Terms of Service

1. Who we are and who you are

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are between J.R Harder & N.J Shaw (ABN 69 566 897 562), trading as Ostley (“Ostley”, “we”, “us”), and the client named in the accompanying Engagement Summary (“you”). The Engagement Summary and these Terms together form the agreement between us. If they conflict, the Engagement Summary prevails for that engagement. If you enter this agreement before your business entity exists or begins trading, you contract personally. Once your business entity is established, we will, at your written request, novate the agreement to that entity on the same terms — consent not to be unreasonably withheld.

2. Acceptance

You accept these Terms by making payment under an Engagement Summary, or by confirming acceptance in writing (including by email or SMS), whichever happens first. Where payment is made through our payment provider, acceptance of these Terms is also recorded at checkout.

3. Offer validity and pricing

The fee in your Engagement Summary is a quoted offer. Where the Engagement Summary states a validity window for that fee, the quoted fee applies to payment received within the window; after it, the same work is available at our then-standard fee, and a new Engagement Summary may be issued. Once you have paid, your fee is fixed — later price changes do not affect an engagement already paid for.

4. Services

We provide the services described in your Engagement Summary. Each Engagement Summary sets out the scope, price, delivery window and any optional add-ons for that engagement. Work outside the described scope is not included and will be separately quoted before it is performed.

5. Fees and payment

Fees are as stated in your Engagement Summary. One-time fees are payable in full before work begins unless the Engagement Summary says otherwise. Recurring fees are billed monthly in advance from the date the relevant service goes live. Where you ask us to make content, copy or feature changes outside the windows included in your engagement (clauses 7 and 9), our work is billed at $120 per hour in 15-minute increments. Quotes are free, any time: tell us what you want, we tell you the hours and the price before anything is booked, and you choose — go ahead with us, or make the change yourself (clause 16). Payments are processed by Stripe; we do not see or store your card details. An invoice or receipt is issued for every payment.

6. GST

Ostley is not currently registered for GST. No GST is charged on our fees: the fee shown in your Engagement Summary is the total amount payable. Because we are not registered, our invoices and receipts are not tax invoices and include no GST component. Fees you have already paid will not attract GST retrospectively. Once we register for GST, GST at the prevailing rate (currently 10%) will be added to fees billed after the registration date — including renewals, hosting and hourly work — and we will give you at least 30 days’ written notice before it first applies.

7. Delivery

Delivery windows are stated in your Engagement Summary and run in business days (Sydney) from receipt of payment, unless the Engagement Summary states a different start. “Delivery” means handover of the completed website or system for your review at a preview address; your business does not need to be trading for delivery to occur. Where delivery depends on materials or information from you (such as content, images, or account access) and those materials are delayed, the delivery window may be extended by up to 2 additional business days. We will tell you promptly if anything we need from you is outstanding.

8. Draft content and content approval

Where your business is not yet trading, previews and the delivered website may include illustrative draft content prepared by us — a working business name, licence and registration placeholders, indicative statistics, sample testimonials and illustrative imagery (some of which may be AI-generated and, where used, is identified as illustrative). Draft content exists so you can see the finished design; it is replaced with your real details before the site is made public. The website will not be published to the public, or connected to your domain, until you approve its final content in writing (email or SMS is fine). You are solely responsible for the accuracy and lawfulness of the business details that go live — including your business name, licence numbers, ABN, insurance details, service claims and testimonials.

9. Launch edit window

Where your Engagement Summary includes a launch edit window, it works as follows unless the Summary states otherwise: up to 2 business days of our time, applied when your business starts trading, to update the delivered website with your real details — business name, licence number, phone, email, service areas, photos, testimonials and similar content changes, plus minor layout adjustments. The launch edit window may be redeemed once, by written request, within 6 months of delivery. It does not cover redesigns, new pages or new functionality, and it expires if unused. Work beyond the window is billed at our hourly rate — quoted first, and always free to ask (clause 5). At the launch edit window we will also confirm your hosting choice — basic with the annual renewal, or Advanced hosting (clauses 14 and 15).

10. Satisfaction guarantee (website builds)

If you are not satisfied with the delivered website, notify us in writing within 5 business days of delivery and we will refund the website build fee in full. On refund, the licence in clause 13 ends, the website will be taken offline, and materials produced by Ostley for the build remain our property. Content and materials you supplied remain yours and will be returned or deleted at your request. The guarantee applies to the delivered build; it does not restart after launch edit window work (clause 9).

11. Your responsibilities

You are responsible for the accuracy and lawfulness of content, images and information you supply, for holding the rights to any materials you provide, and for responding to reasonable requests promptly so we can meet the delivery window. Where clauses 8 and 9 apply to your engagement, that includes approving the site’s final content before it goes public (clause 8) and requesting the launch edit window when you are ready (clause 9).

12. Unresponsive clients and dormancy

If we cannot reach you, or we are waiting on materials or approvals from you, for 30 days or more, we may pause the engagement; if the build is substantially complete, we may treat the website as delivered in its then-current state and the periods in clauses 9 and 10 run from that date. The satisfaction guarantee and the launch edit window run from delivery regardless of when — or whether — your business starts trading; your business not launching does not of itself create a right to a refund. Restarting a long-paused engagement may be quoted as new work.

13. Intellectual property and licence

We retain ownership of all code, systems, designs, templates and know-how used or created in delivering the services. While your fees are paid, you have a non-exclusive licence to use the delivered website or system for your business. Content and data you supply, and business data generated for you, remain yours. Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of our code or systems to you.

14. Hosting, domain and renewal (websites)

Unless stated otherwise in the Engagement Summary, the website build fee includes the first 12 months of basic hosting, SSL and your domain. We cover the domain’s registrar cost up to $30 per year; if you choose a domain that costs more, you pay the excess. From the start of the second year, an annual renewal fee of $250 (flat — clause 6) covers continued basic hosting, SSL, domain renewal (to the same $30 cap) and our management of them; a renewal fee is waived where the Advanced hosting condition in clause 15 is met. Renewal is optional for both of us: either party may decline an upcoming renewal with 30 days’ written notice and, if we decline, we will transfer the domain to you and provide a working export of your website at no charge. Domains are registered and managed by us on your behalf, and the domain is always transferable to you on request, at no charge. If a renewal fee is unpaid, we may take the website offline after giving you 14 days’ written notice.

15. Advanced hosting (optional)

Advanced hosting is an optional upgrade at $89/month (flat — clause 6). Both hosting tiers are secure — served over HTTPS with SSL certificates on a DDoS-protected global network. Advanced hosting adds capacity and service — substantially higher traffic limits (headroom for advertising campaigns and busy periods), enhanced firewall controls, uptime and performance monitoring, and priority same-day support from us. If you have paid for 6 or more months of Advanced hosting in the 12 months before an annual renewal date, that renewal fee (clause 14) is waived; otherwise it applies as normal. It is offered at go-live, switchable any time after, and billed monthly in advance, month-to-month (clause 17); when it ends, the basic arrangement in clause 14 resumes.

16. Self-edit setup (optional)

On request — whenever you choose — we will install Sveltia CMS (free) on your website so you can make your own content changes at no cost, and we include one free setup call of up to 1 hour to get you comfortable using it. Changes you make yourself are your responsibility, and if what you want requires substantial rework of the delivered website, we will quote it first (clause 5).

17. Recurring services generally

Recurring services are month-to-month with no lock-in. Either party may end a recurring service with 14 days’ written notice. Fees already paid for the current period are not refunded; the service runs to the end of that period.

Price reviews. We may change the price of a recurring service no more than once in any 12 months, and by no more than the increase in the Australian All Groups Consumer Price Index over the preceding 12 months plus 3 percentage points. We will give you at least 30 days’ written notice before a new price applies, and it applies only to periods beginning after that notice. If you would rather not continue at the new price, you can end the service at any time before it takes effect and the increase will never be charged. Your first 12 months on a recurring service are not subject to an increase.

18. Data and privacy

We handle personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Client and end-customer data is hosted in Australia where practicable. Where a service sends messages on your behalf, it is designed to comply with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth), including functioning opt-outs.

19. Warranties and liability

We will perform the services with due care and skill; however, no website, hosting platform or security measure can be guaranteed to be uninterrupted or immune from attack, and we do not warrant uninterrupted availability. Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law or other law that cannot lawfully be excluded. Where our services are not of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use, our liability for failure to comply with a consumer guarantee is limited, at our option, to supplying the services again or paying the cost of having them supplied again. Subject to the above, and to the maximum extent permitted by law: (a) our total liability arising out of or in connection with an engagement is limited to the fees you paid us under that engagement in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim; (b) neither party is liable to the other for indirect or consequential loss, including loss of profit, revenue, business, goodwill or data; (c) we are not liable for the acts, omissions or outages of the third-party platforms and services used to deliver or run your website (including hosting providers, domain registrars, form and map services, and payment providers); and (d) we do not warrant or guarantee any particular business outcome — including search-engine rankings, website traffic, enquiry volume, lead quality or revenue.

20. Your indemnity

You indemnify us against loss or damage we suffer from a third-party claim arising out of content, materials, information or instructions you supply or approve — including claims of copyright infringement, misleading claims or inaccurate licensing details — but only to the extent the loss is caused by you, and reduced to the extent we contributed to it.

21. Termination

Either party may terminate an engagement if the other materially breaches these Terms and does not remedy the breach within 14 days of written notice. On termination, any unredeemed launch edit window (clause 9) lapses, and clauses 6, 13, 14 (domain transfer), 18, 19 and 20 survive.

22. General

Neither party is liable for delay or failure to perform caused by events beyond its reasonable control (other than payment obligations); affected delivery windows extend by a reasonable period. These Terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia. Changes must be agreed in writing; if any part of these Terms is unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. These Terms and your Engagement Summary are the entire agreement between us for the relevant engagement.

23. Contact

Questions, notices and requests: info@ostley.com.