Terms of Service

1. Agreement to these Terms

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a binding legal agreement between you (“you” or “user”) and To Be Read · Clackamas Book Exchange, together with its owner, officers, employees, agents, independent contractors, volunteers, affiliates, successors, and suppliers (collectively, “To Be Read,” “we,” “us,” or “our,” and together the “Protected Parties”), governing your access to and use of tobereadshop.comand any related content, features, and services (collectively, the “Site”). By accessing or using the Site, clicking to accept, or otherwise indicating assent, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy, which are incorporated by reference. If you do not agree, do not use the Site. If you use the Site on behalf of an organization, you represent that you are authorized to bind that organization to these Terms.

2. Eligibility

You may use the Site only if you can form a binding contract with us and are not barred from doing so under applicable law. Features that involve submitting information (such as the newsletter, wishlists, and reviews) are intended for users 13 and older; users under the age of majority must use the Site under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to these Terms. You are responsible for all activity that occurs through your use of the Site.

3. Changes to the Site

The Site is offered as a courtesy and informational resource. We may add, change, suspend, limit, or discontinue any part of the Site — or the entire Site — at any time, with or without notice, and we are not liable to you or anyone else for doing so. We do not guarantee that the Site, or any feature of it, will always be available.

4. Acceptable use

You agree not to, and not to permit or assist anyone else to:

• Use the Site for any unlawful, fraudulent, or harmful purpose, or in violation of these Terms.
• Submit or transmit content that is false, misleading, defamatory, obscene, harassing, threatening, hateful, discriminatory, or that infringes or misappropriates any intellectual-property, privacy, or other right.
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Site, other users' accounts or data, or any systems or networks connected to the Site.
• Interfere with or disrupt the Site, including through scraping, harvesting, spamming, denial-of-service activity, automated access, or circumventing rate limits, security, or access controls.
• Introduce any virus, malware, or other harmful code, or use the Site to develop or train any competing product or dataset.
• Impersonate any person or entity or misrepresent your identity or affiliation.

We may investigate and take any action we deem appropriate for any actual or suspected violation, including removing content, suspending or terminating access, and cooperating with law enforcement, without liability to you.

5. Trade-in & store credit

The Site may show trade-in information and a trade-credit estimator. Any credit value, swap fee, rate, or other figure shown online is an illustrative estimate provided for convenience only — not an offer, a quote, a promise, or a guarantee. Actual trade-in eligibility and credit are determined solely in-store, in our sole and absolute discretion, based on factors such as condition, demand, and current policy, and may differ materially from any estimate. We do not buy books for cash. We may accept, decline, or limit any trade, and may change or discontinue trade and credit policies, rates, and store-credit terms at any time without notice. Store credit has no cash value, is non-transferable, and may expire as permitted by law.

6. Online purchases & third-party shops

We do not process online sales, payments, or shipping directly on this Site. Online purchases are completed on independent third-party marketplaces such as Bookshop.org and PangoBooks. Those transactions are governed entirely by the terms, privacy policies, payment processing, fulfillment, shipping, and return policies of those platforms — not by these Terms. We make no representations about and accept no responsibility or liability for third-party platforms, their content, or any transaction you enter into with them.

7. Book details, availability & pricing errors

Book information shown on the Site (titles, descriptions, covers, prices, and availability) is provided for general reference and may be drawn from third-party sources such as Google Books. It may be inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date, and inventory in a used bookstore changes constantly. We do not warrant that any listing is accurate, current, or that a given title is in stock. Prices and availability are subject to change without notice, and we reserve the right to correct any error, inaccuracy, or omission, and to refuse, cancel, or limit any order or trade arising from such an error, at any time — even after it has been submitted.

8. Newsletter & electronic communications

If you subscribe to our newsletter, you consent to receive periodic emails from us, and you may unsubscribe at any time using the link or reply instructions in any email. By using the Site, you also consent to receive communications and disclosures from us electronically, and you agree that electronic communications satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing. See our Privacy Policy for how we handle your information.

9. Reviews & user content

You are solely responsible for any review, comment, or other content you submit (“User Content”). By submitting User Content, you represent and warrant that it is your own original work (or that you have all necessary rights to it), is truthful and accurate, and does not violate any law or any third party's rights. You grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid-up, sublicensable, and transferable license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, and display the User Content in any media, in connection with the Site and our business, including marketing — without attribution or compensation to you.

We are under no obligation to monitor, display, or retain User Content, and we may decline, moderate, edit, refuse, or remove any submission at any time, in our sole discretion and without notice — for example, content that is spam, off-topic, abusive, unlawful, or that violates these Terms. We do not endorse and are not responsible for any User Content, and any reliance on it is at your own risk. If you believe content on the Site infringes your copyright, contact us at the address in Section 23.

10. Intellectual property

The Site and all of its content — including text, design, layout, graphics, logos, images, and the “To Be Read” and “Clackamas Book Exchange” names and marks — are owned by us or our licensors and are protected by intellectual-property and other laws. Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use the Site for your personal, non-commercial use only. All rights not expressly granted are reserved. You may not copy, reproduce, modify, distribute, sell, publicly display, frame, or create derivative works from any part of the Site without our prior written permission, except as expressly allowed by law.

11. Third-party links & services

The Site links to and integrates third-party sites and services (such as social media, maps, marketplaces, and analytics). We provide these for convenience only; we do not control, endorse, or assume any responsibility or liability for any third-party site, content, product, service, or practice. Your access to and use of them is at your own risk and subject to their terms and policies.

12. Assumption of risk

You access and use the Site, and rely on any information on it (including book details and trade-credit estimates), entirely at your own risk and on your own judgment. You assume all risks associated with your use of the Site and any in-person or online interaction or transaction arising from it.

13. Disclaimer of warranties

The Site and all content, features, and services are provided “as is,” “as available,” and “with all faults,” without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Protected Parties disclaim all warranties, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, accuracy, and non-infringement, and any warranties arising from course of dealing or usage of trade. The Protected Parties do not warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, accurate, complete, current, or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that the Site is free of viruses or other harmful components. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained from the Site creates any warranty not expressly stated here. Nothing on the Site constitutes professional advice. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties, so some exclusions may not apply to you.

14. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, in no event will the Protected Parties be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill, or other intangible losses, arising out of or relating to your access to, use of, or inability to use the Site — whether based in contract, tort (including negligence), strict liability, or any other theory, and whether or not the Protected Parties have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

The Protected Parties' total aggregate liability for all claims relating to the Site will not exceed the greater of (a) the total amount you paid us, if any, for access to the Site in the six (6) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) one hundred U.S. dollars (US$100.00). These limitations apply even if a remedy fails of its essential purpose. Because some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages, some of the above may not apply to you; in such cases the Protected Parties' liability is limited to the smallest amount permitted by law.

15. Release

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you release and forever discharge the Protected Parties from any and all claims, demands, damages, and liabilities of every kind arising out of or connected with any dispute between you and any third party (including other users or third-party platforms) relating to the Site or any User Content. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code §1542, and any similar law of any jurisdiction, which says: “A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party.”

16. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Protected Parties from and against any and all claims, demands, actions, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs) arising out of or relating to: (a) your access to or use of the Site; (b) your User Content; (c) your violation of these Terms; (d) your violation of any law or any third-party right; or (e) your negligence or willful misconduct. We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, and you agree to cooperate with our defense. You will not settle any matter affecting the Protected Parties without our prior written consent.

17. Dispute resolution — binding arbitration & class-action waiver

Informal resolution first. Before starting any arbitration, you agree to first contact us at TBR@tcpbusiness.com with a written description of the dispute and to allow 60 days to resolve it informally and in good faith.

Agreement to arbitrate. If we cannot resolve a dispute informally, you and To Be Read agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to the Site or these Terms will be settled by final and binding arbitration administered by a recognized arbitration provider (such as the American Arbitration Association) under its applicable consumer rules, before a single arbitrator, with the arbitration taking place in or near Clackamas County, Oregon, or by phone or video, or — at your election — in your home county. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Section.

Class-action and jury-trial waiver.You and To Be Read agree that each may bring claims against the other only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims or preside over any form of representative or class proceeding. You and To Be Read waive any right to a jury trial.

Exceptions. Notwithstanding the above, either party may (a) bring an individual claim in small-claims court if it qualifies, and (b) seek injunctive or other equitable relief in court to protect its intellectual property or stop unauthorized access or misuse of the Site.

30-day opt-out. You may opt out of this arbitration and class-waiver agreement by emailing TBR@tcpbusiness.com with your name and a clear statement that you opt out, within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. Opting out will not affect any other part of these Terms. If this Section is found unenforceable in whole or in part, the remainder of these Terms still applies, and any claim that cannot be arbitrated will be resolved in the courts identified in Section 19.

18. Time limit on claims

To the fullest extent permitted by law, any claim or cause of action arising out of or relating to the Site or these Terms must be filed within one (1) year after the claim arose; otherwise it is permanently barred.

19. Governing law & venue

These Terms and any dispute are governed by the laws of the State of Oregon, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Subject to the arbitration agreement in Section 17, you agree that the exclusive venue for any dispute not subject to arbitration is the state and federal courts located in Clackamas County, Oregon, and you consent to personal jurisdiction and venue there. Nothing in these Terms removes any non-waivable right or protection you may have under the mandatory consumer-protection laws of your place of residence.

20. Force majeure

The Protected Parties are not liable for any failure or delay in performance, or for any unavailability of the Site, caused by events beyond their reasonable control, including acts of God, natural disasters, fire, flood, power or internet outages, labor disputes, acts of government, war, terrorism, civil unrest, pandemics, or the failure of third-party services or suppliers.

21. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Site at any time, for any reason or no reason, with or without notice, and without liability. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination — including Sections 9 through 19 and 22 — will survive.

22. Changes to these Terms & miscellaneous

We may update these Terms from time to time. Changes take effect when posted, and we will update the “Last updated” date above. Your continued use of the Site after changes means you accept the updated Terms. If any provision is held invalid or unenforceable, it will be modified to the minimum extent necessary or severed, and the remaining provisions will remain in full force. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it. You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our prior written consent; we may freely assign them. Section headings are for convenience only. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy, are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Site and supersede all prior understandings.

23. Contact us