How Localsville works.

What is Localsville?

Localsville is a free mobile app for meeting the people and places in your own community. You browse the neighbours near you, see what they do and what they offer, and start a conversation.

Is Localsville a marketplace?

No. Localsville is a discovery app for a community, not a marketplace. The first thing you meet is a person, not a listing, and what someone offers is shown as part of who they are rather than as a catalogue.

Where is Localsville available?

Localsville is starting on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, and is building out community by community. That is where the app is being introduced first and where the people and places on it are today.

Why does Localsville use phone sign-in?

Because a phone number is the simplest honest proof that there is a real person there. Localsville is about meeting actual neighbours, and an anonymous email address does not carry that weight.

Is my phone number shown to other people?

No. Your phone number is how you sign in, not something on your profile. It is not shown on your public profile, not shown in Discover, and not given to other neighbours.

What does Localsville not do?

Localsville does not sell advertising, does not rate or rank people by popularity, does not run background checks, and does not currently process payments between neighbours.

How much does Localsville charge People?

Nothing. Localsville does not charge People anything today. Downloading the app, creating an account, creating your Person profile, adding photos, listing what you offer and messaging your neighbours are all free, and there is no subscription, listing fee or paywall anywhere in the app.

How much does Localsville charge Places?

Nothing. Localsville does not charge Places anything today. A business, community space or community organisation can create a Place profile, publish what it offers, add photos and opening information, and talk to neighbours without paying Localsville a listing fee, a subscription or a monthly charge.

Is Localsville free to join?

Yes. Localsville is free to download and free to join, on both iPhone and Android. There is no paid version of the app, no in-app purchase for features, and no trial that turns into a subscription.

Does Localsville take a commission?

No commission is being taken today, because paying through Localsville is currently switched off. Neighbours arrange payment between themselves, outside the app, and Localsville is not part of that and takes nothing from it.

Can I pay to rank higher on Localsville?

No. There is nothing to buy, and paying money cannot move you up. Localsville has no ads, no sponsored placements, no boosts and no featured slots, and the code that orders Discover is explicitly built to refuse paid input.

Does a Local Partner pay anything?

Not right now — Local Partner registration is open and free during launch. The paid path is actively refused by the server while the launch waiver is on, so nobody can be charged for a membership today, even from an older copy of the app.

Can I just share my story without selling anything?

Yes — and plenty of people do. The Stories lens exists exactly for neighbours who want to be part of the community without offering anything for sale.

Can I pay someone through Localsville?

Not yet. Paying inside Localsville is switched off, and no card can be charged today. The app says so where a Buy button would otherwise be: "Payments aren't available on Localsville yet — arrange the details here in the conversation."

Who handles my card details?

Stripe does. Localsville stores no card data of any kind — there is no card number, brand, last four digits, expiry or security code anywhere in Localsville's database.

How do refunds work?

There are three situations, and only the first is automatic. Cancelled before the work began: a full refund, sent automatically. Started but not finished, or already completed: a person reviews it.

Does Localsville deliver?

Localsville does not deliver anything itself and employs no drivers. When something needs to travel, it is carried by a Community Courier — a verified neighbour who takes the job.

What is a Community Courier?

A Community Courier is a neighbour who has signed up to carry deliveries in their own community. They are not a Localsville employee and not a contractor of a delivery company — they are someone local who takes a job when they want one.

What does delivery cost?

$8.99 plus $1.50 per mile, up to 50 miles. The buyer sees the fee before agreeing to it, and it is charged alongside the goods rather than added afterwards.

How much does a Community Courier earn?

The courier keeps 75% of the delivery fee, and Localsville keeps the rest. On a $8.99 minimum fee that is $6.74 to the courier; on a longer trip it scales with the mileage.

What is a pickup point, and is it public?

A pickup point is where a courier would collect from — and it is never shown to anyone. The coordinates stay on Localsville's side; the app only ever learns whether a pickup point exists, not where it is.

What does a courier see about me?

Before accepting: almost nothing. A courier sees what is being delivered, a rough pickup area, a rough drop-off area, the community, what they would earn, and when it was posted. No name, no phone number, no address.

What is a Local Partner?

A Local Partner is a neighbour who helps Localsville take root in their state by personally introducing the people and places they know. It is a membership, not a job — there is no employment, no territory and no franchise.

How much does Local Partner membership cost?

Nothing today — registration is free during launch. While the launch waiver is on, the server refuses to start any charge at all, so nobody can be billed for a membership.

Is Local Partner enrollment currently open?

Yes — enrollment is open, and the fee is waived. Both are operator switches, and both are currently set that way.

What is a CMN?

A CMN is a Local Partner's invite code — Community Member Number. It looks like LV-HI-K7P2QW: the state, then six characters.

How do I know when someone joined through me?

You get one notification, and only once the profile they created has actually gone live. Entering your code on its own does not notify you and does not count.

When does a referral actually earn anything?

Nothing is earned when someone joins. A Partner is only credited when a profile they introduced completes real paid activity — a finished appointment or a completed exchange that settles.

What commission does a Local Partner earn?

1.00% of eligible activity from a profile you invited directly. Above that, City Partners can receive overrides of 0.30%, 0.20% and 0.10% at one, two and three levels up.

Do I own a territory as a Local Partner?

No. A Local Partner does not own or reserve anything. There is no exclusivity: any number of Partners can hold an active membership in the same state at the same time.

What is a City Partner?

City Partner is a status a Local Partner can reach — it is not something you can buy or sign up for. There is no City Partner enrollment, no price and no application anywhere in Localsville.

Does being a Local Partner make my profile more visible?

No. Partner status has no effect on Discover whatsoever — it is one of the inputs the ranking code explicitly refuses to consider.

Will I make money as a Local Partner?

Localsville does not promise you will earn anything, and cannot. Whether a Partner earns depends entirely on whether people they introduce go on to complete real paid activity — which is outside anyone's control.

How does Localsville decide what I see?

Nearest first if you have shared your location, then a simple score, then a daily shuffle. That is the whole ordering.

Can I pay to be seen more on Localsville?

No. There is nothing to buy. Localsville has no advertising, no sponsored placement, no boosts and no featured slots, and no amount of money moves anyone ahead of anyone else.

Are there ratings or reviews on Localsville?

No. Localsville has no star ratings, no public reviews, no likes and no follower counts. None of it exists in the product.

How precise is the distance shown on a profile?

Deliberately rough. You see a phrase like "About 2 mi away", never a precise figure and never a point on a map.

Is my address ever shown?

Never for a Person. A Person profile cannot hold a street address at all — the server refuses to store one.

Is Localsville people-first or listings-first?

People-first, and it is built into the code rather than only stated in copy. Discover shows two People for every one Place, and the ordering refuses every commercial and popularity signal.

How do I contact a real person at Localsville?

Why is my profile in review?

Because a person reads every profile before it appears publicly. Nobody publishes themselves onto Localsville, and there is no automatic approval.

How long does review take?

Localsville does not publish a review time, because we are not yet in a position to promise one and would rather not invent it.

Why is my photo in review?

Because it is a new photo on a profile that is already public. A photo added to a live profile is checked before neighbours see it, and your current photos keep showing meanwhile.

What happens if my photo is rejected?

The photo is not published, and you are told why. You get a notification headed "A photo needs an update" carrying the reviewer's own words, and the same message is waiting for you where the photo is.

Where do I see the reason something was rejected?

Where the thing itself is — in your photo area for a photo, and with the edit or offering for those. You will see a notice reading "Please choose another photo." with the reviewer's message underneath, and the photo itself carries a "Needs a new photo" label.

Can I edit my profile once it is live?

Yes, at any time — and most changes take effect immediately.

Will every edit send me back into review?

No — only changes to the public words. Your name, tagline, story, neighbourhood and a Place's kind are reviewed; an offering is only re-reviewed if its title or description changed.

What data does Localsville collect about me?

Very little. At sign-up Localsville records your phone number, the moment it was verified, and which part of the app you signed in from. That is the account.

How do I delete my Localsville account?

From inside the app, and it takes 30 days. The moment you ask, your profiles are hidden and your account is marked for closure with a date 30 days out.

Why does Localsville ask for my location?

To show you the people and places near you, and only while you are using the app. Localsville asks for "when in use" location and nothing more.

Does Localsville track me in the background?

No. Localsville never asks for background location and cannot use it. On iPhone the code that would even request it is removed from the shipped app; on Android the background-location permission is not declared at all.

What happens if I say no to location?

Nothing is lost. You pick your town by name instead, and Localsville works normally. The option to enter a town is always there, not a fallback you have to hunt for.

Does Localsville use AI, and does it read my profile?

There are optional AI features, and each one asks you first. Nothing about your profile is sent to an AI service unless you separately agreed to that specific use.

Who owns and operates Localsville?

Localsville is built and operated by Localsville LLC, a United States company. The app and this website are its products.

How does Localsville make money?

Right now, it does not — and that is deliberate rather than a secret. In-app payments are switched off, Local Partner registration is free during launch, and Localsville sells no advertising.

Does Localsville sell ads?

No. There is no advertising on Localsville and no advertising product to buy. Nothing in the app is an ad, and nothing you see is there because someone paid.

Does Localsville offer cashback or rewards?

No. Localsville has no cashback, rewards, points, credits or loyalty program of any kind. None of it exists in the product.

My sign-in code is not arriving. What do I do?

Check the number, wait a moment, then try again. Codes usually arrive in seconds but a carrier can take longer.