CovertCandy^TM website users terms

• IMPORTANT

CovertCandy^TM is a platform to buy and sell items using credits instead of money. We want to make finding items a fun and social experience. Our Terms of Business are about the relationship between you and CovertCandy^TM. So that we are clear about where we stand and what we expect from each other, please take the time to read them carefully as they affect your legal rights. You cannot use the CovertCandy^TM website unless you agree to these terms.

These terms were last updated on 28th August 2007 and apply to everyone using the website. We have gone to considerable trouble to make them easy to understand and fair to both of us. Whilst they will apply until they are amended (we reserve the right to amend them from time to time on one month's notice except that changes apply immediately to new users and to all users in case of emergency), we are open to feedback on them and we may take your comments on board the next time we review them. We also reserve the right to alter our services at any time on one month's notice (except in case of an emergency).

CovertCandy^TM is a free service and in order to be able to continue to offer the service free we have to protect ourselves against liability as much as possible, so if you are uncomfortable with the level of responsibility by CovertCandy^TM, you should not become a member.


• PLEASE SUPPORT THE FREE COVERTCANDY^TM SERVICE

CovertCandy^TM is a free service and we depend on you to make it work, so if you want this free resource to continue it is important that we have your support in building and maintaining a great service that gives you the maximum choice when you are buying and selling goods. Following the rules and terms below is a vital part of making this site work. Thank you for your cooperation.


• WHO OWNS COVERTCANDY^TM?

CovertCandy^TM is owned and operated by CovertCandy Limited, a company registered in England & Wales, number 06086905, whose trading address is Flat 1, 29 Wolsey Road, London, N14QG and whose registered office is The Bristol Office, 2 Southfield Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, BS9 3BH.


• COVERTCANDY^TM TRADEMARK

CovertCandy^TM is the trademark of CovertCandy Limited. We are always delighted when people want to help us spread the name and your help in that will benefit CovertCandy^TM and you. However, as we hope you understand, all rights in the name are reserved by the company and you may not use our trademark or logo without our written permission.


• BUYING AND SELLING THROUGH COVERTCANDY^TM

The practical steps on how to buy and sell on CovertCandy^TM are already clearly laid out on the homepage of the CovertCandy^TM website (www.covertcandy.co.uk). The legal aspects of how it works are set out here so that everyone is clear about their rights and responsibilities.


• SELLING - LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE MECHANICS

When you want to sell something, you list it online and can upload a picture that you have taken of the object in question (see below regarding the use of pictures). Once you have checked it you are warned that after that point you cannot make any changes. Also we advise you to print off a copy of your entry for your records. Whilst you cannot change it after that point, your entry can always be pulled down at any time until a sale is agreed, but it means you have to list it again if you decide to resell.

In legal terms, what this means is that your listing is not technically an 'offer' under English law - it is what the legal beagles call "an invitation to treat" (just like when you go into a shop and see things on the shelf - the shop is not obliged to sell it to you and you make the offer by going to the till and they accept when they ring it in and take your payment).

What this all means to you is that when you list something, you are free to accept or decline any offer and no-one can force you to sell it to them. You can look at their rating and you may decide you don't want to sell to them because they are unreliable or else you may simply change your mind in which case please remove the entry immediately so that the CovertCandy^TM website is always up-to-date.

If you do agree a sale on CovertCandy^TM, you agree to deliver the item promptly.


• RECEIVING & SPENDING YOUR CREDITS

If you accept an offer for your item, you then get the credits allocated to your account but you cannot spend them until the buyer confirms they have received the goods in question. Normally this will not be a problem but in case your buyer doesn't acknowledge receipt, we strongly recommend you send the goods by recorded delivery. If the buyer doesn't confirm having received your goods within 30 days of the request being accepted the credits will automatically move into your available balance.


• PAYING FOR DELIVERY/RETURNS

As no money changes hands, the seller pays for the delivery of the goods and if the buyer returns the goods they bear the cost of doing so but if they have a legitimate reason for doing so (if the goods are defective for example), we recommend you offer to pay as this is more likely to please a buyer and get you good ratings even though the sale did not go ahead. Clearly it makes sense to do this and it is only fair. We are keen to promote good conduct on the CovertCandy^TM website as it benefits everyone.


• BUYING

If you spot something you want to buy and have enough credits to pay for it, you can go ahead and make an offer to a seller. Bear in mind that if the seller accepts the request, your balance is checked again at this point to see if you still have enough credits to purchase the item. As you can see from the terms about selling (above), the seller is not technically 'offering' to sell, just advertising that they are open to offers. They can withdraw at any time, so please bear this in mind when you are exchanging messages with a seller otherwise you may get upset when someone decides not to proceed with a sale.

If your offer is accepted, your account is debited immediately though the seller cannot spend the credits until you confirm that you have received the goods. Therefore please ensure that you click received on the 'items ive requested' page when you receive the item. If the item is faulty, you must deal with the seller directly.

Please note that we reserve the right to release credits where the seller produces evidence that the goods have not been sent - normally we advise that Recorded Delivery is sufficient proof. This does not necessarily mean you have them but we have to be fair to both buyers and sellers and feel this makes the most sense. It is your responsibility to arrange delivery to an address at which you know the people who may sign for the goods so you know they are safe. If you choose an address where other people live or work, this may not be possible. The buyer's address we send to the seller's private email is the address that the buyer has last stated is his/her current address. However, we cannot ensure this address is up to date, so for this reason it remains down to communication between the buyer and seller to ensure the safe delivery of an item. We cannot be held responsible for providing an incorrect address.


• NO RIGHT TO CANCEL

As sales between members are private sales, buyers have no right to cancel once the seller has accepted their offer - at this stage you have a binding agreement to sell. In practice no-one is going to sue to enforce the sale but we ask all members to respect other members' legal rights otherwise the whole basis for CovertCandy^TM is lost and its effectiveness will be compromised.

Also bear in mind you will receive negative feedback which will compromise your ability to sell future items your selling.


• DISPUTES BETWEEN BUYERS & SELLERS

CovertCandy^TM gives you a great free platform for buying and selling goods so we cannot get involved in disputes between buyers and sellers - we hope you understand: if we were to get involved, it would take a lot of time and that would cost money which would mean we would have to charge for the service. However, we do have an automated system to resolve postage problems for when the buyer has exhausted all other means and still hasn't received the item they've purchased. A buyer can make an official complaint about a seller anytime between 10-30 days after the request has been accepted. As soon as the buyer makes an official complaint the website automatically informs the seller of the complaint and gives him/her 7 days to respond. If the seller doesn't respond during this period the credits for the item will return to the buyer. The seller has 3 options in response to the claim: -


1. The item has been sent but I have no proof that I sent it or it has been received. If it doesn't arrive within the response time I accept that the credits will return to the buyer.
2. I haven't sent the item and do not intend to send it. I accept that the credits will return to the buyer.
3. I have proof that I have sent the item and that it has been received.

This final response is the only time we get involved. When the user makes this response it takes them to a separate page where they must attach the proof that they have sent the item.


• COMPLAINTS

If you have a complaint about anything on the CovertCandy^TM website, please contact us by email via the 'Contact us' page. We will deal with complaints as fast as we can.

In particular, we ask you to help maintain the quality of the CovertCandy^TM website by bringing anything that does not reflect well on the service to our attention as fast as possible. This includes things that members are doing that is against these Terms of Business in any way.


• EARNING YOUR COVERTCANDY^TM REPUTATION

It is up to you to gain a good reputation on CovertCandy^TM so that people are likely to want to buy from you and sell to you. We have no control over what people say about you and are not responsible for the fairness of their comments. We ask all members to be fair however - what comes around goes around! Please don't spoil it for everyone by taking revenge on people on the website otherwise this great free resource will not last!


• THE CREDITS SYSTEM

CovertCandy^TM is like a small economy all of its own. We distribute top up credits to account for growth within CovertCandy^TM. We reserve the right not to do so in future. Otherwise, credits are earned by you by successfully selling items on CovertCandy^TM.

Whilst you estimate the real world value of the good when you sell, credits are NOT money and have no monetary value - for legal reasons one credit is deemed to be one peppercorn! This is because no money ever passes hands on CovertCandy^TM and so we collect none and the service is free - if people were to be able to start demanding cash for credits, it would close us down immediately. Credits can only be transferred from one CovertCandy^TM users account to another CovertCandy^TM users account by undertaking a transaction.

How it works is that you can spend your credits at any time while you are a member. As membership is free this should not be a problem. Only if you break our rules so seriously that we decide to end your membership will you lose the right to spend your credits. However, if you do lose that right, your only remedy is to ask for the peppercorns which we will be happy to send you!


• MEMBERSHIP OF COVERTCANDY^TM & CANCELLATION OF MEMBERSHIP

Membership of CovertCandy^TM is automatic and free. However, we reserve the right to cancel membership at any time for breach of these Terms of Business. Other sanctions for breach of these Terms of Business include deletion of requests and listings as well as suspension and removal of credits. We will not do so lightly but in order to preserve the quality of service for our members we may sometimes have to take tough decisions - clearly the way to avoid this is to behave appropriately at all times, to show respect to other members and to observe these Terms of Business.

Whilst we will aim to act fairly before terminating a membership, ultimately we reserve the right to cancel it at our discretion. Clearly, if we do that unfairly too often, our own reputation is as stake. On the other hand, if we set rigid rules about termination, it makes the whole thing impossible to manage, hence why it works on a mixture of trust and reputation both ways. We think that this way works and overall is fair to everybody. We hope you agree.

Membership is restricted to private individuals and is not for commercial purposes. If we find that a member is using CovertCandy^TM for commercial purposes of any sort, we will cancel their membership immediately. In particular, please do not use the CovertCandy^TM website to send unsolicited communications to other members.

If we decide to terminate your account for breach of our Terms of Business, you may not re-register. You do not have any right to have another membership.


• COVERTCANDY^TM AND YOUR PRIVACY

CovertCandy^TM is committed to open and transparent use of personal information, and our privacy policy applies to your personal information, so please read it carefully before becoming a member.


• PASSWORD SECURITY

Please make sure you do not disclose your password to anyone because you are responsible for anything done in your account whether it is done by you or not. Someone else could otherwise spend your credits or do something which loses you your membership and therefore your credits - they might do this by mistake or even on purpose so we recommend you keep it to yourself and if you believe your security has been compromised we recommend you change your password immediately. Equally, please make sure you chose a non-obvious password.


• YOUR PROMISES

You promise:


1. to observe these terms of use;
2. to indemnify us against all costs (including legal costs on a full indemnity basis) and liabilities CovertCandy^TM may incur as a result of you failing to observe any of these terms;
3. that you are over 18 years of age or that you are over 13 and have the permission of your responsible adult to use the CovertCandy^TM website and to enter into transactions with other members;
4. that you are the legal owner of any item you make available for sale on CovertCandy^TM;
5. you took the picture of the item you are offering for sale or have the permission of the person who did take it to use it on the CovertCandy^TM website;
6. any picture that purports to be of an item you are making available for sale is indeed a recent picture of the item and that the item has not materially changed since the picture was taken except insofar as your entry makes it clear how it differs;
7. that everything you say about any item you make available for sale on CovertCandy^TM is accurate and in no way misleading;
8. that anything you say in an entry for sale of an item and in any messages you send to another member is lawful and in no way illegal, immoral, offensive, discriminatory, harassing or in any way likely to damage the reputation of CovertCandy^TM;
9. that you will do nothing that is illegal and in particular you will not sell counterfeit goods on CovertCandy^TM;
10. that any content you upload including pictures had been passed through an up-to-date virus checker and that your content will not infect or otherwise cause any material adverse effect on the operation of the systems of CovertCandy^TM or any of its members;
11. that you will not use CovertCandy^TM to bombard, harass or stalk another member;
12. that you will not do anything that will undermine the rating system and make it less accurate and helpful as a tool for other members;
13. that you will not do anything that may tend to damage the reputation of CovertCandy^TM;
14. that you will not attempt to use the CovertCandy^TM website to collect ("harvest") email addresses.
15. you will only sell clothing items that identify with the categories within the add item page;
16. that you will not intervene with or disrupt the functioning of the CovertCandy^TM website in any way;
17. that you will not copy, reproduce or re-distribute the content of the CovertCandy^TM website without our prior written consent;
18. that you will not list the same item concurrently;
19. that you will not use the account of any other member to use the CovertCandy^TM website;
20. that you are who you say you are;
21. that you are a private individual - two or more people may not share a CovertCandy^TM account;
22. that you will never use other users personal information for any purposes other than for use within a transaction.


• RIGHT OF COVERTCANDY^TM TO ALTER CONTENT & FEEDBACK

CovertCandy^TM reserves the right:


• to suspend or permanently remove any listing without warning;
• to alter or edit any listing without warning but not to alter the number of credits sought for an item;
• to alter, amend or remove any feedback ratings that you may leave on the CovertCandy^TM website;
• to freeze or delete a users account;
• to debit or credit a user account as a result of a postal or other dispute.


• DOWNTIME

We will schedule planned downtime at off peak hours to minimise the disruption and inconvenience to members but we cannot guarantee access to the CovertCandy^TM website 100% of the time and can accept no responsibility for losses arising from any downtime.


• NO GUARANTEE OF AUTHENTICITY OF SELLERS OR BUYERS

CovertCandy^TM cannot investigate its members and we cannot therefore guarantee people are who they say they are or that their sale is legitimate. Please exercise due caution before trading with a fellow member and where possible look at their ratings in assessing their reliability. Even ratings may be inaccurate so we recommend you do not "put all your eggs in one basket"! We regret we cannot accept any responsibility for losses incurred as a result of trading with another member.


• OTHER LIMITATIONS ON COVERTCANDY^TM'S LIABILITY

In particular, to the extent it is possible to do so by law, all liability under these terms is limited to a maximum of £100 - this exclusion is of course not intended to limit the liability of CovertCandy^TM in the extremely unlikely event of death or personal injury caused by the negligence of its employees! Liability for refunds of credits is limited to the value of credit in peppercorns (see above under "The Credit System").


• NO LIABILITY FOR VIRUSES, ETC

CovertCandy^TM passes all its content through a reputable, up-to-date software system to scan for viruses, Trojans, worms and other things that can impact the use of a computer (together referred to as "viruses"). However, no system is 100% effective, so we cannot guarantee you will not acquire a virus by using the CovertCandy^TM website. Therefore you must protect yourself not only by maintaining your own software to protect your system but also by making sure you have anything important including the main system software backed up at all times. We regret we cannot accept any responsibility therefore for any losses you incur as a result of viruses acquired through the use of the CovertCandy^TM website.


• LINKED SITES

We allow links to other sites that may be interesting to our members (including advertisers). We do not have any say over what they do with their site, so when you go on it their terms apply and it is between you and the owners of that site if there is anything wrong - we can't get involved in any problems you have but we want to make sure our links are in the best interests of our members so do tells us about it.


• LINKING TO COVERTCANDY^TM

If you would like to provide a link to our site that would be great, but can you please check with us first. We reserve the right to say "no" if we don't want to for any reason.


• SOCIAL ASPECTS OF COVERTCANDY^TM

At CovertCandy^TM we recognise that members may strike up friendships and other relationships with other members. We are only too happy for members to make friends in this way but we urge you to exercise due caution since people may not be who they say they are on the Internet and their being a member of CovertCandy^TM is no guarantee of decency, reliability or honesty.

In particular, never agree to meet a member who is not already known to you anywhere but in public and always let someone you know who you are meeting, when and where and do not vary from the agreed plan. This is outside the purpose of the CovertCandy^TM but we are keen to support members by showing our concern for their safety. Other sites aimed at such encounters contain more detailed advice regarding meeting people you meet on the internet and we advise you to familiarize yourself with these before meeting strangers through CovertCandy^TM.


• WHOLE AGREEMENT

These terms are the whole agreement between us. Other things said in email or message exchanges between you and CovertCandy^TM are not intended to alter these terms unless stated expressly in writing.


• NO THIRD PARTY RIGHTS

No-one else other than you, the registered user/member and us, CovertCandy^TM, is intended to benefit from these terms.


• LAW & JURISDICTION