Referral Program Terms

Last updated: September 17, 2026

These terms explain how TRACE's referral program ("Give $25, Get $25") works. They are part of our Terms of Service. If the two ever disagree about referral credit, these terms win.

The short version

When someone new joins TRACE with your link or code, they get $25 in TRACE credit straight away. It expires 30 days later.
You get your $25 when that person places their first call. It expires 60 days later.
Using your credit is your choice. When you place a call you tick a box to use it; we never apply it without being asked.
When you use it, the credit that call will take is set aside for it. It comes off the item price once the lister accepts, and goes back to your balance if the call ends without a sale. It can cover up to half the price, and up to $100 on one transaction.
Credit is not cash. You cannot withdraw it, sell it or give it away.

How to earn credit

Share your referral link or code. Sharing a TRACE listing counts too.
Someone who has never had a TRACE account signs up through your link, or enters your code within 30 days of creating their account.
As soon as they sign up, they get $25 in TRACE credit.
You get your $25 when they place their first call, of any amount. It lands as soon as the call is placed, and it stays yours even if they withdraw the call afterwards.

Neither of you needs to add a card to be paid, and their $25 is theirs from the moment they join.

There is no limit on how many people you can refer. You earn $25 for each new member who places a call, and each new member gets their own $25 once.

Who counts

New members only. Someone who has had a TRACE account before does not count.
One referrer each. A new member is credited to one referrer, usually the last referral link they used before signing up.
Direct referrals only. If you refer Sam and Sam refers Alex, Sam earns for Alex. You don't.
No self-referrals. You cannot refer yourself, and duplicate or fake accounts, shared identities and sign-ups made just to collect credit don't earn anything.
Clicking a link, downloading the app, joining a Group or creating a listing earns nothing on its own. Credit is earned when a new member creates their account.

Your balance

All your credit, whether you earned it or received it for joining, goes into one TRACE credit balance. You can see your balance in the app.

The $25 you get for joining expires 30 days after it lands, and the $25 you earn for referring someone expires 60 days after it lands. Credit we hand back to you after a deal falls through does not expire.

A call always spends whichever credit runs out soonest, so you never have to choose. If you hold both kinds, the one with the nearer deadline goes first.

We send you one reminder 7 days before a credit runs out, by push and by text, unless you have already used it or a call you placed is holding it.

Using credit

Credit is used on a call you place (a buy or a rental), and only if you ask for it. We never apply it on our own. When you place a call you can tick the box to use your credit on it; if you do, we use the most that call is allowed to use. If you leave it unticked, your balance stays where it is.

When you place the call, the credit it will use is set aside for it, so no other call can use the same credit. It comes off only when the lister accepts. It covers the item price or rental price only. It does not cover:

TRACE fees;
buyer or renter protection;
delivery;
deposits;
taxes; or
any other charge that is not the item or rental price.

How much one call can use. The most credit a call can take is the smallest of:

your balance;
half of the accepted call amount; and
$100.

Credit is applied to the cent. Anything a call doesn't use stays in your balance for next time. These limits apply to your whole balance, however you earned it.

Minimum call. Credit only applies to calls at or above our minimum, currently $50. A smaller call still goes ahead; your credit just isn't used on it.

Before you place a call, the app shows how much credit it will use if you ask for it. That is the amount set aside and the amount that comes off if the call is accepted, even if your balance changes in the meantime. If your balance changed while you were placing the call, we show you the new total before the call goes through.

Credit reduces what your card is charged. It does not reduce what the lister is paid: TRACE covers the difference. Credit can't be used toward a lister's own purchase from a retailer.

When credit comes back

If a call ends without a sale, because you withdraw it, the lister declines, it expires, or another call is accepted, the credit set aside for it goes back into your balance.
If your card is declined when a lister accepts, the credit stays set aside while the call is open, so the lister can accept again once your card works.
If a transaction is refunded in full, for any reason, the credit you used on it goes back into your balance. The rest of the refund goes to your card.

Credit that comes back to you this way has no deadline, even if the credit you spent had one.

If a call you placed is still open when your joining credit's 30 days run out, the call keeps the credit it was placed on. If that call then ends without a sale, the credit has expired and does not come back.

Credit never comes back as money.

Holds and reversals

We can hold, refuse or take back credit connected to fraud, coordinated sign-ups, disputed transactions or any breach of these terms or our Terms of Service.

While we review an account, we may pause the new credit it earns. Credit you already have stays unless we separately take it back. If the review clears you, we pay the credit we held back.

If you delete your account

Deleting your TRACE account ends your part in the program:

any credit you haven't used is cancelled;
your referral link and code stop working; and
people who haven't signed up yet through your link are no longer credited to you.

Changes to the program

We may change these terms, the amounts, the limits on using credit, or end the program. If we do, credit you've already earned stays in your balance, subject to "Holds and reversals" above. The limits in place when you use credit are the ones that apply. Changes to how credit is earned only affect credit earned after the change.