MostlyPCB — Terms of Service

1. Services: What MostlyPCB Does

MostlyPCB helps customers get printed circuit boards (PCBs) made. A customer submits a board design, such as a KiCad project, and tells MostlyPCB what the board is for. MostlyPCB checks the design, partly with automated tools, and an engineer reviews it.

Each order records what it delivers: a design package only, or boards made and shipped. Both are offered. The design package is the KiCad project, the Gerber files, and the bill of materials (BOM) for the board, and it comes with both kinds of order. For boards made and shipped, the customer chooses one of these options:

• Bare boards. MostlyPCB arranges for the boards to be made and ships the boards to the customer. The customer buys and solders the parts.
• Ready to use. Everything in Bare boards. MostlyPCB also arranges for the parts to be bought and soldered onto the boards before they ship.
• Custom work. Some boards need an engineer to scope them first, such as high-speed or dense designs. These are quoted one at a time, and the quote says what is included.

MostlyPCB does not run its own factory. It arranges fabrication, parts buying and assembly through third-party fabrication and assembly partners that it chooses. The customer's agreement is with MostlyPCB, and MostlyPCB is responsible to the customer for the order as these terms describe. Fabrication starts only after the customer signs off on the design, as described in section 6.

An order for a design package only ends when MostlyPCB delivers the design package. The parts of sections 6, 7 and 8 about making, defects in, and shipping boards apply only to boards MostlyPCB arranges to have made. When a customer orders a production run from MostlyPCB of their own design package, including one delivered in a design-package-only order, MostlyPCB has it made by the fabrication and assembly partners it chooses, under these terms.

2. Accepting These Terms, and How Versions Work

These terms carry a version identifier, shown at the top of this page. Before MostlyPCB creates a payment session for a project, the customer affirmatively accepts the version then in force, and MostlyPCB records that acceptance: which quote it was given for, which version was accepted, and a timestamp assigned by MostlyPCB's server rather than by the customer's browser.

That record is append-only. Accepting a later revision does not erase the earlier acceptance, so the document a customer actually agreed to at the time of a given project stays identifiable. If these terms are revised, the version identifier changes and a prior acceptance no longer satisfies the requirement — the customer is asked to accept the current version before a further payment session can be created. A customer who has not accepted the version in force cannot be charged.

3. Payment, Prices, and Taxes

The MostlyPCB website shows starting prices for its standard options. Each order is quoted individually, in writing, before any charge is made, because the price depends on the board. The amount that governs is the one on the quote the customer actually pays. A quote may expire or be replaced by a newer one.

An order is paid in two separate sales. The design is paid when the customer accepts the quote; for an order of a design package only, that is the only charge. For boards made and shipped, the production run is priced, in writing, and charged separately, after the customer approves the board in the sign-off described in section 6. Until then the production run is shown as not yet charged, and nothing is charged for it.

Each charge is collected in advance ("prepaid"). Design work is scheduled to begin only after the design payment is confirmed, and fabrication only after the production-run payment is confirmed. The number of boards in a production run is the one stated on the quote for that production run, and the quote shows it before the customer pays.

Shipping is quoted separately for each order of boards made and shipped, within the United States, and shown as its own line on the quote for the production run, as described in section 8. Prices and shipping do not include sales tax. Where MostlyPCB is required to collect sales tax, it is added at checkout and shown before the customer pays.

4. Refunds and Disputes

A customer who believes a refund is owed — because review work had not substantively begun, because MostlyPCB did not deliver what was ordered, or for any other reason — should say so in writing to MostlyPCB using the contact route on the quote or project correspondence. MostlyPCB records the request against the project, decides it, and records the decision.

For boards made and shipped, once the customer has signed off and fabrication has been released, part of the production-run charge has already been spent with a fabrication or assembly partner. From that point, MostlyPCB refunds only the part of the production-run charge it has not yet spent with a partner. The defect remedy in section 7 still applies.

Refunds are issued by a person, through the payment processor that took the original payment, and are returned to the original payment method. MostlyPCB does not operate an automatic or self-service refund; there is no button, and this page states no refund window, deadline, or processing time, because MostlyPCB will not commit in these terms to a timeline it does not yet operate. Nothing in this section limits any right a customer has under applicable law or through their card issuer.

5. Limitation of Liability

MostlyPCB's review is an opinion about a design. It is produced by people and automated tools, and it can be wrong. It is not a promise that a design is free of defects. A review may miss an error, an incompatibility, a safety issue, or a manufacturing problem in the customer's design ("a review miss").

To the maximum extent permitted by law, MostlyPCB's total liability arising out of or relating to an order is limited to the total amount the customer paid MostlyPCB for that order, including the review, fabrication, assembly, and the shipping charge. This covers every kind of claim about the order, including a review miss, a manufacturing defect, a shipping problem, or a delay. The cap is per order: amounts paid for one order do not add to the cap for another.

MostlyPCB is not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, or special damages, including lost profits, lost time, or damage to other equipment. MostlyPCB is not liable for the results of a fault in a design the customer signed off on, including the cost of making, re-making, reworking, or scrapping boards built to that design, even where a review missed the fault.

This cap extends the liability position MostlyPCB adopted for reviews to the whole order. The extension and its wording are subject to counsel review before they are relied on in any dispute. Nothing in this section limits a right that applicable law does not allow a contract to limit.

6. Your Design, Your Sign-Off, and How Boards May Be Used

The customer is responsible for what their board is meant to do, and for whether the design does it. MostlyPCB's review checks the design. It does not shift responsibility for the design's function or fitness for the customer's purpose to MostlyPCB.

Before anything is made, MostlyPCB shows the customer the reviewed design for the order. Fabrication starts only after the customer signs off on that specific version of the design. If the design changes after sign-off, the customer signs off again before fabrication starts. MostlyPCB builds what the customer signed off on. If a part in the signed-off design is out of stock, MostlyPCB uses a different part only with the customer's written agreement first.

Boards made through MostlyPCB are consumer and hobby grade. They are not designed or tested for life-safety, medical, automotive, aviation, aerospace, space, or other high-reliability use, and must not be used for any of them. MostlyPCB does not qualify boards for vibration, temperature range, humidity, or any other environmental condition, and does not certify boards to any regulatory standard. Boards are not powered up or tested for function unless the quote says so.

7. Defective Boards

A manufacturing defect is a fault in how a board was made or assembled, compared with the design the customer signed off on. Examples: a broken or shorted connection that is not in the signed-off design, a missing part, a part in the wrong place or the wrong way round, a bad solder joint, or a different part used without the customer's agreement.

A design defect is a problem in the signed-off design itself. Examples: a wrong footprint, a wrong connection in the schematic, a part that does not suit the job, or a board that does not do what the customer hoped. A board built correctly to a design with a design defect is not a defective board under these terms.

To report a manufacturing defect, the customer tells MostlyPCB in writing within 30 days after the boards are delivered, and says what is wrong. MostlyPCB may ask for photos, test results, or the boards themselves before it decides. If MostlyPCB finds a manufacturing defect, it will, at its option, either re-make the affected boards to the same signed-off design, or refund the fabrication and assembly part of the price for the affected boards. That is the remedy for a manufacturing defect, and it sits within the limit in section 5.

8. Shipping and Delivery

Shipping is quoted separately for each order of boards made and shipped, to the address the customer gives for the order, and shown as its own line on the quote. It is not part of the price. Sales tax, where it applies, is added at checkout, as section 3 describes. MostlyPCB ships only to addresses in the United States.

Delivery dates are estimates. Fabrication, assembly, parts supply, and the carrier can all cause delays. A missed estimate is not by itself a breach of these terms.

If a package is lost, or the boards arrive damaged in shipping, the customer tells MostlyPCB in writing within 7 days after delivery, or within 7 days after the expected delivery date for a lost package. The customer includes photos of the package and the boards where possible. MostlyPCB handles any claim with the carrier, and re-makes or refunds the affected boards. MostlyPCB carries the risk of loss in transit until the carrier marks the package delivered.

9. Export Control, End Use, and Customer Attestation

MostlyPCB works on commercial electronics. Before a project is accepted, the customer provides an attestation about the design's classification and intended end use — in particular, that the design is not a defense article or technical data controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), is not Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), and is not intended for a prohibited end use or end user. That attestation is a separate, affirmative step recorded with the project: who attested, when, the version of the attestation text, and the project it belongs to. It is retained as a compliance record independently of the design files themselves.

The customer is responsible for the accuracy of that attestation. MostlyPCB may hold, decline, or return a project at any point if the submitted description or files suggest controlled content, and may decline without giving a detailed reason.

Where boards are made matters for export control. Sending design files to a fabrication or assembly partner in another country can count as exporting them, and some designs need a government license before that can happen. MostlyPCB uses fabrication and assembly partners in the United States only, unless counsel clears another arrangement in writing. Nothing in this section is a determination of any design's export classification, and nothing here relieves either party of an obligation imposed directly on it by law.

10. Intellectual Property and Confidentiality

The customer retains full ownership of any design files, schematics, layouts, firmware, documentation, or other materials they submit to MostlyPCB. Submitting a design does not transfer, license, or assign any ownership or intellectual property right in that design to MostlyPCB. If MostlyPCB makes changes to a customer's design, the customer owns those changes once the design is paid for.

MostlyPCB treats submitted design files and project details as confidential. MostlyPCB will not disclose, publish, or reuse a customer's submitted design outside of performing the order, except as required to operate the service or as required by law. Operating the service includes review by MostlyPCB personnel or contracted reviewers under confidentiality, and giving fabrication and assembly partners the files they need to make and assemble the boards.

MostlyPCB uses AI tools to help design and check boards, under business agreements that do not allow customer files or information to be used to train AI models.

11. Turnaround and Rush Requests

Standard turnaround is communicated per project at quote time and is not a published fixed number. Delivery dates are estimates, as section 8 explains. A customer may request rush handling. Requesting rush handling does not by itself change when the order is delivered. The only thing MostlyPCB commits to on a rush request is an acknowledgment: MostlyPCB will acknowledge the request promptly and communicate a decision (granted, granted at a different tier, or declined) after that acknowledgment.

If a rush request is not acknowledged promptly, MostlyPCB escalates internally and sends the customer an interim status update. That escalation is a promise about being told what is happening, not a promise about when the order will be finished.

12. Package Retention and Deletion

After a reviewed package is delivered, MostlyPCB keeps it available for download for 90 days. Once that window closes, download access ends. MostlyPCB deletes the underlying files when the customer asks it to.

A customer who needs a package retained past the default window should say so, in writing, before the window closes. This section describes the retention mechanism as implemented; it is not a commitment to a different window absent that request.

13. Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute about these terms or an order will be heard in the state or federal courts for Brevard County, Florida.

14. Contact

MostlyPCB is operated by Vortex Computation, LLC, 4651 Babcock St NE, STE 18-320, Palm Bay, FL 32905. Questions about these terms, a specific quote, or a project in progress can be sent to the email address provided in your quote or project correspondence.