Terms of service

Effective date: 26 August 2026

These Terms of Service govern the use of the Protostar Systems website and the purchase of products and services from Protostar Systems (Pty) Ltd.

By accessing or using the Website, or by placing an order through the Website, the user agrees to be bound by these Terms of Service.

1. Definitions and Interpretation

For purposes of these Terms:

"Company", "Protostar", "we", "us" or "our" means PROTOSTAR SYSTEMS (PTY) LTD, Enterprise No. 2023/632333/07.

"Customer", "you" or "your" means any person or legal entity accessing the Website, purchasing Products, or engaging Protostar to provide Services.

"Products" means any physical goods offered for sale by Protostar through the Website or otherwise.

"Services" means engineering, design, software development, consulting, project management, prototyping, manufacturing and other professional services provided by Protostar.

"Website" means the Protostar Systems website and associated online store operated at https://protostar.pro and any associated domains or subdomains.

"Terms" means these Terms of Service, together with any policies or additional terms expressly incorporated by reference.

References to the singular include the plural and vice versa, and references to any gender include all genders.

2. About Protostar Systems

The Website is operated by:

PROTOSTAR SYSTEMS (PTY) LTD
Enterprise No.: 2023/632333/07

29 Mount du Roche Street
Somerset West
7130
South Africa

Email: info@protostar.pro
Telephone: +27 82 566 4768

Protostar provides multidisciplinary engineering and product development services, as well as physical products sold through its online store.

3. Use of the Website

The Website may be used only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms.

The Customer shall not:

use the Website for any unlawful, fraudulent or unauthorised purpose;
interfere with the operation, security or availability of the Website;
attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the Website or its underlying systems;
introduce malicious software or other harmful code;
reproduce, modify or commercially exploit Website content without the appropriate permission; or
use the Website in a manner that may damage the reputation or legitimate interests of Protostar.

Protostar reserves the right to restrict or terminate access to the Website where reasonably necessary to protect the Website, its users or the Company.

4. Products and Product Information

Products are covered against defects in materials, workmanship and manufacturing in accordance with applicable law. This does not extend to damage resulting from misuse, abuse, accidental damage, unauthorised modification, incorrect assembly or use outside the intended purpose of the product.

Protostar endeavours to ensure that product descriptions, photographs, specifications, dimensions and prices published on the Website are accurate and up to date.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, inadvertent errors or omissions may occur.

Product photographs are provided for illustrative purposes. Actual products may vary slightly in colour, texture, finish or appearance, particularly where Products are manufactured using 3D printing, laser cutting, laser engraving, hand finishing or other manufacturing processes.

Where a Product is manufactured to order or customised according to Customer specifications, the agreed specifications shall form part of the applicable order.

Where assembly is required, this will be indicated in the relevant Product description.

5. Orders

An order placed through the Website constitutes an offer by the Customer to purchase the selected Products.

An order shall only be regarded as accepted once Protostar has confirmed the order and, where applicable, received the required payment.

Protostar reserves the right to refuse or cancel an order where:

a Product is unavailable;
an obvious pricing or product-description error has occurred;
the requested Product cannot reasonably be manufactured or supplied;
payment cannot be successfully processed; or
there is reasonable cause to suspect fraudulent or unauthorised activity.

Where an order is cancelled by Protostar after payment has been received, the Customer shall be refunded the amount paid for the affected order, subject to any rights and obligations arising under applicable law.

6. Prices and Payment

Unless otherwise stated, all prices displayed on the Website are in South African Rand (ZAR).

The applicable price, delivery charges and any other applicable charges will be displayed during the ordering process.

Payment may be made using the payment methods made available through the Website.

Protostar may use third-party payment providers to process payments. Protostar does not retain or directly process payment-card information where such information is handled by the applicable payment provider.

For Services, pricing and payment terms will generally be established through a separate quotation, proposal, statement of work or agreement.

7. Custom and Made-to-Order Products

Certain Products may be manufactured only after an order has been placed.

Where a Product is customised according to Customer requirements, Protostar may require confirmation of the relevant specifications before manufacturing commences.

Protostar shall make reasonable efforts to manufacture customised Products in accordance with the agreed specifications.

Due to the nature of additive manufacturing, laser processing and manual finishing, reasonable variations in appearance, dimensions and finish may occur.

Nothing in this section limits any rights available to a Customer under applicable consumer-protection legislation.

8. Delivery

Products shall be delivered using the delivery methods made available during checkout or otherwise agreed with the Customer.

Estimated manufacturing and delivery periods are provided as reasonable estimates and may vary depending on Product availability, manufacturing requirements, order volume and circumstances outside Protostar's reasonable control.

The Customer is responsible for providing accurate delivery information.

Additional charges or delays resulting from an incorrect or incomplete delivery address may be for the Customer's account, subject to applicable law.

Further information regarding delivery, shipping charges and delivery times is provided in the Shipping & Delivery Policy.

9. Returns, Refunds and Cancellations

9.1. Scope

Products or Services supplied under a separate business-to-business quotation, purchase order, statement of work, service agreement or other written contract are governed by the terms of that agreement. The policies listed herein do not amend or override the terms of such an existing agreement.

9.2. Initial Returns Period

Where applicable to an online transaction, consumers have a statutory right to cancel the transaction without reason or penalty within seven (7) days of receiving the goods, in accordance with section 44 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act.

The only charge that may generally be levied in respect of such a cancellation is the direct cost of returning the goods. Where payment has already been made, applicable refunds are processed in accordance with the requirements of the Act.

The statutory cooling-off right does not apply to certain transactions, including goods made to the consumer's specifications or clearly personalised goods.

9.3. Defective or Non-conforming Products

Protostar's Products are covered by the applicable consumer protections provided by South African law.

Under the Consumer Protection Act, goods supplied to consumers carry an implied warranty of quality. Where goods fail to satisfy the applicable requirements and standards within the applicable six-month period, the consumer may return the goods without penalty and at the supplier's risk and expense, subject to the Act. The consumer may direct the supplier to repair or replace the goods, or refund the price paid, as provided by the Act.

9.4. Manufacturing Defects

Many Protostar Products are manufactured using 3D printing, laser cutting, laser engraving and other small-scale manufacturing processes.

These processes can result in minor variations in:

Surface texture;
Visible 3D-printing layer lines;
Engraving depth;
Colour and finish;
Minor dimensional variations; and
Other characteristics associated with the manufacturing process.

Such variations are not necessarily defects where the Product remains suitable for its intended purpose and materially conforms to its description.

Protostar will nevertheless address Products that fail to meet applicable quality, safety or performance requirements in accordance with applicable law.

9.5. Dmaage, Misuse and Assembly

Products may be damaged through accidental impact, misuse, abuse, unauthorised modification, incorrect assembly, failure to follow supplied instructions, or use outside their intended purpose.

Damage resulting from such circumstances may not constitute a manufacturing defect and may not qualify for a remedy as a defective Product, subject to applicable law.

Where assembly is required, Customers are responsible for following the assembly instructions supplied with the Product.

9.6. Customised and Personalised Products

Certain Products may be customised or manufactured specifically according to a Customer's requirements.

Such Products are generally not eligible for voluntary change-of-mind returns where permitted by applicable law, including where the statutory cooling-off provisions do not apply to goods made to the consumer's specifications or clearly personalised goods.

This does not affect any statutory rights relating to Products that are defective, unsafe, incorrectly supplied or otherwise fail to comply with applicable requirements.

9.7 Refunds Process

Where a refund is applicable, Protostar will process the refund using the original payment method where reasonably possible.

The timing of refunds may depend on the payment provider or financial institution used to process the original payment.

Where a statutory refund applies, Protostar will process the refund within the period required by applicable law.

10. Engineering and Professional Services

Protostar provides engineering, design, software development, consulting, project management, prototyping, manufacturing and related professional Services.

Services may include, without limitation:

mechanical design and CAD;
electronic and PCB design;
software and firmware development;
product development;
technical consulting;
project and operational management;
3D printing;
laser cutting and engraving;
prototyping; and
small-scale or on-demand production.

Professional Services are generally provided under an individual quotation, proposal, statement of work or other written agreement.

Such an agreement may specify the applicable scope of work, deliverables, milestones, pricing, payment terms, intellectual-property rights, warranties, acceptance criteria and other project-specific requirements.

Where a specific written agreement has been entered into for a Service, that agreement shall take precedence over these Terms to the extent of any direct conflict.

11. Intellectual Property

All intellectual property belonging to Protostar, including the Protostar name, logos, branding, Website content, original designs, photographs, documentation, software and other original material, remains the property of Protostar or its applicable licensors unless otherwise stated.

No right or licence to use such intellectual property is granted merely by purchasing a Product or using the Website.

Intellectual-property rights relating to engineering or development work performed for a Customer shall be determined by the applicable quotation, statement of work or written agreement.

Unless otherwise agreed in writing, the Customer shall not reproduce, resell, distribute or commercially exploit Protostar's proprietary Products, designs or intellectual property.

12. Third-Party Services and Links

The Website may make use of third-party services, including payment providers, hosting providers, delivery services, analytics services and other technology providers.

The Website may also contain links to third-party websites or services.

Protostar does not control third-party services and is not responsible for their availability, content, security, terms or privacy practices.

Use of third-party services may be subject to the terms and conditions imposed by the relevant third party.

13. Website Availability and Information

Protostar endeavours to maintain the availability and functionality of the Website but does not guarantee that the Website will be continuously available, uninterrupted or free from errors.

Protostar may modify, update, suspend or discontinue portions of the Website where reasonably necessary.

Information provided through the Website is intended for general informational purposes and should not be regarded as professional engineering, legal, financial or other specialist advice unless expressly provided as part of an agreed Service.

14. Warranties and Liability

Products and Services supplied by Protostar are subject to any warranties, guarantees and statutory rights applicable to the relevant transaction.

To the extent permitted by law, Protostar shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss arising from the use of the Website or Products, or from a failure or delay in the performance of Services.

Nothing in these Terms shall:

exclude or limit liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited;
exclude or limit a statutory right available to a consumer;
exclude liability arising from Protostar's gross negligence where such exclusion is prohibited by law; or
otherwise operate contrary to applicable consumer-protection legislation.

15. Personal Information and Privacy

Protostar collects and processes personal information for purposes including the operation of the Website, processing orders, providing Services, communicating with Customers, processing payments and fulfilling legal and regulatory obligations.

Personal information shall be processed in accordance with applicable data-protection legislation and Protostar's Privacy Policy.

Where third-party service providers process information on Protostar's behalf, such processing may be subject to the privacy policies and terms of those providers.

16. Electronic Communications

By using the Website or communicating with Protostar electronically, the Customer acknowledges that electronic communications may be used in connection with transactions and Services.

Electronic records, quotations, order confirmations, invoices and other communications may be retained by Protostar as records of the relevant transaction, subject to applicable law.

The Customer is responsible for ensuring that the contact information provided to Protostar remains accurate and accessible.

17. Amendments to these Terms

Protostar may amend these Terms from time to time by publishing an updated version on the Website.

The updated Terms shall apply from the effective date stated in the revised version.

An amendment shall not retrospectively alter the terms of a transaction or agreement already concluded, except where required or permitted by applicable law.

18. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unlawful, invalid or unenforceable, that provision shall be interpreted or modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it lawful and enforceable, where possible.

If this is not possible, the affected provision shall be severed from these Terms without affecting the validity or enforceability of the remaining provisions.

19. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa.

Subject to any mandatory rights available to a Customer under applicable law, disputes arising from these Terms or the use of the Website shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the applicable courts of South Africa.

Nothing in this section prevents a consumer from exercising any statutory right to refer a dispute to an applicable consumer-protection authority, tribunal, ombud or other dispute-resolution mechanism.