Introduction

This User Agreement set out the terms on which CariAuction offers you access to and use of our Services. You agree to comply with all of the terms of this User Agreement when accessing or using our website or auction services (“Services”).

Please be advised that this User Agreement contains provisions that govern how claims you and we have against each other are resolved (see Disclaimer of Warranties; Limitation of Liability and Legal Disputes provisions below). It also contains an Agreement to Arbitrate, which will, with limited exception, require you to submit claims you have against us or our agents to binding and final arbitration, unless you opt out of the Agreement to Arbitrate. Unless you opt out: (1) you will only be permitted to pursue claims against us or our agents on an individual basis, not as a plaintiff or class member in any class or representative action or proceeding and (2) you will only be permitted to seek relief (including monetary, injunctive, and declaratory relief) on an individual basis.

About CariAuction

CariAuction is a marketplace that allows users to sell and buy goods or services. The actual contract for sale is directly between the seller and buyer. CariAuction is not a traditional auctioneer. It is an e-auction provider.

While we may provide some guidance in our Services, thisguidance is solely for your information and you may decide to follow it or not. Also, while we may help facilitate the resolution of disputes through various programs, CariAuction has no control over and does not guarantee: the existence, quality, safety or legality of items advertised; the truth or accuracy of users’ content or listings; the ability of sellers to sell items; the ability of buyers to pay for items; or that a buyer or seller will actually complete a transaction.

Using CariAuction

In connection with using or accessing the Services you will not:

  • post, list or upload content or items in inappropriate categories or areas on our sites;
  • breach or circumvent any laws, third-party rights or our systems, policies, or determinations of your account status;
  • use our Services if you are not able to form legally binding contracts (for example, if you are under 18 years old), or are temporarily or indefinitely suspended from using our sites, services, applications or tools;
  • fail to pay for items purchased by you, unless you have a valid reason as set out in a CariAuction policy, for example, the seller has materially changed the item’s description after you bid, a clear typographical error is made, or you cannot contact the seller;
  • fail to deliver items sold by you, unless you have a valid reason as set out in a CariAuction policy, for example, the buyer fails to comply with the posted terms in your listing or you cannot contact the buyer;
  • manipulate the price of any item or interfere with any other user’s listings;
  • post false, inaccurate, misleading, deceptive, defamatory, or libellous content;
  • take any action that may undermine the feedback or ratings systems;
  • distribute or post spam, unsolicited or bulk electronic communications, chain letters, or pyramid schemes;
  • distribute viruses or any other technologies that may harm CariAuction or the interests or property of users;
  • use any robot, spider, scraper, data mining tools, data gathering and extraction tools, or other automated means to access our Services for any purpose, except with the prior express permission of CariAuction;
  • interfere with the working of our Services, or impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure;
  • export or re-export any CariAuction application or tool, except in compliance with the export control laws of any relevant jurisdictions and in accordance with posted rules and restrictions;
  • infringe the copyright, trademark, patent, publicity, moral, database, and/or other intellectual property rights (collectively, “Intellectual Property Rights”) that belong to or are licensed to CariAuction. Some, but not all, actions that may constitute infringement are reproducing, performing, displaying, distributing, copying, reverse engineering, decompiling, disassembling, or preparing derivative works from content that belongs to CariAuction or someone else;
  • infringe any Intellectual Property Rights that belong to third parties affected by your use of the Services or post content that does not belong to you;
  • commercialize any CariAuction application or any information or software associated with such application, except with the prior express permission of CariAuction;
  • harvest or otherwise collect information about users without their consent; or
  • circumvent any technical measures we use to provide the Services.

If we believe you are abusing CariAuction and/or our Services in any way, we may, in our sole discretion and without limiting other remedies, limit, suspend, or terminate your user account(s) and access to our Services, delay or remove hosted content, remove any special status associated with your account(s), remove, not display, and/or demote listings, and take technical and/or legal steps to prevent you from using our Services.

Fees

The fees we charge for using our Services are negotiated before auctions.

If you are a seller, you are liable for transaction fees arising out of all sales made using some or all CariAuction Services, even if sales terms are finalized or payment is made outside of CariAuction. In particular, if you offer or reference your contact information or ask a buyer for their contact information in the context of buying or selling outside of CariAuction, you may be liable to pay a final value fee applicable to that item, even if the item doesn’t sell, given your usage of CariAuction Services for the introduction to a buyer.

You must have a payment method on file when selling through CariAuction Services and pay all fees and applicable taxes associated with our Services by the payment due date. If your payment method fails or your account is past due, we may collect amounts owed by charging other payment methods on file with us, retain collection agencies and legal counsel, and, for accounts over 60 days past due, request alterntive means to deduct the amount owed. In addition, you will be subject to late fees. CariAuction, or the collection agencies we retain, may also report information about your account to credit bureaus, and as a result, late payments, missed payments, or other defaults on your account may be reflected in your credit report. If you wish to dispute the information CariAuction reported to a credit bureau  please contact us at CariAuction. If you wish to dispute the information a collection agency reported to a credit bureau regarding your CariAuction account, you must contact the collection agency directly.

Seller fees don’t purchase exclusive rights to item exposure on CariAuction, whether on a web page, mobile app, or otherwise. We may, in our sole discretion and without consent from, or payment, fee reduction, or other credit to, sellers, display third-party advertisements (including links and references thereto) or other content in any part of our Services.

Listing Conditions

When listing an item, you agree to comply with CariAuction’s policies and that:

  • You are responsible for the accuracy and content of the listing and item offered
  • Your listing may not be immediately searchable by keyword or category for several hours (or up to 24 hours in some circumstances). CariAuction can’t guarantee exact listing durations
  • Content that violates any of CariAuction’s policies may be modified, obfuscated or deleted at CariAuction’s discretion
  • We may revise product data associated with listings to supplement, remove, or correct information
  • We strive to create a marketplace where buyers find what they are looking for but results will depend on a variety of factors

Purchase Conditions

When buying an item, you agree to the rules and policies 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, your offer for an item is accepted, or if you have the winning bid (or your bid is otherwise accepted)
  • For motor vehicles and real estate, a bid or offer initiates a non-binding transaction representing a buyer’s serious expression of interest in buying the seller’s item and does not create a formal contract between the buyer and the seller
  • We do not transfer legal ownership of items from the seller to the buyer

International Buying and Selling; Translation

Sellers and buyers are responsible for complying with all laws and regulations applicable to the international sale, purchase, and shipment of items. If you purchase an item on a CariAuction site other than CariAuction.com, you are subject to the User Agreement of that other CariAuction site with respect to that particular purchase.

Content

When providing content using the Services (directly or indirectly), you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sub-licensable (through multiple tiers) right to exercise any and all Intellectual Property Rights (as defined above) you have in that content in connection with our provision, expansion, and promotion of the Services, in any media known now or developed in the future. To the fullest extent permitted under applicable law, you waive your right to enforce against CariAuction your Intellectual Property Rights in that content in connection with our use of that content in connection with our provision, expansion, and promotion of the Services.

You represent and warrant that, for all such content you provide, you own or otherwise control all necessary rights to do so and to meet your obligations under this User Agreement. You represent and warrant that such content is accurate. You represent and warrant that use of any such content (including derivative works) by us, our users, or others in contract with us, and in compliance with this User Agreement, does not and will not infringe any Intellectual Property Rights of any third party. CariAuction takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any content provided by you or any third party.

We offer product data (including images, descriptions and specifications) that are provided by third parties (including CariAuction users). You may use that content solely in your CariAuction listings. CariAuction may modify or revoke that permission at any time in our sole discretion. The product data includes copyrighted, trademarked and other proprietary materials. You agree not to remove any copyright, proprietary, or identification markings in the product data and not to create any derivative works based on that data (other than by including the data in your listings).

We try to offer reliable product data, but cannot promise that the content provided through the Services will always be available, accurate, complete, and up-to-date. You agree that CariAuction is not responsible for examining or warranting the listings or content provided by third parties through the Services, and that you will not attempt to hold us or our data providers liable for inaccuracies. As a seller, you agree to ensure that content directly associated with your listings is accurate.

The name “CariAuction” and other CariAuction marks, logos, designs, and phrases that we use in connection with our Services are trademarks, service marks, or trade dress of CariAuction. They may not be used without the express written prior permission of CariAuction.

Authorization to Contact You; Recording Calls; Analyzing Message Content

CariAuction may contact you using autodialed or pre-recorded calls and text messages, at any telephone number that you have provided us, to: (i) notify you regarding your account; (ii) troubleshoot problems with your account; (iii) resolve a dispute; (iv) collect a debt; (v) poll your opinions through surveys or questionnaires; or (vi) as otherwise necessary to service your account or enforce this User Agreement, our policies, applicable law, or any other agreement we may have with you. If you do not wish to receive such communications, you may change your communications preference at any time by sending a written notice to us.

CariAuction may, without further notice or warning and in its discretion, monitor or record telephone conversations you or anyone acting on your behalf has with CariAuction or its agents for quality control and training purposes, or for its own protection.

CariAuction’s automated systems scan and analyze the contents of every message sent through its messages platform, including messages between users, to detect and prevent fraudulent activity or violations of CariAuction’s User Agreement, including the incorporated terms, notices, rules, and policies. This scanning and analysis may occur before, during, or after the message is sent, or while in storage, and may result in your message being delayed or withheld. CariAuction may store message contents, including to conduct this scanning and analysis.

Privacy of Others; Marketing

If CariAuction provides you with information about another user, you agree you will use the information only for the purposes that it is provided to you. You may not disclose, sell, rent, or distribute a user’s information to a third party for purposes unrelated to the Services. Additionally, you may not use information for marketing purposes, via electronic or other means, unless you obtain the consent of the specific user to do so.

Disclaimer of Warranties; Limitation of Liability

We try to keep our 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 CariAuction’s applications may not occur in real time. Such functionality is subject to delays beyond CariAuction’s control.

You agree that you are making use of our Services at your own risk, and that they are being provided to you on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis. Accordingly, to the extent permitted by applicable law, we exclude all express or implied warranties, terms and conditions including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

In addition, to the extent permitted by applicable law, we (including our parent, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and our and their officers, directors, agents and employees) are not liable, and you agree not to hold us responsible, for any damages or losses (including, but not limited to, loss of money, goodwill or reputation, profits, other intangible losses, or any special, indirect, or consequential damages) resulting directly or indirectly from:

  • the content you provide (directly or indirectly) using the Services;
  • your use of or your inability to use our Services;
  • pricing, shipping, format, or other guidance provided by CariAuction;
  • 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 CariAuction 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 a breach of the User Agreement; or
  • your need to modify practices, content, or behavior, 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.

Regardless of the previous paragraphs, if we are found to be liable, our liability to you or to any third party is limited to the greater of (a) any amounts due up to the price the item sold for on CariAuction (including any applicable sales tax) and its original shipping costs, (b) the amount of fees in dispute not to exceed the total fees, which you paid to us in the 12 months prior to the action giving rise to the liability, or (c) US$100.

Release

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. In entering into this release you expressly waive any protections (whether statutory or otherwise) that would otherwise limit the coverage of this release to include only those claims which you may know or suspect to exist in your favor at the time of agreeing to this release.

Indemnity

You will indemnify and hold us (including our affiliates and subsidiaries, as well as our and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents) harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable legal fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your breach of this User Agreement, your improper use of CariAuction’s Services or your breach of any law or the rights of a third party.

Legal Disputes

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS AND WILL HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL IMPACT ON HOW CLAIMS YOU AND CARIAUCTION HAVE AGAINST EACH OTHER ARE RESOLVED.

You and CariAuction agree that any claim or dispute at law or equity that has arisen, or may arise, between you and CariAuction (including any claim or dispute between you and a third-party agent of CariAuction) that relates in any way to or arises out of this or previous versions of this User Agreement, your use of or access to the Services, the actions of CariAuction or its agents, or any products or services sold or purchased through the Services, will be resolved in accordance with the provisions set forth in this Legal Disputes Section.

Applicable Law

You agree that the laws of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, without regard to principles of conflict of laws, will govern this User Agreement and any claim or dispute that has arisen or may arise between you and CariAuction, except as otherwise stated in this User Agreement.

Agreement to Arbitrate

You and CariAuction each agree that any and all disputes or claims that have arisen, or may arise, between you and CariAuction that relate in any way to your use of or access to the Services, the actions of CariAuction or its agents, or any products or services sold, offered, or purchased through the Services shall be resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration, rather than in court. Alternatively, you may assert your claims in small claims court, if your claims qualify and so long as the matter remains in such court and advances only on an individual (non-class, non-representative) basis. The local law on arbitration governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Agreement to Arbitrate.

Prohibition of Class and Representative Actions and Non-Individualized Relief

YOU AND CARIAUCTION AGREE THAT EACH OF US MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS. UNLESS BOTH YOU AND CARIAUCTION AGREE OTHERWISE, THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE OR JOIN MORE THAN ONE PERSON’S OR PARTY’S CLAIMS, AND MAY NOT OTHERWISE PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF A CONSOLIDATED, REPRESENTATIVE. ALSO, THE ARBITRATOR MAY AWARD RELIEF (INCLUDING MONETARY, INJUNCTIVE, AND DECLARATORY RELIEF) ONLY IN FAVOR OF THE INDIVIDUAL PARTY SEEKING RELIEF AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT NECESSARY TO PROVIDE RELIEF NECESSITATED BY THAT PARTY’S INDIVIDUAL CLAIM(S). ANY RELIEF AWARDED CANNOT AFFECT OTHER USERS. If a court decides that applicable law precludes enforcement of any of this paragraph’s limitations as to a particular claim for relief, then that claim (and only that claim) must be severed from the arbitration and may be brought in court, subject to your and CariAuction’s right to appeal the court’s decision. All other claims will be arbitrated.

Arbitration Procedures

Arbitration is more informal than a lawsuit in court. Arbitration uses a neutral arbitrator instead of a judge or jury, and court review of an arbitration award is very limited. However, an arbitrator can award the same damages and relief on an individual basis that a court can award to an individual. An arbitrator should apply the terms of the User Agreement as a court would. All issues are for the arbitrator to decide, except that issues relating to arbitrability, the scope or enforceability of this Agreement to Arbitrate, or the interpretation of Section 1 of this Agreement to Arbitrate (“Prohibition of Class and Representative Actions and Non-Individualized Relief”), shall be for a court of competent jurisdiction to decide.

A party who intends to seek arbitration must first send to the other, by certified mail, its intention to seek arbitration. CariAuction will send any Notice to you to the physical address we have on file associated with your CariAuction account; it is your responsibility to keep your physical address up to date. All information called for in the Notice must be provided, including a description of the nature and basis of the claims the party is asserting and the relief sought.

If you and CariAuction are unable to resolve the claims described in the notice on the intention to arbitrate within 30 days after the notice is sent, you or CariAuction may initiate arbitration proceedings. In the event CariAuction initiates an arbitration against you, it will send a copy of the completed form to the physical address we have on file associated with your CariAuction account. Any settlement offer made by you or CariAuction shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator.

The arbitration hearing shall be held in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in which you reside or at another mutually agreed location. If the value of the relief sought is $10,000 or less, you or CariAuction may elect to have the arbitration conducted by telephone or based solely on written submissions, which election shall be binding on you and CariAuction subject to the arbitrator’s discretion to require an in-person hearing, if the circumstances warrant. In cases where an in-person hearing is held, you and/or CariAuction may attend by telephone, unless the arbitrator requires otherwise.

The arbitrator will decide the substance of all claims in accordance with applicable law, including recognized principles of equity, and will honour all claims of privilege recognized by law. The arbitrator shall not be bound by rulings in prior arbitrations involving different users, but is bound by rulings in prior arbitrations involving the same CariAuction user to the extent required by applicable law. The arbitrator’s award shall be final and binding and judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.

Costs of Arbitration

Payment of all filing, administration and arbitrator fees will be governed by the arbitrator’s  rules, unless otherwise stated in this Agreement to Arbitrate. If the value of the relief sought is $10,000 or less, at your request, CariAuction will pay all filing, administration, and arbitrator fees associated with the arbitration. Any request for payment of fees by CariAuction should be submitted by mail to the arbitrator along with your Demand for Arbitration and CariAuction will make arrangements to pay all necessary fees directly to the arbitrator. If (a) you willfully fail to comply with the  requirement discussed above, or (b) in the event the arbitrator determines the claim(s) you assert in the arbitration to be frivolous, you agree to reimburse CariAuction for all fees associated with the arbitration paid by CariAuction on your behalf that you otherwise would be obligated to pay under the arbitrator’s rules.

Severability

With the exception of any of the provisions in Section 1 of this Agreement to Arbitrate, if an arbitrator or court decides that any part of this Agreement to Arbitrate is invalid or unenforceable, the other parts of this Agreement to Arbitrate shall still apply.

Opt-Out Procedure

IF YOU ARE A NEW USER OF OUR SERVICES, YOU CAN CHOOSE TO REJECT THIS AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE (“OPT-OUT”) BY MAILING US A WRITTEN OPT-OUT NOTICE (“OPT-OUT NOTICE”). THE OPT-OUT NOTICE MUST BE POSTMARKED NO LATER THAN 30 DAYS AFTER THE DATE YOU ACCEPT THE USER AGREEMENT FOR THE FIRST TIME. YOU MUST MAIL THE OPT-OUT NOTICE TO CARIAUCTION.

You must complete and mail this to us in order to opt out of the Agreement to Arbitrate by providing your name, address, and the user ID(s) and email address(es) to which the opt-out applies. This procedure is the only way you can opt out of the Agreement to Arbitrate. If you opt out of the Agreement to Arbitrate, all other parts of this User Agreement and its Legal Disputes Section will continue to apply to you. Opting out of this Agreement to Arbitrate has no effect on any previous, other, or future arbitration agreements that you may have with us.

Future Amendments to the Agreement to Arbitrate

Notwithstanding any provision in the User Agreement to the contrary, you and we agree that if we make any amendment to this Agreement to Arbitrate (other than an amendment to any notice address or site link provided herein) in the future, that amendment shall not apply to any claim that was filed in a legal proceeding against CariAuction prior to the effective date of the amendment. The amendment shall apply to all other disputes or claims governed by the Agreement to Arbitrate that have arisen or may arise between you and CariAuction. We will notify you of amendments to this Agreement to Arbitrate by posting the amended terms on www.CariAuction.com at least 30 days before the effective date of the amendments.

Judicial Forum for Legal Disputes

Unless you and we agree otherwise, in the event that the Agreement to Arbitrate above is found not to apply to you or to a particular claim or dispute, either as a result of your decision to opt out of the Agreement to Arbitrate or as a result of a decision by the arbitrator or a court order, you agree that any claim or dispute that has arisen or may arise between you and CariAuction must be resolved exclusively in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. You and CariAuction agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the courts located within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago for the purpose of litigating all such claims or disputes.

General

Except as otherwise provided in this User Agreement, 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. In our sole discretion, we may assign this User Agreement, and in such event, we will post notice on www.CariAuction.com .

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 take action against all breaches of this User Agreement.

We may amend this User Agreement at any time by posting the amended terms on www.CariAuction.com. Our right to amend the User Agreement includes the right to modify, add to, or remove terms in the User Agreement. We will provide you 30 days’ notice by posting the amended terms. Your continued access or use of our Services constitutes your acceptance of the amended terms. We may also ask you to acknowledge your acceptance of the User Agreement through an electronic click-through. This User Agreement may not otherwise be amended except through mutual agreement by you and an CariAuction representative who intends to amend this User Agreement and is duly authorized to agree to such an amendment.

If you act on behalf of a business entity, you represent that you are authorized to act on behalf of such business and bind the business to this User Agreement. Such account is owned and controlled by the business entity. No agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer or franchiser-franchisee relationship is intended or created by this User Agreement.

The User Agreement and all terms and polices posted set forth the entire understanding and agreement between you and CariAuction, and supersede all prior understandings and agreements of the parties.

The following Sections survive any termination of this User Agreement: Fees, Content, Disclaimer of Warranties; Limitation of Liability; Release, Indemnity, Legal Disputes, and General.