Auction News Terms and Conditions

Please read these Terms and Conditions (Conditions) thoroughly before using our Website, creating an Account, or registering to bid on our Website (each as defined below). These Conditions should be read in conjunction with our Privacy Policy https://auctionnews.com/privacy and Cookie Policy https://auctionnews.com/cookies

The online auction services offered through this Website are provided by Auction News Limited, company registration number 4331781 (Auctions News / we / us / our). By using this Website you agree to comply with and be bound by these Conditions which constitute a legally binding agreement between you and Auction News.

Contents

1. Definitions
2. Creating an Account
3. Registering to Bid
4. Joining an Auction
5. Your Obligations
6. Our Obligations
7. Content
8. Before Bidding
9. Conditions of Bidding
10. Bidding Charges
11. Prohibited Bidding Practices
12. Bids made in error
13. Terms of Payment
14. Collection, Packing, Delivery and Storage
15. Our Liability
16. Interruption of Service, force majeure and termination
17. Viruses and hacking
18. Intellectual Property Rights
19. Data protection
20. About these Terms

1.   Definitions

For the purposes of these Conditions:

2.   Creating an Account

Creating an Account is free and does not oblige you to bid on any Lots.

a) When you create an Account on the Website you will be asked to: 

i. supply information about yourself including your name and email address;

ii. choose your email preferences and categories of interest;

iii. confirm your agreement to these Conditions; 

iv. confirm whether you are acting as an individual or in a business capacity; and

v. verify your email address.

b) If you create an Account on behalf of a business, you warrant, represent, and undertake that you have the authority to: 

i. act on behalf of the business;

ii. bind the business to these Conditions; and

iii. bind the business to any contract, agreement or arrangement entered into as a result of using the Website, including without limitation, those made with an Auctioneer.

c) If you do not have authority to act on behalf of the business as stated in b) above you will remain personally liable in respect of these Conditions and all and any agreement(s) entered into with an Auctioneer as a result of using the Website.

3.   Registering to bid

a) Before being allowed to bid on any Lots, you will need to register for bidding with Auction News. You will only need to do this once. To register for bidding you must provide the following information:

i. your address

ii. your telephone number 

iii. a valid credit or debit card in your name. This will be used to verify your identity and your card will not be debited by us.

b) Registering with false or misleading information will not absolve you of your obligations as a bidder.

c) You must not create an Account for anyone other than yourself without our prior written permission.

d) You cannot and must not attempt to transfer your Account to anyone else without our prior written permission.

e) You must not register to bid if you are under 18 years of age or are otherwise legally prohibited from entering into binding contracts.

f) If you learn of any unauthorised use of your password or account, you must immediately notify us by using the following email address: support@auctionnews.com

4.   Joining an auction

a) Once you have created an Account and registered to bid you will be able to join an auction and, subject to approval, bid on Lots.

b) Before joining any auction you must read the Auctioneer’s terms and conditions thoroughly and carefully as by joining their auction you agree to be bound by their terms and conditions (in addition to these Conditions). By joining an auction you agree that your personal details from your registration with Auction News will be made available to the Auctioneer for the purpose of conducting the sale and performing any associated transactions. Please see our privacy policy for further information on the sharing of Personal Data https://auctionnews.com/privacy.

c) Some Auctioneers may not allow bidding at their auction until they have verified your registration details. In this case, your bidding status will be placed in a “Pending” state until the Auctioneer has approved you and your bidding status marked as “Approved”. 

d) Registering to bid on the Website does not automatically constitute approval to bid either by Auction News or by the Auctioneer. 

e) Your access to bidding may be refused, restricted, or terminated by Auction News or by the Auctioneer at any time without notice.

f) If your access is denied by Auction News or the Auctioneer you must not create (or attempt to create) another Account without our prior written permission.

5.   Your obligations

You warrant and undertake that you:

a) agree to comply with these Conditions and to those of the specific Auctioneer conducting the sale before bidding and will not use the Website or take part in any bidding if you do not agree;

b) agree that Auction News is not party to the contract for sale and purchase entered into between you and the Auctioneer;

c) agree that Auction News does not act as the seller or auctioneer of any Lot;

d) agree that Auction News does not act as an agent for you or the Auctioneer;

e) agree that Auction News may change or remove any of the services offered through our Website at any time, for whatever reason and without prior notice;

f) agree to indemnify Auction News against any claim that arises through your failure to act in compliance with these Conditions;

g) are not under 18 years of age;

h) are not prohibited by law from bidding on or purchasing any Lots or otherwise using the Website;

i) will not use or access the Website in such a way as to deliberately cause Auction News any loss, damage or liability whatsoever;

j) will not deliberately cause any interference or disruption to the Website or cause it to become less efficient, effective or functional;

k) will not bypass measures that have been put in place to prevent or limit user access to the Website;

l) will not copy, modify, reproduce or store information held on the Website for commercial gain or to make a derivative product or competing service;

m) will not harvest or gather information stored on the Website to create a database in electronic or structured manual form or enable or allow others to do so for any purpose whatsoever; and

n) will not submit, enter or communicate any information or language into or via the Website which is offensive, harmful, inaccurate, defamatory, deceptive, infringing or otherwise unlawful or illegal.

6.   Our obligations

a) We will keep data only to enable us to provide you with the Services, for the performance of our obligations under these Conditions and for the purposes of marketing, where you have expressly opted-in to receive such information. Please see our Privacy Policy for more details.

b) We will provide our Services to you using a commercially reasonable and competent level of skill and care. We will endeavour to always publish accurate information, however, we are dependent on the Auctioneers who supply us with this information for its accuracy.

c) Other than as expressly set out in these Conditions or any auction specific additional terms, neither Auction News nor its affiliates, suppliers or distributors make any specific promises or guarantees about the Services provided, the content within the Services, the specific functions of the Services or their reliability, availability or ability to meet your needs. You must satisfy yourself in this regard. 

d) Some jurisdictions provide for certain warranties, like the implied warranty of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we exclude all warranties.

e) Auction News is PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliant and our status is reviewed and validated annually by our payment provider..

f) We do not store on or pass through our servers any credit/debit card details you enter on the Website.

7.   Content

a) Our Website displays content that is not owned by us. In addition, many auction listings and other pages on our Website link to other websites over which we have no control. This content is the sole responsibility of the third party that makes it available. If you are directed to another site which, for example hosts the auction bidding, you should carefully review and consider any terms and conditions listed on that site before using it or placing a bid.

b) If we receive complaints about content, we will review this content to determine whether it is illegal, inappropriate, or in violation of our policies and we may remove or refuse to display content that we reasonably believe violates our policies or the law. This does not necessarily mean that we review all content, so you should not assume that we do.

8.   Before bidding

a) It is your full and sole responsibility to read the Lot description and Auctioneer’s terms and conditions of sale prior to making a bid. However, you should not rely exclusively on the Lot listing and photographs of any Lot listed on the Website as a complete and exhaustive description of an item. The photograph and description of the item are intended to be used as a guide only and should not be used to form a final opinion of an item’s suitability. All Lots sold through this Website are sold on an “as is” basis with no warranty.

b) Some Auctioneers may allow viewing of Lots prior to the auction and it is your responsibility as the Auction Bidder to decide whether to view the Lot in person or rely on the accuracy of an item’s description and photographs prior to bidding.

c) You accept and acknowledge that the Auctioneer (not Auction News) is solely responsible for all representations, guarantees, and warranties made with respect to all Lots sold via the Website, including without limitation: 

i. description of Lots;

ii. photographs of Lots;

iii. statements relating to the quality, fitness for purpose, and authenticity of Lots; and

iv. Statements relating to the title, legality, and safety of Lots.

d) Any dispute arising from inaccurate or misleading Lot descriptions or photographs is a matter between the Auction Bidder and the Auctioneer and any complaints should be directed to the relevant Auctioneer (not us).

9.   Conditions of bidding

a) When you bid on a Lot during a timed online auction conducted on our Website, you are making an offer to buy the item at the price you bid. If your bid is the winning bid amount, you are legally obliged to purchase the item and pay for it.

b) Upon successful purchase, the Lot will be at the Auction Bidder’s or your risk until delivered as agreed between the Auction Bidder and you. We have no responsibility for the delivery of any Lot.

c) Please note any bids entered by you do not include the Buyer's Premium or VAT or any additional charges that may be charged by the Auctioneer.

10.  Bidding charges

a) We do not charge you for use of the Website or submitting bids.  

b) Auctioneers may, at their discretion, require you to place a bidding deposit before you are able to bid or bid above a certain amount.  

c) You accept and acknowledge that any commission or other charges that the Auctioneer may make are a matter between you and the Auctioneer and are not the responsibility of Auction News. It is your responsibility (prior to participating in an auction) to make yourself aware of all and any relevant charges that may be made by the Auctioneer.

11.  Prohibited bidding practices

a) The placing of bids by persons known to the Auctioneer / Vendor in order to artificially inflate the price of the lot being sold (known as Shill Bidding) whether manual or automated, is illegal and strictly prohibited on the website.

b) Any Auction Bidder who knowingly colludes in Shill Bidding will have their access to the Website withdrawn and/or Account suspended.

c) You must not participate or attempt to participate in any of the following bidding practices:

i. submit bids on Lots where you are the Vendor or the Auctioneer;

ii. persuade or encourage any person to bid on your behalf; and/or

iii. contact other bidders prior to the full conclusion of the sale of the Lot.

12.  Bids made in error

a) You should take every care when submitting a bid. If you make a bid in error, you should contact the Auctioneer immediately and ask if your bid can be withdrawn.

b) Withdrawal of the bid will be entirely at the discretion of the Auctioneer and cannot be guaranteed.

13.  Terms of payment

a) The payment of any fees in relation to a Lot purchased must be paid to the Auctioneer in accordance with their terms and conditions of the auction.

14.  Collection, Packing, Delivery, and Storage

a) We do not provide any packing, delivery, or storage services.

b) It is your responsibility to arrange any packing, delivery, and storage services you require with the Auctioneer.

c) Please note Auctioneers may have a collection deadline for the collection of Lots purchase. You should check this deadline with the Auctioneer to avoid any unforeseen storage costs.

15. Our liability

a) If you have any dispute, claim, action, or right against an Auctioneer, you must pursue this independently and without recourse to Auction News. 

b) Nothing in these Conditions limits any liability which cannot be legally limited, including liability for:

i. death or personal injury caused by negligence;

ii. fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; and

iii. any other liability which cannot be limited or excluded under applicable law.

c) Without prejudice to 16(b) you agree that you will not hold us responsible for any loss, liability, or damage that you might incur or otherwise suffer as a result of the following: 

i. Unavailability of the Website. Access to the Website is not guaranteed and may be interrupted or become unavailable at any time.

ii. Bids that are delayed or fail to be received, processed, or accepted due to technical issues.

iii. Bids made in error, in which case we are under no obligation to correct or resubmit such bids. 

iv. Special, indirect, and direct losses, negligence, consequential damage, loss of reputation, goodwill, contract, profits, revenues, and all other losses arising out of our agreement with you.

v. Use of this Website. 

d) Each party acknowledges that the allocation of risk and responsibility in these terms is reasonable because it reflects:

i. that it is not within our control how, and for what purposes, you use the Services

ii. that we have not developed the Services specifically for you

iii. that while we follow good industry practice, it is not economically possible for us to exhaustively test the software that supports the Services for every possible scenario

16.  Interruption of Service, force majeure, and termination

a) Whilst we aim to provide an uninterrupted Service, unfortunately, this is not always possible due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control. This may include, but is not limited to: 

i. failure of our or your internet service provider

ii. a distributed denial-of service attack (where hackers deliberately overload networks with data in an effort to disable them) 

iii. lightning, flood, severe weather, fire, explosion, terrorist activities, pandemic or epidemic

iv. industrial disputes.

b) We reserve the right to temporarily suspend the web service without notice to carry out repairs, maintenance, or improvements. We will endeavour to keep these periods to an absolute minimum and to off-peak hours where possible, however, we will not be liable if the Website is unavailable at any time.

c) Wherever possible, we will provide advance warning on our Website of any known or planned interruptions and will try to ensure any interruption is kept to a minimum.

d) We will not be responsible or liable for any losses, delays or failures in the performance of our obligations attributed to any cause beyond our reasonable control including, without limitation, strikes, work stoppages, accidents, acts of war or terrorism, civil or military disturbances, pandemics or epidemics, nuclear or natural catastrophes or acts of God, and interruptions, loss or malfunctions of utilities, the internet, communications or computer software and hardware services. 

e) If clause 16(d) applies we shall use reasonable efforts to resume performance as soon as practicable under the circumstances.

f) In addition to any other suspension and/or termination rights we may have under these Conditions, we may terminate your access to the Website and/or use of the Account if you breach any term of these Conditions and fail to remedy that breach (where remediable) within seven days of us notifying you to do so.

17.  Viruses and hacking

a) Except where we have acted negligently. we are not responsible for any loss or damage to your computer system or data that might occur as a result of using the Website.

b) We will make every effort to test and check the Website for computer hacks, viruses, and other forms of malicious code, however, it is your responsibility to ensure that your computer systems and data are adequately protected from such attacks and you have suitable antivirus software in place.

18.  Intellectual Property Rights

a) We are the owner or the licensee of all Intellectual Property Rights in our Website, and the material published on it. 

b) You may print off one copy and download extracts, of any page(s) from our Website for your personal reference. You must not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded in any way and you must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences, or any graphics separately from any accompanying text. 

c) If you print, copy or download any part of our Website in breach of these terms of use, we reserve the right to disable and/or terminate your use of the Website without notice and you must, at our request, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.

d) Our status and that of any identified contributors, as the authors of material on our Website must always be acknowledged. You must not use any part of the materials on our site for commercial purposes without obtaining prior written authorisation from us.

e) Using our Services does not give you ownership of any Intellectual Property Rights in our Services, Website, and/or the content that you access. You may not use content from our Services unless you obtain permission from its owner or are otherwise permitted by law. These Conditions do not grant you the right to use any branding or logos used in our Services.

f) If you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services for which you own Intellectual Property Rights, you will continue to retain ownership of those rights. We reserve the right to disable and/or terminate without notice the accounts of users who may be infringing the Intellectual Property Rights of others. 

g) If you believe that your Intellectual Property Rights have been infringed in any way, please contact us providing all the relevant information.

         By email: support@AuctionNews.com 

         By Post: Auction News Limited, 6 Somme Road, Derby DE22 2NP

19.  Data protection

a) When processing your Personal Data will comply with all applicable requirements of the Data Protection Laws.

b) Our privacy policy explains how we will collect, use, process, share and retain your Personal Data. For further information regarding our processing activities please click here https://auctionnews.com/privacy.

20.  About these Conditions

a) We may vary these Conditions at any time by posting a revised version on our Website. Changes will not apply retrospectively and amended terms and conditions shall become effective immediately for new Auction Bidders and from 30 days from the date of posting for existing Auction Bidders.

b) If you do not agree to the modified Conditions, you should discontinue your use of the Services and the Website.

c) If there is any inconsistency between these terms and auction-specific additional terms, these Conditions will prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.

d) Unless it expressly states otherwise, these Conditions do not give rise to any rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of the Conditions.

e) If any provision or part-provision of these Conditions is or becomes invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, it shall be deemed deleted, but that shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the rest of the Conditions. If any provision of these Conditions is deemed deleted under this clause, the parties shall negotiate in good faith to agree on a replacement provision that, to the greatest extent possible, achieves the intended commercial result of the original provision. 

f) These Conditions constitute the entire agreement between the parties and supersede and extinguish all previous agreements, promises, assurances, warranties, representations, and understandings between them, whether written or oral, relating to its subject matter.

g) You may not transfer this agreement for our Services to anyone else without our prior written permission.

h) Any provision of these Conditions that expressly or by implication is intended to have effect after termination (or expiry) of our agreement shall continue in full force and effect.

i) These Conditions and any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with it or its subject matter or formation shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England. 

j) Each party irremovably agrees that the courts of England shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with these Conditions or its subject matter or formation.