Terms of Service

Effective: 26 June 2026 · Last updated: 26 June 2026 · Version: 3.0 · View change log

1. About Budling and what we are not

Budling is a free group gift registry for children. Registry owners (typically parents or guardians) create a list of desired gifts, experiences, and savings goals. Friends and family follow links from the registry to outside retailers and savings-plan portals to buy items or contribute. Budling is a brand and product; it is operated by its parent company. For our full legal entity details, contact legal@getbudling.com.

What Budling is not:

• Not a retailer or merchant. We do not sell, ship, warehouse, or fulfill any product. Items on registries are descriptions of what a family hopes the child will receive; guests buy directly from third-party retailers.
• Not a payment processor, bank, or money transmitter. Budling does not accept, hold, route, custody, or refund any money. All purchases and contributions happen on third-party websites under those sites' own terms.
• Not a financial, tax, or investment advisor. Anything we say about 529 plans is general information, not personalized advice.
• Not a 529 plan administrator. When a registry links to a 529 plan, the contribution is made by the guest on the 529 plan's own portal (for example UGift, operated by Ascensus). We do not hold or invest those funds.
• Not a charity or fundraising platform. Gifts coordinated through Budling are personal gifts, not tax-deductible donations.

2. Acceptance and changes

By creating an account, viewing or sharing a registry, or otherwise using the Service, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be announced by email and on the Service before they take effect, except where a shorter notice period is required for legal, security, or safety reasons. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance. Past versions are available in the change log below or by request.

3. Eligibility and accounts

• You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction) to create an account.
• You must provide accurate information when registering and keep it updated.
• The Service is provided over the internet. We do not warrant that it is appropriate or available for use in any specific jurisdiction, and you are responsible for complying with local laws where you access it.
• You are responsible for safeguarding your password. Notify us at trust@getbudling.com if you suspect unauthorized access.

4. Registry owners (parents and guardians)

If you create a registry, you confirm and agree that:

• You are the parent, legal guardian, or have express permission of a parent or legal guardian of every child featured on a registry you create.
• Information you list about a child (first name, optional age, optional photo) is shared using reasonable judgment about the child's privacy. New registries are link-only by default; you control whether to share a link and whether to display photos.
• You are responsible for how you use Budling, including which guests you invite, what links you choose to add, and how you communicate with your guests.
• You understand Budling does not collect, hold, or transmit any money on your behalf. Any purchase or contribution happens on a third-party retailer or 529 plan portal under its own terms; we have no involvement in those transactions and no ability to refund them.
• You are responsible for any taxes that may apply to gifts you receive in your jurisdiction. Budling does not provide tax advice.

5. Guests and contributors

If you view, RSVP to, or contribute toward a registry, you confirm and agree that:

• Any purchase you make from a linked retailer is a transaction between you and that retailer, governed by the retailer's terms, return policy, and privacy policy. Budling is not a party to that transaction.
• Any contribution you make to a 529 college savings plan is a transaction between you and the 529 plan administrator, governed by that plan's terms.
• Marking a gift as "claimed" on a registry is a courtesy signal to other guests so a child doesn't receive duplicate items. It is not a binding promise.
• Notes, photos, and videos you choose to attach to a gift will be visible to the registry owner. You retain ownership; you grant Budling a limited license to store and display that content as needed to deliver the Service to the registry owner (see Section 7).
• You will use the Service in good faith and will not misrepresent who you are.

6. Third-party retailers, affiliate links, and 529 plans

Budling is a directory and coordination layer. Substantially all transactions happen off-platform.

• Retailer links. Items on a registry typically link to outside retailers such as Amazon. Those retailers control product listings, pricing, availability, fulfillment, returns, refunds, and customer support. We do not warrant the accuracy of third-party content and have no responsibility for products purchased through these links.
• Affiliate disclosure. Budling participates in retailer affiliate programs (including the Amazon Associates Program). We may earn a small commission when a guest buys through a link on a registry. This does not change the price guests pay, does not give Budling access to your order, and does not give the retailer access to your registry. We disclose this relationship in accordance with the FTC's Endorsement Guides.
• 529 plans. If a registry includes a 529 college savings goal, the actual contribution is made by the guest through the plan's own portal (typically UGift, operated by Ascensus). Budling does not hold, route, or invest 529 funds. Investment performance, tax treatment, contribution limits, and qualified-withdrawal rules are governed entirely by the chosen 529 plan and applicable law. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
• Third-party terms control. Your use of any linked third-party site is governed by that site's terms and privacy policy, not by Budling's.

7. Your content (notes, photos, videos)

"Your Content" includes registry text, item descriptions, profile and registry photos, and any notes, photos, or videos you attach to a registry or RSVP.

• You own Your Content. We claim no ownership of anything you upload.
• You grant Budling a limited license to host, store, reproduce, transmit, and display Your Content solely for the purpose of operating and providing the Service to you and the people you choose to share with. This license ends when you delete the content, except for backups retained for a limited period as described in our Privacy Policy.
• We will not use photos, videos, or notes guests attach to gifts for marketing, testimonials, advertising, or training of machine-learning systems.
• You are responsible for the legality of Your Content. Do not upload anything you do not have the right to share, and do not include other people's children in photos without their parents' permission.
• We may remove content that violates these Terms, applicable law, or another person's rights, with or without notice depending on the severity.

8. Prohibited uses

You may not, and may not permit others to:

• Use Budling to misrepresent the existence of a child, fabricate events, or create registries outside the scope of a personal child's gift list;
• Solicit funds for charities, political campaigns, businesses, medical fundraising, or any cause that is not a personal child's gift registry;
• Upload content that is illegal, sexually explicit, harassing, hateful, defamatory, infringing, or contains malware;
• Upload images of children other than your own (or those of children whose parents have given you express permission);
• Scrape, reverse engineer, decompile, probe, or interfere with the Service or its underlying infrastructure;
• Use bots or automated tools to interact with the Service except for permitted, well-behaved crawlers respecting our robots.txt;
• Resell, redistribute, or build a competing service using data taken from Budling;
• Impersonate any person or misrepresent your relationship to a child featured on a registry;
• Use the Service in a way that violates any applicable law, including consumer-protection, child-safety, anti-spam, or sanctions laws.

9. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate your account or any registry at any time if we reasonably believe you have breached these Terms, posed a risk to other users, or violated applicable law. Where the breach is not severe, we will usually notify you and give you a reasonable opportunity to cure.

You may close your account at any time from your dashboard or by emailing hello@getbudling.com.

Sections that by their nature should survive termination - including ownership, content licenses, disclaimers, limitations of liability, indemnities, and dispute resolution - will survive.

10. Intellectual property

The Budling name, logo, sprout mark, the Service's design, code, copy, and all related materials are owned by Budling and protected by intellectual property laws. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service in accordance with these Terms.

You may not use the Budling name or logo in any way that suggests endorsement or affiliation without our prior written permission.

Feedback: if you send us feedback or suggestions, you grant us a perpetual, royalty-free license to use it without restriction.

11. Disclaimers and warranties

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, accuracy, or uninterrupted operation.

We do not warrant that any specific item on a registry will be purchased, that any link to a third-party retailer or 529 plan will remain available, that prices or product details displayed are accurate, or that the Service will be free from errors, bugs, or interruptions.

Third-party content. Product information, pricing, availability, and images for items linked from a registry are supplied or controlled by the third-party retailer. Budling does not verify and is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of that content.

Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded under your local consumer-protection laws.

12. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event will Budling, its parent, affiliates, officers, employees, or contractors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, including loss of profits, goodwill, data, or anticipated savings, arising out of or related to your use of the Service.

Without limiting the above, Budling has no liability for: (a) products purchased from third-party retailers, including defective, late, lost, or non-conforming goods; (b) contributions made to 529 plans or other third-party savings or payment platforms; (c) the content, terms, or privacy practices of any third-party site linked from a registry; or (d) any dispute between a registry owner and a guest about the use, allocation, or non-receipt of gifts.

Our total aggregate liability arising out of or related to these Terms or the Service will not exceed the lesser of (a) any amounts you have paid to Budling in the 12 months preceding the claim, or (b) USD $100. Because the Service is currently free, that amount is typically USD $0.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages, in which case the foregoing limitations apply only to the extent permitted by law.

13. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Budling, its parent, affiliates, and personnel from any claim, demand, loss, or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of (a) your breach of these Terms, (b) Your Content, (c) your violation of any law, (d) your infringement of any third party's rights, or (e) any transaction you enter into with a third-party retailer or 529 plan administrator through a link from a registry.

14. Dispute resolution and arbitration

Informal resolution first. Before filing any formal claim, you agree to contact us at legal@getbudling.com and give us 30 days to resolve the issue. Most disputes can be resolved this way.

Binding individual arbitration. Any unresolved dispute will be settled by binding individual arbitration administered by JAMS under its Streamlined Arbitration Rules, in English, in the US state where you reside (or, if you do not reside in the US, in Delaware), except either party may bring (a) a small-claims action in their local court, or (b) a claim for injunctive relief to protect intellectual property. You and Budling each waive the right to a jury trial and to participate in a class action, class arbitration, or representative proceeding.

Opt-out. You may opt out of the arbitration agreement by emailing legal@getbudling.com within 30 days of first agreeing to these Terms. Opting out does not affect the rest of these Terms.

Where mandatory consumer-protection law in your country of residence guarantees you the right to bring proceedings in your local courts, that right is preserved.

15. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, except that the Federal Arbitration Act governs the arbitration agreement in Section 14, and mandatory consumer-protection laws of your country of residence continue to apply where they cannot be contracted out of.

16. General provisions

• Entire agreement: these Terms, the Privacy Policy, and any policies linked from them constitute the entire agreement between you and Budling regarding the Service.
• Severability: if any provision is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force.
• No waiver: our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to do so later.
• Assignment: you may not assign these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets, on notice to you.
• Force majeure: neither party is liable for failure to perform due to events beyond reasonable control.
• Notices: we may give notice to you by email to the address on your account or by posting on the Service. You may give notice to us at legal@getbudling.com.
• Relationship: nothing in these Terms creates an agency, partnership, joint venture, or employment relationship between you and Budling.

17. Contact

Budling
General inquiries: hello@getbudling.com
Trust and safety: trust@getbudling.com
Privacy: privacy@getbudling.com
Legal notices: legal@getbudling.com

18. Change log

• Version 3.0 - 26 June 2026. Major rewrite to reflect the current operating model: Budling no longer accepts or holds any money. All gift purchases happen on third-party retailers (with affiliate-link disclosure), and all 529 contributions happen on the 529 plan's own portal. Removed the Stripe payment-processing, limited-agency, 120-day refund, payout, and tipping sections. Tightened liability cap to "lesser of" and added explicit no-liability language for third-party transactions. Replaced specific corporate-entity references with brand-only language (operated by parent company; contact legal@getbudling.com for entity details).
• Version 2.1 - 25 April 2026. Added limited-agency / trust language for contributions held by Stripe.
• Version 2.0 - 24 April 2026. Comprehensive rewrite for accuracy of the Stripe-based payment model.
• Version 1.0 - 14 April 2026. Initial Terms of Service.