Mystery Maker Community & Business Standards

Mystery Makers was created to bring together the people who make the mystery and the people who love it.

Our goal is to build a welcoming community where Mystery Makers of all sizes can connect, share their businesses, tell their stories, learn from one another, and be discovered by Mystery Lovers looking for new shops and experiences.

Every Mystery Maker remains the owner and operator of their own independent business. Mystery Makers does not tell members how to run their businesses or require every shop to look, sell, or operate the same way.

We do, however, ask every Maker Member to follow a few basic standards designed to protect the integrity of the Mystery Makers community.

By maintaining an active Maker Membership, you agree to the following:

Be Honest About Your Business

Information provided to Mystery Makers should accurately represent your business and should be kept reasonably current.

This includes your business name, website, social media accounts, products, shopping platforms, shipping locations, processing times, selling style, and other information displayed within your Mystery Makers profile.

Create Honest Mystery Experiences

Mystery is supposed to be surprising—but it shouldn't be misleading.

Mystery products, scoops, games, reveals, prizes, promotions, and other experiences should be represented honestly and reasonably reflect what customers can expect based on your advertising and published terms.

Individual results will naturally vary—that's part of the fun of mystery—but the overall experience should fairly represent what was advertised.

Make Pricing & Policies Clear

Customers should be able to reasonably understand what they're purchasing, what it costs, and any important conditions associated with their purchase before placing an order.

Maker Members are responsible for maintaining their own shipping, fulfillment, return, refund, cancellation, and other customer policies.

Communicate About Fulfillment

Processing and fulfillment times should reasonably reflect your normal business practices.

We understand that things happen. Small businesses experience supplier delays, unexpected order volume, personal emergencies, shipping problems, and plenty of other surprises.

When significant delays occur, we simply expect Maker Members to communicate appropriately with affected customers.

Treat People With Respect

Mystery Makers is intended to be a welcoming community for Makers and Mystery Lovers alike.

Members are expected to interact respectfully with customers, fellow makers, Mystery Makers members, and the broader community.

Healthy discussion, different opinions, friendly competition, and constructive criticism are welcome.

Harassment, bullying, threats, discriminatory conduct, deliberate disruption of the community, or targeted attacks on other members are not.

Keep the Community Collaborative

There is room for more than one successful Mystery Maker.

Mystery Makers was created to help build connections—not drama or unhealthy competition.

We encourage members to celebrate one another's successes, exchange ideas, participate in community activities, learn from one another, and help introduce Mystery Lovers to the many different businesses that make this community special.

Share Content You Have Permission to Use

Logos, photographs, videos, graphics, descriptions, and other materials submitted to Mystery Makers must belong to your business or be content you have permission to use.

Mystery Makers may make reasonable formatting, sizing, grammatical, or presentation adjustments to submitted information when necessary for consistency across the website, directory, social media, or other Mystery Makers content without materially changing its meaning.

Keep Your Mystery Maker Profile Current

Your directory profile is how Mystery Lovers get to know your business.

Maker Members should update Mystery Makers when important profile information changes, including website links, social media accounts, shopping platforms, shipping availability, processing information, or significant changes to the products or mystery experiences you offer.

Follow Applicable Rules

Every Maker Member is responsible for understanding and complying with the laws, regulations, selling-platform rules, social-media rules, payment-provider requirements, and other requirements applicable to their own business.

This includes responsibility for their own products, promotions, contests, giveaways, games, advertising, taxes, shipping practices, and selling activities.

Remember That Every Mystery Maker Is Independent

Businesses participating in Mystery Makers are independently owned and operated.

A Mystery Makers membership or directory listing does not mean that Mystery Makers owns, operates, manages, controls, certifies, or guarantees a participating business.

Each Mystery Maker remains solely responsible for their own products, transactions, fulfillment, customer service, policies, representations, and obligations to their customers.

Likewise, purchases made from a Mystery Maker are transactions between the customer and that independent business—not transactions with Mystery Makers.

Protecting the Mystery Makers Community

Our goal will always be to handle concerns fairly.

Mystery Makers reserves the right to review a membership or directory listing when we become aware of circumstances that may violate these standards or could materially harm the Mystery Makers community.

Depending on the circumstances, Mystery Makers may request updated information, ask a member to address a concern, temporarily suspend a profile or community access, or discontinue a membership.

Serious misconduct, fraud, intentional deception, harassment, illegal activity, or conduct that poses a significant risk to members or the Mystery Makers community may result in immediate removal.

As Mystery Makers Grows

Mystery Makers is just getting started.

As the community grows—and as we introduce new features, content, the Mystery Makers Podcast, community events, collaborations, and eventually Scooperpalooza—these standards may need to grow with us.

Mystery Makers may update these Community & Business Standards from time to time. When material changes are made, members will be provided appropriate notice in accordance with the applicable membership terms.

Above everything else, these standards come down to something pretty simple:

Be honest. Be fair. Be respectful. Have fun. And help us build a community we're all proud to be part of.

Come for the mystery. Stay for the community.