Operating as a vendor on VARS

About these terms

These terms govern your relationship with VARS as a vendor (beauty or grooming professional) operating on the platform. By completing onboarding or accepting a booking, you agree to these terms.

“VARS”, “we”, “us”, and “our” refers to the entity operating the VARS platform (CAC-registered, Lagos, Nigeria). “You” and “your” refers to you, the vendor. “Customer” refers to the person who books your services.

These terms should be read alongside the VARS Vendor Service Level Agreement, which sets out the operational standards you are expected to meet.

Your relationship with VARS

You are an independent contractor. You are not an employee, worker, agent, or partner of VARS. Nothing in these terms creates an employment relationship.

This means:

• You are responsible for your own taxes, tools, products, transport, and professional insurance
• You are free to work on other platforms or independently. There is no exclusivity requirement.
• You control your own schedule, pricing, and service offerings within the platform's rules

VARS provides the technology, payment infrastructure, identity verification, and dispute resolution framework.

Eligibility and onboarding

To operate on VARS, you must:

• Be at least 18 years old
• Be based in Lagos, Nigeria (or within the platform's operating area)
• Complete identity verification (KYC) through Youverify, including a government-issued ID and a biometric liveness check. You will be asked for explicit consent before biometric processing begins.
• Set up at least one active service with a name, category, price, and duration
• Verify a Nigerian bank account via Paystack for receiving payouts
• Grant the app permission to send push notifications (required for booking alerts)

A clean KYC pass activates your account instantly with no admin review. A rejection will include the reason. You can reattempt; rejected cases may also be reviewed by VARS admin.

Your profile

You define your own services, each with a name (up to 60 characters), optional description (up to 200 characters), a category, a price (minimum NGN 10,000), and a duration in 30-minute blocks. You may list up to 10 active services.

Your profile photo is extracted from your KYC liveness check and locked to your account. You cannot change it. The photo customers see is the verified identity of the person who will arrive at their door.

Your bio, service names, and descriptions are automatically filtered to remove phone numbers, email addresses, social media handles, and long digit sequences. Portfolio photos are scanned on your device and rejected if they contain visible contact information.

Going online

You control your visibility with an online/offline toggle. Three conditions must all be met before you can go online: KYC verified, at least one active service listed, and device notifications enabled. If any condition fails while you are online, you are automatically taken offline.

Bookings

When a customer books you, you receive a push notification and have one hour to accept or decline. A reminder is sent at the 30-minute mark. If you do not respond, the booking expires with no charge to the customer.

Once you accept, you must follow the status sequence in order: On My Way, Arrived, Service Rendered. Steps cannot be skipped. Each step triggers customer notifications and the payment process depends on these transitions.

The customer's access details and phone number are revealed to you 15 minutes before the scheduled appointment. You must not store, screenshot, or share these details outside the app. They are provided for the specific booking only.

Auto-accept

You may configure an auto-accept zone. Bookings from customers within your zone are confirmed instantly. You must confirm your zone daily. You receive a 5-minute grace window to cancel any auto-accepted booking without penalty. After the grace window, standard cancellation rules apply. If you move more than your zone radius plus 3 km from your zone centre, auto-accept pauses until you return or re-confirm.

Payment

VARS uses a Paystack subaccount split. When you tap “On My Way” and commit to travel, the customer's card is charged. The split is:

• Your share (80%) goes directly into your Paystack subaccount
• VARS platform fee (20%) is retained in the VARS account

If you are a Pioneer (one of the first 50 verified vendors), you receive 100% of the payment on your first three completed bookings. After those three bookings, the standard 80/20 split applies. Your Pioneer badge remains permanently.

Where a customer is more than 5 km from your zone centre, a transport surcharge is added to their total. Your 80% share applies to the full amount including the surcharge.

Your earnings screen shows three buckets: Cleared (funds in your Paystack subaccount), Confirming (awaiting customer confirmation or auto-release), and Under review (disputed bookings). Transfer from your subaccount to your bank account is processed by VARS operations. VARS aims to settle regularly but does not guarantee a specific transfer schedule at this time.

Settlement holds

Your entire subaccount balance is held if you have an open dispute on any booking, are in restricted status, or a chargeback has been raised against a transaction involving you. The hold applies to all your earnings, not just the disputed booking, because Paystack manages holds at the subaccount level.

Cancellation

Before you commit to travel: You can cancel an accepted booking before tapping “On My Way”. The customer is not charged. Your cancellation is recorded in your rolling 30-day count. At 3 or more cancellations in 30 days, your account is flagged for review and may be temporarily suspended.

After you commit to travel: If you cancel after tapping “On My Way”, the customer receives a full refund, your account is immediately restricted, and the refunded amount is recorded as owed by you. All platform functionality is blocked until you repay the owed amount and VARS operations lifts the restriction via the admin panel. This policy exists because the customer's card has already been charged based on your commitment.

Auto-accepted bookings have a 5-minute grace window during which you can cancel without it counting toward your cancellation total.

Disputes

When a customer raises a dispute on your booking, you are notified immediately and your settlement is frozen across all bookings until the dispute is resolved. A VARS administrator reviews and resolves the dispute, typically within 24 hours. If you believe a resolution was unfair, contact hello@bookwithvars.com.

Portfolio photos and customer consent

You may photograph your work for portfolio use only with the customer's explicit consent obtained through the platform's consent flow. Submit a consent request via the app. The customer has 72 hours to approve or decline. Approved photos may be published to your portfolio. Do not photograph customers without their knowledge or upload photos without going through the consent flow.

Data protection obligations

You must not:

• Store, copy, or share customer personal data (phone numbers, access details, names, locations) outside the VARS app
• Contact customers outside the platform to arrange off-platform bookings
• Use customer data for marketing, solicitation, or any purpose beyond the specific booking

For details on how VARS handles your personal data (including KYC records, earnings, and location data), see our Privacy Policy.

Intellectual property

By listing services, uploading portfolio photos, and creating a profile on VARS, you grant VARS a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to display your profile, services, portfolio photos, and reviews on the platform and in marketing materials. This licence continues while your account is active and for 6 months after deletion. You retain ownership of your original content.

Suspension and removal

VARS may suspend or permanently remove your account for:

• KYC failure or revocation
• 3 or more cancellations in a rolling 30-day period
• Restriction status due to a post-gate cancellation (automatic, until repayment)
• Sustained low ratings (below 3.5 stars averaged over your most recent 10 reviewed bookings)
• Breach of these terms, the Vendor SLA, or the data protection obligations above
• Fraud, misrepresentation, or illegal activity

Where possible, we will notify you of the reason and any steps to resolve the issue. Permanent removal will be communicated in writing.

Limitation of liability

VARS provides the marketplace platform, payment infrastructure, and dispute resolution framework. We do not guarantee a minimum number of bookings, a minimum level of earnings, or continuous platform availability. Our total liability to you in connection with any booking or series of related bookings shall not exceed the platform fees retained by VARS on those bookings. Nothing in these terms excludes liability for fraud, wilful misconduct, or any other liability that cannot be excluded under Nigerian law.

Changes to these terms

When we make material changes, we will notify you via the app or by email at least 14 days before the changes take effect. Continued use of VARS after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Any dispute arising from these terms or your use of the platform is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Lagos State.

Contact

Email: hello@bookwithvars.com