Terms of Use

1. Agreeing to these terms

By creating an account or using sidehustlelocal.com (“Side Hustle Local,” “we,” “us”), you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you don’t agree, please don’t use the site.

2. Who can join

• You must be at least 18 years old.
• You must live in an area we serve. Right now that’s La Mesa, California, ZIP codes 91941, 91942, 91943, and 91944.
• One account per person. The only exception is a temporary second account that our team asks you to create during an account recovery. If the recovery succeeds, we close the temporary account. If it doesn’t, we may let you keep the temporary account as your regular account, and the original account stays as it is. Use your real first name and last initial, and give us accurate information, including your birth date and address.
• You’re responsible for keeping your password private and for everything that happens under your account.

3. Address verification

To keep the community local, we verify each member’s address. You may be asked to upload a document showing your name and address. Only our address-review team (authorized Address Reviewers and Administrators) sees it. We delete it when we approve or reject your submission. If we ask for a correction, we keep it until you upload a replacement, or for up to 30 days, then delete it automatically. Verification confirms an address only. It is not a background check, an identity guarantee, or an endorsement of anyone’s skills or character.

4. What Side Hustle Local is, and isn’t

We provide a place for neighbors to post what they offer, ask for help, message each other, and leave recommendations. Any deal you make is between you and the other member. We are not a party to it, we don’t process payments, and we aren’t an employer, agent, broker, or licensing body for anyone on the site. We don’t inspect, insure, or guarantee any service, product, listing, or member.

Please use good judgment. Agree on the price, what you’ll get, and when, in writing before anyone pays (Messages works well). It’s normal for custom or made-to-order work to be paid in full or with a deposit up front. Pay with a method that lets you dispute a charge if something goes wrong, and never pay by wire transfer, gift card, or cryptocurrency. Meet in safe places when you exchange goods.

5. Hustlers

• Your listings must be honest and describe your own work or goods, with photos you have the right to use.
• You’re responsible for any licenses, permits, insurance, and taxes your Hustle needs, such as California cottage food registration for home-baked goods.
• If you require payment or a deposit before you start, say so in your listing or in Messages before the neighbor pays, along with your refund policy, and then deliver what you agreed to.
• Posting limits apply to everyone (for example, the number of active listings, photos, weekly bumps, and new conversations). They may change as the community grows.
• If you use the “Help me write this” tool, review the draft carefully. You’re responsible for what you publish.

6. What’s not allowed

Side Hustle Local is for local services, goods, and requests for help. These aren’t allowed:

• Member posts that aren’t about services, goods, or a request for help, such as general announcements, one-off secondhand sales or giveaways, political posts or debates, and neighborhood grievances. (Our team may publish announcements about Side Hustle Local and relevant local service alerts.)
• Alcohol, cannabis, tobacco and vape products, weapons, prescription drugs, adult services, counterfeit goods, and live animal sales.
• Anything illegal, unsafe, stolen, or that infringes someone else’s rights.
• Scams, spam, fake accounts, fake recommendations, or asking for payment by wire transfer, gift card, or cryptocurrency.
• Hate speech, harassment, threats, discrimination, or sharing someone else’s private information (see section 7).
• Trying to get around our limits, reports, blocks, or verification, or scraping or disrupting the site.

7. Respect for every neighbor

Side Hustle Local only works if everyone feels safe here. We don’t accept:

• Hate speech, or attacks on anyone because of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or any other part of who they are.
• Sexual harassment of any kind, including unwanted advances, sexual comments, or explicit images.
• Bullying, threats, intimidation, or repeatedly contacting someone who has asked you to stop.

This applies to profiles, listings, requests, messages, recommendations, and reports, and to how you treat members you meet through the site. Members who break these rules may have content removed and may be suspended or permanently removed from Side Hustle Local. For serious cases we may act right away, without a warning. If you experience any of this, please block the member and report it. If you’re ever in danger, call 911.

8. Your content

You own what you post: listings, photos, requests, messages, and recommendations. By posting, you give Side Hustle Local a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, display, and share it on the site and to show it to other members, as needed to run Side Hustle Local. This license ends when you delete the content or your account, except for backups we keep for a limited time. When an account is deleted, its messages are removed for both members of the conversation.

Recommendations should reflect real experiences. Only recommend people you’ve personally hired, bought from, or worked with, and tick “I hired them or bought from them” only when you did.

9. Reports, moderation, and Standing

Members can report and block each other. Our admins and moderators review reports and may hide or remove content, send warnings, revoke badges, or suspend or delete accounts that break these Terms or put others at risk. Content reported by several members may be hidden automatically until we review it, and we may hide content temporarily while we investigate a report. We may also use a private “Standing” score, based on activity like recommendations, response times, and reports, to help us run the community and decide who can be featured. We aren’t required to monitor everything and can’t catch every problem. Reaching a posting limit doesn’t affect Standing; confirmed rule-breaking, including spam or trying to get around limits, can.

If you report something, we’ll let you know when we’ve reviewed it and whether we took action. If you disagree with a decision about your content, your address verification, or your account, reply to our email or contact us at hello@sidehustlelocal.com within 30 days, and a member of our team other than the one who decided will take another look (or, if no one else is available, the site owner will).

10. Badges, flags, and sponsored posts

When you post, you choose who can see it: Everyone (including visitors without an account) or Verified neighbors only. Only verified neighbors can respond either way. Suggesting a Hustler for someone’s request is an introduction, not a review, recommendation, or endorsement, and the Hustler isn’t obligated to take the job. Badges recognize participation and milestones. They aren’t endorsements or guarantees, and we can change how they’re earned. Some listings may appear as sponsored posts (see section 11). They’re always labeled “Sponsored,” and a sponsored post isn’t a recommendation from us. Following a Hustler is private and only helps you see their new listings. Hustlers can see totals for their profile views, contact clicks, and inquiries, but never who viewed their profile or tapped to contact them. Personal flags (the green or red flag you can put on another member) are private notes for you alone: no one else sees them, and they don’t affect anyone’s Standing, badges, or visibility.

11. Plans and price

Asking for help, messaging, following, and recommending are free for every verified neighbor. Hustlers can use a free plan or, in the future, a paid plan with more listings and features (see Plans). During our launch period, every Hustler gets the features of our top plan at no cost. The prices on our Plans page are planned prices, shared so Hustlers can plan ahead. They may change before paid plans or sponsored posts begin; we’ll give at least 30 days’ notice before charging for anything, and you’ll never be charged unless you choose a paid plan or buy a sponsored post. The Founding Rate described on the Plans page applies as described there.

Sponsored posts. Once we open them, any Hustler who meets our standards (currently a Standing of 75 or more, 30 days as a Hustler, and an active listing, on any plan) can buy a sponsored post for the dates and size they choose. You’re buying participation in the sponsored rotation for those dates, not an exclusive, guaranteed, or permanently pinned position: sponsored spots are shared among the posts running that day, and we don’t promise a number of views, clicks, or customers. We may limit how many run at once, decline a request, or choose where sponsored spots appear. Payment is arranged before a sponsored post starts. A sponsored post must follow these Terms like any listing; if we remove it, or it stops showing because you no longer qualify, the remaining days aren’t refunded. If we pause sponsored posts for reasons on our side, we’ll extend your dates or refund the unused days.

If you move to a plan with fewer active listings, or when the launch period ends, we may pause your extra listings so you’re within your plan. We won’t delete them. Hustlers on plans that include “I can help” can add themselves to a neighbor’s open request. These offers are labeled “Offered to help,” are separate from neighbor suggestions, and aren’t reviews, recommendations, or endorsements by us. The neighbor who asked can hide any offer.

12. Ending your account

You can ask us to delete your account at any time by emailing hello@sidehustlelocal.com. We may suspend or close accounts that break these Terms, or if we stop operating in your area. Sections 4, 8, and 13 to 16 continue after your account ends.

13. No warranties

Side Hustle Local is provided “as is” and “as available.” To the fullest extent the law allows, we make no warranties of any kind, including that the site will be uninterrupted or error-free, or about the accuracy of any listing, profile, recommendation, or member.

14. Limits on our liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, Side Hustle Local and the people who run it aren’t liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, or for anything arising from your dealings with other members, including services performed, goods exchanged, payments, injuries, or property damage. Our total liability for any claim relating to the site is limited to $100. Some places don’t allow these limits, so they may not all apply to you.

15. Your responsibility

You agree to cover any claims, losses, or costs (including reasonable legal fees) brought against Side Hustle Local because of your content, your dealings with other members, or your breaking these Terms or the law.

16. Disputes

If you have a problem with us, please email us first. Most things can be fixed quickly. These Terms are governed by California law, and any dispute with us will be handled in the state or federal courts in San Diego County, California. Disputes between members are between those members.

17. Changes

We may update these Terms as Side Hustle Local grows. We’ll post the new version here with a new effective date, and tell you by email or on the site about important changes. If you keep using the site after changes take effect, you accept the updated Terms.

18. Contact

Questions? Email hello@sidehustlelocal.com.