1. Introduction
These Terms of Use constitute a legally binding agreement made between you, whether personally or on behalf of an entity (“you”) and VBid Ltd (“Company”, “we”, “us”, or “our”), concerning your access to and use of the www.vbid.co.uk website as well as any other media form, media channel, mobile website or mobile application related, linked, or otherwise connected thereto (collectively, the “Site”). You agree that by accessing the Site, you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by all these Terms of Use. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ALL OF THESE TERMS OF USE, THEN YOU ARE EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED FROM USING THE SITE AND YOU MUST DISCONTINUE USE IMMEDIATELY.
Supplemental terms and conditions or documents that may be posted on the Site from time to time are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to make changes or modifications to these Terms of Use at any time and for any reason. We will alert you about any changes by updating the “Last updated” date of these Terms of Use, and you waive any right to receive specific notice of each such change. It is your responsibility to periodically review these Terms of Use to stay informed of updates. You will be subject to and will be deemed to have been made aware of and to have accepted, the changes in any revised Terms of Use by your continued use of the Site after the date such revised Terms of Use are posted.
The information provided on the Site is not intended for distribution to or use by any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation or which would subject us to any registration requirement within such jurisdiction or country. Accordingly, those persons who choose to access the Site from other locations do so on their initiative and are solely responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable.
2. About VBid
VBid is a bidding site that allows users to offer, sell and buy just about anything in a variety of pricing formats and locations in the UK.
VBid does not have possession of anything listed or sold through VBid and is not involved in the actual transaction between buyers and sellers. The contract for the sale is directly between the buyer and the seller. VBid is not a traditional auctioneer.
While we may provide pricing, postage, listing and other guidance in our Services, such guidance is solely informational, and you may decide to follow it or not. VBid does not review users’ listings or content. VBid has no control over, and does not guarantee the existence, quality, safety or legality of, items advertised; the truth or accuracy of users’ content, listings or feedback; the ability of sellers to sell items; the ability of buyers to pay for items; or that a buyer or seller will complete a transaction or return an item.
Sellers must have a valid payment method on file with VBid to make purchases or to sell items. You authorise VBid to automatically charge your chosen payment method under this User Agreement and the applicable billing agreement(s) you agree to when setting up or changing your payment method, for future charges and fees incurred in relation to the Services provided by VBid. This includes, but is not limited to, amounts owed for VBid fees, VBid will notify you of these charges. If payments or amounts owed to VBid cannot be completed through the payment method on file for any reason, you are still required to pay VBid for all unpaid amounts and VBid reserves the right to seek reimbursement through other means plus any additional costs incurred by VBid in seeking reimbursement. You can change your payment method in My Account at any time.
You may not access or use the Site for any purpose other than that for which we make the Site available. The Site may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavours except those that are specifically endorsed or approved by us.
As a user of the Site, you agree not to:
USER-GENERATED CONTRIBUTIONS
The Site does not offer users to submit or post content. We may provide you with the opportunity to create, submit, post, display, transmit, perform, publish, distribute, or broadcast content and materials to us or on the Site, including but not limited to text, writings, video, audio, photographs, graphics, comments, suggestions, or personal information or other material (collectively, “Contributions”). Contributions may be viewable by other users of the Site and through third-party websites. As such, any Contributions you transmit may be treated under the Site Privacy Policy. When you create or make available any Contributions, you thereby represent and warrant that:
1. The creation, distribution, transmission, public display, or performance, and the accessing, downloading, or copying of your Contributions do not and will not infringe the proprietary rights, including but not limited to the copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, or moral rights of any third party.
2. You are the creator and owner of or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, releases, and permissions to use and to authorize us, the Site, and other users of the Site to use your Contributions in any manner contemplated by the Site and these Terms of Use.
3. You have the written consent, release, and/or permission of each and every identifiable individual person in your Contributions to use the name or likeness of each and every such identifiable individual person to enable inclusion and use of your Contributions in any manner contemplated by the Site and these Terms of Use.
4. Your Contributions are not false, inaccurate, or misleading.
5. Your Contributions are not unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, pyramid schemes, chain letters, spam, mass mailings, or other forms of solicitation.
6. Your Contributions are not obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, violent, harassing, libellous, slanderous, or otherwise objectionable (as determined by us).
7. Your Contributions do not ridicule, mock, disparage, intimidate, or abuse anyone.
8. Your Contributions do not advocate the violent overthrow of any government or incite, encourage, or threaten physical harm against another.
9. Your Contributions do not violate any applicable law, regulation, or rule.
10. Your Contributions do not violate the privacy or publicity rights of any third party.
11. Your Contributions do not contain any material that solicits personal information from anyone under the age of 18 or exploits people under the age of 18 in a sexual or violent manner.
12. Your Contributions do not violate any applicable law concerning child pornography, or otherwise intended to protect the health or well-being of minors.
13. Your Contributions do not include any offensive comments that are connected to race, national origin, gender, sexual preference, or physical handicap.
14. Your Contributions do not otherwise violate, or link to material that violates, any provision of these Terms of Use, or any applicable law or regulation.
Any use of the Site in violation of the foregoing violates these Terms of Use and may result in, among other things, termination or suspension of your rights to use the Site.
If you are registering with VBid as a business entity, you represent that you have the authority to legally bind that entity. If you are trading as a business on VBid, you must comply with all applicable laws relating to online trading for the site you are selling on.
You agree that we will commence supplying our Services to you as soon as you accept this User Agreement. You can cancel this User Agreement under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. We may recoup the cost of any Services provided up to the point of cancellation.
If (1) we believe you are violating the policy on Offers to buy or sell outside of VBid, you may be subject to a range of actions, including limits on your buying and selling privileges, restrictions on listings and account features, suspension of your account, application of fees for the introduction of seller to buyer, and recovery of expenses for policy monitoring and enforcement; and (2) you are a seller and you offer or reference your contact information or ask for the buyer’s contact information in the context of buying or selling outside of VBid, you will be liable for all final value fees in consideration for the introduction to a buyer for that item on the VBid site, even if the item does not sell.
We may cancel unconfirmed accounts or accounts that have been inactive for a long time or modify or discontinue our Services.
Additionally, we reserve the right to vary or terminate all or part of our Services and/or not provide all or part of our Services to anyone for any reason and/or period, at our discretion.
Without limiting other remedies, we may limit, suspend, or terminate your user account(s) and access to our Services, restrict or prohibit access to, and your activities on, our Services, cancel bids, remove or demote or otherwise restrict the visibility of listings, delay or remove hosted content, remove any special status associated with the account, reduce or eliminate any discounts, and take technical steps to keep you from using our Services if:
- we think that you are creating problems or possible legal liabilities for us, our users, suppliers or other third parties.
- we think that such restrictions will improve the security of the VBid community or reduce our or another VBid user’s exposure to financial liabilities.
- we think that you are infringing the rights of third parties.
- we think that you are acting inconsistently with the letter or spirit of this User Agreement or our policies or abusing our employees or users.
- despite our reasonable endeavours, we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us; or
- you fail to make, or it is evident that you are unable to make, full payment of any fees due for our Services by your payment due date.
5. Fees
Private seller and business seller fees for using our Services are listed on our Fees page. The fees we charge for selling vehicles are listed on our Fees page We may change our fees or introduce new fees from time to time by posting the changes on the VBid site 30 days in advance. You may close your account without penalty within 30 days of such notice being given.
If you are a seller, you are liable for transaction fees arising out of all sales made using some or all VBid Services, even if sales terms are finalised or payment is made outside of VBid. In addition, if you are a seller and you offer or reference your contact information or ask for a buyer’s contact information, you may be liable to pay a final value fee in consideration for the introduction to a buyer for that item on the VBid site, even if the item does not sell.
You are required to have a payment method on file when selling on VBid. If your payment method fails or your account is overdue, we may collect fees owed by charging other payment methods on file.
Seller fees don’t purchase exclusive rights to item exposure on VBid whether on a web page, mobile app, or otherwise. We may display third-party advertisements (including links and references thereto) or other content in any part of our Services, at our sole discretion.
When listing an item, you agree to comply with the rules for listing and selling and that:
- you are responsible for the accuracy, content and legality of the item listed and agree to list under the prohibited and restricted items policy.
- your listing may not be immediately searchable by keyword or category for up to 24 hours. VBid does not guarantee exact listing durations.
- you are responsible for all taxes (including but not limited to penalties, fines, charges, or late payment interest) related to your sales on the VBid site. To the extent possible under English law, you shall pay to us as a debt on demand all costs incurred by us, including but not limited to tax, penalties and interest, levied by any competent tax authority due to your failure to provide a valid VAT registration number and/or your failure to pay any such taxes, penalties or interest.
- content that violates any of VBid’s policies may be modified, obfuscated or deleted at VBid’s discretion.
- we may revise product data associated with listings to supplement, remove, or correct information.
- where your listing appears in search and browse, results may be based on certain factors such as listing format, title, bidding activity, end time, keywords, price and postage cost, Feedback, VBid policy compliance and detailed seller ratings.
- meta-tags and URL links that are included in a listing will be removed or altered to not affect third party search engine results.
When buying an item, you agree to comply with the rules for buyers and that:
- you are responsible for reading the full item listing before making a bid or commitment to buy.
- you enter into a legally binding contract to purchase an item when you commit to buy an item, or if you have the winning bid (or your bid is otherwise accepted).
- for motor vehicles and real estate (property), a bid or offer is not binding but expresses a buyer’s serious interest in the item.
- if you purchase an item on an VBid site other than VBid.co.uk you are subject to the User Agreement of that other VBid site solely with respect to that purchase.
When providing us with content (including causing content to be posted using our Services), you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual (or for the duration of any copyright or other rights in such content), irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicensable (through multiple tiers) right to use the content (including, without limitation, creating and using derivative works), and you authorise us to exercise any and all copyright, trademark, publicity, database or other intellectual property rights you have in or to the content in any media known now or developed in the future. Further, to the fullest extent permitted under applicable law, you waive your moral rights in the content and promise not to assert such rights or any other intellectual property rights you have in the content against us, our sublicensees or our assignees.
We may offer catalogue and/or product data (including images, descriptions and specifications) that are provided by third parties (including VBid users). You may use that content solely in your VBid listings during the time your listings are on VBid’s sites. That permission is subject to modification or revocation at any time at VBid’s sole discretion.
We try to offer reliable data but cannot promise that the content provided through the Services will always be available, accurate, complete and up to date. You agree that VBid is not responsible for examining or warranting the listings or content provided by third parties through the Services and that you will not hold or attempt to hold us or our product data providers liable for inaccuracies. If you choose to use catalogue content and/or product data in connection with your listings, you agree to ensure that the content directly associated with your listings is and remains accurate, and that you continue to fully comply with this User Agreement and all VBid policies. The catalogue and product data include copyrighted, trademarked and other proprietary materials. You agree not to remove any copyright, proprietary or identification markings in the catalogue or product data or create any derivative works based on that data (other than by including the data in your listings).
The name “VBid” and other VBid marks, logos, designs and phrases that we use in connection with our Services are trademarks, service marks, or trade dress of VBid in the UK. They may not be used unless expressly authorised by VBid in writing.
10. Data Protection and Privacy
- You and VBid shall process personal data received under and/or in connection with this User Agreement each as a separate and independent controller. In no event will VBid and you process personal data under and/or in connection with this User Agreement as joint controllers or in a controller-to-processor relationship. As such separate and independent controllers, you shall be individually and separately responsible for complying with the obligations that apply to you as a controller under applicable data protection laws.
- You shall comply with your obligations under applicable data protection laws (including but not limited to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (EU General Data Protection Regulation “GDPR”) and supplementing EU and local data protection laws. This includes but is not limited to, the obligation to provide appropriate safeguards for the transfer of personal data to a third country or an international organisation.
- You shall process personal data received from VBid exclusively for the purpose(s) you received the personal data under and/or in connection with this User Agreement. You shall erase the personal data received under this User Agreement immediately after the respective purpose(s) has/have been fulfilled. Any further processing of the personal data is not permitted except when legally required (e.g. a retention obligation applies).
- Failure to abide by the obligations may result in disciplinary action up to and including account suspension.
To protect against the risk of liability, VBid has at times recommended and may continue to recommend, that PayPal restrict access to funds in a seller’s PayPal account based on certain factors, including, but not limited to, selling history, seller performance, returns, riskiness of the listing category, transaction value or the filing of a case. This may result in PayPal determining to restrict funds in your PayPal account.
When an item is returned, to refund the buyer, you authorise VBid to request PayPal to reverse the refund amount (in the same or other currency) from your PayPal account and place the amount on your seller invoice as a fee (which may be charged to your automatic payment method on file). If the buyer returns an item because it does not match the listing description, sellers will usually be responsible for return postage costs.
The cost of return shipping for an item that is not as described is the seller’s responsibility.
When a transaction is cancelled, and you choose to refund the buyer via VBid, you authorise VBid to request PayPal to reverse the refund amount (in the same or other currency) from the seller’s PayPal account to the buyer.
We may add certain delivery options to your listings to help improve buyer experience.
We try to keep VBid and its Services safe, secure, and functioning properly, but we cannot guarantee the continuous operation of or access to our Services. Bid update and other notification functionality in VBid’s Services may not occur in real-time. Such functionality is subject to delays beyond VBid’s control.
We (including our parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, agents and employees) shall not be liable to you in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise for any business losses, such as loss of data, profits, revenue, business, opportunity, goodwill, reputation or business interruption or for any losses which are not reasonably foreseeable by us arising, directly or indirectly from:
- your use of or your inability to use our Services.
- pricing, postage or other guidance provided by VBid.
- delays or disruptions in our Services.
- viruses or other malicious software obtained by accessing, or linking to, our Services.
- glitches, bugs, errors, or inaccuracies of any kind in our Services.
- damage to your hardware device from the use of any VBid Service.
- the content, actions, or inactions of third parties, including items listed using our Services or the destruction of allegedly fake items.
- a suspension or other action taken with respect to your account or breach of the Abusing VBid section.
- the duration or way your listings appear in search results as set out in the Listing conditions section; or
- your need to modify practices, content, or behaviour or your loss of or inability to do business, as a result of changes to this User Agreement or our policies.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of warranties or exclusion of damages, so such disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you. This is especially so if you are a consumer.
You accept sole responsibility for the legality of your actions under laws applying to you and the legality of any items you list on any of our sites.
Although we use techniques that aim to verify the accuracy and truth of the information provided by our users, user verification on the internet is difficult. VBid cannot and does not confirm, and is not responsible for ensuring, the accuracy or truthfulness of users’ purported identities or the validity of the information which they provide to us or post on our sites.
Regardless of the previous paragraphs, if we are found to be liable, our liability to you or any third party is limited to the greater of (a) any amounts due up to the price the item sold for on VBid and its original postage costs, (b) the amount of fees in dispute not to exceed the total fees which you paid to us in the 12 months before the action giving rise to the liability, or (c) £100.
Nothing in this User Agreement shall limit or exclude our liability for fraudulent misrepresentation, for death or personal injury resulting from our negligence or the negligence of our agents or employees, or for any other liability that cannot be limited or excluded by law.
You will compensate us in full (and our officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures and employees) for any losses or costs, including reasonable legal fees, we incur arising out of any breach by you of this User Agreement, your improper use of VBid’s Services or your breach of any law or the rights of a third party.
If a dispute arises between you and VBid, we strongly encourage you to first contact us directly to seek a resolution by using our Contact section. We will consider reasonable requests to resolve the dispute through alternative dispute resolution procedures, such as mediation or arbitration, as alternatives to litigation. Any claim, dispute or matter arising under or in connection with this User Agreement shall be governed and construed in all respects by the laws of England and Wales. You and VBid both agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
In simple terms, “non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts” means that if you were able to bring a claim arising from or in connection with this User Agreement against us in court, an acceptable court would be a court located in England. English law will apply in all cases.
If any provision of this User Agreement is held to be invalid, void or for any reason unenforceable, such provision shall be struck out and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.
You agree that we may at any time and without notice set-off any of the amounts held in VBid user accounts held or controlled by you with any fees, charges or other amounts you owe us and (unless prevented by insolvency law) any such amounts you owe other members of the VBid group (including, without limitation, in respect of any services provided by any member of the VBid group). Our right to set-off means that we may deduct such fees, charges or other amounts mentioned in this paragraph from an VBid credit balance held or controlled by you.
We may assign our rights and obligations under this User Agreement under the below (but without your prior express consent), if we assign the User Agreement on the same terms or terms that are no less advantageous to you.
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 act against all breaches of this User Agreement.
If you have a dispute with one or more users, you release us (and our affiliates and subsidiaries, and our and their respective officers, directors, employees and agents) from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes.
We may amend this User Agreement at any time by email, or by posting the amended terms on www.VBid.co.uk. All amended terms shall automatically be effective 30 days after they are initially posted. Your continued use of our Services after the effective date of these amended terms constitutes your acceptance of them.
This User Agreement may not be otherwise amended except through mutual agreement by you and an VBid representative authorised to do so.
The policies posted on our sites may be changed from time to time. Changes take effect when we post them on the VBid site.
CONTRIBUTION LICENSE
You and the Site agree that we may access, store, process, and use any information and personal data that you provide following the terms of the Privacy Policy and your choices (including settings).
By submitting suggestions or other feedback regarding the Site, you agree that we can use and share such feedback for any purpose without compensation to you.
We do not assert any ownership over your Contributions. You retain full ownership of all your Contributions and any intellectual property rights, or other proprietary rights associated with your Contributions. We are not liable for any statements or representations in your Contributions provided by you in any area on the Site. You are solely responsible for your Contributions to the Site, and you expressly agree to exonerate us from any and all responsibility and to refrain from any legal action against us regarding your Contributions.
MISCELLANEOUS
These Terms of Use and any policies or operating rules posted by us on the Site or in respect to the Site constitute the entire agreement and understanding between you and us. Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms of Use shall not operate as a waiver of such right or provision. These Terms of Use fully operate as permissible by law. We may assign any or all our rights and obligations to others at any time. We shall not be responsible or liable for any loss, damage, delay, or failure to act caused by any cause beyond our reasonable control. If any provision or part of a provision of these Terms of Use is determined to be unlawful, void, or unenforceable, that provision or part of the provision is deemed severable from these Terms of Use and does not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. There is no joint venture, partnership, employment or agency relationship created between you and us as a result of these Terms of Use or use of the Site. You agree that these Terms of Use will not be construed against us by virtue of having drafted them. You hereby waive all defences you may have based on the electronic form of these Terms of Use and the lack of signing by the parties hereto to execute these Terms of Use.
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS, TRANSACTIONS, AND SIGNATURES
Visiting the Site, sending us emails, and completing online forms constitute electronic communications. You consent to receive electronic communications, and you agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications we provide to you electronically, via email and on the Site, satisfy any legal requirement that such communication be in writing. YOU HEREBY AGREE TO THE USE OF ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES, CONTRACTS, ORDERS, AND OTHER RECORDS, AND TO ELECTRONIC DELIVERY OF NOTICES, POLICIES, AND RECORDS OF TRANSACTIONS INITIATED OR COMPLETED BY US OR VIA THE SITE. You hereby waive any rights or requirements under any statutes, regulations, rules, ordinances, or other laws in any jurisdiction which require an original signature or delivery or retention of non-electronic records, or to payments or the granting of credits by any means other than electronic means.
DISCLAIMER
THE SITE IS PROVIDED ON AN AS-IS AND AS-AVAILABLE BASIS. YOU AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND OUR SERVICES WILL BE AT YOUR SOLE RISK. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN CONNECTION WITH THE SITE AND YOUR USE THEREOF, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE MAKE NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE SITE’S CONTENT OR THE CONTENT OF ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO THE SITE AND WE WILL ASSUME NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY (1) ERRORS, MISTAKES, OR INACCURACIES OF CONTENT AND MATERIALS, (2) PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE, OF ANY NATURE WHATSOEVER, RESULTING FROM YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SITE, (3) ANY UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OF OUR SECURE SERVERS AND/OR ANY AND ALL PERSONAL INFORMATION AND/OR FINANCIAL INFORMATION STORED THEREIN, (4) ANY INTERRUPTION OR CESSATION OF TRANSMISSION TO OR FROM THE SITE, (5) ANY BUGS, VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES, OR THE LIKE WHICH MAY BE TRANSMITTED TO OR THROUGH THE SITE BY ANY THIRD PARTY, AND/OR (6) ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN ANY CONTENT AND MATERIALS OR FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND INCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE USE OF ANY CONTENT POSTED, TRANSMITTED, OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE VIA THE SITE. WE DO NOT WARRANT, ENDORSE, GUARANTEE, OR ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE ADVERTISED OR OFFERED BY A THIRD PARTY THROUGH THE SITE, ANY HYPERLINKED WEBSITE, OR ANY WEBSITE OR MOBILE APPLICATION FEATURED IN ANY BANNER OR OTHER ADVERTISING, AND WE WILL NOT BE A PARTY TO OR IN ANY WAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MONITORING ANY TRANSACTION BETWEEN YOU AND ANY THIRD-PARTY PROVIDERS OF PRODUCTS OR SERVICES. AS WITH THE PURCHASE OF A PRODUCT OR SERVICE THROUGH ANY MEDIUM OR IN ANY ENVIRONMENT, YOU SHOULD USE YOUR BEST JUDGMENT AND EXERCISE CAUTION WHERE APPROPRIATE.