Terms and Conditions
Effective Date: August 2026
Last Updated: August 2026
1.1 These Terms and Conditions (“Marketplace Terms”) govern the use of the Instapay9ja Marketplace and its associated Escrow System (together, the “Marketplace”), operated by Instapay9ja (“Instapay9ja,” “the Platform,” “we,” “us,” or “our”).
1.2 The Marketplace Terms apply in addition to, and form part of, the general Instapay9ja Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Where there is a direct conflict between this document and the general Terms of Service on a matter specific to Marketplace or Escrow transactions, this document governs.
1.3 By listing a product for sale, placing an order, or otherwise using the Marketplace, you (“User,” and where applicable “Buyer” or “Seller”) agree to be bound by these Marketplace Terms. If you do not agree, you must not use the Marketplace.
1.4 You must hold a verified Instapay9ja account with an active Naira Wallet to buy or sell on the Marketplace.
3.1 The Marketplace allows Sellers to list products and Buyers to purchase them using funds held in their Naira Wallet.
3.2 To protect both parties, Instapay9ja does not pay a Seller directly at the point of purchase. Instead, the Buyer’s payment is held in Escrow and released to the Seller only once the conditions in these Marketplace Terms are satisfied, or is returned to the Buyer if the Order is cancelled, refunded, or resolved in the Buyer’s favor.
3.3 Instapay9ja is not the manufacturer, seller of record, or owner of any product listed by a Seller. Instapay9ja provides the technology, payment, and escrow infrastructure that facilitates the transaction between Buyer and Seller.
4.1 Immediate Debit. When a Buyer initiates a purchase on the Marketplace, the full Order amount — comprising the product price and any applicable shipping fee — is immediately deducted from the Buyer’s Naira Wallet at the point of order placement.
4.2 Holding State. The deducted funds are not transferred to the Seller at this stage. They are placed into the Escrow Ledger and marked as HELD. The Seller is notified that an order is pending their response.
4.3 A Buyer must have sufficient available balance in their Naira Wallet to cover the full Order amount before an Order can be created. Insufficient balance will prevent the Order from being placed.
4.4 Funds marked HELD in Escrow are not available for withdrawal, transfer, or further spending by either the Buyer or the Seller until they are released, refunded, or reassigned under these Marketplace Terms.
5.1 Fee Structure. Instapay9ja charges a Platform Fee of 5% of the base product price on every completed Marketplace transaction. The Platform Fee is not charged on the shipping fee component of an Order.
5.2 Who Pays. The Platform Fee is borne solely by the Seller. It is automatically deducted from the Seller’s payout at the point the Escrow funds are released, and is never charged separately to the Buyer.
5.3 Worked example. If a product is listed at ₦10,000, the Platform Fee is ₦500 (5%). On release of Escrow, the Seller receives a net payout of ₦9,500. Shipping fees paid by the Buyer, where applicable, are passed to the Seller in addition to this net amount, unless otherwise stated on the Order.
5.4 Instapay9ja reserves the right to change the Platform Fee percentage prospectively, with notice to Sellers in accordance with Section 18. Any change will apply only to Orders placed after the change takes effect.
Every Marketplace transaction proceeds through the following statuses. Users cannot skip or reorder these stages except where a status leads to cancellation, refund, or dispute as described below.
6.2 If a Seller does not respond to a Pending Order within the timeframe communicated in the app, Instapay9ja reserves the right to automatically cancel the Order and refund the Buyer.
To prevent either party from being held indefinitely by the other’s inaction, the Marketplace enforces two automated, time-based release policies. Both policies result in the automatic and final release of Escrow funds to the Seller if their conditions are met, and neither release can be reversed except through the dispute process described in Section 8, provided a dispute is raised before the applicable deadline.
Once an Order changes to Delivered, the Buyer has exactly 72 hours from that timestamp to inspect the item and either:
If the Buyer takes neither action within 72 hours, the system will automatically release the funds to the Seller. This automatic release is treated as final, is deemed to constitute the Buyer’s acceptance of the item, and cannot be reversed by Instapay9ja after the fact, except in cases of proven fraud at Instapay9ja’s sole discretion.
If a Seller marks an item as Shipped, but the Order never progresses to Delivered because the Buyer does not confirm delivery, the system will wait exactly 14 days from the date the item was marked as shipped.
If, after 14 days, no dispute has been raised by either party, the system will treat the Order as though the Buyer received the item, and will automatically release the funds to the Seller, net of the Platform Fee. Buyers acknowledge that this protection exists specifically to prevent Sellers from being indefinitely held hostage by an unresponsive or disengaged Buyer, and that it is the Buyer’s responsibility to track their delivery and raise a dispute promptly if an item does not arrive.
7.3.1 Users are strongly advised to inspect items and take action (Confirm Receipt or Raise Dispute) promptly, and not to rely on Instapay9ja to intervene once a timeout has lapsed.
7.3.2 Instapay9ja is not liable for losses arising from a User’s failure to act within the 72-hour or 14-day windows described above.
7.3.3 Instapay9ja may, at its sole discretion and only in exceptional circumstances (such as a proven platform malfunction), reopen an Order after automatic release. This is not a right available to Users on request.
8.1 Triggering a Dispute. Either the Buyer or the Seller may click “Raise Dispute” on an Order at any point before Escrow funds are released to the Seller.
8.2 Fund Freeze. Raising a dispute immediately pauses all automated timers on that Order — both the 72-hour Inspection Window and the 14-day Transit Timeout stop running. The Order’s funds remain locked in the HELD state in Escrow until an Administrator resolves the dispute.
8.3 Administrator Intervention. Disputes are resolved exclusively by an Instapay9ja Platform Administrator. Instapay9ja does not offer external or third-party arbitration for Marketplace disputes. The Administrator will review the Order Chat and the Audit Trail for that Order and, at their sole discretion, will decide to:
8.4 The Administrator’s decision on a Marketplace dispute is final and binding on both parties as between themselves and Instapay9ja, without prejudice to either party’s separate legal rights under Nigerian law.
8.5 Instapay9ja aims to resolve disputes within a reasonable timeframe but does not guarantee resolution within any specific number of days, given the need to review evidence and, where necessary, contact both parties.
9.1 In-App Chat Requirement. Every Order includes a dedicated Order Chat between the Buyer and the Seller. Users are required to conduct all Order-related communication — including questions about the product, delivery arrangements, and issue reporting — through the Order Chat.
9.2 Audit Trail. Every action taken on an Order (acceptance, shipping, delivery confirmation, dispute, cancellation, and any other status change) is permanently logged with a timestamp in Instapay9ja’s systems.
9.3 Legal Standing of Evidence. For the purposes of any dispute resolution under Section 8, Instapay9ja will rely exclusively on the Order Chat logs and the Audit Trail associated with that Order. Communications conducted outside the app — including WhatsApp messages, SMS, phone calls, or in-person conversations — will not be accepted or considered as evidence in a Marketplace dispute.
9.4 Users are strongly advised not to conduct Order-related discussions outside the Order Chat, as doing so may leave them without evidence in the event of a dispute.
10.1 Sellers must list products accurately, including a truthful description, condition, price, and available stock.
10.2 Sellers must respond to Pending Orders (accept or decline) within the timeframe indicated in the app.
10.3 Sellers must ship accepted Orders promptly and mark them as Shipped only once the item has genuinely been handed to a courier or logistics provider.
10.4 Sellers are responsible for packaging items appropriately to survive transit and for providing accurate tracking or handover information where available.
10.5 Sellers acknowledge that the Platform Fee described in Section 5 will be automatically deducted from their payout and is not negotiable per transaction.
11.1 Buyers must ensure sufficient funds are available in their Naira Wallet before placing an Order.
11.2 Buyers must provide accurate delivery information and be reasonably available to receive the item.
11.3 Buyers are responsible for inspecting delivered items promptly and taking action (Confirm Receipt or Raise Dispute) within the 72-hour window described in Section 7.1.
11.4 Buyers acknowledge that failing to act within the applicable timeout windows will result in automatic, final release of funds to the Seller as described in Section 7.
12.1 Users may not list or purchase items that are illegal under Nigerian law, counterfeit, stolen, or otherwise prohibited by Instapay9ja’s policies as updated from time to time.
12.2 Users may not attempt to circumvent the Escrow system — for example, by arranging payment outside the Platform for a Marketplace item, or by pressuring the other party to falsely confirm receipt or falsely raise a dispute.
12.3 Instapay9ja reserves the right to suspend or remove any listing, cancel any Order, or restrict a User’s Marketplace access where it reasonably suspects a violation of these Marketplace Terms.
13.1 Where an Order is cancelled — including where a Seller declines a Pending Order, or Instapay9ja cancels an Order under Section 6.2 — the full amount originally debited is returned to the Buyer’s Naira Wallet.
13.2 Refunds arising from a dispute follow the outcome determined by the Administrator under Section 8.3 and are not automatic.
13.3 Once funds have been released to a Seller under Section 7 (automatic release) or Section 8 (dispute resolution), that release is final and cannot be reversed at a User’s request.
14.1 Instapay9ja provides the Marketplace and Escrow infrastructure as a facilitator between Buyers and Sellers. Instapay9ja does not guarantee the quality, safety, legality, or authenticity of any product listed by a Seller.
14.2 To the fullest extent permitted under Nigerian law, Instapay9ja’s liability to any User arising from use of the Marketplace is limited to the amount held in Escrow for the specific Order giving rise to the claim.
14.3 Instapay9ja is not liable for losses arising from a User’s failure to monitor an Order, respond within a timeout window, or use the Order Chat as required under Section 9.
Users agree to indemnify and hold Instapay9ja harmless from any claims, losses, or damages arising from their breach of these Marketplace Terms, their listing or purchase of prohibited items, or their misrepresentation of a product or transaction.
16.1 Instapay9ja may suspend or terminate a User’s access to the Marketplace, with or without notice, where it reasonably believes the User has violated these Marketplace Terms, engaged in fraud, or posed a risk to other Users or to Instapay9ja.
16.2 Suspension of Marketplace access does not affect funds already lawfully HELD, released, or refunded prior to suspension, which will continue to be handled in accordance with these Marketplace Terms.
17.1 Instapay9ja may update these Marketplace Terms from time to time. Material changes will be communicated to Users through the app or by other reasonable means before they take effect.
17.2 Continued use of the Marketplace after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Marketplace Terms.
18.1 These Marketplace Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
18.2 Any dispute arising from these Marketplace Terms that is not resolved through the internal process in Section 8 shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Nigeria.
For questions about these Marketplace Terms or to report an issue not resolved through the app, contact:
Instapay9ja Support
Email: support@instapay9ja.ng