User Agreement

Welcome to bid4bees.co.uk.  We are a company within the United Kingdom conducting our business as an on-line auction site for the utilisation by registered users to buy and sell live bees, hives, honey and all products relating to apiculture.

To enable you to become a member of bid4bees.co.uk you must read and accept all of the terms and conditions in this User Agreement and the documents referred to herein, including Privacy Policy and Failure to Transact Policy plus the links contained herein. This User Agreement constitutes a legally binding agreement between you and bid4bees Ltd    upon acceptance of successful registration.

You are bound by this Agreement upon registering and therefore confirm that you are 18 years or over and can form legally binding contracts.

1. Membership

Members agree to one User Name and one User ID only. If any Member attempts to acquire further memberships, we will take action in removing excess accounts and the original account will be suspended and or terminated at our discretion.

2. Detail / Information Provided

Any information provided by Members will be treated in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Members must provide a valid and active email address in order to hold an account, and this will be validated by our selves.  If we are unable to contact you through the email address you provide, then your account will be suspended until we are able to contact you through a valid and current e-mail address.

Members may change their registered email address details in the account page under personal page, as long as those details include a current and valid email address.

3. Auctions

All auctions are based on the English Auction format.

Definition: The auction is opened when the seller sets a suggested opening bid, which is the starting price or reserve price for the item on sale. The seller then accepts increasingly higher bids from Members who have registered. This auction is transparent as the identity of all bidders is disclosed during the auction. The highest bidder at any given moment is considered to have the standing bid, which can only be overridden by a higher bid from another Member. If no Member challenges the standing bid prior to the auction ending, the Member with the standing bid becomes the winner, and the item is sold to the highest bidder at a price equal to his or her bid.

3.1 Bidding & Winning

Members of bid4bees.co.uk agree to complete the sale of an item listed if you are the highest bidder, or are the highest bidder and have met the minimum/reserve price of an auction listing, as appropriate.
When you place a bid on a listed auction item, you agree to be bound by the terms of sale in the seller’s listing, provided that the terms do not violate this User Agreement and are lawful.
Questions regarding individual listings must be clarified PRIOR to placing a bid on an item, as once you have placed a bid you will be contractually obliged to complete the transaction if that bid is successful. Misunderstandings or unclear listings will not invalidate a sale or purchase.

bid4bees.co.uk will not guarantee or accept any liability for any item listed or the content contained within a listing.
Purchases through bid4bees.co.uk are entirely at the risk of the winning bidder.

Members selling live bees agree to:
       

        * Abide by the National and/or European legislation that applies to bee health.
           UK Legislation : Bees Act 1980
          

           Imports and Exports
           For details of countries outside the European Union from where bee imports are permitted and for details of the import procedures, please contact DEFRA Plant Health Division for an information pack. Details are as follows;
           Plant Health Division, Foss House, Kings Pool, 1-2 Peasholme     Green, York, Y01 7PX. Tel: 01904 455186 Fax: 01904 455198
           As an importer you need an official health certificate to import queen bees from Third Countries outside the EU.
           European Union (EU) Legislation : At the European level, the Directive on animal health requirements for trade in bees is called the 'Balai Directive' 92/65/EEC.
          

For more and complete information about the import and export of bees within the UK and EU please go to the BeeBase website (https://secure.csl.gov.uk/beebase/public/Legislation/legis.cfm)

Members selling live bees agree to make sure that the bees in question:
       

        * come from an approved third country
        * come from an EU approved plant
        * are accompanied by appropriate documentation, i.e. commercial, animal and public health certification. Consignments may only be imported through a BIP. Further information is available on the Animal Health pages      (http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/int-trde/imports/iins/apiculture/index.htm)
        * That all movements are at the risk of the purchaser. No liability for movements can be held by bid4bees.co.uk. Any queries relating to transport legalities must be directed to DEFRA and not bid4bees.co.uk and by acceptance of  the User Agreement the Member accepts full and complete liability.

bid4bees strongly recommends that buyers segregate/quarantine new bees for a minimum period of 14 days to ensure the health of current stock held on their property.

bid4bees strongly advices its memebers  to only buy and/or sell live bees from within their country of recidence and preferably from a local supplier in order to minimize the spread of disease, virusses and parasites, and keep native bee species alive and healthy. All international trade in live bees and bee produce conducted via bid4bees shall be closely monitored, and reported to the relevant authorities at our sole discretion.

Members importing plants and seeds from outside the EU agree to:
       

follow the procedures below to allow the clearance of plant health restricted material (i.e. material required to be accompanied by a Phytosanitary Certificate on entry to the EU):
   

    *  All importers involved in the import of Plant Health controlled material must be registered with Fera Plant Health. Traders and Agents should first register with the RPAi PEACH System and they will automatically be registered       with Fera Plant Health, before they receive their PEACH registration details. Failure to register will result in a delay in Customs clearance.
   

    * Pre-notify each import of plant health restricted consignments on the electronic PEACH system before arrival. This notification should be at least 4 working hours if brought in by air and in all other cases (including ship) at least 3 working days. Consignments which are not pre-notified will not be Customs cleared.

      Please be aware that all consignments of plants, potatoes, grain and soil will be automatically held for inspection. If the consignments arrive 'out of hours' (including at weekends) they will be held until an Inspector is next available (which may be during the next period of normal working hours). This also applies to consignments of aquatic plants, so it is advised that any live fish in these consignments are packaged and identified separately.
   

    * The importer must store the imported material in an approved place (and be liable for any costs) until officially inspected. To minimise delays during inspections you should ensure that all boxes/containers are clearly and accurately labelled to distinguish between restricted and non-restricted material. This will speed up the process for both importers and officials.
   

    * Importers are legally obliged to pay for charges relating to physical inspection, documentary and identity import checks.
   

    * Importers must notify a Plant Health Inspector of the presence of, or suspected presence of, prohibited or controlled plant pests.
   

    * To apply to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for authority for an alternative approved place of inspection, other than at point of entry (i.e. temporary storage facility, Customs Freight Simplified Procedure (CFSP) etc).

for more information about importing and exporting plants and seeds please go to the FERA website (http://www.fera.defra.gov.uk/plants/plantHealth/imports/index.cfm)

Members selling second hand equipment agree to:

    * Disinfect and/or fumigate all second hand equipment prior to dispatching to the buyer, to stop the spread of disease and infection.

For more information about disinfecting used hives please go to the NBU website (https://secure.csl.gov.uk/beebase/pdfs/fbleaflet.pdf)

All sales of second hand equipment conducted via bid4bees shall be monitored, and reported to the relevant authorities at our sole discretion

3.2 Listing & Selling

Sellers are required to list items for sale in the correct category with accurate and appropriate descriptions and provide such information as we may request. Terms of the sale must be set down clearly within your listing, along with relevant/appropriate pictures, of which you have the right to use and have no copyright issues. Any member using false, inaccurate or misleading descriptions or photographs fraudulently or to enhance/increase bids during an auction/sale will have their account suspended and/or terminated. Sellers are not allowed to use any part of the item listing procedure to advertise personal or business telephone numbers, websites or email addresses. Personal or business telephone numbers, websites or email addresses found on an item's listing will be removed at our sole discretion.
Arrangements for pick up or delivery must only be conducted via the onsite messaging service. Any members using this messaging service for business transactions outside the bid4bees website will have their membership terminated.

Sellers accept that any item listed may be cancelled upon application to bid4bees.co.uk providing that the listing has no bids placed on the item.  In order to cancel a listing you must apply through the 'contact us' link at the bottom of the home page and include the item number, User ID, password and reason for cancellation.  You agree to pay a charge for cancellation of your listing as set out below and in applying for the cancellation authorise us to debit this charge to your account.

Charges:

£3.00 cancellation charge on any item.

Items that have been listed and have bids on MAY NOT BE CANCELLED (except in exceptional circumstances).  Any application to cancel an item with bids must be applied for as above including the reason for cancellation and the charges will also apply to these listings. Sellers are obliged to complete a transaction with the highest bidder (or the highest bidder who has met the minimum/reserve price), except where the highest bidder fails to make payment in accordance with the terms of sale detailed in the auction listing.

bid4bees.co.uk may suspend and / or terminate your use of the site if we consider that you are participating in any fraudulent activity.
In accepting this User Agreement, if you are selling you agree to be bound to complete the transaction of an item to the winning bidder. Winning bidders that refuse to complete a transaction will be dealt with as described in our Failure to Transact Policy.

You agree not to sell or offer for sale:

•    Any live bees , honey or other bee products that are in direct violation of the National and International Trade regulations as detailed in the ‘bidding and winning’ section of this User Agreement.
•    Any material of an adult/explicit nature including content either written or photographic
•    Any firearms, knives or item, which could be considered as ‘an offensive weapon’ or alike.
•    Any dangerous items including items likely to cause harm to persons or property.

Members selling live bees agree to:

•    Abide by the National and International Trade regulations as detailed in the ‘bidding and winning’ section of this User Agreement.
•    Refund/replace any dead/diseased bees, transported through a courier service, upon arrival with the purchaser. However, it is the responsibility of the purchaser to prove the bees were received in a dead/sick state to the seller before a refund/exchange can take place.

Members selling honey/royal jelly agree to:

•    Abide by the full body of UK food law
•    Abide by the correct labeling regulations as set out by The Honey (England) Regulations 2003 Weights and Measures Act 1985  

Honey and other bee products intended for human consumption may only be imported provided it:
•        * comes from an approved third country
•        * comes from an EU approved plant
•        * is accompanied by appropriate documentation, i.e. commercial, animal and public health certification. Consignments may only be imported through a BIP. Further information is available on the Animal Health pages (http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/int-trde/imports/iins/apiculture/index.htm)

For more information on Import conditions for honey See DEFRA website
For a List of EU approved countries from which the import of honey is permitted, please got to the Food Standard Agency website

Sellers also agree not to list personal and/or business websites including telephone numbers as advertising in their individual listing(s).  For an advertising quotation please apply through bid4bee.co.uk via the 'contact us' link on the home page.

3.3 Members Using Courier Services to move Live Bees

Members Agree:

•    To adhere to and be bound by third party agreements which are outside bid4bees.co.uk.
•    Comply with current container sizes in relation to age/size/quantity of bees being moved.
•    Not to hold bid4bees.co.uk liable for losses incurred whilst using services provided by any third party.
•    Obtain certificates and authorizations for movement, where necessary.

NO LIABILTY CAN BE PLACED UPON bid4bees.co.uk FOR DEAD OR DESEASED BEES or Guarantee the authenticity or safety of any item sold which is listed on the website.

Members are responsible for ensuring that they comply with the relevant laws relating to the sale, transportation, welfare and safety of live bees and bid4bees.co.uk accepts no liability for failure to comply, nor for any loss or damage caused as a result of a Member’s failure to comply.

4. The Feedback System

Members buying through bid4bees.co.uk may rely on the feedback system put in place in order to decide whether or not they trust the seller enough to place a bid on an item, which in turn could lead to a binding contract between buyer and seller. For this reason bid4bees.com have introduced a feedback system for buyers and sellers to use. In order to maintain the accuracy of the feedback system it is essential that Members do not take any action which might undermine or otherwise interfere with the feedback system.

Feedback is only permitted between buyer and seller. Members are unable to leave feedback for themselves as Members who hold more than one account will be in direct violation of this User Agreement, and their account(s) will be suspended and/or terminated.

Feedback is permanent and cannot be altered once left. Thus enabling both parties to leave relevant feedback. Whilst this feedback does not decrease the feedback score neither will it increase it, making a fairer system for all involved.
Sellers and buyers are able to leave positive, neutral and negative feedback for each other. By accepting this User Agreement Members agree to leave fair and honest feedback to enable buyers to transact with sellers who are achieving satisfactory standards.

We urge Members to try and work in conjunction with each other to resolve any difficulties before leaving negative feedback.
Any Member acquiring a feedback score of –3 will have their account terminated.

5. Interference with the Website

Any changes to the bid4bees.co.uk website are solely undertaken by the authorised administrators. Any Member who engages in interference, damage, sabotage and the like will have their account terminated and prosecution may be brought against them.

Members are encouraged to report any problems, offensive content and policy breaches to us.

6. Listing Formats

•    Auction
A starting bid is placed when an item is listed and Members place further bids on the item in increments set by the seller until the auction is closed/finished.

•    Fixed Price
The seller lists a set price. When a buyer accepts this price by clicking the ‘buy now’ button, the listing is effectively closed/finished – there is no bidding.

•    Reserve Price
The minimum price a seller is prepared to accept for their item

•    Sealed Tender
The seller lists an item in the normal way, entering a guide price, and (optionally) a reserve price. No bid increment is specified. The guide price is displayed to bidders and any bid must be greater in value than the guide price. Bidders place bids throughout the auction. Current bid value and bid history are not displayed on the auction site. However, this information is available to the seller. At the end of the auction, the highest bid automatically wins. If a reserve price was set, this must be met in order for there to be a successful sale.

•    2nd Offers
Where an item, which has more than two bidders, finishes, the successful winning bid gets the item. However, if the seller has more of the same item they may give a 2nd Offer to the under bidder at the price bid by the under bidder. The under bidder has 24 hours to accept the offer, otherwise the offer lapses.

7. Fees

Registering and bidding on bid4bees.co.uk is free of charge.

Sellers agree to pay fees to list and sell items, as detailed in our Schedule of Fees which forms part of this Agreement. On acceptance of this Agreement sellers agree to pay to bid4bees.co.uk the listing fee, commission (not payable if an item does not sell), along with enhancement and feature fees (if applicable) pertaining to each individual listing when the item has been successfully listed. This fee will be automatically generated and sellers will be invoiced on a weekly basis. All invoices will be emailed on a weekly basis and all fees must be settled in full with 7 days. Your account balance can be viewed under My Account. It is the Members responsibility to make a payment to bid4bees.co.uk, fees are not collected automatically. Please click on the ‘make payment’ button to pay fees.

Any charge backs raised on members’ accounts in relation to fees will incur a £15.00 charge, which becomes immediately payable.

Unless otherwise stated, all fees are quoted in GB Pounds Sterling.
Any changes to the fee structure or charges will be placed on our ‘news’ section of the home page and will be effective 14 days from the date of posting.

Fees associated with auction listings are shown on the listing page, therefore the total fees will be reviewable and determined at the time of listing.

Sellers are responsible and liable for:

•    payment of fees (and associated fees i.e. charge backs) to bid4bees.co.uk.
•    Payment of any tax/VAT accrued through using bid4bees.co.uk to the relevant authorities.

8. Transactions though bid4bees.co.uk

bid4bees.co.uk promotes the meeting of Members for the purposes of buying and selling items listed for sale through an auction process.

bid4bees.co.uk are not directly involved in any transaction through the website and therefore are unable to control the authenticity of auction listings along with the condition, welfare and safety of items offered for sale. We cannot guarantee Members that transactions will actually take place as a result of an auction listing, or a winning bid though we will do everything in our power to bring about a successful transaction.

We advise Members to be cautious with transactions undertaken using bid4bees.co.uk as all use of bid4bees.co.uk is entirely at the risk of the Members. bid4bees.co.uk cannot be held responsible in any way for transactions between buyers and/or sellers either intentionally or unintentionally, and we cannot be held liable for typographical errors or misrepresentations contained in listings.

9. Shill Bidding

A ‘shill bid’ is a bid placed on an item by the seller or another person known to the seller (eg a friend, family member or other representative) in order to increase the price of the item under auction.
This practice is prohibited on bid4bees.co.uk. Any Member taking part, or being suspected of, taking part in shill bidding will have their account terminated with immediate effect.

10. Liability

bid4bees.co.uk will not be liable for use of their site in transactions between Members.

Members take full responsibility for the legality of their own actions when using bid4bees.co.uk in order to successfully sell and/or purchase goods.

Consumers rights are not affected.

Members confirm, upon acceptance of this Agreement, that bid4bees.co.uk cannot and will not be held liable for any claim made by any party as a result of use of our website and that bid4bees.co.uk cannot and will not be held liable for any losses incurred as a direct/indirect result of internet failures of any kind including technical failures or malfunctions.

11. Forum Rules

Everyone can access the bid4bees forum but only registered members can post or reply to threads.

The bid4bees forum's main purpose is focused on beekeeping and related topics and sharing information. While we will allow our members to stray (within reason) from the main topic(s), we expect all posted threads to stay within the related topics of each forum and thread.

Because the bid4bees forum operates within a real-time time frame, it is impossible for us to monitor all threads, or confirm the validity of information posted. We closely monitor the contents of messages, but please keep in mind that we cannot be held responsible for any messages posted. We do not vouch for or guarantee the accuracy or usefulness of any message, and cannot be held responsible for the contents of any message. The messages expressed on the bid4bees forum are the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of bid4bees or any entity associated with bid4bees. Any member who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact us immediately by email (info@bid4bees.co.uk). bid4bees has the right to remove any messages  it deems objectionable and we will do so if we determine that removal is necessary. Please note that this removal is a manual process and we may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately.

Members agree, through their use of this service, that they will not use the bid4bees forum to post any material which is by their knowledge false and/or slanderous, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise in violation of any law. You agree to be civilized and will treat other users of the forum as you would like to be treated yourself. You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless you own the copyright.

Personal attacks are deemed particularly un-cool. By all means disagree and debate a subject, we encourage openness and honesty. A heated debate usually implies people feel passionate about a certain subject, but no one on this forum is in a position where they can't be questioned or disagreed with.

Do not use the forum to communicate with other members about messages concerning the buying, selling and auctions conducted via the main site. If you want to discuss a subject with another member concerning these issues, please use the messaging service provided on the main site.

Though emoticons and bold, italic and underlined text options can be added to any thread, please keep in mind that they can never fully substitute actual body language and facial expression. Be therefore very careful and aware of any humorous and/or sarcastic remarks you might want to make. We appreciate members being humorous but please ensure your message will be interpreted as such.

bid4bees reserves the right to edit, delete, or move any message at our sole discretion. Members remain solely responsible for the content of their messages, and thereby agree to indemnify and hold harmless bid4bees, with respect to any claim based upon transmission of their message(s). Under no circumstances can a member start a thread asking why other threads were edited or deleted. Forum moderation is not up for public debate, such threads will be deleted and the thread starter warned.

You will not advertise a beekeeping related product, website URL or service on the bid4bees forum, and any chain letters, pyramid schemes, personal contact details and solicitations will be deleted.
bid4bees also reserves the right to reveal your identity (or any information available to us about you) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by you.

By posting on the forum you grant bid4bees, a nonexclusive irrevocable right to reuse your posting in any manner it sees fit without notice or compensation to you. Finally, bid4bees has the right to selectively ban individual users, and to delete all postings by a particular username in a single operation. We hope not to have to implement this right.

12. Agreement Amendments

This User Agreement may be amended from time to time and at our discretion. Amendments will be presented on the ‘latest news’ section within the home page and will be effective 3- 7 days from the date of posting.

CONFIRMATION OF YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THIS USER AGREEMENT

bid4bees.co.uk will begin supplying our service to you upon acceptance of this User Agreement. Unless you and bid4bees.co.uk agree to the contrary, you will be unable to cancel this Agreement under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (or any equivalent legislation within the UK/EU/US, Australia, and all other countries) once the supply of our services has begun.

By initialling the box below you are confirming that you:

•    Have read this User Agreement, Privacy Policy, Failure to Transact Policy, Schedule of Fees along with all of the links contained within (together “the User Agreement”).
•    Understand and accept the User Agreement in its entirety.
•    Agree to be bound by the User Agreement
•    Agree to report any misuse of bid4.bees.co.uk according to the terms of the User Agreement.
•    Are 18 years of age or older and can form legally binding contracts.
•    Accept that any abuse or misuse of bid4bees.com by you will result in your account being terminated and blacklisted.