Terms of Service

Effective date: September 16, 2026 · Provider: Todd Fishman (doing business as Cinderella FYI; "Cinderella", "we", "us")

A note on the legal entity: Cinderella currently operates as Todd Fishman, a sole proprietor doing business as Cinderella FYI. If a legal entity (such as an LLC or corporation) is formed in the future, these documents will be updated to name it.

1. What Cinderella is

Cinderella is a marketplace where people list software projects, repositories, and ideas ("Listings") for others to browse and buy. We provide automated scrubbing and valuation tools and facilitate payment. We are a venue; we are not the seller of Listings and do not warrant them. In particular:

• Valuations and readiness scores are automated estimates — not appraisals,

not guarantees of value, and not investment advice.

• Scrubbing is an automated cleaning step — not a security audit, code

review, or legal review. See the Scrub Disclaimer.

• "Cindy's Take" and other AI-generated commentary are opinions — not

professional, legal, or financial advice. AI can be wrong.

2. Accounts & eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction) and legally able to enter contracts to use Cinderella. You must provide accurate information and are responsible for activity under your account. You may not create multiple accounts to circumvent restrictions or manipulate the marketplace (see the Acceptable Use Policy).

3. Buying & selling

• Sellers are bound by the Seller Agreement.
• Buyers are bound by the Buyer Agreement and

purchase Listings "as is" after their own review. In every code sale the deliverable is the scrubbed bundle — the cleaned copy produced by the scrub pipeline; sellers keep their original repositories.

• A completed sale transfers the rights stated on the Listing under the rights

model defined in the Seller Agreement — assignment (the default for repo sales), a non-exclusive license, or an idea materials transfer — and is recorded in a Bill of Sale.

• Valuations are estimates, not guarantees, and do not set the sale price.
• Payments and payouts run through Stripe; a 24%

commission applies to cash sales. For code Listings, funds are held in escrow for a 7-day inspection window and auto-release to the seller on day 7 unless the buyer confirms earlier or files a dispute. Idea Listings are not escrowed: they are delivered and paid out immediately (Section 5).

• Listings offered for equity or revenue share instead of cash are governed by

the Non-Cash Listing Terms.

4. Non-circumvention

Cinderella earns its fee by making introductions and making them safe. If you learn of an asset, a seller, a buyer, or an author through the platform — a listing, a message sent through the platform, a sourcing email from us, or an author invitation link — that is a platform introduction.

For 24 months after a platform introduction, you agree not to complete, off the platform, a purchase, sale, assignment, exclusive license, or similar transfer of an asset (or of substantially the same asset) that was the subject of that introduction, where doing so avoids the fees that would have applied on the platform.

If a transaction covered by this section is completed off the platform, the platform fee that would have applied remains due to Cinderella, calculated on the price actually paid or the asset's most recent listed price, whichever is greater. Cinderella may invoice either party for that amount and may suspend or close the accounts involved.

This section does not restrict: (a) using, copying, or modifying software under an open-source license it already carries; (b) transactions between parties who had a documented business relationship before the platform introduction; or (c) transactions genuinely unrelated to any platform introduction. If a court or arbitrator finds any part of this section too broad to enforce, it should be enforced to the maximum extent permitted rather than discarded.

5. Ideas ("ideas-only" Listings)

Some Listings are ideas without code. Ideas themselves are not protectable by copyright — only their written expression is. Buying an idea Listing conveys:

• The written pitch and supporting materials included in the Listing, and

the right to use them.

• The seller's agreement not to resell the identical pitch to another buyer

(unless the Listing says otherwise).

• Not a monopoly on the underlying concept. Others may independently

develop similar ideas, and Cinderella cannot prevent that.

Idea purchases are delivered instantly and are not escrowed. When payment for an idea Listing succeeds, the full written pitch and any materials attached to the Listing are delivered to the buyer at once — by email and on a download page on the site — and the seller's proceeds (after commission) are released to the seller at the same time. There is no inspection window for idea purchases. Because a pitch cannot be returned once it has been read, idea purchases are final when delivered, except as described in Section 6.

Protected full pitches are gated: viewing one requires signing in and accepting the Idea Confidentiality Agreement, which binds viewers not to use or disclose a protected pitch without buying it.

6. Refunds, disputes & chargebacks

• Code Listings: during the 7-day inspection window, a buyer may dispute a purchase on the

limited grounds in the Buyer Agreement (material misrepresentation, malware, seller lacked rights, surviving secrets). Funds stay in escrow while we review; if the dispute is upheld, the buyer is refunded and must delete the materials.

• After the window closes (buyer confirmation or automatic release on day 7),

all sales are final and no refunds are available through Cinderella.

• Idea Listings have no inspection window or escrow and are final on

delivery. If a delivered idea is materially different from its Listing (for example, the protected pitch is missing or is not the pitch described), the buyer may report it to support within 7 days of delivery; we may, at our discretion, refund the buyer and recover the proceeds from the seller.

• Chargebacks filed through a card issuer instead of our dispute process may be

contested, and chargeback abuse may lead to account termination.

• If a seller's ownership is challenged after release, the buyer's recourse

is against the seller under the Seller Agreement's warranties and indemnity — not against Cinderella.

7. Acceptable use

No uploading of malware, stolen or infringing material, live credentials or other people's personal data, or anything unlawful. No scraping, fee circumvention, or reputation manipulation. The Acceptable Use Policy governs; we may remove Listings and suspend accounts for violations, and infringement reports are handled under the Takedown Policy.

8. Intellectual property

Sellers retain ownership until sale and grant us a license to host, display, scrub, and market their Listings. The Cinderella name, site, and tools are ours; you may not reverse-engineer the scrubber, valuation engine, or Cindy.

9. Export controls & sanctions

Software can be subject to U.S. export control laws (including the EAR). You may not use Cinderella if you are located in an embargoed country or are on a U.S. government sanctions list, and you may not sell or transfer a Listing to any such person. Buyers are solely responsible for their own export-control compliance in using purchased code.

10. Disclaimers & liability

The service, scrubbing, and valuations are provided "as is". To the maximum extent permitted by law we disclaim all warranties, and our total liability for any claim arising out of the service is capped at $1,000 per claim (or the amount you paid Cinderella in fees for the transaction giving rise to the claim, if greater). The cap does not apply to our fraud, gross negligence, or willful misconduct, or to liability that cannot be limited by law. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages, including lost profits or lost data. See the Scrub Disclaimer.

11. Arbitration & class action waiver

• Both parties will first try in good faith to resolve any dispute informally

(email legal@cinderella.fyi).

• Either party may bring a qualifying claim in small claims court, and

either party may seek injunctive relief in court to protect intellectual property, confidentiality, or platform security.

• All other disputes will be resolved by binding individual arbitration

administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, before a single arbitrator, in King County, Washington.

• Class action waiver: claims may be brought only on an individual basis;

both you and Cinderella waive the right to participate in any class, consolidated, or representative action. This waiver is severable.

• You may opt out of arbitration by emailing legal@cinderella.fyi within 30

days of creating your account, stating your name, account email, and that you opt out of arbitration.

12. Changes, termination, governing law

We may update these terms; material changes will be notified. We may suspend the service or accounts per these terms. Governed by the laws of the State of Washington; venue for any court proceeding is King County, Washington. Sections 4, 5, 6, 10, and 11, and any provision that by its nature should survive, survive termination.

Contact: legal@cinderella.fyi · support@cinderella.fyi