ComputingStuff Marketplace RulesThe ComputingStuff Marketplace ("Marketplace") is an auction venue for buying and selling items and services. Leasing of any sort is prohibited.
In order to help transactions progress as smoothly as possible, the following Marketplace rules must be adhered to by all Members, Buyers and Sellers. A Member is any individual who has created an account on the ComputingStuff Forums. A Buyer is any Member who has placed a bid on an item or service listed in the Marketplace. A Seller is any Member who has listed an item or service for sale in the Marketplace. Any person not categorised as a Member, Buyer or Seller may not participate in the Marketplace. Members, Buyers or Sellers that are found to be in violation of these rules may be warned or suspended depending on the severity of the violation, their previous violation history and their conduct on other parts of this website at the discretion of a ComputingStuff Admin. This decision is final and may not be challenged.
Restrictions on Seller TypesOnly private Sellers, Sellers acting in their private capacity and not-for-profit organisations are permitted to offer their items or services for sale in the Marketplace. Commercial or other Sellers not listed previously are not permitted to advertise or offer their items or services for sale or lease in the Marketplace.
Restrictions on Listed ItemsAny item listed in eBay UK's list of
Prohibited and Restricted Items may not be offered for sale in the Marketplace.
Restrictions on Listing Items or Services at Multiple AuctionsItems or services listed in the Marketplace may also be listed for sale elsewhere, but if this is done, it must be made clear in the Marketplace listing.
Restrictions on Listing ContentsSellers are not permitted to include text, images or hyperlinks intended to boost their listing on search engines. This includes text that is deliberately too small to read or the same colour as the page background, making it invisible. Sellers are
also not permitted to directly include more than five images on each listing. More images can be included by linking to them.
Import and Export of GoodsPlease note that some listed items may be restricted for postage or import into some countries. It is the responsibility of the Buyer to check whether an item can be posted to his/her country of residence.Bidding ProcessIn order to buy an item or service from the Marketplace, a Member must bid for it along with other Members. Each auction can only contain one item or service, and will be open for seven calendar days from the day the listing is posted. During this time, any Member may bid for the item or service, as long as (s)he is logged into the ComputingStuff Forums at the time of the bid. A valid bid can be made by replying to the listing with a message containing solely the figure in UK Pounds Sterling that the Member is prepared to pay for the item or service. A bid may not be lower than or equal to any previous bid(s). Anonymous bids are not allowed. Automatic bidding up to a maximum price, as used on eBay, is not available, therefore each valid bid (as defined above) is the amount that the Buyer will pay if (s)he wins the auction, not the maximum amount that (s)he is willing to pay. Once the auction closes, the Buyer with the highest bid (usually the last bid) will automatically win the auction and be liable to pay the amount of the winning bid to the Seller.
Bid RetractionA bid is a binding contract. Except under special circumstances, bid retraction is not permitted. Bid retraction is only permitted if the Buyer in question accidentally enters a bid that is too high (for example adding an extra zero to make the bid £200 rather than £20), or if an unauthorised bid is made on a Member's behalf. In these cases, the Buyer must leave a reply explaining the situation. A ComputingStuff Admin will then mark the bid as retracted. For accidental bids, the Buyer must immediately leave a new bid for the correct amount. Not leaving a new bid will indicate invalid bid retraction, for which the Buyer may be suspended.
PaymentPayment methods may be discussed by the winning Buyer with the Seller by replying to the listing after the auction has ended. Recommended payment methods are
PayPal, cheque or face-to-face cash payment. Money transfers methods such as Western Union are not recommended because of the potential for fraud. The winning Buyer of an auction has a period of seven calendar days after the close of the auction in which to pay the Seller the amount of the winning bid, unless this period is extended by the agreements of both the winning Buyer and Seller. If the winning Buyer does not pay by the payment period, then this is classed as non-payment. Non-paying Buyers may be suspended.
Lost Auctions, Non-payment and Re-listing Items or ServicesIf an item or service does not attract any valid bids by the time it ends, or if payment is not made for won items or services within the time frame specified in these rules by the winning Buyer, then the auction is classified as lost. Sellers of items or services which lose at auction may re-list after seven days have elapsed since the end of the auction. Re-listed items and services are also governed by these rules. We recommend that items or services are not re-listed more than twice.
DeliveryOnce the winning Buyer has paid for the won item or service, the Seller of the item has a period of seven calendar days, excluding weekends and public holidays, in which to deliver the item or service paid for to the winning Buyer, unless this period is extended by the agreement of both the winning Buyer and Seller. Recommended methods of
item delivery are
Royal Mail,
Parcelforce,
DHL,
UPS,
FedEx,
Initial City Link or face-to-face delivery. If a Seller does not deliver by the payment period, then this is classed as non-delivery, and the winning Buyer must then reply to the listing with details. A ComputingStuff Admin will then take charge of the situation and attempt to resolve it by appropriate means. Non-delivering Sellers may be suspended.
Take4Free AuctionsThese are a different type of auction where the seller is offering his/her item or service for free, a little like
Freecycle. For the purposes of these rules, a Take4Free auction is classified as an auction with a set winning bid of £0. In a Take4Free auction, the first Member (subject to the rules governing Members bidding on items above) to reply with a date and time for pickup or details for delivery will automatically win the auction. Take4Free auctions must be free by definition, except for small fee which the Seller can charge for delivering items as opposed to the Buyer picking up. Take4Free auctions must be declared by appending "[Take4Free]" to the
auction listing's title.
User TypesAny Member, Buyer or Seller who is deemed by a ComputingStuff Admin to have violated these rules more than two times consecutively may have their forum user type changed to "Crap Haggler". This user type may only be removed when all ComputingStuff Admins are convinced that the user has changed his/her attitude.
Updates and AmendmentsThese Marketplace rules may be updated or amended from time to time. When this happens, the most recent set of amendments will be highlighted in red. A list of amendments is also kept on this page.
Constitution of RulesThe headings
and highlighting used on this page are for clarity only and do not constitute part of the rules. The list of amendments following these rules is for reference only and does not constitute part of these rules.
This is
version 1.3 of the ComputingStuff Marketplace Rules, implemented on
Monday, 28th December 2009 at
20:53.
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