Campus Exchange Legal Centre

Legal, Privacy and Compliance Document

This document explains the terms that govern the use of Campus Exchange, how user information is handled, the responsibilities of sellers and buyers, the buyer protection and refund process, and the platform's compliance approach under South African law, including POPIA.

Last updated: 27 August 2026

1. Terms of Use

Campus Exchange provides a student-focused marketplace where registered users can list, browse, buy, sell and communicate about goods within the campus community. By creating an account, using the website, listing an item, buying an item, sending messages or making payments through the platform, users agree to follow these terms.

Eligibility

  • Users must provide accurate account information and must not impersonate another person.
  • Users must verify their student status or identity before accessing features that require verification.
  • Accounts must not be sold, transferred or shared in a way that avoids platform checks.

Acceptable Use

  • Users must use the platform lawfully, honestly and respectfully.
  • Users must not post false listings, misleading prices, stolen goods, counterfeit goods, prohibited items, exam answers, illegal substances, weapons, alcohol, or any item that violates campus rules or South African law.
  • Harassment, threats, hate speech, fraud, spam, payment manipulation and attempts to bypass platform safety processes are prohibited.
  • Campus Exchange removes listings, restricts features, suspends accounts, deletes accounts, and reports serious misconduct where required to protect the platform, users, or the law.

Platform Role

Campus Exchange acts as a marketplace and transaction facilitator. Sellers remain responsible for the accuracy, ownership and condition of listed items. Buyers remain responsible for reviewing listings, asking relevant questions and inspecting items during the permitted inspection period.

2. Privacy Policy

Campus Exchange collects and processes personal information only where it is needed to operate the marketplace, verify users, secure transactions, communicate with users, prevent fraud, comply with legal obligations and improve the platform.

Information We Collect

  • Account details such as name, email address, password hash, role and profile information.
  • Student or verification information where required to confirm eligibility.
  • Listings, item descriptions, uploaded images, prices, messages, orders, disputes and refund records.
  • Payment references, authorization and capture status, refund records, and seller payout information needed to process transactions. Full card details are handled by Paystack and are not stored by Campus Exchange.
  • Technical information such as IP address, device/browser details, logs, security events and usage activity.

How Information Is Used

  • To create accounts, authenticate users and provide marketplace features.
  • To support listings, orders, protected payment flows, buyer protection, refunds and seller payouts.
  • To send account, security, transaction and support notifications.
  • To detect prohibited items, investigate disputes, prevent fraud and enforce marketplace rules.
  • To meet tax, accounting, audit, legal and regulatory obligations where applicable.

Non-Disclosure and Retention

Campus Exchange shares personal information only where necessary to operate the marketplace, process payments through service providers such as Paystack, prevent fraud, provide support, or comply with law. Service providers receive only the information needed for the relevant service and process it under their own legal and security obligations.

Personal information is kept only for as long as it is needed for platform operations, legal compliance, disputes, security, and record keeping.

Student verification identity documents are used only for verification. After the verification review is completed, the uploaded identity document is deleted from active platform storage.

3. Seller Agreement

Sellers agree that every listing must be accurate, lawful and owned by the seller or listed with proper authority. Sellers must describe the item's condition honestly, upload clear images, set a fair price and disclose faults, missing parts, damage or limitations before payment.

  • Sellers must not list stolen, unsafe, counterfeit, restricted or prohibited goods.
  • Sellers must make the item available for inspection or collection as agreed with the buyer.
  • Sellers must not pressure buyers to approve payment capture before the item has been received and inspected.
  • Sellers must maintain accurate, verified Paystack payout details where required. Paystack capture or settlement may be delayed during disputes, fraud checks, payment reviews or buyer protection windows.
  • Campus Exchange charges seller service charges, boost charges or verification-related charges as displayed on the platform before purchase or listing.
  • Repeated policy violations, fraudulent conduct or confirmed sale of prohibited items lead to listing removal, account suspension, account deletion, permanent removal and reporting to relevant authorities.

Seller Charges and Payout Deductions

Campus Exchange deducts a seller service charge from every completed sale. The current standard seller service charge is 11% of the completed sale amount. Verified sellers are currently charged 9% of the completed sale amount. The applicable percentage is displayed before listing and frozen on each order at checkout. Optional paid features, including listing boosts, are shown before payment.

The service charge is allocated when Paystack captures a protected payment. Campus Exchange does not maintain a seller wallet or manually hold seller proceeds. Paystack processes settlement to the seller's configured payout account according to its settlement schedule and any bank, compliance or risk checks.

For eligible protected card orders, Paystack places a temporary authorization hold on the buyer's card without transferring the amount to Campus Exchange or the seller. After the buyer inspects and approves the item, Campus Exchange generates a one-time seller collection code. When the seller submits that code, Paystack captures the authorized amount, applies the configured split between the seller allocation and Campus Exchange service charge, and processes settlement. Capture or settlement may be delayed or blocked during disputes, refunds, fraud review or administrative review.

4. Buyer Protection and Refunds

Buyer protection is designed to reduce transaction risk when buying from another student, but it is not a guarantee against every loss or dispute. For eligible protected card orders, Paystack places a temporary authorization hold on the purchase amount. The amount remains on the buyer's card account but may be unavailable to spend while the hold is active. Campus Exchange does not receive or hold the authorized amount.

How Protected Payment Works

  1. The buyer authorizes the order through Paystack. This creates a temporary card hold rather than an immediate marketplace charge.
  2. The buyer meets the seller or receives the item and inspects it before approving the transaction.
  3. If satisfied, the buyer approves the item in Campus Exchange. A one-time collection code is then made available for the seller.
  4. The seller submits the valid code. Paystack captures the authorized amount and applies the configured split between the seller allocation and Campus Exchange service charge.
  5. Paystack processes settlement to the seller's configured payout account. Campus Exchange does not hold or manually release seller funds.

Refund Eligibility

  • The item is materially different from the listing description.
  • The item is damaged, incomplete or defective in a way that was not disclosed before purchase.
  • The seller cannot provide the item after authorization or capture.
  • The listing is confirmed to be fraudulent, prohibited or unlawful.

Refund Process

  1. The buyer must not approve the item or share the collection code until the item has been received and inspected.
  2. The buyer opens a dispute or cancellation request within the platform's allowed inspection period and provides supporting evidence.
  3. The seller may respond with evidence and an explanation.
  4. Before capture, a rejection or approved cancellation causes the authorization to be released. This is a release of a card hold, not a refund of money held by Campus Exchange.
  5. After capture, an eligible approved refund is requested through Paystack and returned to the original payment method. The seller allocation or settlement may be reversed or adjusted where applicable.

Authorization-release and refund times are controlled by Paystack, the card network and the buyer's bank. A pending hold may remain visible after release, and a post-capture refund may take additional business days to appear. Campus Exchange cannot make a bank release those funds immediately.

Buyer protection does not cover buyer's remorse, ordinary wear that was disclosed, price changes after purchase, damage caused after collection, transactions approved before inspection, collection codes voluntarily disclosed before approval, or private arrangements and payments made outside the platform.

5. Compliance

Compliance means that Campus Exchange runs the marketplace in a safe, fair and lawful way. It means users must be treated honestly, payments must be handled carefully, personal information must be protected, and the platform must take action when someone breaks the rules.

  • Marketplace safety: Campus Exchange does not allow dangerous, illegal, stolen, misleading or prohibited items. Listings can be reviewed, removed or blocked when they break the rules.
  • Fair transactions: Buyers must receive what was advertised, and sellers must describe items honestly. If there is a problem with an order, Campus Exchange may review the matter before an authorization is captured or released, or before a post-capture refund is requested.
  • Payment control: Card authorizations, captures, split settlement and refunds are processed by Paystack. Campus Exchange records transaction references and status so protected orders can be checked and traced, but it does not store full card details or hold seller proceeds.
  • Clear charges: Seller charges and optional paid features are shown before payment. Any refund amount or non-refundable charge that applies must be disclosed through the platform or payment process.
  • Account security: Users must log in to access protected features. Admin and user access is separated so that sensitive actions are handled only by authorised users.
  • Data encryption: Sensitive information is protected through secure connections, password hashing, and server or database safeguards designed to reduce unauthorised access.
  • Record keeping: Campus Exchange keeps necessary records of orders, payments, refunds, disputes, support messages and moderation decisions so issues can be investigated properly.
  • Rule enforcement: Users who break the rules can have listings removed, features restricted, accounts suspended, accounts deleted, or serious conduct reported where required.
  • Campus conduct: Users must follow campus rules when arranging meetups, using campus spaces or trading with other students.

6. POPIA Act

The Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013, known as POPIA, regulates how personal information is processed in South Africa. Campus Exchange treats users as data subjects and aims to process personal information lawfully, fairly, securely and for clear marketplace purposes.

POPIA-Aligned Processing Principles

  • Accountability: Campus Exchange is responsible for implementing privacy practices and responding to privacy requests.
  • Processing limitation: personal information is collected only where there is a lawful reason, such as consent, contract performance, legal compliance, legitimate interest or user protection.
  • Purpose specification: personal information is collected for defined marketplace, security, payment, support and compliance purposes.
  • Further processing limitation: information should not be reused for incompatible purposes without a lawful basis.
  • Information quality: users should keep their account and transaction information accurate and up to date.
  • Openness: users should be informed about what information is collected and why.
  • Security safeguards: reasonable technical and organisational safeguards should protect personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access or disclosure.
  • Data subject participation: users can request access to, correction of or deletion of their personal information, subject to lawful retention requirements.

User Privacy Rights

Subject to POPIA and other applicable laws, users can request access to their personal information, ask for inaccurate information to be corrected, object to certain processing, withdraw consent where consent is the basis for processing, and request deletion where Campus Exchange no longer has a lawful reason to retain the information.

Verification identity documents are treated as sensitive personal information. Campus Exchange's intended retention approach is data minimisation: use the identity document for verification, delete the uploaded identity document after the review is completed, and retain only the minimum operational record needed to prove that verification took place and to support audit, security, dispute, or legal requirements.

Security Incidents

If Campus Exchange becomes aware of unauthorised access to personal information, it should investigate promptly and, where legally required, notify affected users and the Information Regulator.

7. Contact and Requests

Questions about these terms, privacy practices, refunds, seller obligations or POPIA requests can be sent to Campus Exchange support.

Email: support@campusexchange.co.za

Campus Exchange updates this document when platform features, legal requirements, payment processes or operational policies change. Continued use of the platform after an update means the user accepts the updated document.