Legal & commission
THE TERMS, IN PLAIN LANGUAGE.
VAULT is a challenge and prize platform. Sponsors and creators carry full responsibility for their own challenges, content and conduct.
Beta draft
TERMS & LIABILITY
Beta draft — have a licensed attorney review before App Store submission.
Platform role
VAULT is a challenge and prize platform that connects sponsors who fund contests with creators who enter them. VAULT does not create, commission, direct, supervise, endorse or verify any challenge, submission or off-platform activity. Every challenge is an agreement between the sponsor and the participating creators.
Commission
VAULT charges a 13% service fee, deducted from the prize amount only when a prize is actually paid. Nothing is charged when a challenge is created. Featured top-of-feed placement is not sold during the beta.
Prize funds and payouts
Sponsors add a payment card when creating a challenge, but the card is charged — the prize amount plus the 13% service fee — only at the moment a winner is decided. Winners cash out to their own bank or debit card after identity verification. Prize money lands in the winner's VAULT Wallet once the sponsor's charge clears, about 2 business days after winner selection; cash-out speed is shown in the Wallet. VAULT never holds, escrows, advances or guarantees prize money. All payments are processed by Stripe; VAULT is not a bank, escrow service, money transmitter or payment processor. Prizes paid to a winner are final and cannot be refunded.
Cancellation & failed payments
Challenges run for a maximum of 30 days. If a challenge is cancelled, ends with no entries, or no winner is decided, the sponsor's card is never charged — there is nothing to refund. If the sponsor's card is declined when a winner is decided, the sponsor has 48 hours to update it; the challenge is paused and all participants are notified. If the card is not updated within 48 hours, the challenge is voided. VAULT never covers or fronts a failed payment. VAULT does not calculate, withhold, report or remit taxes for anyone: sponsors and winners are each responsible for their own taxes on money they pay or receive.
Entry limits
A creator may enter the same active challenge up to three (3) times before it expires. A fourth upload is blocked, and the creator is told they have already submitted 3 entries for that challenge and should participate in a different challenge.
Winner selection
On sponsor-pick challenges the sponsor has 48 hours after the challenge expires to select a winner. If they do not, VAULT automatically awards the prize to the entry with the most upvotes, and that award is final.
Apple is not a sponsor
Apple Inc. is not a sponsor of, and is not involved in any way with, any challenge, contest, prize or promotion run on VAULT. All challenges are run solely by the sponsors who fund them.
Sponsor responsibility
Sponsors are solely responsible for the tasks they set, including legality in every jurisdiction where participants may act, safety, licensing, advertising disclosures, prize terms and any tax obligations arising from the prize they fund.
Creator responsibility
Creators are solely responsible for how they produce their submissions, including their own safety, third-party property and privacy, consent of anyone appearing in the media, compliance with all laws, and taxes on any winnings received.
Assumption of risk & release
By using VAULT you accept all risk of participating in or acting on any challenge, and you release VAULT, its owners, officers and staff from any claim for injury, loss, damage, penalty or dispute arising from a challenge, a submission, a payout, or conduct that takes place off the platform.
Prohibited challenges
No challenge may involve illegal acts, trespass, harassment, weapons, drugs, dangerous stunts, hate content, sexual content, exploitation of minors, animal harm, or anything that endangers a person or property. Violating challenges are removed.
Content, moderation & reporting
Users may hide their earnings and posts, block other users, and report content. VAULT may remove content, cancel challenges, withhold payouts or suspend accounts where fraud, vote manipulation, policy violations or legal risk are suspected.
Disputes
Disputes about a challenge outcome are resolved between sponsor and creator. Where a payout is contested, VAULT may pause it until the parties resolve the matter or a lawful order directs payment.
Chargebacks
Because a prize is paid to the winner once the sponsor's charge clears (about 2 business days after winner selection), a sponsor charge made at winner selection is final. A sponsor must not dispute or reverse such a charge with their bank or card issuer. A sponsor who files a chargeback for a properly made charge is liable to VAULT for the full recovered amount plus dispute fees, and their account may be suspended or terminated. Any challenge with a prize amount over $2,000 requires the sponsor to complete identity verification (a quick government-issued photo ID check) and to have a payment method confirmed as valid before the challenge goes live. VAULT may require the same verification at any prize amount at its discretion, and may decline or cancel a challenge if verification is not completed.
Acceptance of these terms is required at signup and each time a challenge is funded or entered. Read the full Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.