Well, you don’t need to imagine because it’s a reality now. Buy Now, Pay Later, or BNPL for short, is the new hot topic in finance, and it’s growing exponentially. 

Online shopping went through the roof during the 2019 pandemic, and so did BNPL. Since the start of 2020, making purchases through BNPL has increased by a whopping 230%.

This huge increase is not very surprising. According to The Next BNPL Horizon, 29 million US citizens, 11% of the entire population, have used BNPL between June 2020 and 2021.

As a consumer, there’s just a lot to learn if you want to spend your money safely. Check out how you can avoid disputes and how to resolve them on Amazon, Airbnb, AliExpress, Alibaba, and many more on ODR Guide.

What’s Buy Now, Pay Later?

Buy now, pay later is a fast-growing payment method where, as its name suggests, you can make a purchase immediately and spread out the payment in installments.

How you pay your debt depends on the plan offered by your BNPL service. Generally, BNPL requires a payment of at least 25% of the total price at checkout. The rest will be paid in installments.

Most BNPL services offer a variety of plans to choose from, but the most common is a four-installment plan paid bi-weekly or monthly.

But you might be wondering how BNPL is different from regular credit card loans. While the differences between the two are becoming less defined day by day, there are still a few you should know.

1. Credit score:

Credit card loans appear in your credit score report and can either increase or decrease your score depending on your loan payment history. However, BNPL doesn’t always affect your credit score. That’s because not all BNPL services report to credit bureaus and their loans won’t appear on your credit report. If your BNPL service reports your late payments, your credit score will definitely be hurt.

2. Interest:

Most Credit cards generally have high-interest rates that could go as high as 25%. In contrast, most BNPL services don’t charge an interest rate. Some, however, charge late payment fees.

3. Payment Plans:

The last distinction between BNPL and credit card loans is how you pay them off. While both require a down payment, credit cards require you to pay the rest of your balance within a month. When you don’t pay your loan in full by its due date, interest will start accruing, and you’ll have to pay the rest on a monthly basis.

BNPL payment plans differ depending on the provider, but a four-installments plan is the most common. With more BNPL services, you have to pay the first quarter at checkout and then pay the remaining three quarters every two weeks. Some BNPL services offer monthly payment plans.

How Does Buy Now, Later Work?

When you’re ready to head over to the checkout page, you’ll probably find the option to Buy Now, Pay Later. If the store you’re shopping at supports your BNPL service, you’ll find it listed there.

When you’re ready to checkout using BNPL, you will fill out an application form in which you state your name, address, social security number, and others. Some BNPL services check your credit score before approving your BNPL request.

This check is generally a soft check that should not affect your credit score. However, some BNPL services might perform a hard check, which can affect your score.

In rare cases, your BNPL purchase might be rejected if your credit score is low.

While most BNPL providers support online shopping only, some offer both in-store and online checkout options.

To buy now, pay later in-store, you will use your BNPL app at checkout to spread out your payment.

Famous BNPL Services and Apps

Affirm

Affirm is a major BNPL provider that provides a variety of payment plans, including interest-free quarterly payments every two weeks. Other plans offer monthly installments spread over 6 months at a minimum. These plans charge an interest rate (APR) that starts at 10%. Also, Affirm has no late fees.

Major retailers and stores in the clothing, accessories, beauty, auto, and electronics industries support Affirm. This includes Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Nike, Addidas, Nectar Sleep, and Reverb.

Afterpay

Afterpay is an international BNPL provider based in Sydney, Australia that’s free “for customers who pay on time”. This means that Afterpay users pay no interest on their loans. Better yet, Afterpay supports both online and in-store purchases.

However, Afterpay has late fees that can go as high as 25% of your total bill.

Thousands of retailers and stores accept Afterpay BNPL, including MAC Cosmetics, Finish Line, Urban Outfitters, Sugar and Jade, Crocs, and Ray-Ban.

Klarna

Klarna helps you pay for your purchases in four installments, paid every two weeks, and interest-free.

When it comes to late fees, Klarna charges up to $7, or up to 25% of your purchase, as a late fee if you don’t pay within 10 days from the payment due date.

Should You Use BNPL?

Buy Now, Pay Later is certainly a convenient way to purchase whatever you need on time, even when you don’t have the needed amount. However, BNPL can lead to overspending. Because you won’t have to pay immediately, you might buy things that you don’t really need.

A Momentive study found that people who make less than $50k are more interested and likely to use BNPL. If you belong to this category, pick your BNPL provider carefully.

Depending on your shopping habits, credit score, and needs, you might prefer an interest-free provider over a no-late fee one or vice versa.

In any case, make sure to only use BNPL for necessary products and to pay your debt on time.

With the increasing popularity of BNPL, you might be tempted to jump on the bandwagon. But before you do that, it’s crucial to know what you’re getting into before you go ahead and start paying using BNPL. Sure enough, BNPL is changing the way we shop for good reasons, but let’s not overlook the few drawbacks they have.

7 Pros of BNPL

1. Convenience and ease of use.
2. In-store and offline support.
3. Zero-interest rates on some BNPL services.
4. No hard credit check.
5. No effect on credit score.
6. Eases financial pressure if used responsibly.
7. Can help decrease reliance on credit cards.

7 Cons of BNPL

1. Overspending.
2. Late payment fees of up to 25% of your debt.
3. No to little buyer protection.
4. Interest rates might be higher than that of your credit card.
5. No Control over the time of payment.
6. Easy accumulation of late fees.
7. Increase risk of disputes and back charge.

Disputing Payments with BNPL Services

Some BNPL services or apps provide some sort of protection for unsatisfactory payments of transactions. Let’s find out how you can dispute a payment on Affrim and Afterpay.

Affirm Payment Dispute Resolution

If you want to dispute an Affirm payment, you must first contact the merchant and try to resolve any dispute directly with them.

If resolving the dispute with the merchant fails, you should contact Affirm to open a dispute no later than 60 days from the purchase date. You can do so by logging into your account on a browser, selecting the loan you’re disputing, and opening a dispute. You will be required to upload evidence and answer some questions before you can submit it.

• You and the merchant will have15 days to provide evidence.
• Affirm will make a decision and notify you within 15 to 90 days depending on your payment method.

If their decision is in your favor you’ll be refunded the full amount of the purchase minus the interest you paid. If not, you will continue paying your loan as scheduled, and no late fees will incur.

Afterpay Payment Dispute Resolution

Like Affirm, Afterpay advises you to try and resolve any disputes with the merchant directly. If you and the merchant can’t reach an agreement, you must contact Afterpay at [email protected] to start an official complaint and provide all the documentation they request.

The complaint email must include the following: your name, pertinent account information, a brief description of the dispute, and your contact information.

If you don’t like Afterpay’s decision or it couldn’t resolve your dispute within 30 days, binding arbitration with the American Arbitration Association will follow. Learn more on the arbitration process on Afterpay’s US installment agreement.

The post Buy Now, Pay Later: Definition, Dispute Resolution, and More appeared first on ODR Guide.

This scenario is not at all farfetched. Every now and then, a giant crypto exchange suffers a crippling cyberattack, and millions of investors would lose their assets overnight.

To stay ahead of such mishaps, it’s important to know the exchange you’re putting your money in, its rules, and its insurance policy. Who controls your Bitcoin private keys? Do you own the crypto you purchased? And can you recoup any lost crypto?

These are legitimate questions that any crypto owner or enthusiast must ask. In this article, we explore crypto exchanges in-depth, their types, risks, and insurance policies.

Read also: Cryptocurrency transaction disputes, Coinbase and Robinhood chargebacks, NFT legal issues, and NFT copyright infringement disputes

Cryptocurrency Exchanges: Custodial vs. Non-Custodial

To buy or trade cryptocurrency, traders move their coins or funds from their wallets to a crypto exchange, typically, a centralized one. But crypto exchanges are not all the same, and the ways by which they store your coins differ greatly.

Essentially, crypto exchanges split into two major categories: custodial and non-custodial.

The nature of the exchange you choose for crypto trading determines whether your coins are treated as your own or the exchanges’.

Custodial Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Custodial exchanges act as third parties by facilitating the selling, buying, and trading of crypto coins. However, to enjoy their services, you’re giving away your control over your private keys, and therefore, your coins.

According to Coinbase, “As long as you continue to custody your Digital Assets with Coinbase, Coinbase shall retain control over electronic private keys associated with blockchain addresses operated by Coinbase, including the blockchain addresses that hold your Digital Assets”. 

The most popular cryptocurrency exchanges are generally custodial, including Coinbase, Gemini, Bitstamp, and Binance. They hold billions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency, which makes them susceptible to theft and hacks.

For example, Coinbase, Binance, and Bitstamp have all suffered huge cyberattacks that compromised the accounts of their users.

Therefore, hacking is a great downside of custodial crypto exchanges. As the users’ crypto assets are usually pooled in with those of the company in one blockchain address, any security breach will affect the users too.

But though it might sound counterintuitive, the vast majority of cryptocurrency trades occur on custodial exchanges.

Users choose custodial exchanges despite the huge risk associated with them because they are user-friendly and, more importantly, relieve users from the responsibility of managing their own crypto.

Yet, not all custodial exchanges are the same either. Coinbase is an example of a cryptocurrency exchange that doesn’t segregate its assets from its users’. 

“Coinbase shall have no obligation to segregate by blockchain address Digital Assets owned by you from Digital Assets owned by other customers or by Coinbase”.

Coinbase User Agreement

Therefore, when you trade using Coinbase, your assets are pooled with other users and/or with those of Coinbase in a single blockchain address.

However, Gemini is another custodial exchange that doesn’t pool your assets with theirs in one wallet.

Instead, you have the option to use either a Gemini Depository account in which your assets will be stored with other users in one or more wallets or a Gemini Custody account in which every user’s assets are segregated in offline, private addresses.

Non-Custodial Cryptocurrency Exchanges

With non-custodial exchanges, users have 100% control over their crypto assets, as they own their private keys and no intermediaries are involved. Exchanges such as PancakeSwap, Uniswap, and SushiSwap are famous non-custodial exchanges.

Non-custodial exchanges are much less popular than their custodial counterparts. However, many experienced traders and investors prefer them for the perks they come with. They have a much lower risk of theft and security breaches since users’ assets are held and controlled separately and privately.

And while custodial exchanges require a Know Your Customer (KYS) check to identify their users, most non-custodial exchanges don’t. This anonymity of users and trades is a major appeal of these exchanges.

Despite their apparent advantage when it comes to security and privacy, non-custodial exchanges are often complex and suffer low liquidity. They are less popular because users alone are responsible for the security of their accounts.

Cryptocurrency Exchange Insurance

In the event of a cyberattack on a cryptocurrency exchange or wallet, the first question that comes to mind is whether users’ assets are lost and if so, will they ever be recovered?

Unfortunately, there’s never a single answer to this question. Cryptocurrency is still a novel technology that’s not fully regulated in the US and around the world. As such, there’s no consensus on almost anything related to crypto.

In many instances, hacked exchanges lose both their assets and their users’ because they are stored in one wallet, as is the case of most custodial exchanges.

It’s here where insurance comes into play. The safety of your crypto assets depends greatly on the insurance plans of the exchange you use.

So what protection do crypto exchanges offer you?

It’s important to know that most crypto exchanges don’t offer any protection or insurance for the assets they store. So pick your exchange carefully!

Unlike stocks or bonds, crypto is not insured by the US government’s Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).

However, some crypto exchanges protect your assets through funds or third-party insurers. These insurance plans can protect your assets against fraud, crime, theft, security breaches, or unauthenticated access.

Here’s a list of famous crypto exchanges and their insurance policies:

Binance

Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. To protect its users from assets loss, Binance built a security insurance fund in July 2018 known as The Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) by contributing 10% of their trading fees.

The fund was valued at $1 billion as of January 2022 and it covers:

• Hacks and theft
• Fraudulent activities
• System failures

Coinbase

Coinbase is the biggest US-based crypto exchange. It offers hot wallet insurance of $255 million by third-party insurance providers. This insurance is partial and its exact coverage percentage is not stated.

Coinbase insurance covers lost assets due to cyberattacks and security breaches of the platform only. Loss of assets due to security breaches of a user’s account is not covered by Coinbase insurance and losses are not reimbursable.

It’s important to note that even though Coinbase insurance should cover your loss of assets if Coinbase was compromised, there’s no guarantee that you can recoup your money.

In our article on Cryptocurrency transactions Disputes, we explained that depositing funds or digital assets with Coinbase makes you an “unsecured creditor”. Unsecured creditors are the last to recoup their money in events of insolvency or theft if they ever do.

Gemini

Gemini claims to be the most secure cryptocurrency exchange. It provides hot wallet insurance through a combination of third-party insurance providers. Gemini’s commercial crime insurance covers:

• Security breach and hack
• Fraudulent transfer
• Employee theft

However, it doesn’t cover asset loss due to unauthorized access.

Bitstamp

Bitstamp protects its user through crime insurance of $300 million coupled with BitGo wallet insurance of $100 million. Bitstamp insurance covers both offline and online assets lost due to:

• Theft

• Loss in transit
• Computer fraud or funds transfer fraud
• Legal fees and expenses

Besides their insurance plan, Bitstamp stores 95% of its assets in offline, cold wallets.

As you might have noticed, insurance coverage by crypto exchanges varies greatly. And that should be considered wisely besides their custodial policies.

Personal Cryptocurrency Insurance

Besides the crypto protection provided by your exchange, some insurance companies provide personal digital assets insurance, such as Breach Insurance.

Breach provides a crypto insurance policy called “Crypto Shield”, and covers 22 crypto coins on four exchanges: Coinbase, CoinList, Gemini, and Binance US.

However, it is now available in 10 US states only. To purchase their insurance policy, you must reside in one of the following states: California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington.

The post Cryptocurrency Exchanges: Custody, Ownership, and Insurance appeared first on ODR Guide.

One major concern, especially for artists, is how NFTs can infringe on the copyrights of their works.

And these concerns are far from illogical. Every month or so, we hear about a handful of NFT-related copyright infringement disputes around the world.

This article focuses on the NFT copyright issue and answers some of your questions about it.

For more on the legal issues of NFTs and cryptocurrencies, check out NFT Legal Issues, Coinbase and Robinhood Disputes, Cryptocurrency Transactions Disputes, and NFT Legal Issues and Disputes.

NFTs and Copyright Law

Copyright law protects all original artworks and grants their creator exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute copies or derivatives. These rights are known as copyrights.

Unlike trademarks, copyrights are acquired the moment the artwork is created on a “fixed tangible medium”, such as paper, canvas, CDs and DVDs, and digital codes.

While this means no registration is required to acquire copyright for your work, seeking protection or relief against infringers can only be done by registering your work with the US Copyright Office.

Any artist or copyright owner can create, distribute, and sell NFTs of his work. The minted NFT, in this case, will be owned by the buyer but will never be the underlying work.

So as far as the creator of the NFT is the copyright owner of the work it represents, no copyright infringements should take place.

Most copyright issues, however, are caused by the mismatch between the owner of the underlying work and the creator of its NFT. In this case, the fair use exemption will set apart infringers from non-infringers of copyrighted artworks.

Fair Use Exemption: Are NFTs Fair Use of Art?

The fair use doctrine allows the use of copyrighted works in certain circumstances. To determine whether the unlicensed work is fair use, the following factors must be considered:

1. Purpose and character of the use:

Nonprofit and educational uses are often considered fair use, unlike commercial ones. Transformative uses where the unlicensed work adds something new that’s not found in the copyrighted work are also considered fair.

2. Nature of the copyrighted work:

Creative and imaginative works (novels, movies, or songs) are less likely to support fair use than factual works, such as scientific articles.

3. Amount and substantiality of the unlicensed work in relation to the copyrighted work:

This considers how much of the original work is used in the unlicensed work. Small amounts are often considered fair use unless the amount used captured the most important part of the original work.

4. Effect of the unlicensed work on the value and the market of the copyrighted work:

The extent to which, if at all,  the unlicensed use of the copyrighted work harms its present or future market.

While it’s quasi impossible to judge whether NFTs in general or a specific NFT is a fair use of its underlying work, NFT minters can consider these factors before creating or selling NFTs of items they don’t own.

When NFTs are transformative or only partially related to copyrighted works, they might be considered fair use.

However, each copyright infringement claim is assessed on a case-by-case basis and the outcome can vary greatly.

NFT Copyright Infringement Lawsuits

As NFTs are relatively new, users are not adequately informed of the ownership implications of creating or selling them. Sometimes, NFT minters and creators of copyrighted works end up in courts, often on opposing sides.

Here are some of the copyright infringement lawsuits:

1. Roc A Fella Records vs Co-founder Damon Dash

Roc A Fella Records, a defunct American label company, was launched and owned by Jay Z and his once friend Damon Dash. In June 2021, the label company sued its former co-founder for allegedly trying to sell the copyright to Jay Z’s first album “Reasonable Doubt” as an NFT.

Damon Dash owns one-third of the company, yet as Roc A Fella owns the copyright, they think NFT is infringing on their rights.

In response, Damon Dash claims that his auction was planning to sell his share of the company rather than the copyright of the Album.

The lawsuit was filed in the New York Southern District Court, which has ruled in favor of Roc A Fella by granting them a restraining order.

This is a unique NFT lawsuit as it doesn’t only involve the creation of an NFT that represents a copyrighted item but an NFT that deliberately transfers the item’s copyright to the new owner.

2. Miramax vs Tarantino Claim

The American entertainment company Miramax filed a lawsuit against the well-established director Quentin Tarantino for alleged copyright infringement and breach of contract. Tarantino announced an NFT auction for his classic “Pulp Fiction” in which he would sell uncut scenes and the handwritten script of the film.

The lawsuit is ongoing in the federal court of California. However, it is unclear if Tarantino actually breached or infringed on Miramax’s rights.

The 1993 contract between Miramax and Tarantino gives Tarantino a limited right to, among others, publish the screenplay “in audio and electronic forms as well”. In his defense, Tarantino argues that minting and selling Pulp Fiction NFTs falls within his print publication rights.

This case is an example of NFT disputes that stem from ownership confusion of the underlying item itself.

3. Art Wars vs Artists

Art Wars is a gallery launched by the artist and curator Ben Moore in 2013. It exhibits paintings of life-sized stormtrooper helmets by a group of artists. Lately, Ben Moore is auctioning these paintings as NFTs allegedly without the permission of the painters.

While the NFTs were removed from OpenSea’s marketplace after the artists sent a copyright infringement notice, Moore has moved to sell the NFTs on another platform known as Looksrare.

4. Free Holdings vs Sotheby’s

This case involves the world’s allegedly first NFT ever, which was created by Kevin McCoy in 2014, Quantum.

A Canadian company known as Free Holdings is suing Kevin McCoy, Sotheby’s, and Nameless, the company behind NameCoins over the ownership of Quantum.

Kevin McCoy minted this NFT on NameCoin, a blockchain software that requires owners to renew their ownership every 250 days. McCoy didn’t renew his ownership of Quantum, and weirdly enough, it remained unclaimed by anyone else for 6 years.

In April 2021, a member of the Canadian Free Holdings was registered as the owner of Quantum on NameCoins. However, Sotheby’s, the auction house selling quantum, claims that Quantum’s entry on the NameCoins’ network has been removed and “burned from the chain.”

Free Holdings filed the lawsuit one week after Quantum was sold on Sotheby’s for $1.47 million. They claim that Quanturm’s entry was not burned and is owned by them.

Can NFTs Prove Ownership in a Copyright Dispute?

In the event of a copyright dispute, copyright owners can prove ownership by their Copyright Office registration number. Most courts weigh heavily on this registration more than anything else.

As NFTs don’t acquire you the ownership of the artworks they represent, they can’t help you prove ownership in copyright disputes.

However, if the dispute is purely over the ownership of the NFT, then the blockchain can easily trace the NFT to its rightful owner.

Does Buying an NFT Confer Copyright Ownership?

By definition, NFTs are units of data that are linked or associated with digital or physical artworks or items.

Owning NFTs, therefore, doesn’t transfer the ownership of the digital or physical artwork they represent but rather their data.

Speaking of ownership, you must always know where your digital assets are stored and what happens if an exchange is hacked. Check out our take on Cryptocurrency Exchanges: Custody, Ownership, and Insurance.

Does the Copyright Issue of NFT Have a Solution?

NFTs are inherently associated with copyright infringement or issues. As mentioned earlier, many NFTs are minted by the rightful owners of the underlying artworks.

However, in similar cases to the ones we’ve discussed, NFT copyright disputes are extensions of the copyright disputes of the underlying artworks.

In other cases, these disputes are caused by the decentralized and unregulated nature of NFTs and blockchain technology.

As these are different causes of disputes, the solutions might vary greatly.

The post NFT Copyright Infringement Disputes: All You Need To Know appeared first on ODR Guide.

And while court cases relating to NFTs are on the rise, few to no laws regulate this novel type of asset.

In 2021, Miramax sued Quentin Tarantino, the eminent film director, after he announced an auction to sell NFTs of his much-celebrated Pulp Fiction. Miramax’s alleged breach of contract and copyright infringement comes to dispute Tarantino’s ownership of the uncut scenes and script from the movie.

This case, like many others, begs the question of NFT ownership, the legitimacy of its existence, and who’s entitled to the proceeds it generates.

More and more content is tokenized as NFTs, including real-life objects like clothes, sneakers, and bags. The rulings on the currently ongoing court cases will set precedents for NFT-related copyright, intellectual property rights, and ownership disputes.

Find out more about crypto and blockchain disputes in How To Dispute a Crypto Transaction and Coinbase and Robinhood Disputes, and NFT Copyright Infringement Disputes: All You Need To Know. More importantly to know more about exchanges, how coins are stored, and what happens if an exchange is hacked, check out Cryptocurrency Exchanges: Custody, Ownership, and Insurance.

How Do NFTs Work?

The premise of NFTs is to represent the ownership of unique items and monetize what would not be otherwise monetizable.

NFTs are created or “minted” through the execution of the stored codes in smart contracts that assign the NFT’s ownership and transferability.

When an artist mints an NFT of his artwork, he is creating a representation of that work on the blockchain, a digital public ledger, that links the work directly to him or the next owner.

In this way, the artwork is forever owned by the entitled creator until they decide to transfer its ownership to a buyer.

NFTs are non-fungible, or non-interchangeable, representations of digital or physical items on a blockchain. These NFTs are identified by the unique data stored within the token itself, contributing to the fact that every NFT is defined and distinguishable by its properties rather than its value.

In some cases, the artist can receive royalties every time their NFTs are resold. The idea of owning your work and the money it generates is indeed alluring to artists, especially digital ones, who seek to protect and safely monetize their works.

However, the risks that may accompany such a lucrative business might offset its benefits in some cases.

What Legal Issues Arise from NFTs?

Just like every technical innovation, NFTs are hardly regulated by law, leaving much space for disputes and crime.

Ownership and Copyright Issues

The most prominent dispute regarding NFTs is ownership. While some of those who are critical of NFTs claim that NFTs can be easily screenshotted and “owned” by anybody on the net, this is the least of NFT traders’ concerns.

Most of the NFT ownership disputes start from ownership ambiguities regarding the items they represent in the first place. Ownership of NFTs doesn’t confer ownership of the underlying items.

For example, NFTs of an artwork that is created, sponsored, curated, or published by more than one person can end up in courtrooms if one party claimed copyright infringement.

Big names are involved in litigation of NFT ownership dispute, such as the aforementioned Miramax suing Tarantino, artists against Ben Moore’s Art Wars, and Free Holdings against Sotheby’s.

In the Art War’s case, the curator Ben Moore minted and sold NFTs of Stormtrooper helmet paintings that were created by a group of artists allegedly without their permission. This resulted in OpenSea, the biggest NFT marketplace, taking down the Art Wars NFTs after receiving a copyright infringement notice from the artists. However, the NFTs are still available on a Looksrare.

Trademark Issues

Trademark issues are also very common with big brand names getting caught in the NFT craze.

Trademark infringement is the use of a business’s brand name, feature, product, or product design. The most recent example of NFTs infringing trademarks is Nike vs StockX.

StockX has been creating sneaker NFTs that can be redeemed for the physical sneakers they represent. Nike sneakers are among the featured sneakers on their NFTs, and though they represent redeemable and actual Nike sneakers, these NFTs triggered a trademark infringement claim by Nike against StockX.

The issue at hand concerns the fashion industry at large and questions the extent to which NFTs can be created and traded within it. As Nike is requesting the taking down of these NFTs, the people who bought them might be left short of thousands of dollars with no recourse.

Another court case of NFT trademark infringement involves the French fashion house Hermes and Mason Rothschild. Allegedly, Rothschild infringed Hermes Birkin bag’s trademark when he minted NFTs that resembled the famous bag under the name “Metabirkins”.

Hermes sued Mason Rothschild in a New York court, requesting a stop to the minting of these NFTs and recouping all the profits that were generated from them. It’s noteworthy to add that Rothschild sold 100 Metabirkins NFTs in a month for a total of $450k.

While the case is still going, the ruling is something to look out for as it might bring some clarity to the trademark issue of NFTs.

NFT Technical Issues

Buyers and sellers are both at risk of marketplace malfunctioning or shutdown issues. Although this is a risk to consider for literally any website on the net, users of cryptocurrency-related platforms are thought to be far more at risk due to the lack of centralization and, of course, regulations.

The Cryptopunks’, a collection of NFTs produced by Larva Labs, V1 issue can be regarded as a solid example of the vulnerability of blockchain technology, smart contracts, and eventually the NFT industry.

Cryptopunks took down the first version (V1) of their NFTs following a purchase that went wrong and introduced V2 NFTs. The error happened when the smart contract that executed the selling operation allowed the buyer to get the NFTs and withdraw his money back.

The V1 NFTs were banned from OpenSea but started trading on other platforms, although Cryptopunks doesn’t want them to be traded. 

While this case revolves around copyright infringement as well, it is essentially caused by a technical error rather than a deliberate, or inadvertent even, copyright infringement. 

Cryptopunks want the V1 NFTs to be taken down, while the owners are opposing the claim for fears of losing their assets of nearly $50 million.

It’s evident that this case is more complex than the other copyright or trademark infringement cases as there’s hardly any culprit. The whole thing was started by a minor smart contract error that can have severe consequences on either party.

Fraud

The American-based NFT marketplace Beta.Cent.co has recently halted NFT trading on its platform due to an increase in “illegal activity”. These illegal activities involve primarily selling unauthorized copies of existing NFTs, unauthorized minting of content and items, and the minting NFTs that resemble securities.

Another, bigger NFT platform, OpenSea, had tweeted that “Over 80% of the items created with this tool were plagiarized works, fake collections, and spam” before they later on corrected this stat in another tweet that said:

Regardless of which is true, in light of the lack of reliable data, the number of fake NFTs must be significant on the platform.

Besides counterfeit NFTs, buyers of NFTs and users of their marketplaces are at risk of phishing that can cost them thousands of millions worth of NFTs.

Recently, the UK’s HMRC has seized NFTs and other digital assets in connection to VAT fraud allegations.

NFT Dispute Resolution

While most NFT-related claims to this day have been brought to courts, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) are thought to be better fitted to resolve this type of dispute.

Being one of the latest inventions in the tech industry, NFTs and the disputes resulting from their creation and trading must be handled by tech-passionate and open-minded professionals, which are most likely to be found in ADR firms rather than courts.

Famous ODR providers, such as JAMS, are adapting to the blockchain, crypto, and NFT technologies through customized resolution processes.

The post NFT Legal Issues and Disputes appeared first on ODR Guide.

To know more about crypto transaction disputes check out How To Dispute a Crypto Transaction? Full Guide and exchanges hacking and insurance in Cryptocurrency Exchanges: Custody, Ownership, and Insurance.

If you want to learn how to dispute transactions on both platforms, request chargebacks, and the policies behind them, then keep on reading!

You may also learn about NFT Copywrite and legal issues in NFT Legal Issues and Disputes and NFT Copyright Infringement Disputes: All You Need To Know.

Coinbase

Before diving into Coinbase refund and chargeback policies, let’s lay out some important facts we think you must know.

Coinbase offers E-money and cryptocurrency services from two different entities.

Coinbase Payments Ltd, a company authorized and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, provides E-money services, such as digital wallets and payments.

Coinbase Kenya, however, is an unregulated company based in Nairobi, Kenya. It’s responsible for cryptocurrency-related services, including digital currency wallets and the digital currency exchange.

Despite being a regulated electronic money institution, money deposited with Coinbase Payments is not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Digital currency transactions using E-money are irrevocable once your instructions are received by Coinbase. However, scheduled transactions for the future can be canceled up to the end of the day before the transaction’s due time.

Similarly, a cryptocurrency transaction on the exchange is irreversible once marked complete or pending.

It’s also important to know that Coinbase will not refund you if you suffered losses due to an account breach or credentials loss.

Coinbase Insurance

More importantly, you must know that all digital assets are held in the same blockchain address as that of Coinbase, so in any breaches or hacks of the exchange, your money might be at risk as well.

If you’re in the US, note that your Coinbase balance will be held with other users’ in a US bank’s fund and might be invested in liquid US treasury or other money markets that are denominated in the US dollar.

While your funds are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, “ insurance coverage is contingent upon Coinbase maintaining accurate records and on determinations of the FDIC as a receiver at the time of a receivership of a bank holding a custodial account.”

On another note, the storage and security of digital assets should not be taken likely. That’s why Crypto Hardware Wallets (Amazon Link) is a good option to consider.

How Does Coinbase Deal with Chargebacks?

In an article about merchant payments, Coinbase reassured merchants that chargebacks are not possible thanks to the irrevocable nature of cryptocurrency transactions. So customers who wish to get a refund must contact the merchant directly.

However, in instances of unauthorized or incorrect transactions, users are entitled to a refund when, and only if, Coinbase caused them.

In their user agreement, they define unauthorized transactions as carried out using your E-money wallet without your authorization. Transactions that were incomplete or carried out incorrectly are considered incorrect transactions.

These transactions must be reported as soon as possible and no later than 13 months. 

Coinbase will investigate your claim of an unauthorized transaction to determine whether it resulted from their failure, loss of your credentials, or fraud.

If the unauthorized transaction is caused by:

• The exchange’s failure, you will be refunded on the following day of the transaction.
• Failure to keep your credentials safe, you’ll be liable for the first £35 of your losses.
• Fraud whether intentional or due to your negligence, you will be liable for all the resultant losses.

During the investigation, your E-wallet might be locked by Coinbase. Similarly, if the investigation is unfavorable to you and a dispute follows, Coinbase might lock your E-wallet until the dispute is resolved.

Coinbase Dispute Resolution Process

If you think the Coinbase support team’s judgment on the matter of unauthorized or incorrect transactions is unjust to you, there are steps you can follow to dispute it.

Here’s the full dispute resolution process of Coinbase:

1. Contact the support team. At this stage, your claim is treated as a complaint. You should contact the support team from the help page and provide your name, email address, Coinbase account, and the transaction you wish to dispute. If the support team fails to resolve the issue,
2. Fill out the formal complaint form found on the Coinbase help page. You should explain your complaint and how you’d like them to resolve it. You should also add all the relevant information to the issue. A complaint officer will consider your case and send you his determination via email no later than 35 business days or 45 business days for US citizens. The offer made by the officer will be binding if you accept it. If the officer fails to resolve the issue,
3. You can escalate your complaint to official authorities:
   1. If you’re a non-US citizen, you can take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, file a lawsuit in the courts of England and Wales or the courts of jurisdiction where you’re domiciled if you’re protected under consumer laws. Find out more in section 10.2 of the Coinbase user agreement.
   2. If you’re a US citizen, you can file an arbitration claim with the American Arbitration Association (AAA) or seek relief in a small claims court. The arbitration award is binding to you and Coinbase. Read more about the arbitration agreement in appendix 5 of the US user agreement.

Robinhood

Robinhood is a US-based trading platform of stocks and cryptocurrency with restricted access to US residents only. Just like Coinbase, Robinhood uses different subsidiaries for stocks and crypto trading, namely Robinhood Financial for securities trading and Robinhood Crypto for cryptocurrency trading.

Robinhood Financial is protected under Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which protect investors and traders of their member firms.

However, Robinhood Crypto is not regulated, so your investments aren’t protected under SIPC or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation FDIC.

If you face any issues regarding your transactions, which Robinhood’s dispute resolution process failed to resolve, you are bound by Robinhood’s user agreement to pursue your claim in binding arbitration.

Because of this agreement, you will not be able to sue Robinhood in court unless your claim is found to be ineligible for arbitration due to time limits for example.

The arbitration will be administered by FINRA Dispute Resolution.

How Do I Dispute a Debit Card Transaction on My Robinhood Account?

To dispute a debit card transaction on Robinhood, you should report the transaction by:

1. Clicking “Dispute Transaction” at the bottom of the concerned transaction
2. Selecting the appropriate dispute reason from the menu, and
3. Clicking Submit

You can also do so from the help page by choosing:

1. Contact Us
2. Something else
3. Debit card, and lastly
4. Dispute a charge

Robinhood Dispute Resolution Process

After reporting the debit card transaction you wish to dispute, the process goes as follows:

• Investigation and Chargeback:

A card processor will use the information that you submitted in your report and reach out to the merchant involved in the transaction. Robinhood might credit you the disputed amount temporarily within 10 business days after the dispute is initiated and until it’s resolved.

• Merchant Response:

This varies depending on the details of the dispute. In cases of unauthorized transactions, the merchant is given 90 days to respond to the chargeback request.

• Resolution:

Resolution of the dispute depends on the merchant’s response or lack thereof. If the card processor rules in your favor, you will be credited the full disputed amount. If not, you will not win the dispute and should seek relief through arbitration. If the merchant doesn’t respond within 90 days, you will win the dispute automatically.

As previously mentioned, you can only pursue your claim in arbitration when the Robinhood dispute resolution process is unfavorable to you.

How to Win Debit Card Transaction Disputes on Robinhood?

The decision of the card processor relies heavily on the information and evidence you provide in your initial report. It is your only chance to convince the card processor though the latter might contact you for more details before the investigation starts.

The more details you give, the faster the process takes.

However, another way to successfully resolve the dispute is by contacting the merchant directly. It can be much faster and more efficient to discuss chargeback requests with the merchant before initiating a dispute with Robinhood.

The post Coinbase and Robinhood Disputes: Transactions and Chargebacks appeared first on ODR Guide.

With such rapid evolution and the ever-growing adoption of cryptocurrency, regulatory, administrative, and privacy concerns are also on the rise.

Eventually, traders, investors, and fans of cryptocurrency should ask, “can I dispute a cryptocurrency transaction?” 

Ongoing efforts are made to regulate these decentralized virtual currencies, but a dedicated cryptocurrency dispute resolution system is yet to be set up.

In the meantime, litigation is the most widely used, and arbitration is thought to be the most well-suited dispute resolution procedure for cryptocurrency and blockchain disputes.

To learn more about disputes and chargebacks in platforms such as Coinbase check out Coinbase and Robinhood Disputes: Transactions and Chargebacks and Cryptocurrency Exchanges: Custody, Ownership, and Insurance.

Let’s explore the possible crypto disputes and the available means to resolve them.

Potential Cryptocurrency Disputes

Cryptocurrency disputes can arise due to unsatisfactory transactions or between traders and crypto exchanges in the event of losing their assets or access to them. They may also occur due to trust and agreement breaches.

Other disputes are also prevalent in the NFT space, which you can learn more about in NFT Legal Issues and Disputes.

Cryptocurrency Exchange Disputes

Disputes between traders and cryptocurrency exchanges can arise when an exchange fails to release currencies to their owners upon demand. 

This has been the case for many traders on exchanges such as Mt.Gox (Japan), BitGrail (Italy), QuadrigaCX (Canada), and Cryptopia (New Zealand) that went bankrupt and collapsed due to cyberattacks or fraud. Traders on these exchanges lost all or most of their investments with no recourse to recoup them.

Other risks involving cryptocurrency exchanges include the mismanagement of the traders’ crypto wallets or losing their content to cyberattacks.

Yet the most significant risk facing traders and investors is the loss of ownership of the crypto they deposit in exchanges.

In some exchanges, investors’ deposit of the digital assets is automatically considered a transfer of ownership or renders the crypto investors unsecured creditors. An unsecured creditor is a lender who doesn’t obtain collateral for a loan and thus may not recoup his money in the event of insolvency.

This happens when the exchange doesn’t segregate its assets from those of the traders in separate blockchain addresses. The U.S based Coinbase, for example, doesn’t guarantee such segregation, contrary to Gemini.

Such incidents illustrate the crypto exchanges’ vulnerability to hacking and mismanagement, making a crypto dispute resolution body a dire necessity.

Other Cryptocurrency Disputes

Other disputes might arise during crypto transactions, such as an improperly recorded transfer on the public ledger, double-spending, and fraud.

Less common, yet equally distressing, disputes could involve access problems such as recovering the assets’ of deceased individuals and breach of smart contract agreements.

How to Resolve Cryptocurrency Disputes?

Cryptocurrency creates distinctive legal issues that necessitate a distinctive system of dispute resolution, one that suits its autonomous, anonymous, and decentralized nature. 

Yet, although no such system is here yet, alternatives such as litigation, arbitration, and decentralized justice platforms are being used to resolve cryptocurrency disputes.

Litigation

At present, many disputes involving cryptocurrency traders are brought to courts. It might be a good option for disputes arising in centralized exchanges (CEXs) that are offered by private companies that act as custodians, such as Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini.

Conversely, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) are non-custodial peer-to-peer marketplaces where sellers and buyers are directed connected.

Although the traditional legal system has proved inadequate in addressing these disputes, ongoing attempts are made to regulate and keep up with crypto.

Such attempts include Unifrom Laws’ URVCB act that requires cryptocurrency businesses to obtain a license to engage in virtual currency activities, Wyoming’s plans to create crypto-focused banks, Colorado’s exemption of cryptocurrency from state securities regulations, Ohio’s approving tax-paying in cryptocurrency, and Oklahoma’s recognition of cryptocurrency as an instrument of monetary value.

Evidently, the US and international courts and legislative bodies are far from consensus on cryptocurrency’s regulations or even definition.

While the US, UK, Singapore, and others have recognized crypto as property, El Salvador has recognized it as a legal tender, an official currency. Others have either banned it, restricted its trading, or haven’t yet decided.

Courts around the world have seen claims of fraud, money laundry, ownership, and breach of trust against crypto exchanges and issuing companies, suggesting that litigating cryptocurrency is possible.

However, litigation outcomes vary from one jurisdiction to another due to the lack of uniform laws and regulations within and between countries.

How To File a Cryptocurrency Case in US Courts

You can sue a cryptocurrency exchange or issuing company in court where it is physically present or as stated in its terms and conditions. 

Exceptions to this are exchanges that have no physical headquarters and thus don’t fall under any jurisdiction. In this case, claims have to be handled per the exchange’s terms and conditions, usually through arbitration.

The steps you should follow can be either found in the exchange terms and conditions or at the court in which you are filing your case.

Cryptocurrency Cases in Courts

A famous example of cryptocurrency litigation is the case brought by B2C2 against the Japanese exchange Quoine before the Singapore International Commercial Court.

The platform’s CTO reversed B2C2’s Quoine trades after he discovered that the former had sold Etherium at a much higher rate at the time.

In retaliation, B2C2 sued Quoine for breach of contract and trust and won.

In the United States, a class-action lawsuit was raised against the cryptocurrency company Nano, known as XRB or Railblocks, after traders lost their crypto after the BitGrail hack/Fraud.

The plaintiffs sought to compel Nano to return the stolen funds through a “rescue fork” to generate new XRB units as recoupment.

After this lawsuit, Nano has updated its terms and conditions to include class action lawsuits and arbitration waivers and imposed arbitration as the only dispute resolution option.

Arbitration of Crypo Related Disputes

Arbitration has been found the closest-fitting legal system to blockchain and cryptocurrency disputes because of its flexibility and ability to preserve the anonymous and decentralized nature of cryptocurrency transactions and traders.

Two types of arbitration are currently used to resolve cryptocurrency disputes: traditional and online crypto-arbitration.

Traditional Arbitration

Traditional arbitration is a primary recourse for crypto disputes resolution. It offers confidentiality, the ability to appoint arbitrators, and the enforcement of arbitral awards.

Major providers of arbitration such as the American Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services (JAMS) and the American Arbitration Association (AAA), and France’s International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) have taken measures to address crypto, smart contracts, and blockchain disputes.

These arbitration centers accept international claims regarding crypto disputes. Find their fees and other centers’ in this comprehensive arbitration fees guide.

Online Crypto-Arbitration

Attempts to make arbitration more suited to the distinctive cryptocurrency legal issues. Initiatives such as Cryptonomica, Blockchain Arbitration Society, and Datarella’s CodeLegit seek to bridge blockchain technology and law by offering arbitration services.

Online crypto-arbitration address the centralized nature of traditional arbitration by following the “ex aequo et bono (according to what’s equitable and good)” rule rather than a particular national law, unless otherwise desired by the involved parties.

The CodeLegit’s Blockchain Arbitration Library for smart contracts offers parties the ability to pause the further execution of a smart contract if they suspect a contract breach, an otherwise impossible action in smart contracting.

Arbitration awards produced on these platforms are encrypted and made public on blockchains, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

It is noteworthy to mention that these alternatives are relatively cheaper than most traditional arbitration centers.

Decentralized Justice Platforms

The most recent dispute resolution mechanism in this list is decentralized justice platforms. These are platforms incorporate arbitration mechanisms such as neutral decision-makers into decentralized crypto platforms.

Essentially, they select anonymous third-party adjudicators from different parts of the world to make a determination on a crypto transaction. The adjudicator, or group thereof, will vote on which party should receive the disputed cryptocurrencies.

Leading platforms in this category include Kleros and Aragon Court. 

Kleros uses game theory incentives to encourage the anonymous jurors to make a unanimous vote on a particular dispute. It categorizes disputes by types and topics and assigns specialized jurors to each one.

Similarly, Aragon Court also relies on incentives to help jurors reach a consensus. However, it specializes in complex disputes that smart contracts can’t resolve.

These platforms differ from traditional arbitration primarily because of the decentralized decision-making process. They add anonymity and decentralization to the arbitral tribunal.

Moreover, the agreements reached through these decentralized justice platforms are enforced through self-executing smart contracts. 

In traditional arbitration, awards are enforceable by central authorities if a written agreement is produced and signed by the involved parties.

Conclusion

Cryptocurrency disputes can be resolved through litigation, arbitration, or decentralized justice platforms. However, they are all far from perfect for the technological novelty known as decentralized virtual currencies.

The world expects the creation of a dedicated and universal blockchain dispute resolution system that supports and advances its fundamentals.

The post How To Dispute a Crypto Transaction? Full Guide appeared first on ODR Guide.

So although there’s no law against reselling, nor does Amazon legally prohibit reselling products on its marketplace, it does place strict restrictions as to what and how products are resold.

In this guide, you will learn the ins and outs of reselling on Amazon, in the simplest words. You might want to also learn about Amazon disputes and how to resolve them! and on disputes using BNPL in Buy Now, Pay Later: Definition, Dispute Resolution, and More.

PS: You may also want to check our coverage of refunds and disputes on Alibaba, AliExpress, Shein, and E-bay.

Reselling on Amazon: How To Do It?

Reselling on Amazon is mainly just selling a product you own or bought elsewhere on Amazon for a profit. This said, here are the famous reselling strategies used on Amazon:

1. Online arbitrage: sourcing products from online marketplaces such as Alibaba, AliExpress, or eBay and reselling them on Amazon is known as online arbitrage.
2. Retail arbitrage: hitting your favorite brick and mortar retailer to buy some products and resell them on your online shop is known as retail arbitrage.
3. Wholesale reselling: as its name suggests, this strategy involves buying products in bulk from wholesalers, found primarily on B2B e-commerce websites such as Alibaba, to resell them on Amazon for a profit.
4. Manufactury reselling: Buying products directly from the manufacturer is yet another way to buy in bulk. The difference from wholesale reselling is that you can brand your purchased products as your own.
5. Reselling used products: used products that are in reasonably good conditions are also resold on Amazon.

How To Resell New Branded Products on Amazon?

If you choose to go with any of the first four strategies, you will need the following permissions and documentation to resell your goodies on Amazon as “new”.

To do so, you need to:

• Approach the said brand and request their permission to resell their products. This comes in the form of a letter of authorization or any other form of writing that can be verifiable by Amazon.
• Request authenticity letters if you buy products from an authorized seller of a brand or a wholesaler. You will need these to prove the authenticity of your products in case you get reported for inauthenticity.
• Request and keep your invoices and make sure they are legible and accurate. You will use the information on your invoices in your seller central, and they better be a match!

Surely, you don’t need these documents to set up a seller account on Amazon and start selling, but it’s only a matter of time until Amazon will require some sort of verification, and you’ll be on thin ice.

Remember that if you’re sourcing through retail or online arbitrage, you will not be able to prove the authenticity of your products if you decide to resell them as new.

Should a brand or another seller report you for Intellectual Property (IP) infringement, you might get permanently suspended.

How To Resell Used Branded Products on Amazon?

If you wish to resell the products you bought online or from a retail store as “used”, Amazon restrictions become less of a hassle for you. Aside from making sure your items meet Amazon’s condition guidelines, you don’t need to do anything else.

Generally, products bought from retailers are sold as “used” on Amazon to avoid IP and authenticity issues.

Remember that not everything is allowed to be sold as used on Amazon. Check Amazon’s list of items and categories that are allowed to be sold as used before you go ahead and buy them.

How To Resell Privately Labeled Brands on Amazon?

Amazon has seen a rapid growth of privately labeled brands in the last three or four years, arguably because fewer brands are allowing the reselling of their products.

Resellers who buy directly from manufacturers create their own brand labels and become the exclusive sellers of their brands on Amazon. You still need invoices and authenticity letters from the manufacturer to avoid authenticity issues.

To sell your privately labeled brand on Amazon, you need to:

• Have an active registered trademark
• Apply to register your brand on Amazon’s Brand Registry

Again, these are not mandatory at the start, but if you’re planning to sell long-term, you need to start on the right foot.

Restrictions: What You Can’t Resell on Amazon

Regardless of which way you go, Amazon has some rules on the products you can resell. This includes certain brands such as Adidas, Samsung, Lego, Microsoft, and Disney. There are hundreds more.

There are other products that you can’t resell on Amazon such as counterfeit products and unauthorized branded products.

Reselling branded products is not prohibited, but you’d need permission from the brand itself to resell its products.

It’s imperative to know that you are not allowed to sell anything with a brand logo that’s not yours!

So as we said before, reselling on Amazon is entirely legal, just not as easy as you might think.

To get on top of the game for every aspect related to selling on amazon, we advise you not to forget an important matter which is Taxes! Tim Nelson’s guide on online sellers’ guide for taxes is an excellent source (Amazon Link).

Reselling Alibaba Products on Amazon

Alibaba is the go-to source of wholesale and private label resellers. It is absolutely legal to resell products from Alibaba on Amazon. However, the same reselling restrictions apply.

Alibaba is a B2B e-commerce website where wholesalers and manufacturers supply other businesses.

Amazon resellers most often source their products from Alibaba and have their suppliers ship directly to Amazon FBA centers, where Amazon takes care of shipping your products to your buyers.

Here’s the entire process of buying from Alibaba and selling on Amazon:

1. Search for the products you’ll planning to brand or resell
2. Find suppliers with Trade Assurance and Verified Supplier badges.
3. Read the suppliers’ details such as company history, sales, employees, and quality control and manufacturing processes.
4. Shortlist the best suppliers and contact them. Make sure to require all the necessary information you need in order to make a safe purchase. This includes asking about the quality, price, and warranty.
5. Having chosen the best supplier from your shortlist, you can proceed to place your order through a purchase order agreement.
6. Decide whether you want to fulfill your Amazon order yourself or via Amazon FBA. Make sure your supplier ships your products accordingly.
7. Create listings for your products on Amazon and add all the required details: product code (UPC, EAN, ISBN… etc. ), name, description, images… etc.

That’s it! You’ll be ready to resell your products on Amazon as soon as your shipment arrives.

Reselling Products from Amazon on Amazon

Another business model resellers go for is buying from Amazon and reselling back on Amazon.

If you’re wondering if that’s legal, yes, it definitely is. However, the same rules of authenticity and ownership apply.

Moreover, there’s one more thing you should know. Amazon Prime members are not allowed to resell or rent the products they purchase using their Prime account to other customers.

“Prime members are not permitted to purchase products for the purpose of resale, rental, or to ship to their customers or potential customers using Prime benefits.” – Amazon Prime Conditions

Dropshipping on Amazon

Dropshipping is another form of reselling, just not a typical one. It is basically reselling products that are kept and shipped by a third party.

Dropshipping on Amazon is allowed only so far as you’re identified as the seller of record.

That is to say, any package, including the invoice and the package slips, that is shipped to a customer on Amazon must identify you as the seller, and only you.

There shouldn’t be any reference to the third-party seller you buy from on the packages delivered to Amazon customers. Otherwise, you might lose the ability to sell using Amazon’s Merchant Fulfilled Network (MFN).

MFN is when sellers manage and fulfill their Amazon orders alone or via third-party logistics, which is what you do when you dropship.

Essentially, dropshipping is legal and allowed on Amazon. However, to stay in compliance with Amazon’s guidelines, you must agree with your supplier to use your details on the packages and the invoices the customers will receive.

The post Is It Legal To Resell Products On Amazon? appeared first on ODR Guide.

You probably bought a lemon.

But you are not alone! Researchers found that of the 60 million cars purchased between 2013 and 2017, at least 1% were lemon cars.

Moreover, another study found that two-thirds of lemon cars’ defects are noticed within one month of the purchase, with 41% of them breaking down while driving. The study also found that braking and starting the car were the most reported issues.

But what’s a lemon? And what’s lemon law? Lemon laws are regulations that protect and provide relief to consumers who purchased lemon vehicles that do not meet the market’s quality and performance standards.

This article will break down the US lemon laws and discuss lemon laws from different states across the country.

While you’re at it, learn more about your consumer rights using our guides on Tesla, Upwork and frealncer.com, AirBnB, and Amazon disputes. You may also want to read more about small courts and ADR providers such as JAMS ADR in the USA.

What Is a Lemon Law?

In US slang, defective cars and bad investments are known as lemons.

Lemon laws are, therefore, regulations that protect and provide relief to consumers who purchased lemon vehicles that do not meet the market’s quality and performance standards.

Essentially, these laws work to get automakers to honor their warranties to repair or replace your car or recompensate you.

These laws were initially targeted at vehicles and auto manufacturers only but were later on expanded to include other consumer products.

In the US, lemon laws are enacted on state and federal levels. Each state has its own lemon laws with varying rules and scopes. The federal lemon law is known as the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975.

The Federal Warranty Law

To qualify for protection by the federal lemon law, the purchased car must still be under the manufacturer’s warranty. Moreover, you must have experienced at least one of the following:

• Three or four unsuccessful attempts to repair the same defects, or as determined by the court. All repairs must be undertaken at the dealership or the manufacturer,
• The defects and the attempts to fix them happened within one or two years from the purchase date, or
• The car remained out of commission for 30 consecutive days.

If you meet any of the above requirements, you are due a recompensation from the manufacturer, usually a refund or a replacement.

State Lemon Laws

State lemon laws vary from a state to another. Here are some examples:

Connecticut Lemon Law

The Connecticut lemon law covers passenger and commercial vehicles that are either sold or leased in the state. Agricultural tractors are excluded.

To qualify for protection under the Connecticut lemon laws, you must:

• Have made four attempts to repair your car of defects that limit the car’s usability, or
• Have made two attempts to repair severe and life-threatening defects
• Have your car out of service for 30 days, and
• Have detected the defects within the first two years or 24,000 miles, whichever comes first.

California Lemon Law

The lemon law of the state of California covers personal and family vehicles, off-road vehicles, chassis and chassis cabs, and dealer-owned and demonstrator vehicles. Motorcycles are excluded.

To qualify for California’s lemon laws protection, you must meet these requirements:

• You made two repair attempts of serious and life-threatening defects.
• You made four repair attempts of defects that hindered the usability of the car.
• You were unable to use your car for 30 consecutive days, and
• You detected and attempted to repair the defects within the first 18 months or 18,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Massachusetts Lemon Law

The Massachusetts lemon law covers all vehicles, including off-road, auto homes, and motor bicycles. However, vehicles used for business purposes are excluded.

These are the requirements you must meet to qualify:

• Three repair attempts, or
• 15 days out of service, and
• Defects are detected and unsuccessfully repaired within the first year or 15,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Minnesota Lemon Law

The Minnesota lemon law covers passenger vehicles, pickup trucks, vans, and chassis that are sold or leased for a consumer within the state. The vehicles must be at least 40% used for personal or family purposes.

These are the Minnesota lemon laws requirements:

• One unsuccessful repair attempt of a failed braking or steering system that are life-threatening,
• Four repair attempts of defects that hinder the usability of the car, or
• 30 business days out of service for other defects, and
• The defects were detected in the express warranty period or the first 2 years from the purchase date.

New Jersey Lemon Law

In New Jersey, the lemon law covers passenger vehicles and motorcycles that are purchased, leased, or registered in the state. Living facilities of auto homes are excluded.

The following are the requirements for the New Jersey lemon laws:

• Three repair attempts of defects that limit the car’s performance and usability,
• More than 20 days out of service, or
• One repair attempt of a serious and life-threatening defect, and
• The defects are detected within the first two years or 24,000 miles, whichever comes first.

New York Lemon Law

Lemon law of the state of New York covers passenger vehicles that are purchased, leased, transferred, or registered in New York, including motorcycles. Off-road vehicles are excluded.

You qualify for protection under the New York lemon laws if you meet the following requirements:

• Four unsuccessful repair attempts of defects that hinder the performance and use, or
• A serious and substantial defect within 20 days of the receipt of notice by the consumer using certified mail, and
• The defects are detected within the first two years or 18,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Evidently, these state laws vary significantly when it comes to the types of vehicles, the repair attempts, and the coverage period. Find your state lemon law statutes and check your car’s manufacturer’s lemon laws.

Do Lemon Laws Apply To Used Cars?

Under the federal warranty law, the purchased car must be under the manufacturer’s warranty when the defects are detected to be eligible for protection. This means that the federal lemon laws apply to used cars so long as they come with a warranty too.

However, used cars rarely come with warranties and that renders them ineligible for the federal warranty law protection.

When it comes to state lemon laws, only seven states include used cars under their lemon statutes. These states are Connecticut, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, and New York.

New York’s Used Cars Lemon Law

New York is one of the few states that have a lemon law for used cars. The law required car dealers to provide consumers with written warranties for used and leased cars.

The length of the warranty depends on the car’s mileage before the purchase or lease

Under these warranties, dealers are required to repair any defects in the following parts free of charge: 

Engine, transmission, drive axle, brakes, steering, radiator, alternator, generator, starter, and ignition system (the battery is excluded).

The cars covered by the New York used cars lemon law are those that are:

• Purchased, leased, or transferred after the first two years or 18,000 miles from the original delivery, whichever comes first,
• Purchased or leased from a New York dealer,
• Purchased or leased for at least $1500,
• Less than 100,000 miles at the time of purchase/lease, and
• Used primarily for personal purposes.

The law allows the dealer a reasonable chance to repair the defect, usually three or more attempts. A reasonable chance can also be 15 or more cumulative out of service days due to the defect.

What Should You Do If You Purchased a Defective Car?

• Notify the dealer or manufacturer from which you purchased the car of the defects or problems you’re facing. Make sure you notify them before your warranty expires.
• Keep records of all repairs, bills, and correspondence.
• Consult or hire an attorney.

The post What is the Lemon Law? USA Lemon Laws Simply Explained appeared first on ODR Guide.

Mediation might be the best option to resolve family conflicts. It keeps all personal information, sentiments, and dirty laundry private. 

In fact, the process of mediation corresponds with the biblical teachings of conflicts resolution.

So, what does the bible say about mediation? The bible encourages voluntary reconciliation when it says, “First go and be reconciled” in Matthew 18:15. It prioritizes unity over individual interests by calling people to listen, discuss, apologize, and forgive (Proverbs 18:13 – James 1:19 – Colossians 3:13)

But how does family mediation work exactly?

Here’s a comprehensive guide to inheritance, business, and property disputes mediation and the mediation process.

You might also enjoy reading about alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods such as Arbitration, Med-Arb, and Conciliation, and ADR providers worldwide.

Want to see examples of mediation and arbitration in the real world? Check out how AliExpress, Alibaba, Shein, Amazon, Upwork, Freelancer.com, Paypal, and eBay use ADR to resolve disputes on their platforms.

What Is Family Mediation?

Family mediation is a dispute resolution process dedicated to resolving family-related conflicts such as divorce, will and inheritance disputes, estate and property disputes, and others.

It can be court-ordered or voluntary. In both scenarios, mediation is nonbinding unless a written and signed agreement is produced.

Family mediation is led by a partial and professional mediator, usually a retired judge or attorney, whose job is to facilitate negotiations between the conflicting parties and help them work out a resolution.

The mediator’s role is very different from that of a judge or an attorney. Unlike an attorney, a mediator doesn’t represent any party, doesn’t give advice, and has no allegiance to any party. Unlike a judge, a mediator doesn’t make decisions.

Mediation can be an excellent alternative to court and litigation, especially for families. It is a private, non-binding, and informal process whose outcome is in the family’s hands alone.

And unlike courtrooms, mediation is not stressful. That’s because meetings can be held separately or jointly depending on the parties’ preferences.

You will also be free to negotiate all you want, and the mediator will never force you into a settlement that you don’t want.

As previously mentioned, all family disputes are eligible for mediation. 

Here are some examples of family conflicts that are settled through mediation.

Inheritance and Will Disputes Mediation

According to Nelsons, mediation is the most common method of dispute resolution when it comes to inheritance and trust disputes.

Inheritance disputes occur when a decedent’s beneficiaries and family members or friends are in a disagreement about the distribution of the decedent’s estate.

Inheritance disputes are caused by perceived inequality of distribution, will interpretation, and lack of documents.

Inheritance disputes mediation can be initiated voluntarily by a family member or ordered by a court. Either way, the process remains the same.

The Most Common Inheritance and Will Disputes

Inheritance and will disputes can be any of the following:

• Property distribution:

This dispute happens when one or more of the decedent’s beneficiaries believe they should receive a particular property or a particular provision while the will states otherwise.

• Validity of the decedent’s will: 

In the cases where the will doesn’t follow the legal criteria, the beneficiaries can challenge the validity of the will in the process known as the will contest.

• Lack of capacity:

One way to challenge the validity of a will is by claiming that the decedent didn’t have the testamentary capacity when drafting the will. Testamentary capacity is the person’s ability to understand three basics: they are writing a will, the nature of their estate, and their beneficiaries.

• Undue influence:

In the case where a decedent changed their will because of a third party’s influence, the beneficiaries can dispute the will’s validity for the undue influence.

• Estate executor or representative disputes:

In the case where the decedent had appointed a representative or an executor to manage their property after their death, the beneficiaries can dispute the decedent’s choice.

Mediation has the ability to address the underlying personal issues that are causing the conflict in a way that’s unattainable in courts.

Preparing for an Inheritance and Will Dispute Mediation

• Get copies of every relevant document, such as property documents and the decedent’s will, in any.
• Read the decedent’s will very carefully and seek help in case of ambiguities
• Gather evidence and supporting arguments and talk to possible witnesses
• Consult an attorney, especially if legal issues are involved
• Prepare your case and your opening statement
• Determine what you aim to achieve and your bottom line
• Determine what you’re willing to compromise

Keep on reading to learn about the mediation process and why mediating will save your inheritance money.

Family Business Disputes Mediation

Family business disputes can arise due to personal issues as much as business-related ones. Such issues can be primarily due to rivalry between the family members, the power hierarchy, and succession.

Family business conflicts have destructive effects on the business and the family. They can lead to the failure of the business, rupture of family relations, and freezing of assets.

Mediation could be a very effective dispute resolution mechanism for family business conflicts because it has the ability to resolve personal and intrafamily problems as well as business ones.

The Most Common Causes of Family Business Disputes

• Decision-making and the future strategy of the business
• The business performance of a family member
• Remuneration
• Conflicting interests
• Poor communication in regards to business issues
• The management of profits and investments
• The place of in-laws and spouses in the business
• Succession and choosing the next leader

Mediation can work to resolve conflicts as well as to prevent them, especially in the case of family businesses.

The process of mediation demands the active contemplation of the future, the assessment of all points of view and perspectives, and the venting of all unspoken views.

Estate Disputes Mediation

Estate disputes usually occur within families, and most commonly after a loved one passes. In addition to the will disputes discussed above, disputes regarding the administration of estates may also arise.

These disputes usually involve the executor (or executors) and the beneficiaries, or the beneficiaries only.

Such disputes can be in regards to:

• Managing business and property
• Selling of property
• The executor’s estate administration and choices
• Superannuation 

According to DDCS Lawyers, mediation is the most common dispute resolution process that they, as lawyers, get involved with. Most people who find themselves in estate disputes choose to keep courts as a last resort.

Instead, negotiation and mediation are preferred.

Preparing for an Estate Dispute Mediation

Preparing for an estate dispute mediation is not very different from preparing for inheritance or will dispute mediation.

Here are some things you need to consider before the mediation:

• If mediation is your idea, make sure to inform all the beneficiaries and executors concerned and get their agreement.
• Identify the issues underlying the dispute.
• Get all the relevant information regarding the estate, the assets, their size and valuations, and liabilities.
• Gather factual information on the administration of the estate by the executor/s.
• Get informed about taxes such as capital gain tax and inheritance tax
• Prepare your statement and pre-empt any questions that the involved parties may pose.

The Process of Mediation

According to Nolo, one of the USA’s first online legal guides, mediation is a six-step process.

These are the six stages of mediation

1. Opening statement by the mediator:

When all the participating parties in the mediation are seated, the mediator proceeds to make the opening statement. This includes introducing the participants, explaining the rules and goals of the mediation, and inviting them to work toward an agreement.

2. Opening statements by the involved parties:

Each party starts by presenting and describing the dispute from their perspective, their concerns, and the potential consequences of the conflict. Each party is required to listen to the other without interruption.

3. Joint discussion:

This step can only take place depending on the receptivity and openness of the parties to discussing and negotiating at this early stage. The mediator invites the parties to discuss the party’s opening statement.

4. Separate meetings:

The mediator meets each party separately in separate rooms. They will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each party’s position, take their offers to the other party, and exchange their negotiations. The mediator will only share the information you agree to share with the other party.

5. Joint negotiation:

After the separate meetings, the parties are brought back to negotiate directly. This stage might or might not take place depending on the case and the parties. 

6. Closure:

If the negotiation is successful and the parties reach an agreement, the mediator might put the agreement into writing and ask the parties to sign it. If no written agreement is produced, the agreement reached through the mediation remains non-binding and unenforceable in court. If the negotiations fail, the mediator will discuss the possibility of meeting again and whether it would be fruitful.

Mediation Expected Fees and Costs

Mediation fees and costs vary from one center to another and from one place to another.

These are are some ADR and mediation centers in the United States and their costs:

United States Arbitration and Mediation (USAM): 

• A case management fee of $250 paid by each involved party
• Mediators are compensated at the rate of $300-$500 an hour.
• Optional lunch fees of $11 per person

Cleveland Mediation Center (CMC):

The fee for family mediation is set at $225 per 90-minute session split between the involved parties.

Massachusetts Dispute Resolution Services (MDRS):

Fees include:

• A pre-payment of $575 per party for the first two hours with one neutral/mediator.
• Additional hours are billed at the rate of $225/hour per party.
• A full day of mediation with MDRS, up to 7 hours, is $1550 per party, paid in advance.

Other fees such as room or luncheon fees may incur.

There are also non-profit mediation centers that offer mediation services for free. 

Here are some free mediation centers:

• The Centre for Mediation and Dispute Resolution CMDR  (also known as Boston mediation) in Boston, Massachusetts 
• The New York Peace Institute in Brooklyn, New York
• Center for Conflict Resolution CCR in Chicago, Illinois

Expected Resolution Time

Mediation is a time-effective process. Depending on the type of conflict, the mediation process can take anywhere from hours to days.

Still, mediation, including preparing for it, is concluded in a much shorter time than court litigation.

Why Is Mediation Better Than Litigation for Families?

To prepare this article, we read and scrolled down tens of mediation and law pages. If there’s one thing that lawyers and mediators agree on, it would be that mediation is indeed a better, if not the best, option for resolving family disputes than court litigation.

Here’s why:

Cost

Compared to court and lawyers’ fees, mediation is a lot cheaper. Its affordability makes it more suitable for families, especially for large and complicated disputes.

Time

Preparing for and attending mediation sessions consumes much less time than trials. There’s less paperwork involved, fewer protocols, and fewer people involved. And depending on the severity and complication of the dispute, mediation can conclude in a few hours or a few days. You are always in control of the process and the outcome.

Flexibility

The disputants in mediation are in complete control of how the mediation concludes. Families often have personal issues underlying their disputes, and mediation can handle these issues much better than the rigidity of courts. Mediation is also flexible because it is non-binding until you and the other party decide otherwise.

Informality

While mediation is as serious as litigation, the process is much less stressful and constraining. There’s no law, judge, or lawyer to govern or control how the dispute is handled or concluded.

Confidentiality

Mediation is a private process, just as much as family disputes. Nobody except the involved parties can attend unless otherwise desired by the parties. Moreover, the agreements made through mediation usually contain a confidentiality clause to keep the settlement and its terms confidential.

Preserving Relationships

Family disputes are very complicated. That’s because they involve people who know each other and probably will continue to see or live with each other after the dispute is resolved. Mediation is a great way to resolve such disputes without causing a rift between family members. The mediator will work to maintain their relationship, clear any misunderstandings, and work out a satisfactory solution for all the affected members. Trials can only cause the opposite for families.

Is Mediation the Best Solution for You?

Whether mediation is suitable for you depends on what you’re expecting as a resolution. This article detailed the upside of mediation and why it’s a great option for family disputes of all types. The reason being is its flexibility, cost and time effectiveness, relations restoration, and confidentiality.

If these outcomes seem good enough for you, then mediation is for you.

If you expect a large settlement sum, for example, in estate or inheritance disputes, mediation might not bring you the best outcome.

The post Family Disputes Mediation: Resolving Inheritance, Business, Property Conflicts, and More appeared first on ODR Guide.

How can you resolve a dispute on Fiverr with a buyer? Well, Fiverr has a built-in resolution center where sellers and buyers can find and propose solutions or contact Fiverr customer support for assistance.

Here’s a guide to Fiverr’s dispute resolution process and a walkthrough of Fiverr’s resolution center.

If you’re a freelancer on Upwork or Freelancer.com, we’ve got you covered too. Check our Upwork and Freelancer dispute resolution guides.

Disputes Between Fiverr Users

Fiverr resolution center is where buyers and sellers find solutions to their problems, open disputes, and resolve them amicably. 

All disputes and requests are viewed and received by the involved parties only. Therefore, customer support will not intervene in any way.

All users are advised to use this center before escalating their disputes to customer support.

What Can Fiverr Resolution Center Do?

Fiverr resolution center offers dispute resolution for sellers and buyers equally. 

If you are a freelancer on Fiverr, the resolution center can help you:

• Extend the delivery time:

When you need extra time to finish an order, you can easily request a time extension through the center. The buyer will receive your request and can either accept or refuse it. The time extension request will be automatically withdrawn if the buyer doesn’t respond within four days.

You will be required to set the number of days you are requesting and the reason.

• Request an order cancelation:

There are many reasons you might want an order cancelation. Whether it’s your schedule or the buyer’s horrible attitude, you can use the Fiverr resolution center to ask the seller to cancel his order.

You will have to provide the reason for your request.

• Request an order modification:

As a freelancer/seller, you might need to modify your delivery time, deliverables, or price. You can ask the buyer to do so via the resolution center. The buyer has the ability to approve or decline your request.

If you are a buyer/client on Fiverr, you can use the Fiverr resolution center to:

• Extend the delivery time:

You have the ability to extend the delivery time of your order whenever you want. Like the seller, your request will be reviewed by the other party and either accepted or refused.

• Request progress update for an order:

No buyer likes to stay in the dark concerning what they are buying, especially if it’s a huge order. Using the center, you can request a progress update from your freelancer. If the freelancer fails to update you within two days, the order will be automatically canceled in two days.

How To Access Fiverr Resolution Center?

To access the resolution center, you should:

• Log in to your Fiverr account
• Head over to your orders page
• Select the order with which you are facing issues
• On the right panel, click “Visit the Resolution Center.”

How Does Fiverr Resolution Center Work?

When you access the resolution center as a freelancer, you will see a list of actions to choose from. The options may vary, but generally, you will see the following ones:

• Modify the order
• Extend the delivery time
• Ask the buyer to cancel the order

Depending on the option you choose, a list of reasons will be displayed from which you need to select. Examples of the reasons for an order cancelation request are: “ buyer is unresponsive” or “we couldn’t agree on the price.”

After selecting the proper reason for your dispute, you can also state the reason you’re submitting the request.

Your request will be submitted to the buyer, and he will have 48 hours to accept or decline it. If the buyer fails to respond, the order might be automatically canceled depending on the type of dispute you opened.

Fiverr Orders Cancelation Policy

When Fiverr’s resolution center fails to resolve your issue because you and the other buyer can’t come to an agreement, your final recourse is Fiverr customer support.

As a freelancer, you can have various reasons for canceling an order, generally because the buyer is a piece of work.

When you are ready to take your dispute to Fiverr’s customer support, be sure to bring all the supporting arguments with you.

In order for the customer support team to approve your order cancelation request, they must find that the other party is in violation of their terms of service and community standards.

Such violations could be the excessive request for revisions or threatening to leave bad reviews.

What Orders Are Eligible for Cancelation?

All active, delivered, and completed orders are eligible for cancelation, but there are exceptions.

Active orders are orders that are not yet delivered to the seller. They are eligible for cancelation if:

• The seller is late for delivery time and unresponsive for 24 hours
• One party uses abusive language or behaviors towards the other
• One party becomes inactive due to violations of Fiverr’s ToS
• Supplied materials infringe a copyright or trademark

Delivered orders are orders that are not yet marked as complete. They are eligible for cancelation if:

• The freelancer constantly requests delivery time extensions without delivering the final service
• No files are attached when delivering the order
• The buyer requests revisions to get more or other services
• Parties become abusive and threatening

Completed orders are orders that are marked as complete. Only orders that have been marked as complete for 14 days are eligible for cancelation. They are eligible for cancelation if:

• Copyright or trademark infringement is reported
• Materials are published or used commercially without a license from the owner
• Order delivery manipulation is reported

What Orders Are NOT Eligible for Cancelation?

You cannot request or successfully attain an order cancelation from Fiverr for the following orders:

• Completed orders that were made using Fiverr’s Logo Maker.
• Orders that are disputed for quality reasons so far as the delivered service meets the buyer’s requirements.
• Completed orders that are over 14 days since they were marked as complete.

Disputes Between You and Fiverr: Can You Sue or Arbitrate with Fiverr?

On Fiverr’s Terms of Service page and under its limitation of liability clause, Fiverr will not be liable for any damages, including personal injury, loss of revenue, loss of profits, loss of data, and pain, and suffering, etc.

However, users of Fiverr Workspace, a management service offered by Fiverr, can seek relief and resolve disputes via binding arbitration by Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services (JAMS).

JAMS is a US-based ODR provider who will handle your dispute with Fiverr and appoint one arbitrator to resolve it. You can find all the information you need about JAMS in this guide to arbitrate and mediate with JAMS.

Fiverr Workspace users are also able to take your claim to a local small claim court if arbitration with JAMS is not possible.

If you file a loss or damages claim against Fiverr as a Fiverr Workspace user, your claim will be limited to the fees you paid as a user in the last 12 months.

Just like other big companies, class actions rights are waived for lawsuits and arbitration claims alike. So, you will not be allowed to file or participate in a class lawsuit against Fiverr.

Time and Cost of Dispute Resolution on Fiverr

Arbitrating with JAMS as a US consumer means that you are only required to pay an administrative fee of $250 as opposed to the regular fee of $1750.

The expenses of the professional arbitrator handling your case are paid at an hourly rate set by the arbitrator.

Fiverr Workspace’s terms of service do not include any information regarding the arbitration fees, compensation, or refund.

If you are not a US citizen, you will pay $1750 as an administrative fee, 12% of the professional fees as a case management fee. Other fees might incur, so make sure to read JAMS international arbitration fees. 

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