Last updated: 5 September 2026.
These terms are between you and THE WHISKY INDEX LTD ("we", "us"), company number 17216416, registered office 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ, trading as The Index Registry (the "Platform").
We provide a registry and marketplace for verified physical alternative assets (currently: whisky casks, watches, wine, trading cards, and precious metals). We are not the seller of any asset except where we are explicitly identified as such (our own whisky cask stock). For all other listings, the seller is the party identified on the listing, and the contract of sale is between the buyer and that seller. We are not a party to it, except in our role facilitating payment and verification as described below.
You must provide accurate information when registering. To list an asset for sale, you must complete identity verification via our provider, Stripe Identity. We reserve the right to decline, suspend, or remove any account or listing at our discretion, including where verification cannot be completed or where we reasonably suspect fraud or misuse.
An asset marked "verified" has passed the checks described in our Vetting Policy for its category. This does not constitute a guarantee of value, condition beyond what was checked, or future performance. Full detail is in our Vetting Policy, which forms part of these terms.
Where you buy from another user or an independent seller
The seller is the merchant of record for their own listing. You pay the seller directly, through the seller's own checkout, a payment link or checkout page the seller controls, not one we operate. We do not receive, hold, safeguard, control, release, or transmit any part of that payment at any point. Once you've paid, the seller confirms this on the Platform so the transaction can be recorded against the asset's ownership history. That confirmation is the seller's own record of payment, not something we verify or process.
Where you buy directly from us (our own whisky cask stock)
Where a listing identifies us as the seller, we are the seller and the contract of sale is with us directly. Payment is taken through our own Stripe account: when your offer is accepted, a card payment is authorised but not captured, and funds are only taken once both you and we confirm the cask has been handed over (a bank transfer instead settles once it reaches us). The price shown is the full amount you pay. Nothing else is added at checkout.
Separately, we charge independent sellers directly for use of the Platform (a listing, subscription, or introduction fee, depending on their individual arrangement with us), invoiced to that seller and entirely independent of what any specific buyer pays them. There is no fixed, universal percentage or amount for this. Whether you buy from another user, an independent seller, or directly from us, there is never a separate fee charged to you as a buyer on top of the agreed price.
Where you bought from another user or an independent seller
Because payment happens directly between you and the seller, a dispute about that payment itself, non-payment, a refund, a chargeback, is between you and the seller (and their own payment provider), not something we adjudicate or hold funds for. If a listing misrepresented the asset, or the asset that arrives doesn't match what was verified, you can raise that with us and we'll investigate against our verification records. See our Vetting Policy for how to report a concern.
Where you bought directly from us
Here, we are the seller, so we do hold your payment (authorised, then captured as described above) and we do resolve a dispute about it ourselves. We review disputes using our own verification records and available transaction information. This is an internal review carried out by The Index, not a formal appeals process. We may resolve the disputed transaction by refunding you or releasing the funds to complete the sale, depending on the outcome of that review. There is currently no separate escalation or appeal process within the Platform after that decision.
Cancelling before you've paid
You can withdraw an offer, or decline to proceed, at any point before payment is taken. There is no cost or consequence for changing your mind at this stage, whether you're buying from another user or directly from us.
Cancelling after you've paid, before handover (our own stock only)
Where you buy one of our own whisky casks, you may ask to cancel for a full refund at any time before the sale is marked complete. The sale is marked complete automatically, and irreversibly, the moment both you and we have confirmed handover. That single event is what releases payment and completes the transaction, so it is also the exact point after which cancellation under this policy is no longer available. Before that point, this applies however far your payment has progressed: whether it has only been authorised, or has already been taken. Once the sale is complete, any problem is handled under the dispute process above rather than as a cancellation. This policy is additional to, and does not affect, any cancellation or other right you have under law.
Your statutory rights
Where you bought from another user or an independent seller, your statutory rights as a consumer sit against that seller, not against us. Our review process above doesn't replace or remove them. Where you bought directly from us, we are the seller, so relevant statutory rights may run directly against us instead. Either way, nothing in these terms removes a right you have by law.
Where you refer another user, or (for approved partners only) introduce a buyer under an active partner programme, any resulting reward or commission is only paid once the underlying transaction has genuinely completed and any applicable validation period has passed.
If you share a referral link, you must disclose clearly and visibly that you earn a reward from it, wherever you share it. This is a UK advertising-law requirement (CAP Code, ASA-enforced), and non-disclosure carries real enforcement risk under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, including CMA fines of up to 10% of global turnover. The full rules, including the mandatory disclosure wording the Platform generates with every link, are in our Referral Terms, which form part of these terms. Whisky casks and art never carry a public referral reward.
Wine may only be listed for sale by verified licensed businesses. Private individuals cannot sell wine through the Platform. Before a wine listing can go live, we verify the seller's alcohol licence details and that their documented age-verification policy meets the statutory minimum for their licensing jurisdiction: a policy of at least 18 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and at least 25 ("Challenge 25") in Scotland. This is a verification of the seller's paperwork. It is not a guarantee of the seller's day-to-day compliance, which remains their own legal responsibility.
If you sell wine through the Platform, you agree that age verification at the point of delivery is your responsibility as the seller: alcohol must not be handed over to anyone who appears under the age set by your age-verification policy without valid photo identification, consistent with the licensing conditions that apply to you and with recognised industry guidance (such as the Retail of Alcohol Standards Group's Challenge 25 scheme). The Index does not perform, and does not claim to perform, age verification at delivery.
Buyers must confirm they are 18 or over at the point of purchase. This declaration supplements, and does not replace, the seller's delivery-point checks. Wine purchasing on the Platform is retail (business-to-consumer) only: selecting a business account does not provide access to wholesale or trade alcohol sales, which are not offered.
You must not:
The Index is a UK-regulated user-to-user service under the Online Safety Act 2023. Content you create on the Platform, listings, messages to another user, and ratings, must not contain or facilitate illegal content or activity. That includes (without limitation): terrorism; child sexual exploitation or abuse; encouraging or assisting suicide; hate offences; harassment, stalking, threats or abuse; controlling or coercive behaviour; the sale of drugs, psychoactive substances, firearms or other weapons; human trafficking or unlawful immigration offences; sexual exploitation; extreme pornography or intimate-image abuse; money laundering or dealing in the proceeds of crime; fraud or financial-services offences; foreign interference; and animal cruelty.
How we protect users from illegal content:
We apply these rules consistently to all users. Breach may result in content removal, listing suspension, or account closure, and, where legally required, reporting to relevant authorities.
Nothing in these terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under English law.
Where you buy from another user or an independent seller
We are not a party to that contract of sale, and we do not warrant the seller's performance, the asset's title, or its condition beyond what our own verification check actually covers (see our Vetting Policy). Our liability in connection with that transaction is limited to our own acts and omissions — for example, an error in a verification check we ourselves carried out — and does not extend to the seller's performance of their own contract with you, which remains theirs to answer for.
Where you buy directly from us (our own whisky cask stock)
Here, we are the seller, and we do not use the paragraph above to avoid the obligations that come with that. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits our obligations as a seller under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (for example, that the cask matches its description and is of satisfactory quality) or any other consumer right that cannot be excluded by law. Subject to that, and to the first paragraph of this section, our liability to you for a claim arising from a direct purchase from us is limited to loss that directly results from our own breach or negligence in relation to that specific asset. We do not apply a separate fixed monetary ceiling on top of that.
We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses (for example, lost profit or a missed investment opportunity), except where that loss is a foreseeable result of our own breach or negligence.
These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales.
We may update these terms from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date shown at the top of this page. Where applicable, changes will take effect from the date stated in the updated terms. If a change requires additional notice or consent under applicable law, we will provide that notice or obtain that consent as required.