Gilded Index Terms of Sale

These Terms of Sale (“Terms of Sale”) govern your purchase of physical books and related products (“Products”) from Gilded Index, LLC, a Utah limited liability company (“Gilded Index,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), through our storefront and any related checkout flow.

These Terms of Sale apply in addition to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, which govern your broader use of our services. In the event of a conflict between these Terms of Sale and the Terms of Service with respect to a Product purchase, these Terms of Sale control.

By placing an order, you agree to these Terms of Sale. If you do not agree, do not place an order.

1. About our Products

Each Product is a physical book (or set of books) that we have curated, purchased from its publisher, and tagged with a QR code that links to a companion digital experience on Gilded Index. Some Products may also be available as gift orders with personalized inscriptions.

Important — what Gilded Index is and isn’t:

Gilded Index is an independent reseller and companion service. We curate and resell physical copies of books published by their respective publishers. We do not claim authorship of, partnership with, or endorsement by the authors or publishers of the books we sell. References to books, authors, or publishers in our storefront and product descriptions are descriptive — they do not imply any commercial relationship beyond our purchase of inventory.

The companion digital experience accessed via the QR code is a Gilded Index product, separate from and independent of the underlying book. Use of the digital companion is governed by our Terms of Service.

2. Eligibility and ordering

2.1 Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old to place an order. By placing an order, you represent that you meet this requirement.

2.2 Order acceptance

Your order is an offer to purchase. Your order is not accepted until we send you an order confirmation by email. We reserve the right to decline or cancel any order, at our discretion, for reasons including but not limited to:

• Product unavailability
• Pricing or description errors
• Suspected fraud or unauthorized use of payment method
• Shipping address outside our serviceable area

If we cancel an order after charging your payment method, we will refund the charged amount.

2.3 Pricing and currency

All prices are in U.S. Dollars (USD) and exclude applicable taxes and shipping fees, which are calculated at checkout. Prices are subject to change without notice; the price applicable to your order is the price displayed at the time you place the order and that we accept.

2.4 Payment

Payment is due at the time you place your order, processed by our payment processor, Stripe. By providing payment information, you authorize us (through Stripe) to charge your selected payment method for the total amount of the order, including taxes and shipping.

2.5 Taxes

We collect applicable sales tax based on your shipping address. The tax amount is calculated and displayed at checkout.

3. Shipping

3.1 Shipping destinations

We currently ship to addresses within the United States only. International shipping is not offered through our standard checkout flow. International requests may be handled on a case-by-case basis by emailing hello@gildedindex.com — additional shipping fees, customs paperwork, and longer transit times will apply.

3.2 Fulfillment

Orders are fulfilled by Gilded Index. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to ship within five (5) business days of order acceptance, though actual times may vary based on inventory and order volume.

3.3 Shipping fees

Shipping fees are calculated at checkout based on weight, destination, and shipping method. Fees are non-refundable except where the return is due to our error or a damaged shipment (see Section 4).

3.4 Delivery and risk of loss

Title and risk of loss pass to you upon delivery to the shipping carrier. Once shipped, transit time depends on the carrier and is not guaranteed by us.

3.5 Lost or undelivered shipments

If a tracked shipment is marked as delivered but you have not received it, contact us at hello@gildedindex.com within thirty (30) days of the marked delivery date so we can investigate with the carrier. We are not responsible for shipments lost or stolen after carrier-confirmed delivery, but we may offer good-faith replacements at our discretion.

4. Returns and refunds

4.1 Return window

You may return unused Products within thirty (30) days of the delivery date, subject to the conditions below.

4.2 Eligible returns

To be eligible for a return:

• The Product must be in resaleable condition — physically intact, with no markings, tears, stains, water damage, or other signs of use
• The Product’s QR code must not have been scanned and used to activate a Gilded Index digital account
• The original packaging, if any, must be returned with the Product
• You must contact hello@gildedindex.com to initiate the return and receive return shipping instructions

4.3 Returns once the digital companion has been activated

Once the QR code has been scanned and a Gilded Index account has been created or linked through it, the digital companion experience has been delivered to you, and the Product is no longer eligible for return. This applies regardless of the physical condition of the book.

This is because each Product is a bundled physical-and-digital good. Once the digital portion has been accessed, the bundled product has been consumed.

4.4 Return shipping costs

You are responsible for return shipping costs unless the return is due to a Gilded Index error or the shipment was damaged (see Section 5).

4.5 Refunds

Upon receipt and inspection of the returned Product, we will:

• Refund the purchase price to your original payment method within ten (10) business days
• Not refund the original shipping fee unless the return is due to our error
• Not refund the cost of return shipping unless the return is due to our error

4.6 Non-returnable items

The following are not returnable:

• Products with personalized inscriptions (gift orders with custom text)
• Products whose digital companion has been activated (see Section 4.3)
• Products marked as final sale or clearance at the time of purchase

5. Damaged or defective Products

If a Product arrives damaged or defective, contact us at hello@gildedindex.com within fourteen (14) days of delivery, with photos showing the damage and the shipping packaging.

For verified damaged or defective Products, we will:

• Send a free replacement of the same Product, at no additional cost to you (including shipping)
• Not require you to return the damaged Product — given that return shipping costs typically exceed the value of the unit, you may keep or discard the damaged Product at your discretion

If the same Product is no longer available, we will offer a substitute Product of equal value or a full refund of the purchase price (your choice).

6. Gift orders

6.1 Sending a gift

You may order Products to be shipped to a recipient other than yourself. At checkout, you will provide the recipient’s shipping information and may optionally include a personalized inscription (subject to Section 6.2).

6.2 Personalized inscriptions

If you include a personalized inscription:

• You are solely responsible for the content of your inscription. Gilded Index will print or affix the inscription text as you submit it, without editorial review.
• You agree that your inscription text does not infringe any third-party right, is not defamatory, harassing, obscene, or unlawful, and does not contain personally identifying information about anyone other than yourself or the recipient.
• Inscription text is limited to a generic dedication. Inscriptions must not quote book content, copyrighted material, or any third-party text. Long-form inscriptions or inscriptions that attempt to convey instructional, evaluative, or professional advice content may be rejected at our discretion.
• We may reject any inscription that, in our sole discretion, violates these Terms of Sale or our content policies. If we reject an inscription, we will contact you for revisions or, if not feasible, refund the inscription fee (if any) and ship the Product without the inscription.

6.3 Gift recipient experience

Once delivered, the gift recipient may scan the QR code on the Product to activate a Gilded Index account. The recipient’s use of the digital companion is governed by our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. The recipient retains all individual rights described in those documents, including the right to decline participation in any cohort program associated with the gift (see our Terms of Service, Section 8).

6.4 Cohort Gift programs

If your gift is part of a Cohort Gift program (e.g., a firm enrolling a group of recipients in a shared cohort), you acknowledge that each recipient’s participation in the cohort program is individually consented at activation. You may not condition any employment, compensation, or other workplace status on a recipient’s participation. The gift is delivered to each recipient regardless of their cohort choice.

If you are unsure whether your order constitutes a Cohort Gift program, contact us at hello@gildedindex.com before placing the order.

7. Intellectual property and content

7.1 Gilded Index IP

The Gilded Index storefront, product descriptions, curation, QR code system, and the companion digital experience are owned by Gilded Index and are protected by U.S. intellectual property laws.

7.2 Third-party content

The books we sell contain content owned by their respective authors and publishers. Your purchase of a physical book grants you the ordinary first-sale rights associated with owning a physical copy of that book; it does not grant any digital rights to the book content or any license to the underlying copyrighted material.

7.3 Reseller posture

Gilded Index is an independent reseller. We make no representations regarding the accuracy, completeness, or fitness of any book’s content for any particular purpose. Views expressed by authors are theirs, not ours.

8. Warranties and disclaimers

EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS OF SALE, PRODUCTS ARE SOLD “AS IS.” TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, GILDED INDEX DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

Without limiting the foregoing:

• We do not warrant that any book will produce any specific outcome — career, professional, intellectual, or otherwise
• We do not endorse the views or claims of any author or publisher
• We do not warrant that the digital companion experience will be uninterrupted or error-free (see the Terms of Service for the companion’s warranty disclaimers)

Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of certain warranties; in such jurisdictions, the above disclaimers apply to the maximum extent permitted by law.

9. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, OUR TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO ANY PRODUCT PURCHASE WILL NOT EXCEED THE PURCHASE PRICE PAID BY YOU FOR THE APPLICABLE PRODUCT.

IN NO EVENT WILL GILDED INDEX BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

These limitations apply even if a remedy fails of its essential purpose. Some jurisdictions do not allow these limitations; in such jurisdictions, our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

10. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Gilded Index from any claim arising out of:

• Your breach of these Terms of Sale
• The content of any inscription you submitted (Section 6.2)
• Your use or misuse of any Product
• Your violation of any third-party right

11. Governing law

These Terms of Sale are governed by the laws of the State of Utah, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. The state and federal courts located in Salt Lake County, Utah will have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from these Terms of Sale, except where a dispute is subject to the binding arbitration provision in our Terms of Service.

12. Changes to these Terms of Sale

We may update these Terms of Sale from time to time. The “Last Updated” date at the top reflects the current version. Material changes will be posted with reasonable notice on the storefront before they take effect. Changes apply only to orders placed after the effective date of the change.

13. Contact

Email: hello@gildedindex.com

Mail: