Terms of service

Terms of Service — Mystery Rips

1. Who this applies to

These Terms govern your use of [poketips.com] (the "Site") and any purchase of a Mystery Rip, including all Pokémon GO–related items delivered through the Site, whether by account transfer or in-game trade (collectively, the "Services"). By purchasing a Mystery Rip or otherwise using the Site, you agree to these Terms.

You must be at least 18 years old to purchase a Mystery Rip. The Mystery Rip product is not directed at children, is not intended for use by anyone under 18, and no one under 18 may purchase, open, or claim a Mystery Rip regardless of parental permission. If we learn a purchase was made by someone under 18, we may cancel the order and refund the purchase price without providing the randomized item.

[Placeholder — confirm with counsel: some jurisdictions treat the age of majority differently for chance-based purchases specifically. This may need to be higher than 18 depending on the outcome of the gambling-law review.]

2. What a Mystery Rip is

A Mystery Rip is a $20 digital product. When you purchase and open a Mystery Rip:

  • You receive one item, selected at random from a published pool of possible items.
  • Every Mystery Rip results in an item — there are no empty pulls.
  • The odds of receiving each specific item are published on the Site before you purchase, and reflect the actual weighting used at the time of your purchase.
  • Displayed dollar values next to each item are our own listed price for that item if purchased directly, for reference only. They are not a resale guarantee, an appraisal, an assurance that the item can be sold or exchanged for that amount, or a representation of value in any secondary market.

How your item is delivered depends on which one you receive:

  • Account delivery (default). Every item in the pool except the three listed below is delivered as access to a Pokémon GO account containing that item. You receive login credentials to an account; you do not keep your own existing account's Pokémon.
  • Trade delivery (three items only). Armored Mewtwo, Shiny Crowned Shield Zamazenta, and Shiny Crowned Sword Zacian are delivered by in-game trade to your own Pokémon GO account. You keep your existing account; we send the Pokémon to it using Pokémon GO's trading feature.

These are meaningfully different processes with different requirements and different timing — see Sections 4 and 4a below before you purchase.

Common-tier swap. If your Mystery Rip results in a Common-tier item, you may be offered the option to trade it once for a different Common-tier item of the same declared value, shown to you before you confirm. Available at most once per Mystery Rip, entirely optional, does not change the price you paid, and does not change which delivery method applies — the swapped-to item is delivered the same way (account or trade) as any other pull of that item.

3. Purchases, payment, and no purchase limits

  • All purchases are processed through our third-party payment processor (Shopify Payments and/or the payment methods offered at checkout). We do not store your full payment card number.
  • Prices are in U.S. dollars and do not include applicable sales tax, which is calculated at checkout.
  • There is no limit on the number of Mystery Rips you may purchase.
  • [Placeholder — if a free alternative method of entry is added per the legal review, describe it here in full, including how to request it, the odds it carries, and confirmation that it carries identical odds to a paid purchase. Do not publish this section as final until that determination is made.]

4. Delivery — account items

For any item other than the three named in Section 2:

  • The randomized result of your Mystery Rip is generated and shown to you at the time you open it on the Site.
  • After you confirm ("claim") your result, we deliver login credentials for a Pokémon GO account containing that item, sent to the email address on your order.
  • We aim to complete this within 24 hours of your claim. This is a target, not a guaranteed window. If we can't deliver within a reasonable time, we'll contact you to arrange delivery, a substitute item of equal declared value, or a refund.
  • Once you receive account credentials, change the password and secure the account promptly. After handover, we have no further access to or control over that account, and are not responsible for anything that happens to it afterward — including anything Niantic does to it. See Section 6.
  • You are responsible for providing a valid email address. We're not responsible for delivery failures caused by inaccurate contact information you provided.

4a. Delivery — trade items (Armored Mewtwo, Crowned Shield Zamazenta, Crowned Sword Zacian)

These three items work differently, and take longer than account delivery. Read this before purchasing a pack that could contain one.

  • These items are sent by in-game trade to your existing Pokémon GO account, using Pokémon GO's own trading feature.
  • To receive a trade, you need your own active Pokémon GO account and must add the sending account as an in-game friend using the friend code we provide after you claim.
  • Pokémon GO restricts trades of this kind to players who've reached a sufficient in-game friendship level with each other. Friendship level increases over real calendar time and cannot be sped up by us or by you — this is a Niantic game mechanic entirely outside our control. As a result, delivery of a trade item routinely takes materially longer than 24 hours, and we cannot promise a specific date.
  • Completing the trade may also require in-game currency (Stardust) that Pokémon GO charges the receiving player — that's you, not us. We do not cover this cost.
  • Pokémon GO limits how many of these trades an account can complete in a given period. If a delay on our end causes you to miss a limited trade window, we'll complete it at the next available opportunity; this does not entitle you to a refund on its own.
  • You must actually add the friend code and complete your side of the trade. If you don't respond or don't complete the trade within [X days] of us providing the friend code, see Section 5 for what happens to an unclaimed trade item.
  • If Niantic's trading feature is unavailable, changed, or removed entirely, we'll deliver a substitute item of equal declared value or a refund, at your election.

5. Refunds and cancellations

  • Because the randomized result is generated and disclosed to you immediately upon opening, a Mystery Rip purchase is final once opened and is not eligible for a "changed my mind" refund after the result is revealed.
  • If we fail to deliver the item you were shown, or deliver a materially different item than the one you were shown, you're entitled to a refund of that purchase or delivery of the correct item, at your election.
  • For trade items specifically: if you don't complete your side of the trade (adding the friend code, being available to trade) within a reasonable period after we've made a genuine attempt to deliver, the item is considered offered and available, and you are not entitled to a refund solely because you didn't complete the trade on your end. [Placeholder — set a specific, reasonable deadline here once delivery data from real orders exists to calibrate against; don't leave this open-ended in the published version.]
  • If a technical error causes a duplicate charge, a charge without a corresponding Mystery Rip being granted, or any other billing error on our part, contact us at [SUPPORT EMAIL] and we'll correct it.
  • Nothing in this section limits any refund or chargeback right you have under the rules of your card network or payment provider.

[Placeholder — confirm this refund structure against 16 C.F.R. Part 435 (FTC Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule), particularly for trade items where delivery can genuinely exceed the rule's standard shipment-delay timelines.]

6. Account and trade risk — Pokémon GO

Mystery Rips relate to Niantic, Inc.'s Pokémon GO service, which is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Niantic, The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, or Game Freak.

  • Niantic, not us, controls whether any account remains active — for account-delivery items, the account you receive; for trade-delivery items, both the sending account and your own. Account sharing and transfer may violate Niantic's own Terms of Service, and trading for compensation may also raise separate concerns under those terms.
  • We make no warranty against suspension, banning, or any other action Niantic takes against an account or trade delivered through this product, before or after delivery.
  • For account-delivery items: we make no representation about that account's prior history, other contents, or standing beyond the specific item you were shown.
  • By purchasing, you acknowledge and accept this risk in full.

7. Age, location, and eligibility restrictions

  • You represent that you're at least 18 years old and purchasing for yourself, not on behalf of a minor.
  • The Services are intended for purchase by residents of the United States only. [Placeholder — the legal review may require excluding specific states. Do not remove this bracket until that list is finalized and reflected in a geographic checkout restriction, not just this sentence.]
  • We may refuse or cancel any order at our discretion, including where we believe it violates these Terms.

8. No warranty; limitation of liability

The Services are provided "as is." To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, regarding the Services, including as to the availability, tradability, or persistence of any Pokémon GO account or item delivered, before or after delivery. Our total liability for any claim arising from a Mystery Rip purchase is limited to the amount you paid for that purchase.

[Placeholder — a blanket liability cap and warranty disclaimer needs jurisdiction-specific carve-outs (many states won't enforce a full disclaimer as written) and should be reviewed alongside the dispute clause below.]

9. Disputes

[Placeholder — do not publish this section without counsel. An arbitration clause and any class-action waiver have specific enforceability requirements (conspicuous placement, opt-out mechanics required in some states, carve-outs for small-claims court) that vary significantly by state. This is not something to fill in from a template, and it matters more now that real disputes over trade-delivery timing are a realistic scenario.]

10. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Continued use of the Site after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. Material changes affecting active orders will not apply retroactively to a Mystery Rip you already purchased.

11. Contact

Variety GO LLC [BUSINESS ADDRESS] [SUPPORT EMAIL]

This document was drafted with reference to general U.S. consumer-protection and prize-promotion principles current as of August 2026, and reflects the account/trade delivery mechanics as described to Claude at the time of drafting. It is not a substitute for review by a licensed attorney in the jurisdiction(s) where Variety GO LLC operates and sells. See the accompanying Legal Review Required memo before publishing — the core question of whether Mystery Rip's structure is lawful remains open and is not addressed by this document.