1. Introduction

The following General Terms and Conditions shall apply to the business relationship between Bestibid Plc (“the Company” or “Us”), its internet platform (www.bestibid.com or the Website) and our Customers (“the Users” or “You”). By using the Website, the user accepts the following General Terms and Conditions. Variations or alterations in the following Terms and Conditions shall only be binding on the Company if agreed to in writing.

Any special promotions run by the Company shall only be valid if they are announced on the Website or in its corresponding promotional materials. Certain promotions may only be valid for a limited time, and details of any such timing will be announced on the website or in the promotional material. Once the advertised time limit of any such promotion has been reached, or the relevant auction or auctions have ended, the promotion will also end.

Any bidding advice or other written materials posted on the Website are provided solely as suggestions and are not intended to be relied upon. The Company is not liable or responsible for any actions taken due to a user or other person having read or been told about such advice or other written materials.

2. No Agency

No agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer or franchiser-franchisee relationship is intended or created by this Agreement.

3. Eligibility to Participate/Registration with bestibid.com/Disqualification

By placing a bid on the Website, the user declares that they are legally capable of entering into binding contracts and that they are at least 18 years’ old.

Employees and relatives of employees of the Company are not eligible to participate in the auctions.

Each user may register only once using their postal address (registration using PO Boxes or equivalents is not permitted).

During the registration process, the user must choose a username. The username must not be offensive, be selected to deceive or mis-inform other users, may not offend common decency or infringe upon the rights of third parties. If the company receives information of a username which is illegal or in breach of these Terms, this username can be amended by the Company without prior notice. The corresponding user password is to be kept secret by the user. User accounts created during registration are non-transferable. The user account may be used only by the user and not by anyone else. Any abuse of the user account, be it to the detriment of third parties or to the detriment of the Company, shall result in the disqualification of the user and the reporting of a crime. In general, the user shall be liable for all activities that are undertaken using the user account together with the associated password.

The Company reserves the right to temporarily or permanently disqualify a user, or disable their account. Users will be disqualified when in the reasonable opinion of the Company, a user has violated the laws or the rights of third parties. A user will be disqualified if such action will protect the rights of other users, or to prevent unauthorised manipulation or use of the Website. Examples of such unauthorised usage include (but are not limited to) non-payment of bids, use of unauthorised third-party bidding software or set up of multiple user accounts by the same individual. In case of a breach of these terms by a user, the Company reserves the right to withhold deliveries or refunds for bids. The Company also reserves the right to make a reasonable administration charge deductible for unused bids at its discretion.

Furthermore, the Company reserves the right to limit the number of auctions a user may participate in or win at its own discretion.

4. Bid Credits Purchasing/Payment/Free Bids

Bid Credits must be purchased and paid for by users prior to online bidding. Bids credits can be purchased in packages at the currently applicable prices, which can be viewed on the Website.

Payment can be made by credit/debit card or via payment agents such as PayPal.

Should a payment not be honoured by a user, a returned payment fee will be charged. The user will be responsible for these fees. The Company reserves the right to block access to the user’s account until payment in full of the invoice amount, including any fees due to returned payment, and to withhold any outstanding deliveries until payment is received in full.

Certain bids (such as "Free Bids") are valid only for a limited time. Upon expiration of the time stated, the bids expire and can no longer be placed. Refunds are not available for expired bids.

5. Bidding/Use of Auto-Bid

Users can bid only via the Website. Bids can be placed by clicking on the relevant bid buttons, or by using the Auto-bid function. Once a bid is placed, it is deducted from the user’s bid account.

The Auto-bid function assists users in being able to bid on an auction even if they are not online at that time. Only registered users can submit bids automatically. The Auto-bid automatically submits bids according to the specifications set in advance by the user.

The user is prohibited from using bidding software not authorised by the Company, and doing so will result in immediate disqualification and user’s account will be terminated.

6. How the Auctions Work

With each bid placed, the price of the item on which the user is bidding increases by the amount specified (for instance by 1p during “Penny-Auctions”). A bid submitted by the user constitutes an offer from that user to the Company to enter into a binding contract to purchase the item. A contract to purchase the item does not come into effect until the auction is finished and the last bidder has followed all the steps in clause number 7.

Each new bid resets the ‘remaining time’ for an auction up to, but not above, the displayed countdown reset value. The one exception to this rule is when two Auto-bidders bid against one another. The auction ends when the remaining time reaches zero. The user who is the last to bid will win the auction. All other bids on the item expire. Users who do not win will be given partial refunds of the Bid Credits that they used for bidding. The last bidder is determined based on the records in the Company’s database and the Company’s decision regarding who is the last bidder shall be final (except in the case of an error).

7. Acceptance of the Win/Payment

After an auction has ended, the last bidder (“winner”) must go to his/her account section. Here, information such as total price (including shipping costs) and payment options will be displayed. The user must actively confirm and pay the total price (end price plus shipping costs) for the item by following the steps indicated on that page or elsewhere on the Website. Once the winner has clicked on the confirmation button the win is accepted. If an auction win has not been confirmed and paid within 21 days of the auction end date, (unless there are exceptional circumstances) the Company reserves the right to withdraw the offer to conclude a contract and  the winner’s right to pay for and receive delivery of an item will be permanently revoked. In this instance, the bids placed in that auction are non-refundable. The user must pay the total price when confirming the win. After confirming the win and paying the amount due, the winner will receive a confirmation email.

The item will not be sent to the user until the total price has been paid to the Company. A similar requirement for delivery is that all bids purchased and used by the user have been properly paid for. Should bids that have already been purchased and used not have been paid for, payments received shall be viewed as payment toward the bids not yet paid for, and we reserve the right to retain the item purchased at auction until all bids and the total price have been paid for in full.

An invoice containing the auction price and shipping costs will be sent to the user by the Company once delivery has been arranged.

8. Returns and Cancellations

The Company grants winners the right to cancel an order. This right is unconditional and begins from the moment the contract is concluded. If a user cancels a contract to which the cancellation provisions apply they are entitled to a refund of the auction end price they have paid in relation to the contract even if the goods are not defective in any way. These cancellation rights end fourteen days after the day on which a winner received the goods.

An exception to the right to cancel is audio or video recordings or computer software that the customer has unsealed. These items are not eligible for return or refund, unless the item is faulty or not as described.

If a user wishes to cancel the contract, they must inform the Company by email that they want to cancel within the time period noted above. Cancellations by phone will not be accepted.

In order to complete a valid cancellation or return, a user must return the received product or products in good condition, such as might be expected from typical testing in a retail store. Costs of postage for returns will be met by the user (unless goods are found to be faulty). If the user is unable to return the product received or only able to return it in part or only in a depreciated condition, he will have to pay compensation to us (the amount refundable will be reduced proportionally), as applicable.

Should the Company incur additional costs for insufficient postage on the return or for courier shipments and other irregular shipping methods that are over and above postal shipping costs, these costs will be deducted from any payment made by the Customer.

9. Delivery

Unless otherwise stated, delivery will be made directly from our suppliers or from our warehouse to the address provided by the Customer. Deliveries are made solely within the UK (exclusively on the mainland, otherwise only upon inquiry). Delivery times vary and any delivery time indicated is provided only as a guide and is not guaranteed.

The Company shall be entitled to involve third parties to satisfy its contractual obligations without being required to notify the Customer. Obvious damage to the item must be reported to the Company upon taking delivery.

If the Company is not be able to deliver the item ordered, the Company shall be entitled to substitute the item with a comparable replacement product with the same or better features, or provide a refund if this is the Customer’s preference. The Customer’s statutory rights are not affected.

10. Offsetting / Withholding Payment / Retention of Title

The Customer shall only have the right to reduce any sums that they may owe to the Company if he or she has a claim against the Company that the Company does not dispute.

The Customer is not entitled by reason of any alleged minor defect to withhold more than a proportionate amount of the sum due.

The item delivered shall remain the Company’s property until payment is received in full of the total price, including for the bids used in the auction. Until such time as payment has been made in full, the Customer undertakes to store the item separately from their other possessions.

11. Damages / Reimbursement of Expenses / Limits on Liability

Claims for damages by the User against the Company, its legal representatives, employees, vicarious agents or parties who assist in performance are prohibited.

In particular, the Company shall not be liable for faulty operation of the telephone or computer hardware or software during bid submission and for incorrect or overly slow transmission of bidding data by the telephone or Internet service provider. Should such an event occur, the bidder shall have no legal rights over the item.

The Company shall not be liable for any losses arising from the user’s subsequent use or misuse of the item including (without limitation):

* fair wear and tear;

 * wilful damage; and

 * the user’s negligence or any failure to follow the Company’s instructions as  to placing of   the bids.

This shall not apply in the case of damage that is due to the deliberate or grossly negligent conduct of the Company, its legal representatives, or parties assisting it in performance. This shall also not apply if the Company expressly provided the guarantee for an item’s features in writing or a defect was fraudulently concealed.

Insofar as the Company is insured for its liability for any damage, the Company can also assign any entitlement to insurance settlement to the injured party. The User shall be obligated to accept this assignment.

Liability for reimbursement of expenses shall likewise only be assumed in accordance with the stipulations above.

Liability for damage arising from loss of life and limb, health, or well being, and that according to product liability law shall not be affected hereby.

12. Guarantee

Items offered for auction are provided as fit for purpose. If goods develop a fault within six months of being sold, the goods may be returned for a refund or replacement at the Company’s expense.

The Company will take all reasonable care to ensure that details, descriptions and prices of products which are featured on its website are correct at the time when the relevant information was entered onto the system. The Company shall endeavour to keep the website as up to date as possible but can offer no guarantees that the information including descriptions of products on the website is still accurate when a user visits the website and/or bids for products.

Images of products may differ from the original.

13. System Outage / Temporarily Halted Auctions

A system outage has occurred if no bids can be submitted for items due to an unforeseeable disruption in a system. In such a case, auctions will be temporarily halted and the remaining times for the auctions, the current bidding price and the current highest bidder will be maintained. After the disruption has been resolved, the auctions will be continued and 10 minutes will be added to the remaining times for the auctions. Temporarily halted auctions are clearly indicated. Bidders who are bidding on temporarily halted auctions shall have no right to a refund for bids used or other costs incurred.

With the currently available technology, it is not possible to develop and operate computer programs (software) and data processing systems (hardware) completely without errors, or to rule out any unpredictable events in connection with the internet (hereinafter referred to collectively as “technical faults”). The Company, therefore, provides no guarantee for the constant and uninterrupted availability of its website and technical systems. In addition, but not subject to, the provisions of clause number 11, the Company shall not be liable for any damage whatsoever incurred by auction users or third parties from using the Company’s services. In particular, the Company shall not be liable for damage that occurs due to bids submitted by auction users not being received by the Company or not being received promptly or not being considered, as a consequence of technical faults.

14. Abusing Bestibid.com

Our aim is to ensure that our website and services work properly and provide a hassle-free experience to our customers. In order to ensure the integrity of our service, we will impose certain sanctions.

Without limiting other remedies, we may issue you with warnings, limit, suspend, or terminate our service and user accounts, restrict or prohibit access to, and user activities on the website (including, without limitation, cancelling bids), delay or remove hosted content, and take technical and legal steps to keep you off our website if:

 • we think that you are creating problems (including, without limitation, by harassing our staff or other users or by making unreasonable legal threats against the company), or exposing us or another user to financial loss or legal liabilities;

• we think that you are acting inconsistently with the letter or spirit of this Agreement or our policies;

• despite our reasonable endeavours, we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us; or

• we think that user accounts have been created using false details.

We also reserve the right to cancel unconfirmed accounts or accounts that have been inactive for a long time.

 You agree not to hold the Company responsible for any loss you may incur as a result of the Company taking any of the actions described above.

15. Applicable Law / Severability Clause

English law shall apply and shall exclude application of the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods.

To the extent legally permitted, the place of jurisdiction is the courts of England and Wales.

16. Protection of Data: Collection, Processing, and Use of our Customers’ Personal Information

The protection of your data is very important to us.

For more information on the collection, processing, and use of personal data, please read our Privacy Policy.

17. External Links

Our website may contain links to other websites operated by third parties, and these sites may likewise contain links to other websites. Despite conducting careful checks, we assume no liability for the content of external links. The operators of the sites linked to and from this site are solely responsible for their contents. We hereby expressly distance ourselves from all content of any and all websites linked to www.bestibid.com. We cannot take any responsibility for the content of the data protection and privacy guidelines of third-party websites.

18. General

The contract between the Company and users is binding on the parties and on their respective successors and assigns. The user may not transfer, assign, charge or otherwise dispose of any contract formed under these General Terms and Conditions or any of their rights or obligations without the Company’s prior written consent.

Section headings are for reference purposes only and do not limit the scope or extent of such section.

Our failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches. We do not guarantee we will take action against all breaches of this Agreement.

The Company has the right to revise and amend these General Terms and Conditions from time to time in its absolute discretion but for reasons including but not limited to changes in market conditions affecting the Company’s business, changes in technology, changes in payment methods, changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements and changes in the Company’s system capabilities.

All users will be subject to the policies and terms and conditions in force at the time that they have successfully bid for items listed on the website, unless any change to such policies or terms and conditions is required to be made by law or governmental authority or the Company notifies its users of the changes to such policies or General Terms and Conditions before the Company sends information relating to dispatch (in which case the Company has the right to assume that all successful winners have accepted the changes to the terms and conditions unless notified to the contrary within seven working days by the user of the items).

The Company is the owner or licensee of all intellectual property rights on the website and the material published on it. Those works are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world and all rights relating to the same are reserved. Users may print one copy and may download extracts of pages for personal reference only. Users may not modify any paper or digital copies of any materials printed or downloaded. Users must also not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text. Users must not use any part of the materials on the website for commercial purposes.

 

Last Update: 15 May 2009