were made on the same date, the resulting funds will be deposited together in a single pay-out into the Curator’s account. The processing time for your pay-out will vary based on the country in which you're located.

Available Balances can only be deposited into bank accounts, in the domestic currency of the account. The Exhibit makes deposits in the following currencies based on the Curator’s location: NZD, AUD, USD, CAD, EUR, GBP, HKD, SGD, JPY, CHF, DKK, NOK, and SEK.

11.9. Holds and Delays

In some cases, deposits to Curator’s bank accounts could be temporarily delayed by an issue at The Exhibit, at The Exhibit’s third-party service providers, or at a Curator’s bank. We’ll do our best to communicate with the affected Curators as soon as we can.

If we believe that a Curator’s actions, of those of an Artist of a sold artwork, may result in buyer disputes, chargebacks, or other claims, then we may, in our sole discretion, put (1) a hold, or (2) a deposit delay, on the Curator’s Payout Account balance. If a Curator’s Payout Account requires additional identity verification, then we may, in our sole discretion, put a deposit delay on the Curator’s Payout Account balance.

A hold may be put on funds associated with a particular transaction if the artwork has not been shipped, or if there is a dispute or investigation related to the order, for the shorter of: (a) 90 days after the estimated delivery date; or (b) completion of any investigation regarding the Exhibitor’s actions.

A deposit delay is defined as a halt on all pay-outs deposits due to a Curator. The deposit delay will last until (1) the dispute, claim or identity verification issue is resolved, or (2) if The Exhibit views it as necessary, that the Curator’s user account is terminated. A deposit delay may be between 0 and 90 days.

If The Exhibit places a hold or a deposit delay on a Curator’s account, we’ll do our best to communicate with the affected Curator as soon as we can.

We always work hard to avoid and minimise any delays. However, please note that The Exhibit is not obligated to refund any fees or reimburse any expenses due to holds or delayed deposits.

11.10. Unclaimed Monies

If The Exhibit cannot settle funds into your bank account, the funds will remain in your Payout Account. It is your sole responsibility to update your bank account information to receive the funds. If you fail to update the information to claim the funds within a certain period of time The Exhibit will escheat the funds to the relevant government authority in order to comply with escheatment laws.

11.11. Recoupment

We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to seek reimbursement from a Curator in any of the following circumstances: (a) we provide a refund to a buyer because the Exhibitor did not promptly deliver the goods, (b) we discover erroneous or duplicate transactions related to a Exhibitor, (c) we receive a chargeback from a buyer's credit card issuer or reversal of payment for the amount of a buyer's purchase from an Exhibitor, or (d) an Exhibitor does not act in accordance with The Exhibit’s Terms of Use or any policy thereunder.

We may obtain reimbursement of any amounts owed by a Curator to The Exhibit by deducting from future payments owed to the Curator, reversing any credits to the Curator’s Payout Account balance, charging the Exhibitor's credit card on file, or seeking reimbursement from the Curator by any other lawful means, including by using third-party collections services. You authorise us to use any or all of the foregoing methods to seek reimbursement.

11.12. Termination

Curators may terminate this contract and their acceptance of Stripe Connect at any time by closing their user account on The Exhibit or notifying The Exhibit in writing.

The Exhibit may also terminate or suspend an Curator’s use of The Exhibit’s payment and pay-out services at any time.

Upon termination, any non-disputed available balance will be deposited into a Curator’s bank account. The Exhibit reserves the right, upon termination of access to The Exhibit’s payment and pay-out services, to set off against any payments to be made to the Curator, an amount determined by us to be adequate to cover any anticipated chargebacks, refunds, adjustments or other amounts that might be paid to buyers in connection with purchases from the Curator's Payout Account for a prospective 90-day period. At the end of the 90-day period following termination, we will disburse to the Curator any amount not used to offset chargebacks, refunds, adjustments, or such other amounts paid to buyers, or seek reimbursement from the Curator via any of the means authorised in this Policy for any additional amount required to offset chargebacks, refunds, adjustments, or other amounts paid to buyers, as applicable.