Terms of Service

About these terms

These terms govern your purchase from House of Sisyphus through the website, through our live-sale channels on Whatnot and TikTok, and through any direct correspondence. By placing an order or joining the Waiting List, you accept these terms. House of Sisyphus is a sole proprietorship operating in Washington State, USA.

Authenticity

Every specimen we sell has a verifiable origin — usually a working quarry under permit, a mine-direct dealer we’ve known for years, or a private collector with documented history. If we describe a piece as a specific species, locality, or formation, we have reason to believe that description is correct. If a piece we sold you is later shown to be misidentified or misattributed, contact us and we’ll make it right.

Sourcing

• Florida fossils come from working limestone and phosphate quarries with permitted access, primarily invertebrate material.
• Brilliant wood — petrified wood from Brilliant, Alabama, sourced through documented dealers.
• International minerals move through licensed dealers in Erongo (Namibia), Jalgaon (India), Mibladen (Morocco), and elsewhere. Each shipment is documented at import.

Pricing & payment

All prices on the website are in U.S. dollars and exclude shipping and any applicable sales tax. We accept:

• Major credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay (via Stripe)
• PayPal and Venmo (arrange directly)
• Whatnot and TikTok in-platform checkout for live wins
• Wire transfer for pieces over $2,000, with a small discount applied

Orders are confirmed only after payment clears. Pricing errors caught before shipment will be corrected and your payment refunded; we reserve the right to cancel an order in those rare cases.

Shipping

• Base shipping: $14.99 within the United States.
• Combined shipping: $2.99 per additional item in the same order.
• Carrier: labels via Pirateship; carrier varies by destination.
• Insurance: every shipment is fully insured at our cost.
• Destinations: United States, Canada, and most of the European Union. Other countries on request — some restrict natural history material, message us first.
• Customs & duties: declared accurately. International buyers are responsible for any duties, taxes, or import fees assessed on arrival.
• Timing: ships within two business days of cleared payment, often the same day. Tracking sent by email.

Returns & refunds

You have thirty days from the delivery date to return any website purchase for any reason. Conditions:

• The piece must arrive back in its original condition with all original packaging.
• Return shipping is the buyer’s responsibility and must be sent insured and tracked for the full purchase price.
• Once we receive and inspect the piece, your refund issues to the original payment method within five business days.

Two narrow exceptions:

• Whatnot and TikTok live wins are final. Both platforms treat live wins as binding contracts; we follow their rules. The damage-in-transit terms below still apply.
• Modified pieces are non-returnable. If a specimen has been cleaned, repaired, re-cut, or otherwise altered after delivery, we cannot accept the return.

Damage in transit

Photograph the outer box, the packing, and the piece — within forty-eight hours of delivery — and email everything to houseofsisyphus@gmail.com. We’ll process a full refund or arrange a replacement of equivalent value, your choice. This applies to all sales including live wins.

Cancellation

You may cancel a website order for a full refund within twenty-four hours of placing it, provided it hasn’t shipped. After it ships, the thirty-day return policy applies.

Live sales (Whatnot & TikTok)

We run live sales on Whatnot and TikTok. Both platforms treat winning bids as binding contracts and operate under their own published terms (which you accept when you bid). Our role is to ship, communicate, and handle damage claims. Anything else — bidding rules, account suspensions, refunds outside damage — runs through the platform itself.

Multiple wins from the same live within a twenty-four hour window combine into one shipment. Message us before checkout to combine across separate lives.

Custom requests

If you ask us to source a specific locality, species, or mineral, we’ll look. There’s no obligation to buy what we find — we send options, you decide. Timelines vary from weeks to months depending on the next dig, the next show, or the next dealer trip. We’ll set realistic expectations up front and not invoice you until you say yes.

Intellectual property

All photographs, written descriptions, page copy, and branding on this site are the work of House of Sisyphus and our collaborators. They are not in the public domain. You may share images and descriptions of pieces you’ve purchased on your personal social channels. You may not reuse our photos or copy in commercial listings, on resale platforms, or as part of a competing storefront without written permission.

Limitation of liability

Specimens are natural objects sold as-is. We describe and photograph each piece in good faith, but we cannot warrant against latent flaws (microfractures, weathering, mineral instability over time) that aren’t visible on inspection at our end. Our liability for any single transaction is limited to the purchase price of that piece. We are not liable for incidental or consequential damages — including, for example, the cost of any display setup, cabinet, or storage that you build around a piece.

Display, care, and storage

Many specimens are sensitive to direct sunlight (fading), humidity (efflorescence, oxidation), and physical impact. We’ll mention specific care notes when relevant. Once a piece is in your hands, its care is your responsibility — including any modification, cleaning, repair, or attempted reduction.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Washington, USA, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Disputes will be brought in the state or federal courts located in Washington State.

Changes to these terms

If we change anything material, we’ll update the “Effective” date at the top of this page. Material changes apply to orders placed after the update. Pending orders are governed by the terms in force when the order was placed.

Contact

House of Sisyphus
houseofsisyphus@gmail.com