Terms of Service and Sale

These Terms of Service and Sale (the “Terms”) are the agreement between you, the seller, and Cowa Services SARL-U, which operates MonEtalo. They explain what MonEtalo provides, what you agree to, how subscriptions work and what happens if something goes wrong. This English version is provided for convenience: if it differs from the French version, the French version prevails.

1. Who we are and what these Terms cover#

1.1 The operator#

MonEtalo is operated by Cowa Services SARL-U, Société à responsabilité limitée unipersonnelle (SARL-U), with its registered office in Côte d’Ivoire (ANGRE PETRO IVOIRE PRES DE L'EGLISE St AMBROISE DU JUBILE). Full company details (registration, share capital, publication director, host) are in the legal notice. In these Terms, “MonEtalo”, “we”, “us” and “our” mean Cowa Services SARL-U.

1.2 Purpose#

These Terms govern sellers’ access to and use of the MonEtalo platform, and the subscription to free and paid plans. They apply to anyone who creates an account, opens a store or joins a store’s team.

1.3 Documents that form the agreement#

Your agreement with MonEtalo is made up of, in order of priority:

• these Terms;
• the acceptable use policy, which lists prohibited products, content and practices;
• the data processing agreement, which covers the customer data we process on your behalf;
• the plan descriptions and prices shown on the Pricing page when you subscribe.

The privacy policy and the cookie policy explain how we handle your own data. If you join the Ambassador Program, its specific terms also apply.

1.4 Acceptance#

You accept these Terms by creating your account: the notice shown under the sign-up button counts as acceptance. They then apply each time you use the service. If you do not agree, please do not use MonEtalo.

You confirm that you are of legal age and able to enter into a contract. If you act for a company, an organisation or another person, you confirm that you are authorised to bind them: they are then the party bound by these Terms.

Key point: you use MonEtalo as a business or seller, for your commercial activity. MonEtalo is not a service for consumers buying for their own personal use.

2. Definitions#

To make sure we understand each other:

• Platform or Service: all MonEtalo tools (the monetalo.com website, back-office, stores, visual editor, applications, and related emails and alerts).
• Seller or you: the person or business that creates an account and opens one or more stores.
• Account: your personal space, protected by your email address and password.
• Store: the online shop built with MonEtalo, available at a name.monetalo.com address or on your own domain name.
• Back-office: the admin area where you manage your store (products, orders, settings).
• Team member: someone you invite to manage your store with a defined role.
• Customer: a person who visits your store or places an order there.
• Plan: the subscription tier you choose (Starter, Essential, Pro or Business), with its features and limits.
• Subscription: a paid plan purchased for one month or one year.
• Payment aggregator: a payment provider (for example PayDunya, PayTech or CinetPay) that lets you collect payments by mobile money, card or other methods.
• Seller content: everything you publish or upload (text, photos, logos, videos, prices, pages, published reviews).
• Days: calendar days, unless stated otherwise.

3. Sign-up and account#

3.1 Creating your account#

You create your account with a valid email address and a personal password. We send you an email to confirm your address; some features are only available once it is confirmed. Your WhatsApp number is optional: it is used for your store (contact, alerts), never to log in.

You agree to provide accurate information and keep it up to date, especially your email address, which we use for important messages (security, invoices, notices of changes).

3.2 Keeping your account secure#

• Choose a strong, unique password and keep it secret. We will never ask for it by email, phone or WhatsApp.
• You are responsible for everything done from your account, unless you show it resulted from our fault.
• If you think someone has used your account without permission, change your password right away and write to support@monetalo.com.
• If you forget your password, you can reset it through a link sent to your email address.

3.3 Your team#

You can invite people to your store’s team and give them a role (owner, manager, products, orders). Each member has their own account and accepts these Terms. You choose who you invite and what they can do: you remain responsible, towards MonEtalo and your customers, for what your team members do on your store. Remove access promptly for anyone who no longer works with you.

3.4 MonEtalo support access#

To help you, at your request or to fix a reported problem, an authorised member of the MonEtalo team may view your back-office. This access is time-limited (a session of up to 30 minutes), reserved for support and logged. It may also be used to check compliance with these Terms or to respond to a request from an authority. The people involved are bound by confidentiality.

4. The Service#

4.1 What MonEtalo provides#

Depending on your plan, MonEtalo lets you, among other things:

• create an online store at a name.monetalo.com address, or on your own domain name with plans that include it;
• choose a theme and customise it with the visual editor;
• publish products, categories and pages in your store’s language and currency;
• receive and track orders, with online payment, cash on delivery or deposit;
• manage your customers, deliveries and visit statistics;
• get order notifications in the back-office, by email and, if you turn them on, on WhatsApp;
• use AI-assisted writing tools.

The exact features and limits of each plan are described on the Pricing page.

4.2 Changes to the Service#

MonEtalo keeps improving. We may add, change or remove features. If we remove an essential feature from a paid plan you are currently on, we will tell you in advance and, if this significantly reduces the value of your subscription, you may cancel and get a refund for the unused part of the paid period.

4.3 Third-party services#

Some features rely on third-party services (payment aggregators, WhatsApp, the AI provider, domain name services, advertising pixels you add). Their use may be subject to their own terms. We are not responsible for how they work or change, but we do our best to limit any impact on your store.

5. Plans, prices and subscription#

5.1 Plans#

MonEtalo offers a free plan, Starter, and paid plans, Essential, Pro and Business. What each plan includes and costs is shown on the Pricing page, in your billing currency (XOF, XAF, EUR or USD). The price that applies is the one shown when you subscribe or renew.

The Business plan paid for one store also applies, at no extra cost, to the two oldest other stores of the same account. When the Business subscription ends, each of these stores returns to its own plan and its limits.

The free plan is provided as is, with its limits. We may change it or set new limits, with advance notice.

5.2 Free trial#

You can try the Pro plan for free for 14 days: right at sign-up if you pick no plan or pick Pro monthly, or later from your space if you start on the free Starter plan. The trial is commitment-free and never triggers an automatic payment. When it ends, if you have not chosen a paid plan, your store continues on the free Starter plan, with its limits. One trial per seller and per email address, variants included.

If you pick the Essential plan, the Business plan or the Pro plan yearly at sign-up, you pay for it as soon as your store is created, without a trial. Until that payment is made, your store runs on the Starter plan.

5.3 Paying for your subscription#

• Paid plans are paid in advance, for one month or one year.
• Payment is made through a payment partner (PayDunya, PayTech or CinetPay), using the methods it offers (mobile money, card…). Your card or mobile money details are handled by that partner: MonEtalo does not receive them.
• Your plan is activated only once the partner confirms the payment. Simply returning to our website after paying is not enough.
• If you paid another way (bank transfer, offline payment), our team may record the payment manually after checking it.
• Prices do not include any fees charged by your mobile operator or bank, which you bear. Applicable taxes are shown on the invoice.

5.4 Invoices#

An invoice is issued automatically as a PDF for every payment. You can find it in your back-office, and the payment confirmation email contains a link to download it. Make sure your billing details (name, address, tax ID if any) are correct: they appear on your invoices.

5.5 Renewal, grace period and return to the free plan#

• Your subscription covers the period you paid for. Before it ends, we remind you by email to renew.
• If you do not renew, your store gets a 7-day grace period during which it keeps working, giving you time to pay.
• When the grace period ends, your store automatically moves to the free Starter plan: it stays online and keeps receiving orders, within that plan’s limits. Products beyond its limit are archived and paid features turned off, without deleting anything (products, orders, customers, settings).
• You get everything back as soon as you choose a paid plan again.

5.6 Changing plans#

• Upgrading: you can move to a higher plan at any time. The paid, unused days left on your current plan are converted, pro rata to their value, into days on the new plan.
• Downgrading: the change takes effect at your next renewal. You keep your current plan until the end of the paid period. Check beforehand that your content fits within the new plan’s limits.

5.7 Price changes#

We may change our prices. A new price never applies to a period already paid: it applies from your next renewal, and we notify you at least 30 days in advance by email or in your back-office. If you do not agree, simply do not renew.

5.8 Right of withdrawal#

MonEtalo is for sellers acting in the course of their business, so the cooling-off (withdrawal) right that protects consumers generally does not apply. If mandatory law nevertheless grants you this right, by asking for your plan to be activated immediately you agree that the Service is provided before the withdrawal period ends, and you acknowledge that the right can no longer be exercised once the Service has been fully provided, or that you will pay for the part already provided, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

5.9 Refunds#

A subscription period that has started is not refunded, even if you stop using the Service during the period. We do refund:

• a double payment or a payment taken by mistake;
• a billing error on our side (wrong amount, wrong plan);
• the cases set out in these Terms (removal of an essential feature, section 4.2; closure through no fault of yours, section 17.3).

To request a refund, write to support@monetalo.com with the invoice reference. Refunds are made to the original payment method where possible, or by another method agreed with you.

6. Your obligations as a seller#

6.1 You are the merchant#

Your store is your business. You choose your products, prices, terms of sale and delivery. Sales are made directly between you and your customers: MonEtalo is not the seller, the buyer or an intermediary in the sale, and does not take part in fulfilling orders.

6.2 What you sell#

You only sell products and services that are lawful in the countries where you sell and deliver, in line with the acceptable use policy. You hold the rights, authorisations and licences needed to sell them. Your product descriptions, photos and prices are accurate and do not mislead your customers.

6.3 Legal information on your store#

You display on your store the information required by the law that applies to your business, in particular: your identity or business name, your contact details, your registration number if any, your terms of sale, your delivery, returns and refund terms, and prices including all taxes in the store’s currency. MonEtalo gives you, in Settings › My store, the fields to fill in (name or business name, address, registration number, contact email). They appear on your store’s Legal notice, Terms of sale and Privacy pages, written from your settings and linked at the bottom of every page and at checkout. These pages are an aid: you check them, you can replace them with your own, and their content remains your responsibility.

6.4 Consumer law#

You comply with the consumer protection rules that apply to your sales: pre-contract information, legal warranties, the right of withdrawal where it applies, the ban on misleading practices, and complaint handling. If you sell to customers in other countries, check the rules in those countries.

6.5 Tax and administrative obligations#

You alone are responsible for your tax, social security and administrative obligations: registering your business, taxes on your sales, customs duties, invoicing your customers. MonEtalo does not collect or pay any tax on your sales.

6.6 Delivery and after-sales service#

You arrange delivery of your orders, yourself or with a carrier of your choice, within the timeframes you announce. You answer your customers’ questions and complaints, and handle returns, exchanges and refunds according to your terms and the law. If a customer contacts MonEtalo about an order, we will direct them to you.

6.7 Your customers’ data#

For your customers’ data (name, phone number, delivery address, email, orders, reviews), you are the data controller and MonEtalo acts as your processor, only on your instructions and to run your store. You tell your customers how you use their data (for example with a privacy page published on your store from the Pages tab), use it only for legitimate purposes and respect their rights. Each party’s commitments are set out in the data processing agreement, which is part of these Terms.

If you add your own analytics or advertising pixels (Meta Pixel, TikTok Pixel, Google Analytics, Google Ads…), you are responsible for their use towards your visitors, including informing them and obtaining their consent where the law requires it.

6.8 Indemnity#

You will indemnify MonEtalo against any claim, action or penalty from a customer, a third party or an authority relating to your products, your sales, your content or a breach of these Terms, and cover the reasonable costs that result (including legal fees), to the extent they arise from your own acts.

7. Your customers’ payments#

7.1 Your own aggregator account#

To accept online payments, you connect your own account with a payment aggregator (PayDunya, PayTech or CinetPay) to your store. You open that account directly with the aggregator and accept its terms. The money your customers pay goes straight into your account with the aggregator.

7.2 MonEtalo does not hold your funds#

MonEtalo never receives, holds or transfers the money from your sales. We take no commission on your sales. The aggregator’s transaction fees, payout times, checks and any holds are a matter between you and the aggregator.

7.3 Payment confirmation#

An order paid online is only marked “paid” once the aggregator confirms the payment. You set how long your customers have to pay: after that, an unpaid order is cancelled automatically. You can also offer cash on delivery or a deposit; in that case, you confirm receipt of the payment.

7.4 Access keys#

Keep your aggregator account’s access keys confidential. We store them securely and only use them to process your store’s payments. Payment disputes, declined transactions and your customers’ refund requests are settled between you, your customer and the aggregator.

8. Your content and intellectual property#

8.1 Your content belongs to you#

You keep ownership of your content. You confirm that you hold all the rights needed to publish it (photos you took or bought, text you wrote, brands you may use) and that it does not infringe anyone’s rights.

8.2 Licence granted to MonEtalo#

To run your store, you grant MonEtalo a worldwide, royalty-free right to host, reproduce, technically adapt (for example resize or compress an image), display and distribute your content, solely as part of the Service. This licence lasts for as long as you use the Service, plus the time needed to delete technical and backup copies.

With your express consent, we may also feature your store as an example (store showcase, MonEtalo social media). You can withdraw this consent at any time.

8.3 MonEtalo’s property#

The platform, its software, themes, editor, templates, text, design, and the MonEtalo name and logo belong to Cowa Services SARL-U or its partners. We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the Service for your store while your account is open. You may not copy, resell, decompile or reuse the themes or software outside MonEtalo, or use the MonEtalo brand in a way that suggests a partnership that does not exist.

8.4 Your suggestions#

If you send us ideas or suggestions to improve MonEtalo, we may use them freely, with no obligation to you.

8.5 Reporting an infringement#

If you believe content published on a store infringes your rights, write to support@monetalo.com with the page address and the rights concerned. We handle these reports under the acceptable use policy.

9. Custom domain name#

With plans that include it, you can connect your store to your own domain name. You buy and renew the domain with the registrar of your choice, and you remain its holder and are responsible for it (choice of name, respect for trademarks, renewal). You set up the DNS settings following our instructions. If your plan no longer includes a custom domain, or the domain expires, your store remains available at its name.monetalo.com address. The name.monetalo.com address remains MonEtalo’s property: we may refuse or reclaim a name that is misleading, offensive or infringes someone else’s rights.

10. Artificial intelligence#

MonEtalo offers writing assistance tools (for example, suggesting a product description). They run only when you ask and use an AI provider, Anthropic (United States). Only the information about the product concerned is sent.

The texts offered are suggestions: they may contain mistakes or inaccuracies. You review them, correct them if needed and remain responsible for what you publish. Do not use these tools to produce content prohibited by the acceptable use policy.

11. Communications#

11.1 Service emails#

We send you emails about how your account works: address confirmation, security, invoices, renewal reminders, new orders, notices of changes to these Terms. These emails are part of the Service: you cannot unsubscribe from them while your account is active.

11.2 News and tips#

We may also send you emails with news and tips to grow your sales. You can refuse them when you create your store, then unsubscribe in one click at any time, via the link in each email or from “My account” in your back-office.

11.3 WhatsApp alerts#

If you turn them on, you receive WhatsApp alerts (new orders, evening summary) through Meta’s WhatsApp service. They are optional: you can stop them from your back-office or by replying “STOP”.

11.4 Real-time notifications#

The back-office shows real-time notifications (for example when an order comes in), possibly with a sound you can turn off.

12. Referral program#

12.1 How it works#

Every store has a referral link, shown in the back-office. When a new store is created through your link and then takes a paid plan (payment confirmed), you get up to 30 free days of subscription on your store: days of your plan worth the amount the referred store paid, within that limit.

12.2 Rules#

• You can receive no more than 12 rewards in any 12-month period.
• Stores you create yourself, or that someone creates on your behalf, do not count (including a store created from a device that already manages yours, or with a variant of your email address).
• A store attributed to an ambassador of the Ambassador Program does not count for referrals.
• Rewards are given as subscription days: they have no cash value and cannot be exchanged, transferred or refunded.
• If the referred store’s subscription is refunded or cancelled, the related reward may be withdrawn.
• Referrals must stay honest: no spam, no false promises, no fake accounts, no paid advertising on the MonEtalo brand.

In case of abuse, we may refuse or withdraw the rewards concerned and, in serious cases, suspend access to the program. We may change or end the program with advance notice; rewards already earned are kept.

12.3 Ambassador Program#

If you want to recommend MonEtalo on a larger scale (groups, pages, accounts with a large audience) and earn a commission, see the Ambassador Program, which has its own terms.

13. Rules of use#

You use MonEtalo fairly and lawfully. The acceptable use policy details the prohibited or regulated products, services, content and practices, and the measures we may take. It is part of these Terms.

In particular, you must not: undermine the security or operation of the platform, try to access other sellers’ data, use bots abusively, get around your plan’s limits, or resell the Service without our written consent.

14. Availability, maintenance, backups and support#

14.1 Availability#

We do our best to keep MonEtalo available at all times, but we cannot guarantee a service free of any interruption or error. Interruptions may occur for maintenance, updates, technical incidents, or a provider or network failure. We restore the Service as quickly as possible.

14.2 Maintenance#

We announce planned maintenance in advance whenever possible, and schedule it preferably at low-traffic times. Urgent maintenance (for example for security) may be carried out without notice.

14.3 Backups#

We back up platform data regularly. These backups protect the Service; they do not replace your own copies: keep a copy of your important content (photos, text). You can download all your data at any time from Settings › My data.

14.4 Support#

You can contact us at support@monetalo.com or from your back-office. We reply as quickly as possible, in French or English. The level of support may vary by plan, as shown on the Pricing page.

15. Suspension#

15.1 When we may suspend#

We may suspend all or part of your account or store, in particular if:

• you do not comply with these Terms or the acceptable use policy;
• your store poses a risk to security, to your customers or to other sellers;
• we receive a serious complaint or a request from an authority;
• we have serious grounds to suspect fraud or unlawful activity.

15.2 Procedure#

Except in an emergency, we notify you by email, explain why and give you a reasonable time to fix the situation or explain. In an emergency (fraud, clearly unlawful content, risk to security or to people), we may act immediately and inform you afterwards. The suspension is lifted once the issue is resolved. During a suspension caused by your breach, your current subscription is neither extended nor refunded.

16. Termination by you#

You can stop using MonEtalo at any time:

• turn off renewal: your plan stays active until the end of the paid period, then your store follows section 5.5;
• close your store from Settings › Close my store: it goes offline at once and you have 30 days to reopen it in one click, before its data is permanently deleted;
• delete your account from My account, with the same 30 days to change your mind.

Before closing, download the data you need (products, orders, customers, invoices) from Settings › My data. Closing does not entitle you to a refund of the current period, except in the cases listed in section 5.9.

17. Closure by MonEtalo#

17.1 For serious breach#

We may permanently close your account or store for a serious or repeated breach of these Terms (for example selling prohibited products, fraud, security attacks, unlawful content), after a formal notice that has gone unheeded, or immediately if the seriousness of the breach warrants it. No refund is due in that case.

17.2 Inactivity#

An account on the free plan, or a paused store, that remains inactive for a long period may be closed, after at least two email reminders giving you the chance to keep it.

17.3 Discontinuation of the Service#

If we decide to discontinue MonEtalo or a plan, we will tell you at least 90 days in advance, unless that is impossible, so you have time to download your data, and we will refund the unused part of paid subscriptions.

18. What happens when the agreement ends#

• Your store is no longer visible to the public and no longer receives orders.
• For a reasonable period after closure (except closure for unlawful activity), you can ask us for a copy of your data in a common format.
• We then delete your content and your customers’ data, including from backups as they rotate, except what the law requires us to keep (for example invoices and accounting records) or what is needed to establish, exercise or defend our rights.
• Sections that by their nature must continue to apply remain in force (intellectual property, liability, indemnity, governing law, sums owed).

19. Liability and warranties#

19.1 Our commitments#

We commit to providing the Service with care and professional skill, as a best-efforts obligation. The Service is provided “as is”: we do not guarantee that it will meet all your particular needs, or any level of sales or results.

19.2 What we are not responsible for#

MonEtalo is not a party to sales between you and your customers. We are not responsible for:

• your products, their quality, compliance, delivery or after-sales service;
• the content you publish, including AI-generated text you choose to publish;
• third-party services (payment aggregators, WhatsApp, operators, registrars, advertising pixels);
• damage caused by misuse of the Service, by a member of your team or by disclosure of your password;
• indirect losses, such as loss of revenue, profit, customers, reputation or data you did not back up.

19.3 Cap#

In all cases, our total liability, for all causes combined, is limited to the amount you paid for your subscription in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the damage. For the free plan, this amount is zero, unless the law provides otherwise.

These limits do not apply in the case of gross negligence or wilful misconduct, personal injury, or where applicable law does not allow liability to be limited.

19.4 Force majeure#

Neither party is liable for a delay or failure caused by a force majeure event, meaning an external, unforeseeable and unavoidable event: natural disaster, fire, epidemic, war, civil unrest, government decision, widespread power or internet outage, major failure of a host or operator, large-scale cyberattack. The affected party notifies the other as soon as possible. If the event lasts more than 30 days, either party may terminate the agreement without compensation.

20. Personal data#

We process your personal data (and that of your team members) to manage your account, provide the Service, invoice you and keep things secure, in accordance with Ivorian Law No. 2013-450 of 19 June 2013 on the protection of personal data and, where it applies, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Full details (data, purposes, retention, recipients, transfers, rights) are in the privacy policy and the cookie policy.

For your customers’ data, we act as your processor under the data processing agreement.

21. Changes to these Terms#

We may update these Terms, for example to reflect changes to the Service or the law. For any significant change, we notify you at least 30 days in advance by email and in your back-office, with a summary of the changes. Changes required by law or related to security may apply sooner.

If you keep using MonEtalo after the new Terms take effect, you accept them. If you do not agree, you may cancel before that date; in that case, if the change clearly puts you at a disadvantage, we refund the unused part of your current subscription. The current version is always available on this page, with its date.

22. General provisions#

• Entire agreement: these Terms and the documents listed in section 1.3 make up the entire agreement between you and MonEtalo, and replace any prior discussions on the same subject. Specific terms may be agreed in writing.
• No waiver: if we do not exercise a right at a given time, this does not mean we waive it.
• Severability: if a clause is held void or unenforceable, it is replaced by a valid clause as close as possible to it, and the other clauses remain in force.
• Assignment: you may not transfer your account or this agreement to someone else without our written consent, including if you sell your business. We may transfer this agreement to a company that takes over all or part of the MonEtalo business, and will let you know.
• Independence: you and MonEtalo are independent parties; this agreement creates no partnership, agency or employment relationship.
• Evidence: MonEtalo’s computer records (logs, payment history, emails sent), kept under reasonable security conditions, are evidence between us unless proven otherwise, in accordance with Ivorian Law No. 2013-546 of 30 July 2013 on electronic transactions.
• Language: these Terms exist in French and English. In case of any discrepancy, the French version prevails.

23. Governing law and disputes#

These Terms are governed by the law of Côte d’Ivoire.

If you disagree with us, first write to support@monetalo.com explaining the issue: we will look for an amicable solution together. If no solution is found within 30 days, either of us may suggest mediation, though it is not mandatory.

Failing an amicable settlement, the dispute will be brought before the competent courts of Abidjan, including where there are several defendants or in summary proceedings, subject to any mandatory jurisdiction rules that may apply to you.

24. Contact us#

For any question about these Terms:

• by email: support@monetalo.com;
• by phone: available on request;
• by post: Cowa Services SARL-U, ANGRE PETRO IVOIRE PRES DE L'EGLISE St AMBROISE DU JUBILE, Côte d’Ivoire.