The fine print, written plainly.

Terms of Service

Who we are and what we do

Handsel ("we", "us") runs a marketplace where brands list free physical samples, digital trials and services, and members claim them. Members can also authorize software agents to claim for them. We are not the seller of any sample. The brand that lists a sample is responsible for it, including its safety, labeling, delivery and any later subscription.

Accounts

• You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority where you live, to create an account.
• Give accurate information, keep your password private, and tell us if you think your account has been compromised.
• One member account per person. Brand accounts must be run by someone authorized to act for that brand.

Using Handsel

• Members claim samples for personal use only. Reselling, bulk claiming, or using several accounts to get around limits is not allowed.
• Brands may only list things that are actually free to the member: no shipping fees, deposits, or required purchases.
• Don't scrape, overload, reverse-engineer or interfere with the service, except through the documented API and MCP server within their limits.

Availability and changes

Samples are limited and first come, first served. A claim isn't a guarantee of delivery: stock, regions and brand fulfillment can change. We may update these terms. If a change is material, we'll tell you in advance by email or in the app, and your continued use after the effective date means you accept the update.

Ending your account

You can close your account at any time from your account page. We may suspend or close accounts that break these terms or put other members, brands or the service at risk. Where it's appropriate, we'll tell you why.

Disclaimers and liability

Handsel is provided "as is". As far as the law allows, we disclaim implied warranties and are not liable for indirect or consequential losses. Our total liability to a member is limited to $100, since members pay nothing. Nothing here limits rights you have under consumer protection law that can't be waived.

Disputes

Please contact us first. Most issues can be fixed quickly. These terms are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction where Handsel is organized, without affecting mandatory consumer protections where you live.

Privacy Policy

What we collect

• Account: name, email, a hashed password, and your role (member or brand).
• Profile: shipping address, plus the preferences you choose to give us, such as categories, allergies, pets, skin type, household size and things to avoid.
• Activity: claims, feedback, subscription clicks, agent keys, and basic technical logs (IP address, device and browser type) for security.

How we use it

To run the service: matching samples to you, fulfilling claims, enforcing claim limits, preventing fraud, showing brands aggregated results, and contacting you about your account. We only send marketing email if you opt in, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Who we share it with

• Brands: when you claim a physical sample, that brand receives the ship-to details needed to deliver it. Brands see your feedback on their samples. With an agent key, only the fields the key allows (postal, prefs) are shared.
• Service providers that host, secure and email for us, under contracts that limit their use of your data.
• Legal: when required by law, or to protect people's safety or rights.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

Your choices and rights

You can view and edit your profile, revoke agent keys, and delete your account from your account page. Depending on where you live (for example California, other US states, the UK or the EU), you may have rights to access, correct, delete or port your data, and to opt out of certain processing. Email us to use these rights. We won't treat you differently for using them.

Retention and security

We keep data while your account is active and for a limited time afterwards, as needed for fulfillment records, fraud prevention and legal obligations. We use encryption in transit, hashed passwords and access controls. No system is perfectly secure, and we will notify you of a breach as the law requires.

Bot protection and rate limits

To keep free samples going to real people, the signup form uses Cloudflare Turnstile, a privacy-friendly check that runs in your browser instead of a puzzle. Cloudflare processes basic device and browser signals to tell people from bots, under its own privacy policy. We also apply per-IP rate limits to sign-in, signup, claims and the agent API. We use your IP address only to count requests over a short window, and we don't use it to build a profile of you.

Children

Handsel is not for children under 18, and we don't knowingly collect their data. Some samples are baby products for adult parents and caregivers.

Sample & Review Policy

No obligation, and reviews never have to be positive

Claiming a sample never obliges you to leave feedback. If you do, you're free to say whatever you honestly think. No brand may require, reward or pressure positive reviews, offer anything in exchange for a better rating, or ask you to change or remove a review. This follows the FTC's Endorsement Guides and its rule on consumer reviews and testimonials.

Disclosure is automatic

Every review written through Handsel is labeled automatically to show that the reviewer received the product for free. If a brand republishes Handsel feedback anywhere, it must keep a clear and conspicuous free-product disclosure.

No suppression

• We don't filter, hide, reorder or delay feedback because it's negative, and brands cannot do so either.
• Ratings and summaries shown to anyone include every review that meets our content rules.
• We remove content only when it is unlawful, abusive, contains personal information, is spam, or is clearly unrelated to the product, and we apply those rules the same way to positive and negative reviews.

Brand obligations

Brands may not write fake reviews, have staff or relatives review without disclosing it, or pass off Handsel feedback as independent, unprompted reviews. Breaking these rules gets listings removed and may get accounts closed.

Subscriptions & Auto-renewal

Samples never auto-convert

Claiming a sample never starts a paid plan, and we never ask for a payment method to claim one. A subscription starts only when you choose to subscribe after trying a sample.

Clear terms before you agree

Before you subscribe, the offer must clearly show, near the button you use to agree:

• that the subscription renews automatically until you cancel;
• the price and how often you're charged (for example $24 per month), including any taxes or fees;
• the length of any trial or introductory price, and what it renews at;
• how to cancel.

Express consent

You must agree to the automatic renewal yourself, for example by checking an unchecked box or tapping a clearly labeled button. Pre-checked boxes and buried terms don't count. Agents can bring you a subscription offer, but they cannot give this consent for you. After you subscribe, you'll get a confirmation that includes the terms and how to cancel.

Cancel any time, in one tap

You can cancel online in the same way you signed up, without calling anyone or sitting through a retention flow. Handsel shows a one-tap cancel link for every subscription that started from a Handsel sample, and brands must honor it. Where state law requires it, you'll get reminders before a trial ends or before an annual plan renews, and notice of material price changes.

Who's responsible

Subscriptions are sold and billed by the brand, not by Handsel. Brands that list subscription offers agree to follow the federal Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA), state automatic-renewal laws (such as California's), and our rules above. Brands that don't comply lose their subscription links.

Agent Use Policy

Authorization

• An agent acts for one member, using an hsk_ key that member created. Each key is limited by category, a 30-day claim cap, the data it may share, and an expiry date. The member can revoke it at any time.
• The member is responsible for what their agents do with their keys. Claims made through an agent count toward the member's own limits.
• Search and browsing need no key. Anonymous access must still respect rate limits and must not scrape the catalog in bulk.

Conduct

• Claim only what the member would plausibly want, based on their stated preferences. Don't claim to use up quota or to collect inventory.
• Pass feedback on honestly. Never make up ratings or comments, or submit feedback the member didn't give.
• Never resell, pool or transfer samples, and never claim for anyone other than the key's member.
• Never accept terms, start subscriptions or make payments on a member's behalf. Hand those decisions to the human.
• Don't try to get around caps, categories or claim rules, for example by rotating keys or accounts.
• Keep keys secret. Never expose them in logs, prompts or public places.

Enforcement

We may rate-limit, suspend or revoke keys, and close accounts, when an agent breaks this policy. Developers can find integration details in the agent docs.

Prohibited Listings

• AlcoholBeer, wine, spirits, and alcohol-containing kits or mixers.
• Tobacco & vapeCigarettes, cigars, nicotine pouches, e-cigarettes, vapes and their liquids.
• CBD & hempCBD, hemp-derived cannabinoids, THC of any kind, and cannabis accessories.
• WeaponsFirearms, ammunition, parts, knives sold as weapons, and self-defense sprays.
• Prescription drugsRx medicines, prescription-only devices, and drugs making unapproved claims.
• Hazardous materialsFlammable, corrosive, pressurized or otherwise regulated hazmat goods.

Also not allowed

• Anything that isn't actually free, or that needs a purchase, deposit or shipping fee to claim.
• Recalled, counterfeit, expired or unsafe products, and supplements that make disease claims.
• Adult content, gambling, and anything illegal where it would be shipped.

Brands are responsible for following the laws in every region they ship to. We may remove any listing at our discretion.

Contact

Questions, privacy requests, review concerns, or a report about a listing or an agent: write to us and a person will reply.