Welcome to Trade Me, New Zealand's own online trading community. These terms
and conditions are intended to assist keep Trade Me a safe place to trade.
1.1 Acceptance of terms and conditions: The terms
and conditions are the terms on which Trade Me Limited offers you access to the
Services and the Website. By registering as a member of Trade Me you accept
these terms and conditions. If you do not accept these terms and conditions,
you must refrain from using the Services.
1.2 Amendment of terms and conditions: These
terms and conditions may be amended in whole or in part by Trade Me from time
to time. Amendments will be effective immediately upon posting of the amended
terms and conditions on this Website. You are responsible for ensuring you are
familiar with the latest terms and conditions. Your continued use of the
Services represents your agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions as
amended.
These terms and conditions were last updated 31 March 2009.
1.3 Terminology: In these terms and conditions,
the following expressions have the meanings set out:
'item', 'items' means goods or property that may be bought or sold through the auction or
classified process;
'member' means a registered member of Trade Me;
'Services' means any one or more of the services offered by Trade Me Limited from time
to time, including online auctions, classifieds, message boards, sms alerts
and any other service that Trade Me may offer;
'we', 'us' and 'our' are a reference to Trade Me Limited;
'you' and 'your' are a reference to you;
'Website' means any Trade Me website through which the services are offered;
'listing' means a listing on the Website through which you offer, negotiate, buy, sell or advertise any item or job, whether by auction or classified;
'seller' includes any person placing a listing.
SPECIFIC WARNINGS
2.1 The services: Trade Me provides a venue to
introduce members who want to buy and sell items. Trade Me does not take any
part in the sale of items other than by providing our Website as a venue for
members. If a bid is accepted by a seller, a contract of sale will be formed
between the buyer and the seller directly. We do not act as agent for either
party and do not participate in any sale or transaction between you and other
members, including where you use the credit card service. If you use the credit card service, we simply pass on payments made by one member to another. As a result, even though some of the services are being referred to as an
auction, Trade Me is not an auctioneer (whether under the Auctioneers Act 1928
or otherwise).
2.2 At your own risk: Transactions and all other
contact between you and other members are conducted entirely at your own risk.
You agree that Trade Me takes no responsibility or liability for any misconduct
of any of its members including, without limitation, members that have
registered under false pretences or who attempt to defraud you. Trade Me gives
no undertakings, representations, or warranties in relation to items sold or
listed on the Website, including:
about ownership of any item;
as to the content, safety, description, worthiness, quality, or legality of
the items that are listed on the Website;
as to the accuracy or truth of listings;
that any item will meet your requirements or expectations; or
about the ability of members to complete a transaction, including credit card transactions.
2.3 Disclaimer: You expressly understand and
agree that:
your use of the services is at your sole risk. The Website and services are
provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the maximum extent
permitted by law and without limiting clause 2.2, Trade Me disclaims and
excludes all implied conditions or warranties, including, but not limited to,
any warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and
non-infringement;
Trade Me does not warrant that i) the services provided will be
uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error free, or ii) that any information
(including feedback) provided on the Website is error-free or reliable;
no advice or information that is obtained by you from Trade Me or anyone
else shall create any warranty by Trade Me that is not expressly stated in the
terms and conditions; and
responsibility for the content of advertisements appearing on this Website
(including hyperlinks to advertisers' own websites) rests solely with the
advertisers. The placement of such advertisements on the Website does not
constitute Trade Me's recommendation or endorsement of the advertised product
or service. Each advertiser is solely responsible for any representation made
in connection with its advertisement.
while Trade Me may facilitate payment for some items by credit card,
Trade Me is in no way involved in the transaction itself,
and responsibility for any refund rests with the seller.
while Trade Me has systems in place to reduce the risk of credit card fraud,
Trade Me is not responsible for protecting members from credit card fraud.
Trade Me’s fraud protection systems may from time to time block legitimate credit
card payments. In these cases payment will need to be made by other means.
2.4 Liability: You agree that, to the maximum
extent permitted by law, any and all liability and responsibility of Trade Me
to you or any other person under or in connection with these terms and
conditions, or in connection with the services, this Website, another Member's
acts or omissions, or your use of or inability to use, the services or this Website,
is excluded regardless of whether such liability arises in contract, tort
(including negligence), equity, breach of statutory duty or otherwise. Trade
Me's liability and responsibility is excluded in respect of any and all loss or
damage, whether direct or indirect, including, without limitation, loss of
profits, loss of data, loss of business or anticipated savings, general and
special damages, and consequential and incidental loss.
2.5 Indemnity: You agree to release, indemnify
and keep indemnified us from and against all actions, claims, costs (including
legal costs and expenses), losses, proceedings, damages, liabilities, or demands
suffered or incurred by us to any person arising out of or in connection with
your failure to comply with these terms and conditions, your failure to
complete a transaction, your use of Trade Me's message boards,
your sale or attempted sale of an item prohibited under clause 4.2(d), or
arising out of any content or item you submit, post, transmit, or make
available through the Services.
2.6 Breach: Without limiting any other rights and
remedies available to Trade Me, Trade Me may limit your activities on the Website,
remove your bids or listings, warn other members of your actions, issue a
warning to you, suspend or terminate your membership, or refuse to provide our
Services to you if you breach these terms and conditions or where Trade Me
considers it appropriate.
3.1 Becoming a Member: Becoming a member is free.
You may only register as a member if you are resident in New Zealand or
Australia and can form a legally binding contract that is enforceable against
you. For example, you must be 18 years old. By registering as a member, you
warrant that you can form a legally binding contract.
3.2 Accurate Information: You warrant that you
have provided complete, accurate and current personal information when
registering as a member. You must maintain and update your personal information
held by Trade Me to ensure it is kept current at all times. Trade Me may phone or mail you to verify these details. You must not
register as a member under multiple identities or personas (whether false or
not). However, at Trade Me's discretion, you may create a business membership in addition to your personal membership.
3.3 Termination of membership: Trade Me reserves
the right to decline to register or to terminate your membership without
entering into further discussions with you. Without limiting the foregoing,
Trade Me may terminate your membership if a serious complaint or multiple
complaints are received about you from other members, if you breach these terms
and conditions, if you impersonate another member, or if we, at our sole discretion,
deem your behaviour to be unacceptable. Members who have registered under
multiple aliases will have all of their aliases disabled.
3.4 Security of your login information: You are
responsible for keeping your login information, including your email address
and password, secret and secure. Without limiting the foregoing, you agree:
not to permit any other person to use your user name or membership; and
not to disclose, or provide to any other person, your password, email
address, date of birth or any other information in connection with your membership that may allow them to gain access to your
membership.
3.5 Emails and newsletters: Trade Me will send you emails relating to your membership, transactions and other activities on the Website,
and for promoting and marketing other Trade Me products and services to you. Trade Me may also send regular electronic newsletters to
members. Newsletters will contain clear and obvious instructions for how you can unsubscribe from the mailing list.
GENERAL RULES
4.1 General
All listings, bids or communications made through Trade Me shall be made in
good faith.
You must not damage, interfere with or harm the Website or Services, or
any network, or system underlying or connected to them, or attempt to do so.
You may not use a robot, spider, scraper or other unauthorised automated means to access the Website
or information featured on it for any purpose.
You shall not list your email address, phone number or any other contact detail
within the description of listings, listing comments and/or questions, in your
member profile, or in the Trade Me message boards.
Not withstanding 4.1d above, you may enter your appropriate contact details in the relevant
contact detail fields of those listing categories which specifically provide for those details,
i.e. Motors, Property, Jobs and classifieds.
You must list auctions and classifieds in New Zealand dollars and include GST
in the price (except when listing commercial property for lease, which excludes GST).
All tax obligations are the responsibility of the seller and/or
the buyer (as the parties determine).
You must not complete a transaction outside of the Trade Me process or
otherwise seek to avoid Trade Me's success fees. Attempts by you to avoid fees,
including through multiple memberships, premature auction withdrawal, or
otherwise, may result in Trade Me suspending or terminating your membership at
the discretion of Trade Me.
Contracts for the sale of land must be in writing to be legally enforceable.
You must not use the Services or the Website to promote items for sale outside
the Services.
You are responsible for any actions taken through your membership. Trade Me memberships are not transferable and therefore can not be sold, leased, lent or
traded.
4.2 Your obligations as a seller
Sellers must be located in New Zealand or Australia. Sellers outside of these
countries are not permitted to sell on Trade Me. Australian sellers must accept payment
into their own domestic New Zealand bank account as one of their available
payment options. Sellers should not send items to an address that is outside New Zealand and Australia.
You will only enter listings that are accurate, current, complete, and include
all relevant information about the terms of sale, payment terms, shipping
methods and who bears the cost of shipment. You must list an item in one
category only which must be the most appropriate category for your item.
You will only place listings for items that exist and are to be sold. You will
not list items that you are not legally entitled to sell or that are not in
your possession. You will not sell or offer services. In the case of automobiles that are offshore or in transit to
New Zealand you must be a registered motor vehicle trader and hold clear authority to sell such vehicles before
being able to list them. You must also clearly indicate that such vehicles are
offshore or in transit in the listing. Any land listed for sale must be in New Zealand.
You must not list anything that is illegal, offensive (including anything of a defamatory,
pornographic, or racially or ethnically objectionable nature), stolen, or
unsafe, anything which infringes copyright or other intellectual property
rights, items which have been illegally imported or which would require illegal
import or export in order to complete the transaction, or any item of which the
sale is prohibited by, or violates any, law. You are responsible for ensuring
that any listing by you does not breach this clause 4.2(d). You agree that
Trade Me may disclose your personal information, including your name and
contact details, to the relevant authorities, parties and/or the applicable
intellectual property right holders (or their representatives) if we consider
that you are in breach of this clause 4.2(d) at any time.
To protect your images, we will watermark with our logo any images you upload to your listings. You must ensure
you hold the copyright or are otherwise licensed to use any images you add to your listings.
When you list an item for auction on Trade Me, you should do so with the
intention of selling this item through the site. Therefore you should not
advertise your item through another forum. If you remove a listing for an
auction you will incur a non-refundable withdrawal
fee, regardless of the reason.
Trade Me classifieds may be used by individuals or businesses to list specific items or jobs only and must
not be used for multiple or generic item or job listings. You must not place multiple listings for a single
item or job.
Your listing may only contain a URL for a website that contains further information
on the item you have listed. This website must not offer any items for
sale, or contain contact details. You must not use Trade Me listings to promote
a business or website other than one for sale in your listing.
You must not use the Services or the Website to sell items that are of a
speculative nature including, but not limited to, pyramid, surf-for-free, or
similar schemes.
You must not manipulate prices through ghost-bidding or assuming multiple roles
in a single transaction.
For auctions, you must sell to the highest bidder if the reserve price is met.
You must only sell to a bidder who is not the highest bidder after reasonable
attempts have been made to contact the winning bidder without success.
For classifieds, you may choose to sell to any buyer at your discretion.
You will only list adult rated content (videos, magazines, DVD's, etc) in the
Adult category. Adult content listed in non-adult categories will be removed or
moved to the Adult category.
Listings are not pre-screened for content. Trade Me reserves the right to
remove any listing that it deems unsuitable or in breach of the terms and
conditions.
You agree to your email address being supplied to the buyer when your auction closes.
You must promptly forward the listed item to the successful buyer on completion
of the transaction.
You must not charge unreasonable amounts for shipping and packaging costs.
The sale of films, videos, DVDs, VCDs and laser disks is covered by the Films,
Videos and Publications Classification Act 1993. It is an offence to sell any
of these items if they have not been examined and classified by the appropriate
agencies. The offence carries a maximum penalty of $3,000 per publication. If
any publication was sold, and deemed to be objectionable and where the seller
knew the publication was objectionable, the maximum penalty consists of 10
year's imprisonment per publication. Therefore, when listing these items for
sale, you must include within your listing, the New Zealand classification
rating and all information on the classification label.
The sale of firearms and ammunition remotely on Trade Me is within the provisions
of section 43A of the Arms Act 1983. It is an offence to sell by mail order a firearm
or any ammunition for a firearm otherwise than pursuant to a written order signed by
the purchaser and bearing an endorsement signed by a member of the Police stating that
the member of Police has inspected the purchaser's firearms licence and is satisfied that
the purchaser is a fit and proper person to purchase that firearm or ammunition. Sellers
must sight the firearms licence of the buyer, or for remote sales must receive written
confirmation signed by Police confirming the buyer holds a valid firearm's licence. Forms
are available at any police station.
You may only list "A" category firearms, in sporting configuration, as defined by the Arms
Act 1983. You may not sell firearms that require additional license endorsements to purchase
or large capacity magazines.
You may only sell firearms that are already in New Zealand. Overseas members may not buy or
sell firearms on the site. Only one firearm may be advertised per listing.
Trade Me is a registered Car Market Operator under the Motor Vehicle Sales Act
2003. If you are selling a motor vehicle on Trade Me, you are required to ensure
that the buyer of the motor vehicle takes the motor vehicle free of any security interest.
If you are selling a car online by auction, you must attach to the motor vehicle, in a prominent
position, a Consumer Information Notice (CIN). In particular, you must state on the CIN any
security interest registered over the motor vehicle.
If you sell six or more vehicles in a year, you are likely to be a motor vehicle trader and must
be registered. Motor Vehicle Traders selling cars online by auction must attach a CIN to their listing
(e.g. through a photo) and provide the CIN to the successful buyer. For more information visit the Motor
Vehicle Traders Register website.
To help maintain quality listings, Trade Me reserves the right to suspend sellers who
list over 500 auctions per week where the sell through rate of these auctions averages
less than 10% over four weeks. Sell through rate is calculated as the auctions sold divided
by auctions listed, not including classifieds.
4.3 Your obligations as a buyer
You must be located in New Zealand or Australia to buy on Trade Me. People
outside of these countries are not permitted to purchase items on Trade Me.
Your bids are not retractable once the auction has closed.
You must only place a bid if you intend to buy the relevant item at the bid price entered.
Reasonable allowances should be made for postage where applicable.
If you are notified that your bid has been successful, you must complete the
transaction in the manner specified. By making a bid, you warrant and represent
that you have the legal right to enter into and complete the transaction.
You must make full and prompt payment for any item you buy.
You agree to your username and the amount of your bid being publicly shown on
the Trade Me Website. You also agree to your email address being supplied to the seller when you win an auction.
If your bid is successful and you do not pay for the item, you will receive a
warning from Trade Me if the seller complains about you. After 3 such
complaints, Trade Me may suspend or terminate your membership.
You must only access the Adult category if you are at least 18 years old.
You may not bid on an auction that has been listed by a family member,
flatmate, friend or any member that is personally known to you, in order to
raise the price of that auction.
If you use the PayNow facility to pay by credit card, you agree to:
attempt to resolve the issue with the Seller first, and to inform
Trade Me and co-operate fully and reasonably to resolve any problem transaction
before requesting a chargeback from your card issuer or bank.
return the goods (with original packaging) should you seek
a refund from the Seller in the event that they are not as described or arrive
damaged.
4.4 Feedback
Feedback you provide on other members must not contain offensive, defamatory or
inappropriate language. Trade Me reserves the sole right to determine what is
considered offensive, defamatory or inappropriate language.
You may only give member feedback that relates to a specific transaction. You
must not post feedback on a transaction that does not relate to that specific
transaction.
You must not post feedback about yourself or include any contact details or
personal information in your feedback.
Feedback is provided for the sole purpose of facilitating trading between
members on the Trade Me Website. You must not market or export any feedback to
any venue other than the Trade Me Website. Linking to your Trade Me feedback
from other buying and selling websites will be considered a breach of our terms
and conditions.
FEES AND ACCOUNTS
5.1 Trade Me Listing Fees and Success Fees
Trade Me charges fees for the use of the Website as a venue.
Trade Me's current fees are listed on our
fees page in the help section.
Any non-commission listing fees are charged at the time of listing and are not
refundable. Trade Me may (at our sole discretion) refund a commission or
success fee charged on completed auctions if the sale is not successfully
completed, provided that a member follows our defined refund process. Trade Me
will only issue refunds in the form of credit to the Trade Me account of the
member. Cash refunds will not be issued. Credits on accounts with Trade Me are
not transferable between members.
Trade Me reserves the right to change the fees charged for any of our Services
at any time. In the event that we introduce a new service, the fees for that
service are effective at the launch of the service, unless otherwise stated.
If you are a New Zealand resident, then all fees are inclusive of GST and in
New Zealand dollars unless otherwise stated. If you are not a New Zealand
resident, then all fees are, unless otherwise stated, in New Zealand dollars
and do not include GST. Unless otherwise stated in these terms and conditions,
no interest or other financial charges will be applied to Trade Me account
balances.
Trade Me reserves the right to investigate queries regarding the refund of
success fees with bidders, other members, Internet Service Providers, and any
other relevant party.
Before listing an item, you should review Trade Me's fees to ensure you are
aware of the fees that you will incur.
You must pay the fees immediately upon demand by Trade Me.
5.2 Trade Me Accounts
Trade Me maintains credit accounts for each member and from which members must
pay fees including payment of advance listing options. Trade Me accounts may not
be used for the payment of items sold using the Services.
Any payment to your Trade Me account of an amount less than $10 incurs a $2
handling fee that is payable to Trade Me.
You must settle any negative account balance immediately. Trade Me reserves the
right to take action against you to recover outstanding debts. You are liable
for all expenses (including legal fees) that Trade Me incurs when collecting
that debt.
If your membership is terminated Trade Me will refund the balance of your
credit account, less a $5 manual processing fee that is payable to Trade Me.
Consequently, no refund will be made if the account balance is below $5. If
your membership is removed due to breach of our terms and conditions it is at
our discretion whether you are eligible for a refund. Promotional giveaways of
Trade Me credits, bonus credits, or any free credits gifted to the member on
registration will not be refunded.
If you have not logged on to the Website for a period of 18 months, any unused balance on your account is forfeited to Trade Me and your
membership will be suspended.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
6.1 System Integrity: Trade Me will use its
reasonable endeavours to ensure the availability of the Website and Services,
subject to any downtime required for maintenance. However, Trade Me takes no
responsibility for any system unavailability, or for any loss that is incurred
as a result of Website or Services being unavailable. Further, Trade Me
assumes no responsibility for the corruption of any data or information held by
Trade Me.
6.2 Resolution of disputes: As Trade Me is not a
party to any sale or transaction between you and another member, you agree not
to involve, or attempt to involve, Trade Me in any dispute or in the resolution
of disputes that arise between you and another member as a result of the
Services provided, other than as provided in clause 4.3 i (i).
6.3 Trade Me Message Boards: Trade
Me provides Message Boards for the use of Trade Me members. The
Message Boards may not be used to promote auctions, websites or
any commercial or business activity. Trade Me is not responsible for any of the
opinions expressed in the Message Boards. By posting a message
to the message board you agree to take full legal responsibility
and liability for your comments, including for offensive or defamatory
statements.
6.4 Force Majeure: Without prejudice to clause
2.3(a), Trade Me has no liability for any lack of performance, unavailability
or failure of the Services or the Website, or for any failure of Trade Me to
comply with these terms and conditions where the same arises from any cause
reasonably beyond the control of Trade Me.
6.5 No Waiver: If we do not exercise or enforce
any right available to us under these terms and conditions, it does not
constitute a waiver of those rights.
6.6 Partial Invalidity: If any provision of these
terms and conditions becomes or is held to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal
for any reason, and in any respect, that provision shall be severed from the
remaining terms and conditions, which shall continue in full force and effect.
6.7 Governing Law: These terms and conditions are
governed by the laws of New Zealand. You submit to the non-exclusive
jurisdiction of the Courts of New Zealand.
6.8 Intellectual Property Rights: Trade Me (and
its licensors or suppliers, as the case may be) owns all proprietary and
intellectual property rights in the Website (including text, graphics, logos,
icons and sound recordings) and the software and other material underlying and
forming part of the Services and the Website.
You may not without our prior written permission, in any form or by any means:
Adapt, reproduce, copy, store, distribute, print, display, perform, publish or create derivative works from any part of this Website; or
Commercialise, copy, or on-sell any information, or items obtained from any part of this Website.
Buzzy Bee is a registered Trade Mark and is used with the permission of Lion Rock Licensing Ltd.
6.9 Entire agreement: These terms and conditions
supersede all previous conditions, understandings, commitments, agreements and
representations whatsoever whether oral or written, and constitutes the entire
agreement, between the parties, relating to the subject matter of these terms
and conditions.
6.10 Privacy: Trade Me collects personal
information about you through your use of the Services and the Website,
including:
your registration details; and
information relating to your use of the Website and the content you access.
You agree that Trade Me may use this personal information to assist us to
provide the Services to you, for internal research purposes, to verify your
identity, for promoting and marketing other Trade Me products and Services to
you, and for any other use that you authorise. You agree to your membership's trading history being published in your feedback.
We will not sell or allow third parties to access your personal information without your consent.
We release account and other personal information only when we believe release is appropriate to comply
with law; facilitate court proceedings; enforce or apply our terms and conditions; or protect
the rights, property, or safety of Trade Me Limited, our users, or others. Government agencies with statutory roles enabling them to request information from us include but are not restricted to the Police, Inland Revenue Department and Ministry Of Economic Development. You may contact Trade Me to ask whether information has been provided to government agencies.
If you intend to take Disputes Tribunal proceedings against another member and you require that member's contact details in order to take such proceedings, Trade Me will release those details to you if you make a Statutory Declaration stating that you require that member's contact details for the sole purpose of taking Disputes Tribunal proceedings. You may obtain a Statutory Declaration for this purpose by contacting Trade Me or the Disputes Tribunal.
