Terms of use

Last updated: 13 August 2026

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) are the agreement between you and OohWhat (“OohWhat”, “we”, “us”) for using oohwhat.co.uk and taking part in any OohWhat swap. By creating an account, registering interest, applying, or otherwise using the site, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy policy.

Please also read the Exchange rules and Safety & trust pages. Together they form part of this agreement.

1. What OohWhat is

OohWhat is a UK handmade mystery swap platform. We help makers apply, get reviewed, get matched, send a creation, and receive a surprise from someone else.

OohWhat is not:

• a marketplace or online shop
• a courier, postal service, or insurer
• a party to the sale of goods between participants
• a guarantor of quality, value, taste, or delivery times

Participants send items to each other. We organise the swap and provide the tools around it.

2. Eligibility

To use OohWhat and join a swap you must:

• be 18 or older
• live in the United Kingdom and use a valid UK delivery address
• be able to post a parcel within the UK by the swap deadline
• provide accurate account, contact, and delivery information

We may refuse, suspend, or close an account if we reasonably believe these conditions are not met.

3. Your account

You may sign in with Google or another method we offer. You are responsible for activity on your account and for keeping access to that login secure.

Information you give us — including your name, email, address, photos, and item description — must be true, complete, and kept up to date.

You must not create accounts for other people, impersonate anyone, or use the site to spam, scrape, or disrupt OohWhat or other participants.

4. Joining a swap

Each swap has its own dates, theme, value tier, and rules. Applying or registering interest does not guarantee a place.

When you apply, you agree that:

• your creation is handmade primarily by you
• it matches the photos and description you submit
• it reasonably fits the stated value tier (for example £20–£50)
• it is new, unused, finished, safe, and legal to post in the UK
• you will send it by the stated deadline if you are approved and matched
• you will pay your own postage

We review submissions and may approve, ask for more information, or decline a place. Approval is not a certificate of quality, safety, or exact monetary value.

Some swaps (including the Founding Swap) may ask you to help spread the word on social media before a place is confirmed. That does not create a marketing contract between you and other participants.

5. Matching, addresses, and privacy between makers

After matching, we show the sender the delivery name and address they need to post the parcel. That information is only for completing the assigned exchange.

You must not:

• use another participant's address for anything else
• share it publicly or with third parties
• contact them outside OohWhat except as we expressly allow
• add them to mailing lists or marketing

Matches are not a straight two-way swap. The person you send to is not the person sending to you. Preferences you share are a guide, not a promise.

6. Sending, tracking, and receiving

Once matches are released, you must post your creation by the deadline, package it so it can arrive safely, and update your OohWhat dashboard (sent, service, tracking or postage reference, date posted). When your parcel arrives, you should mark it received and leave a rating if asked.

You choose the postal or courier service and pay them directly. We strongly recommend tracked postage and keeping proof of posting. OohWhat is not responsible for loss, delay, or damage in transit, and does not reimburse items or postage.

If something goes wrong, contact us — not the other participant — using the contact page.

7. If someone doesn't send

Nobody should send something and simply receive nothing back. We monitor posting updates and may contact anyone who misses a deadline.

If you don't send without a reasonable explanation, we may remove you from the swap, withhold future places, and close your account. For some swaps we may try to use backup makers, but we cannot guarantee a replacement parcel.

8. Prohibited items and conduct

You must not submit or send anything listed as not accepted in the Exchange rules, including food, alcohol, medicines, cosmetics, weapons, hazardous materials, sexually explicit products, counterfeits, live plants or animals, or anything illegal or unsafe to post in the UK.

You also must not:

• harass, threaten, or discriminate against anyone
• upload content you don't have the right to use
• include another person's personal information without permission
• attempt to bypass matching, reviews, or account limits

We may remove content, cancel a place, or suspend an account if we reasonably believe these Terms or the rules have been broken.

9. Fees

The Founding Swap has no platform fee. You still pay your own postage. Later swaps may introduce a fee; we will say so clearly before you apply.

Optional Ko-fi or similar contributions are donations, not payment for a swap place, and do not change these Terms.

10. Your content

You keep the rights in photos, descriptions, reviews, and other content you upload. You grant OohWhat a non-exclusive licence to use that content to run the swap, moderate it, show it to you and (where needed) to your match or to admins, and — with sensible cropping or credit — to talk about OohWhat (for example on the site or Instagram).

You confirm you have the right to grant that licence and that your content is not misleading.

11. Our role and liability

We provide the platform with reasonable care. Handmade work is subjective. We do not guarantee that you will like what you receive, that values will match exactly, or that every participant will behave perfectly.

To the fullest extent allowed by UK law, OohWhat is not liable for:

• items lost, delayed, or damaged in the post
• another participant's failure to send, or sending something unsuitable
• indirect or consequential loss, including lost profits or goodwill
• outages, bugs, or third-party services (hosting, email, sign-in)

Nothing in these Terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or anything else that cannot be limited under English law. If you are a consumer, your statutory rights are not affected.

If we are liable to you in connection with OohWhat, our total liability is limited to £50 or the platform fee you paid us for that swap (whichever is higher), except where the law says otherwise.

12. Closing or changing accounts and swaps

You may stop using OohWhat at any time. Cancelling interest or withdrawing an application may be limited once a swap has progressed — we will explain that in the product where we can.

We may change swap dates, pause a swap, or close OohWhat if we need to. We may update these Terms; the “last updated” date will change, and continued use after that means you accept the new Terms. If a change is material, we will try to email the address on your account.

13. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction, except that consumers may also bring claims in their UK home nation where the law allows.

14. Contact

Questions about these Terms: info@oohwhat.co.uk. More ways to reach us are on the Contact us page.