already

Terms

Effective 1 October 2026. Plain English on purpose. If a court needs the formal version, this is still the one that counts.

Who this is between

These terms are an agreement between you and Goldlabs Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. When we say already, we, us or our, we mean that company. Notices go to 110 Remsen St 3C, Brooklyn, NY 11201 or hello@joinalready.com.

What already is

already is a way for one person to ask another person, who is already standing in a line, to buy one extra item and hand it over nearby. We introduce the two of you, place a hold on the card of the person asking until the handoff, and move the money when the codes match.

We are not the seller of anything, not a delivery service, not a courier, and not an employer of anyone who uses the app. We never pay anyone to wait in a line.

The two sides

  • Asking. You pick an item from the shop's menu, set a thank-you of at least $3, and choose a meeting spot from the list. When someone accepts, we place a hold on your card for an estimate. Nothing is charged until the codes match.
  • In line. You buy the item with your own card, at the shop, on the shop's terms. You snap the receipt. You walk to the meeting spot. When the codes match, you are paid the receipt price of the item plus the thank-you.

Money

  • The price is what the receipt says. Tax is included in proportion. Tips on the merchant receipt are not.
  • The already fee is $2 for items up to $30, and 7% above that, capped at $6. It is always shown as its own line. If a tax applies to the already fee, it is included in the fee shown; the fee never changes after you send the ask.
  • A hold is an authorization on your card, placed through our payments partner. It is not a charge and it is not an escrow: we do not take your money and keep it, your card issuer sets it aside as pending. Holds that are not captured are released within two hours, and always within the time your issuer allows.
  • If the receipt comes in more than 25% above the menu price, we ask you before going on.
  • Payouts to people in line go to a connected account with our payments partner, daily. Instant payouts carry the partner's fee, shown before you tap.

When things go sideways

This is the full list. It is the same list the app follows automatically.

  • Nobody accepts: nothing is held, nothing is charged.
  • You cancel before they buy: the hold is released, free.
  • They sold out: the hold is released; we pay the person in line $2 for trying.
  • Wrong item: you pay the thank-you and the fee, not the item. The first time this happens between two people, we refund the item ourselves.
  • The person in line doesn't make it to the corner in the window: you are fully refunded, and it is noted on their account.
  • You don't make it to the corner in the window: you are charged in full, the person in line keeps the item and the thank-you, and it is noted on your account.
  • Your card fails after the codes match: the person in line is still paid. We come to you for the money.

Anything not on that list goes to a person on our team. Tap "Something's not right?" on any finished ask.

Disputes with your bank

Talk to us before you dispute a charge with your card issuer; it is faster and we can usually fix it the same day. If you dispute a charge anyway, we give your issuer the receipt, the code-match record, the times of each step and the distance between the two phones at the match. That is all we share, and it is what the card networks ask for.

Being a good stranger

  • Be who you say you are. One account per person, verified with a phone, a card and a selfie.
  • Be where you say you are. Your position in line is yours to report honestly.
  • Meet at the spot, in the window, and hand over the thing that was asked for.
  • No reselling, no using the app to hold places for strangers you have arranged with elsewhere, and nothing illegal or against the shop's rules.

Two notes on your account in 30 days pause you for a week. Three end it. We say so in plain text, never as a score.

People in line are not our workers

If you accept an ask you are doing another person a favor and being thanked for it. You are not our employee, contractor or agent, and you are not providing a service to us. You choose when, whether and for whom. We do not set hours, quotas or routes, and we do not pay you to wait. What you receive is a thank-you from the asker plus a refund of what you spent. You are responsible for your own taxes on it. Our payments partner will ask for tax details once your thank-yous cross the legal reporting threshold.

The shop

The purchase happens at the shop, between the shop and the person in line, under the shop's rules and prices. We are not a party to it. If the shop refuses a sale, the ask ends the same way a sold-out ask does.

Age and place

You must be 18 or older to accept asks and to receive payouts. At launch you must also be 18 or older to send an ask. Right now already works in New York City only.

Our part

We will run the service carefully and fix what breaks. We are not liable for the item itself, for what the shop does, or for what one person does to another, beyond the refunds and payments described above and what the law will not let us exclude. Our total liability to you for anything else is the fees you paid us in the past twelve months.

Ending things

You can delete your account any time under You. We can close accounts that break these terms. Money owed either way is still owed.

Disputes with us

Talk to us first: hello@joinalready.com. If that fails, these terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, and disputes go to the state or federal courts located in Delaware, unless the law where you live gives you a right to something else.

Changes

If we change these terms in a way that matters, we tell you in the app before the change takes effect. Using already after that means you accept the new version.

See also Privacy, Safety and What we keep.