The deal, in plain words.

1. Agreeing to these terms

These terms are a contract between you and LumiQ. By creating an account or booking a creator, you accept them. If you do not, do not use LumiQ.

You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter a binding contract. If you are booking for a company, you confirm you are allowed to bind it, and "you" means that company.

Creators agree to a separate document — the Creator Terms. Where the two overlap, each side is bound by its own.

2. What LumiQ is, and is not

LumiQ is a marketplace. We introduce you to independent creators, handle scheduling, take payment, hold the money until the job is done, and deliver the files. The creative work itself is performed by the creator, not by LumiQ.

Creators are independent contractors. They are not our employees or agents, we do not direct how they shoot, light, mix or perform, and we do not guarantee any particular artistic result. What we do guarantee is the parts we actually run: that the creator was identity-verified, that your money is held and released correctly, and that we will step in when something goes wrong.

3. Your account

• One account per email address per role. You may hold both a customer and a creator account, but they are separate accounts.
• Keep your password to yourself, and turn on two-factor authentication. You are responsible for what happens under your account until you tell us it is compromised.
• Give us accurate information. A wrong address or phone number is the single most common reason a shoot fails, and a failed shoot caused by wrong details is not refundable.

4. Booking and the price

You book either by choosing a creator yourself or by using Match Me, which finds one for you. Either way, you see the full price before you pay: the creator’s fee, the LumiQ trust fee, and any add-ons such as extra hours, rush delivery, travel or commercial usage.

The price is snapshotted when you book. If the creator changes their rates afterwards, your booking is unaffected — you pay what you agreed.

Rates are set by creators and are either hourly or a single price for the whole job. Where a quote depends on something we cannot know up front — the size of a venue, the number of final edits — the booking will say so and the additional amount is agreed with you before it is charged.

The LumiQ trust fee is currently 6% of the booking. It pays for identity verification, payment protection, support and the dispute process. It is shown as its own line at checkout, and it is not refundable once a creator has been engaged — by then we have already spent it on your behalf.

5. Paying

• Payment is taken at checkout through Stripe or Paystack. Your card details go to them directly and never reach LumiQ.
• We hold the creator’s fee until the job is done, then release it to them. That hold is the point of booking through LumiQ rather than paying someone directly.
• Tips are optional, go entirely to the creator, and are never taken automatically.
• If a payment fails or is reversed after a shoot has happened, you remain responsible for the amount owed.

6. Changing or cancelling

You can cancel a scheduled booking from the booking page. Whether you get the creator’s fee back depends on how close to the shoot you cancel.

• The 24-hour window is the default. Some categories and markets use a different one, and your booking page always shows the window that actually applies to it.
• Rescheduling is free if both sides agree and it happens outside the cancellation window. Inside the window it is up to the creator.
• Refunds go back to the original payment method. Card networks typically take 5–10 business days to show it.

7. On the day

• Be there, be reachable, and make sure the creator can get in. If nobody is at the address and the creator cannot reach you, the booking counts as a no-show and is not refunded.
• The location has to be safe and lawful to work in. A creator may leave a booking where they feel unsafe, and will still be paid.
• If you need a permit — a park, a mall, a private venue — getting it is your responsibility, not the creator’s.
• Anyone who will be photographed or filmed should know about it. For children, the adult booking is responsible for consenting on their behalf.

8. Delivery and your files

Delivery timing is set by the category and shown on your booking. For shoots that produce files, the creator uploads an edited gallery and you are notified when it is ready. For a live performance there is nothing to deliver — the booking completes when the performance does.

You keep access to your gallery for two years from delivery. Download what you want to keep; we are not a backup service.

Who owns what is set out in the Content and Intellectual Property policy. The short version: the creator holds the copyright, and you get a full, permanent, worldwide licence to use, edit and publish the work, including commercially.

9. When something goes wrong

Tell us. Use the booking page to raise a problem, or email hello@lumiqapp.com. We would much rather fix it than have you dispute the charge with your bank.

• The creator did not show, or left early: full refund, and we will find you a replacement if you want one.
• The work was not delivered, or is materially not what you booked: we investigate, and we can order a re-shoot, a partial refund or a full refund.
• You just do not like the photos: taste is not a defect. We will look at whether the delivery matched the brief, but an artistic disagreement is not grounds for a refund.
• You must raise a problem within 14 days of the booking ending, or within 14 days of delivery if there were files to deliver. After that the creator has been paid and the record is closed.
• Our decision on a dispute is final as between you, the creator and LumiQ. It does not take away any right you have under consumer law.

10. Things you must not do

We can suspend or close an account that does any of this, and where money or safety is involved we will say so to the people affected.

• Take a creator you met on LumiQ off the platform to avoid our fees. The trust fee is what pays for verification and protection; going around it removes both.
• Harass, threaten, discriminate against or endanger a creator or anyone else.
• Book a shoot for anything unlawful, or for sexual content.
• Use the platform to scrape, resell, or train a model on creators’ work.
• Pay with a card that is not yours, or reverse a charge for a service you actually received.
• Misrepresent the location, the scope or who will be present.

11. Reels, reviews and anything you post

You can review a creator after a booking and comment on reels. Keep it honest and about the work. We remove content that is abusive, defamatory, discriminatory, sexual, or posted to manipulate a rating.

You keep ownership of what you post, and you give LumiQ permission to display it on the platform. Reporting anything that breaks these rules takes one tap, and the person reported is never told who reported them.

12. What we are responsible for

We are responsible for running LumiQ properly: taking your payment correctly, holding and releasing it correctly, verifying creators before they work, and dealing with you fairly when a booking fails.

We are not responsible for the creative merit of a creator’s work, for loss or damage caused by a creator at your location, or for anything you and a creator agree privately outside LumiQ.

Except where the law does not allow us to limit it, our total liability to you for any booking is capped at what you paid for that booking plus the trust fee on it. We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss — a missed opportunity, lost profit, or the value you place on an occasion that cannot be repeated.

Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited. If you are a consumer in Nigeria, your rights under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018 apply in full and are not affected by anything here.

13. Suspension and closing your account

You can close your account from Settings at any time. Bookings already paid for still have to be finished or cancelled under clause 6.

We can suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, that presents a safety or fraud risk, or where we are required to. Where we can tell you why, we will. Money you are genuinely owed is still paid out.

14. Changes to the service and these terms

LumiQ changes as we build it. We can add, remove or change features, categories and markets.

When we change these terms in a way that matters to you, we will email you at least 14 days before it takes effect. Carrying on using LumiQ after that is how you accept the change. If you do not want to, close your account — changes never apply retroactively to a booking you already paid for.

15. Disputes, arbitration and governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Georgia, United States, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.

Before anything formal, email legal@lumiqapp.com with what happened and what you want. Most things end there, and we ask for 30 days to resolve it.

If we cannot, and you are in the United States, you and LumiQ agree to settle the dispute by binding individual arbitration rather than in court, and each of us gives up the right to a jury trial and to take part in a class action. Arbitration is administered under the rules of a recognised arbitration body, in Fulton County, Georgia or by video, and you may still bring a qualifying claim in small-claims court instead.

You can opt out of arbitration. Email legal@lumiqapp.com within 30 days of first accepting these terms, saying you opt out and giving the email on your account. Opting out costs you nothing and changes nothing else. If you are a consumer in Nigeria, this arbitration clause does not apply to you at all — you keep full access to the Nigerian courts and to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.

16. The rest

• If a clause here turns out to be unenforceable, the rest still stands.
• Not enforcing something once does not mean we have given it up.
• You cannot transfer your account or these terms to someone else. We can transfer them to a company that takes over LumiQ, and we will tell you if that happens.
• These terms, plus the Privacy Policy, the Content and Intellectual Property policy and the Community and Safety Guidelines, are the whole agreement between us.
• Questions: legal@lumiqapp.com.