Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (hereinafter "ToS") govern access to and use of the Colia.io platform, published by Colia, a sole trader (micro-entreprise), including all features available via the website and mobile applications.

By creating an account or using Colia's services, you unreservedly accept these ToS. If you do not accept these terms, you must not use the platform.

Colia reserves the right to modify these ToS at any time. Users will be notified of any material change by email or in-app notification. Continued use of the platform after notification constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

• Platform: the website colia.io and the Colia mobile applications.
• User: any adult natural person who has created an account on the Platform.
• Sender: a User who posts a delivery request for an item.
• Traveler: a User who posts a trip and offers to carry items.
• Professional Carrier: a Traveler who has declared on the Platform the trading name under which they operate and who carries items as part of their business (Article 7).
• Deal: an accepted connection between a Sender and a Traveler.
• Reward: the fee agreed between the parties for carrying an item, paid directly between them upon handover, outside the Platform.

Registration on Colia is reserved for adults (18 years or older). By registering, you agree to:

• Provide accurate, complete and up-to-date information.
• Keep your login credentials confidential.
• Not create multiple accounts for the same individual.
• Immediately report any unauthorized use of your account.

You can sign up with an e-mail address and a password, or with a Google or Apple account.

To publish a trip or a request, you must have confirmed your e-mail address, added a profile photo and entered a phone number. Once provided, the photo and the number can be replaced but not removed: the other party to a Deal must be able to recognize and reach the person they committed to.

You can delete your account at any time from your settings. Your personal data is then erased or anonymized as described in the Privacy Policy, and your pending offers are cancelled. Messages already exchanged remain visible to the people you talked with, under an anonymized name, and Deals already accepted are not cancelled by the deletion.

Colia reserves the right to suspend or delete any account in case of breach of these ToS, fraudulent behavior or provision of false information.

The Platform allows Users to:

• Post international trips indicating departure and arrival cities, dates and available capacity.
• Post item delivery requests with description, dimensions, estimated value and proposed reward.
• Be matched with a Sender or Traveler that fits their criteria.
• Negotiate the reward through an offer and counter-offer system.
• Settle the reward directly between themselves, in the agreed currency, upon handover of the item and outside the Platform.
• Communicate via the built-in messaging system.
• Leave reviews after each delivery.
• Follow other Users and be told about their new listings.
• Browse, for information only, a catalogue of product ideas and a tool on what can travel in a suitcase (Article 11).

A request can lead to only one Deal: as soon as a Deal is accepted, the other offers on the same request expire automatically.

Colia acts as an intermediary marketplace. Colia is not a party to the transport agreement between the Sender and the Traveler.

Registration on Colia is free. During the launch phase, Colia charges no commission on transactions between Users.

• No service fee is deducted from the reward paid to the Traveler.
• The amount agreed during the Deal negotiation is paid in full to the Traveler, directly by the Sender, upon in-person handover.
• Colia takes nothing on Professional Carriers' services either (Article 7).

Colia reserves the right to introduce a pricing schedule at the end of the launch phase. Users will be notified in advance by email of any pricing changes.

During the launch phase, payments are made directly between Users, outside the Platform: in cash upon handover of the item, or by the payment methods offered by a Professional Carrier (Article 7).

• The reward amount is agreed between the Sender and the Traveler during the Deal negotiation.
• Unless otherwise agreed with a Professional Carrier, payment is handed to the Traveler in person at delivery.
• The Sender confirms receipt of the item on the platform.
• Colia charges no service fee during this phase.

Colia is not involved in the financial transaction between Users and cannot be held liable for payment disputes. We recommend meeting in a public place, noting the agreed amount and place in the messaging, and confirming delivery as soon as you receive the item.

A User can publish trips as a Professional Carrier by declaring the trading name under which they operate. They can then show a price per kilo, a minimum weight, and pickup and drop-off points located in the trip's departure country and arrival country respectively.

• Own obligations: the Professional Carrier operates under their sole responsibility. It is up to them to hold the registrations, licences and insurance their business requires, to comply with goods transport and customs regulations, and to meet their tax obligations as well as their obligations towards their customers.
• "Verified Pro" badge: it only means that Colia has reviewed the business documents the Carrier sent. It does not guarantee the quality or proper performance of the service. It is removed when the trading name or the registration number changes, until a new review.
• Payment: a Professional Carrier's price is paid directly to them, outside the Platform. Colia receives no money on these services.
• Public information: the trading name and the badge are shown on trips and on the profile. The registration number is never published, and the link to the business page is shared only with the other party to an accepted Deal (Article 16).

Colia acts only as an intermediary: the transport contract is made directly between the Professional Carrier and the Sender, in accordance with Article 11.

After each confirmed delivery, both the Sender and the Traveler may leave a public review of their experience. The following rules apply to reviews:

• Double-blind publication: a review is published only once both parties have left theirs, or at the latest 7 days after it was submitted. Neither party can therefore read the other's review before writing their own.
• Reviews must be honest, factual and respectful.
• Defamatory, discriminatory or false reviews are prohibited.
• Colia reserves the right to remove any review that violates these rules.
• Reviews are visible on the User's public profile and contribute to their overall rating.
• Recent deliveries: a delivery whose published review has 4 or 5 stars may be shown on the Platform's public pages, with the route, the rating, the comment, the reviewed person's photo, and both parties' first name followed by the initial of their last name. The item carried and any amounts are never shown.

Cancellation terms depend on the stage of the Deal:

• Before the Deal is accepted: either party can withdraw their offer freely, at no cost.
• After acceptance: the Deal binds both parties and can no longer be cancelled from the Platform. The trip it rests on can no longer be cancelled or change its cities, countries or dates; its weight, size and description can still be edited. If something prevents it, the parties settle it in the built-in messaging or, failing that, with Colia support.
• At handover: the Traveler can refuse an item whose contents they cannot check, or whose contents are prohibited or do not match the request (Article 13). The Deal is then cancelled without penalty and the request is offered to other Travelers again.
• Post-delivery dispute: Colia reviews the evidence provided by both parties (messages, photos) before deciding.

If you have a problem, contact Colia support through the Contact page.

All Platform content (logo, design, texts, source code, the "Colia" trademark) is the exclusive property of Colia and is protected by intellectual property law.

Reproducing, modifying, distributing or commercially exploiting any part of this content without prior written consent from Colia is strictly prohibited.

By publishing public content on the Platform (listings, profile photo and description, reviews), the User grants Colia a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to display and use it for the operation of the Platform.

Messages and photos exchanged in the messaging are not public content: Colia uses them only to deliver the conversation and in the cases set out in Article 16.

Colia acts as an intermediary marketplace and cannot be held liable for:

• Acts or omissions of Users in the context of transactions.
• Damage caused to transported items.
• Travel delays or cancellations.
• Customs or tax disputes relating to transported items.
• The accuracy of information provided for guidance only: catalogue prices, recorded on a given date from the merchants, and the answers of the tool on what can travel in a suitcase, which summarize dated public sources and do not replace airline or customs rules. Colia sells none of the catalogue products and is paid by no merchant.

During the launch phase without online payments, Colia's total liability, for any cause whatsoever, is limited to facilitating the connection between the parties.

Colia undertakes to use all reasonable means to ensure the availability and security of the Platform, but cannot guarantee uninterrupted service.

Colia acts as a trusted intermediary between the Sender and the Traveler. In this capacity, Colia puts in place several protective mechanisms for both parties:

• Communication trail: messages and photos exchanged in Colia's built-in messaging are kept and can serve as evidence of the commitments made between the parties. Once the Deal is accepted, the parties can also call each other (Article 16): we recommend recording the price, the handover place and the condition of the item in the messaging, since Colia cannot take into account exchanges it has no access to.
• "Verified profile" badge: it indicates that Colia has reviewed an ID document of the User, or compared a guided selfie to their profile photo. When obtained by selfie, it attests that a real person matches the photo, without establishing their civil identity, and it is removed if the profile photo changes. It never guarantees the User's behavior. Colia may remove the badge at any time, and any attempt to cheat the verification may lead to the account being suspended.
• Reward agreement: the reward amount and currency are defined during Deal negotiation and recorded on the platform. Both the Sender and the Traveler agree to honor these terms at the time of handover.
• Mediation procedure: in the event of a disagreement (item not received, item damaged, dispute over delivery conditions or reward payment), either party may open a dispute via Colia support. Colia will then review the evidence provided (messages, photos, confirmations) and attempt to facilitate an amicable resolution.
• Processing timeline: if the Sender does not confirm delivery within 72 hours of the scheduled delivery date, Colia may contact both parties to clarify the situation.

Important: Colia is an intermediary and not a party to the transport agreement. During the launch phase without online payments, its capacity to intervene in financial disputes is limited to facilitating an amicable agreement between the parties, in accordance with Article 11.

The User undertakes not to entrust or carry any item that is illegal, dangerous, counterfeit, or subject to customs or airport restrictions. The full list of prohibited categories is detailed on the Trust & Safety page.

The following items are strictly prohibited from being carried on Colia:

• Illegal substances or narcotics.
• Weapons, ammunition or explosives.
• Hazardous or flammable materials.
• Counterfeits or stolen goods.
• Live animals.
• Items subject to customs or import restrictions.
• Untraceable cash or financial instruments.

• Ban on closed packages: the Traveler must never accept to carry a closed or sealed package whose contents they could not precisely inspect. Any item with unknown contents must be refused.
• Sender certification: by posting a request, the Sender certifies that the item contains no prohibited or customs-restricted goods, and that their declaration is accurate and complete.
• Traveler check: at the handover, before taking charge of the item, the Traveler checks its contents and confirms on the Platform that they saw them and that they include no prohibited or customs-restricted product (where the Traveler buys the item, they confirm having bought the item described). If they cannot check the contents, or if these are prohibited or do not match the request, they refuse the item with no penalty: the Deal is then cancelled and the Sender's request is offered to other Travelers again. The Traveler remains solely responsible for what they carry under customs regulations.
• Liability transfer: a User who has falsely declared, concealed, or introduced a prohibited item bears sole civil and criminal liability. Colia, acting as a mere intermediary that connects users, cannot be held liable for the customs, tax, or criminal consequences of such a breach, in accordance with Article 11.
• Check before you travel: the Platform's tool on what can travel in a suitcase helps you find out, but does not relieve the User from checking the rules of the airline and of the customs of the countries involved (Article 11).

Any breach of this article may result in the immediate suspension of the account, without prejudice to applicable legal action.

These ToS are governed by French law. Any dispute relating to their interpretation or performance shall fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of French courts.

These ToS are written in French. Versions in other languages are provided as translations: in case of discrepancy, the French version prevails.

For any questions regarding these ToS or the use of the Platform, you may contact us:

• By email: contact@colia.io
• Via the form: colia.io/contact

Colia enforces a zero-tolerance policy toward objectionable content and abusive behavior. This includes, without limitation: harassment, hateful, discriminatory or threatening speech, sexually explicit content, impersonation, spam, scams and any illegal or fraudulent posting.

Every user can report content or a user, and block anyone directly from the app. A blocked user can no longer exchange messages or propose a transaction.

Colia reviews reports and commits to acting within 24 hours: removing content, issuing a warning, suspending or permanently deleting the offending account. By using Colia, you agree not to post any objectionable content; any breach may result in the immediate termination of your account.

When a listing breaches these Terms, Colia can remove it without suspending its author's account; the author is told the reason for the removal. The person who filed a report may be told what action was taken. Colia never reveals who filed a report.

The built-in messaging lets the Sender and the Traveler agree on the terms of the Deal.

• Contact details during negotiation: until a Deal is accepted, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and social network or messaging links and handles are automatically hidden in messages. They are not allowed in listings or in the profile description either.
• Contact details after the Deal: as soon as the Deal is accepted, Colia gives each party the other's phone number, along with a professional carrier's page link, so they can arrange the handover.
• Photos: Users can exchange photos in the messaging, in particular to show the contents of a shipment. These photos are visible only to the two parties to the Deal and are never published.
• Access by Colia: messages and photos are consulted by the Colia team only to handle a report or a mediation request (Article 12), or to keep the Platform safe (Article 15).

Attempting to get around these rules, for example by spelling out contact details in words or showing them in an image, is a breach of these Terms.