Your User AgreementThe following describes the terms on which TheDentalAuction offers you access to our services. Introduction Welcome to TheDentalAuction. By using the services on the TheDentalAuction websites (TheDentalAuction.com and other related websites where this agreement appears) (the “Sites”), you are agreeing to the following terms, including those available by hyperlink, (the "Agreement" or "User Agreement") with TheDentalAuction and the general principles for the websites of our subsidiaries and international affiliates. If you have any questions, please refer to the Help sections on the Sites. Before you may become a member of TheDentalAuction, you must read and accept all of the terms and conditions in, and linked to, this User Agreement and the Privacy Policy. We strongly recommend that, as you read this User Agreement, you also access and read the linked information. By accepting this User Agreement, you also agree that your use of some TheDentalAuction-branded websites or websites we operate may be governed by separate user agreements and privacy policies. The agreement that applies on any of our domains and subdomains is always the agreement that appears on each website. This Agreement is effective on January 1st, 2007, for current users, and upon acceptance for new users. Using TheDentalAuction While using the Sites, you will not: post content or items in an inappropriate category or areas on the Sites; violate any laws, third party rights, or our policies; use the Sites if you are not able to form legally binding contracts, are under the age of 18, or are temporarily or indefinitely suspended from our Sites; fail to deliver payment for items purchased by you, unless the seller has materially changed the item's description after you bid, a clear typographical error is made, or you cannot authenticate the seller's identity; fail to deliver items purchased from you, unless the buyer fails to meet the posted terms, or you cannot authenticate the buyer's identity; manipulate the price of any item or interfere with other user's listings; circumvent or manipulate our fee structure, the billing process, or fees owed to TheDentalAuction; post false, inaccurate, misleading, defamatory, or libelous content (including personal information); take any action that may undermine the feedback or ratings systems (such as displaying, importing or exporting feedback information off of the Sites or for using it for purposes unrelated to TheDentalAuction); transfer your TheDentalAuction account (including feedback) and User ID to another party without our consent; distribute or post spam, chain letters, or pyramid schemes; distribute viruses or any other technologies that may harm TheDentalAuction, or the interests or property of TheDentalAuction users; copy, modify, or distribute content from the Sites and TheDentalAuction's copyrights and trademarks; or harvest or otherwise collect information about users, including email addresses, without their consent.
Abusing TheDentalAuction TheDentalAuction and the Community work together to keep the Sites working properly and the Community safe. Please report problems, offensive content, and policy violations to us. Without limiting other remedies, we may limit, suspend, or terminate our service and user accounts, prohibit access to our website, remove hosted content, and take technical and legal steps to keep users off the Sites if we think that they are creating problems, possible legal liabilities, or acting inconsistently with the letter or spirit of our policies. We also reserve the right to cancel unconfirmed accounts. Fees and Services Joining TheDentalAuction and bidding on listed items is free. We do charge fees for using other services, such as listing items. See Listing Policies for listing fees. When you list an item or use a service that has a fee you have an opportunity to review and accept the fees that you will be charged based on our Fees schedule, which we may change from time to time. Changes to that Policy are effective after we provide you with at least fourteen days' notice by posting the changes on the Sites. We may choose to temporarily change the fees for our services for promotional events (for example, free listing days) or new services, and such changes are effective when we post the temporary promotional event or new service on the Sites. Unless otherwise stated, all fees are quoted in U.S. Dollars. You are responsible for paying all fees and applicable taxes associated with the Sites in a timely manner with a valid payment method. If your payment method fails or your account is past due, we may collect fees owed using other collection mechanisms. (This includes charging other payment methods on file with us, retaining collection agencies and legal counsel, and for accounts over 180 days past due, deducting the amount owed from your PayPal account balance.) Content License When you give us content, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicensable (through multiple tiers) right to exercise the copyright, publicity, and database rights (but no other rights) you have in the content, in any media known now or in the future. (We need these rights to host and display your content.) Liability You will not hold TheDentalAuction responsible for other users' actions or inactions, including things they post. You acknowledge that we are not a traditional auctioneer. Instead, the Sites are a venue to allow anyone to offer, sell, and buy just about anything, at anytime, from anywhere, in a variety of pricing formats and venues, such as stores, fixed price formats and auction-style formats. We are not involved in the actual transaction between buyers and sellers. We have no control over and do not guarantee the quality, safety or legality of items advertised, the truth or accuracy of 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. We do not transfer legal ownership of items from the seller to the buyer, and nothing in this agreement shall modify the governing provisions of California Commercial Code § 2401(2) and Uniform Commercial Code § 2-401(2), under which legal ownership of an item is transferred upon physical delivery of the item to the buyer by the seller. Unless the buyer and the seller agree otherwise, the buyer will become the item's lawful owner upon physical receipt of the item from the seller, in accordance with California Commercial Code § 2401(2) and Uniform Commercial Code § 2-401(2). Further, we cannot guarantee continuous or secure access to our services, and operation of the Sites may be interfered with by numerous factors outside of our control. Accordingly, to the extent legally permitted, we exclude all implied warranties, terms and conditions. We are not liable for any loss of money, goodwill, or reputation, or any special, indirect, or consequential damages arising out of your use of our Sites. 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 paragraph, if we are found to be liable, our liability to you or to any third party is limited to the greater of (a) the total fees you paid to us in the 12 months prior to the action giving rise to the liability, and (b) $100. Release If you have a dispute with one or more users, you release us (and our officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures and employees) 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. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code §1542, which says: "A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor." Access and Interference The Sites contains robot exclusion headers. Much of the information on the Sites is updated on a real-time basis and is proprietary or is licensed to TheDentalAuction by our users or third parties. You agree that you will not use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access the Sites for any purpose without our express written permission. Additionally, you agree that you will not: take any action that imposes or may impose (in our sole discretion) an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure; copy, reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, distribute, or publicly display any content (except for Your Information) from the Sites without the prior expressed written permission of TheDentalAuction and the appropriate third party, as applicable; interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Sites or any activities conducted on the Sites; or bypass our robot exclusion headers or other measures we may use to prevent or restrict access to the Sites.
PrivacyWe do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties for their marketing purposes without your explicit consent. We use your information only as described in the TheDentalAuction Privacy Policy. We view protection of users' privacy as a very important community principle. We store and process your information on computers located in the United States that are protected by physical as well as technological security devices. You can access and modify the information you provide us and choose not to receive certain communications by signing-in to your account. For a complete description of how we use and protect your personal information, see the TheDentalAuction Privacy Policy. If you object to your Information being transferred or used in this way please do not use our services. Indemnity You will indemnify and hold us (and our officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures and employees), harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your breach of this Agreement, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party. No Agency No agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer or franchiser-franchisee relationship is intended or created by this Agreement. Notices Except as explicitly stated otherwise, legal notices shall be served on TheDentalAuction's national registered agent (in the case of TheDentalAuction) or to the email address you provide to TheDentalAuction during the registration process (in your case). Notice shall be deemed given 24 hours after email is sent, unless the sending party is notified that the email address is invalid. Alternatively, we may give you legal notice by mail to the address provided during the registration process. In such case, notice shall be deemed given three days after the date of mailing. Resolution of Disputes If a dispute arises between you and TheDentalAuction, our goal is to provide you with a neutral and cost effective means of resolving the dispute quickly. Accordingly, you and TheDentalAuction agree that we will resolve any claim or controversy at law or equity that arises out of this Agreement or our services (a "Claim") in accordance with one of the subsections below or as we and you otherwise agree in writing. Before resorting to these alternatives, we strongly encourage you to first contact us directly to seek a resolution by going to the help page. We will consider reasonable requests to resolve the dispute through alternative dispute resolution procedures, such as mediation or arbitration, as alternatives to litigation. Law and Forum for Disputes - This Agreement shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of Illinois as they apply to agreements entered into and to be performed entirely within Illinois between Illinois residents, without regard to conflict of law provisions. You agree that any claim or dispute you may have against TheDentalAuction must be resolved by a court located in Cook County, Illinois, except as otherwise agreed by the parties or as described in the Arbitration Option paragraph below. You agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the courts located within Cook County, Illinois for the purpose of litigating all such claims or disputes. Arbitration Option - For any claim (excluding claims for injunctive or other equitable relief) where the total amount of the award sought is less than $10,000, the party requesting relief may elect to resolve the dispute in a cost effective manner through binding non-appearance-based arbitration. In the event a party elects arbitration, they shall initiate such arbitration through an established alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") provider mutually agreed upon by the parties. The ADR provider and the parties must comply with the following rules: a) the arbitration shall be conducted by telephone, online and/or be solely based on written submissions, the specific manner shall be chosen by the party initiating the arbitration; b) the arbitration shall not involve any personal appearance by the parties or witnesses unless otherwise mutually agreed by the parties; and c) any judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. Improperly Filed Claims - All claims you bring against TheDentalAuction must be resolved in accordance with this Resolution of Disputes Section. All claims filed or brought contrary to the Resolution of Disputes Section shall be considered improperly filed. Should you file a claim contrary to the Resolution of Disputes Section, TheDentalAuction may recover attorneys' fees and costs up to $1000, provided that TheDentalAuction has notified you in writing of the improperly filed claim, and you have failed to promptly withdraw the claim. Listing Policies for SellersFamiliarize yourself with TheDentalAuction's listing policies before posting an item. You'll have a safe & fun selling experience knowing that your listing complies with community standards and guidelines. Listings that violate TheDentalAuction's policies may result in disciplinary action. This action may include a formal warning, the ending of all violating listings, or even temporary or indefinite suspension of a user's account. TheDentalAuction will consider the circumstances of an alleged offense and the user's trading records before taking action. About Me Public Profile Guidelines
The About Me public profile page may not promote outside-of-TheDentalAuction sales or prohibited items, nor may it contain links to commercial Web sites where goods from multiple sellers are aggregated by a common search engine. See Additional Information to learn more about links from your About Me Public Profile page. TheDentalAuction does not permit its users to place the following types of links on your About Me Public Profile pages: Links that directly offer any non-TheDentalAuction listing or merchandise on the About Me Public Profile page itself. Links to other online trading sites or pages, including auctions and fixed-price formats. Links to sites offering the same merchandise for the same or lower price (including the Buy It Now price). Links to sites offering merchandise or information not permitted on TheDentalAuction
Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions, including: AboutMe Public Profile page removal Listing cancellation Limits on account privileges Account suspension Forfeit of TheDentalAuction fees on cancelled listings Loss of Seller status Circumventing FeesUsers may not use systems or techniques to circumvent, or avoid, TheDentalAuction fees. Sellers should review the ‘Some Examples’ section below to ensure they are not engaging in practices that circumvent TheDentalAuction fees. Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions, including: Outside-of-TheDentalAuction Offer - Offering the opportunity through TheDentalAuction to purchase the item or other merchandise outside-of-TheDentalAuction. The TheDentalAuction item page may not refer to or promote the seller's individual Web site (including home page URLs which directly or indirectly promote an outside-of-TheDentalAuction website), sales outside of TheDentalAuction, or other businesses. However, sellers may include links to their TheDentalAuction Store and TheDentalAuction Store items, provided that those links are not URL redirects. Unreasonable shipping or handling costs - The seller may add a reasonable shipping and handling fee to the final price of the item, but may not charge excessive shipping and handling fees, excessive required insurance fees, or excessive (or not applicable) taxes in an effort to make the item appear artificially inexpensive, to avoid TheDentalAuction fees, or for any other purposes. A shipping and handling fee may cover the seller's reasonable costs for mailing, packaging, and handling the item. Shipping and handling fees may not be listed as a percentage of the final sale price. Listings with additional purchases - Listing an item that requires or offers an additional purchase. Outside of reasonable charges for shipping, handling, insurance, and taxes, the buyer must not be required to pay an additional amount or sign up for a service or any other required action not relevant to the transaction for something as a condition for receiving the item or receiving the benefit of the item. For example, travel certificates that require the holder to buy or pay for something (such as a hotel room for seven nights) as a condition of receiving the benefit of the coupon (such as free or discounted airfare). Multiple Item Listing (Dutch) Avoidance - Listing a single item and offering additional identical items for sale in the item description. In these situations, the seller typically instructs buyers to indicate the number of items they want, and states that they can get the same price as the item in the listing. An example of a violation would be a carpet seller listing one square foot for $6 and allowing the buyer to purchase as many as they like at the same price. This would be listing a single item and offering additional identical items for sale in the item description. In single item listings, you may not instruct buyers to indicate the number of items they want even if you state that they can get the same price as the item in the listing. Instead, you should list a Multiple Item Auction, also known as a Dutch Auction, or a fixed price listing with multiple quantities. Choice Listings - A listing where a seller allows buyers to choose from a selection of items. Choice listings can be problematic because of the potential for fee circumvention, transactions outside of TheDentalAuction, and other issues. Choice listings are generally not allowed and will be ended. For example, a seller offering an auction-style listing and letting the winning buyer choose from a selection of kitchen sinks would not be permitted. Each one of the available kitchen sinks should be listed as a separate item on TheDentalAuction. Examples of listings that would be permitted: choice of color only in a multiple-quantity listing (e.g. dutch auction, multiple-item fixed price or store). Second, choice of size in custom-made items or services that are made according to the buyer’s specifications (including re-sizing of rings). Email address, phone number or domain name in the title, subtitle or item location - Listings with an email address or domain name (including home page URLs which directly or indirectly promote an outside-of-TheDentalAuction website) in the title. Exception: This will be permissible only in listings that are offering a domain name for sale. Catalog Sales - Listings of catalogs from which buyers may directly order items are prohibited. In these situations, the seller will typically offer the catalog for low bid prices and complete sales outside of TheDentalAuction for items found in the catalog. Old or collectible catalogs (from which you can no longer place an order) are permissible. For example, a Sears catalog from 1931 would be considered an old and collectible catalog because you can no longer order items from it. However, a current catalog from Eddie Bauer (or one where items may currently be ordered) is not permitted. Reserve Fee Avoidance - Canceling bids and ending a listing early because the seller's desired price has not been met. Sellers who do not want to sell an item below a certain price should use the reserve price option or set their starting price at the minimum price they are willing to accept. Want ads and trades - Listings that advertise a desire to buy or trade items are not allowed. The purpose of the listing page is to describe the item for sale and not to trade for or look for other items. Listings that are advertisements for buying or trading items provide a poor buying experience and make it harder for all members to sell items. Payment Surcharges - Although sellers may offer a discount to the buyer for preferred forms of payment, sellers may not charge TheDentalAuction buyers an additional fee for their use of ordinary forms of payment, including acceptance of checks, money orders, electronic transfers or credit cards. Furthermore, some forms of payment surcharges, such as credit card surcharges, are forbidden under the laws of many states, including California. Miscategorization of items - Listing items that are outside of the appropriate category and belong in a flat fee category, such as homes and vehicles, is a form of Fee Circumvention and is not permitted. Extension of Listings - TheDentalAuction listings (both 'auctions' and fixed price listings) have a fixed duration. TheDentalAuction may on rare occasions (for example, as the result of a site outage) extend the duration of a listing. Extension of listing duration by a seller, via either manual actions or the use of automated tools, is not permitted. Extension of listings by a seller for any reason is not only a form of fee avoidance, but also harms the finding experience for buyers. Warranties - A warranty is an additional purchase for the buyer. You may offer an optional warranty or service (e.g. installation) to complement the item in order to provide better service for the buyer. However, the optional warranty or service must be directly related to the item and may not: substantially alter the value of the item, be an additional item, be excessive in price, or cause the listing to have an artificially low price. Additionally, TheDentalAuction members who offer items on TheDentalAuction valued at more than $15 and who offer either a written warranty or service contract with the items, must in their item descriptions provide one of the following: The full text of the written warranty A statement explaining how a free copy of the written warranty can be obtained upon written request A link within the listing that takes members to the warranty details
TheDentalAuction urges its sellers and buyers to comply with all governmental laws and regulations. Since the sale of warranties is highly regulated, or may cause harm to TheDentalAuction or its members, sellers are restricted in their listing of them on TheDentalAuction. To report a listing that circumvents TheDentalAuction's fees through an offer outside of TheDentalAuction, unreasonably high shipping or handling costs, Multiple Item (Dutch) listing avoidance, or a catalog sales violation, contact us with the item number.
To report a listing that a seller ended early in violation of our reserve fee avoidance policy, contact us with the item number you would like us to review. Although there are legitimate reasons for ending a listing early, TheDentalAuction will investigate sellers who abuse this option. Links PolicyTheDentalAuction allows sellers to place only certain types of links within an item description. Links that are permitted are listed below; One link to a page that further describes the item being sold in that listing One link to your email address that opens an email client for potential buyers to ask questions about the item in that listing Links to photos of the item for sale Links to your TheDentalAuction (including your TheDentalAuction Store) listings Links to your About Me Public Profile page One link to your listing terms and conditions (providing that the most relevant information is within the listing itself and that this page does not include any links off of the TheDentalAuction Web site) Offers to Buy or Sell Outside of TheDentalAuctionOffers to buy or sell listed items outside of the TheDentalAuction site are not permitted. Offers of this nature are a potential fraud risk for both buyers and sellers and circumvent TheDentalAuction's fees. Some examples of offers outside of the TheDentalAuction site include: Using member contact information obtained from TheDentalAuction or using any TheDentalAuction system to offer to sell any listed item outside of TheDentalAuction Canceling a listing to sell to a buyer who became aware of the item through TheDentalAuction Ending a listing early to sell the item at a higher price to the winning bidder Offering to sell an item to a bidder in a Reserve Not Met listing without going through TheDentalAuction Offering to sell duplicate or additional merchandise to under-bidders without going through TheDentalAuction Sending unsolicited (without prior permission) commercial email offers to bidders for the same or similar products that they have bid on in the past
It is acceptable for sellers to end a listing early in order to sell an item at the current bid price to the high bidder. Bidders are permitted to contact sellers with requests to end a listing early and sell at the current bid price; however, sellers are under no obligation to honor the request. Violations of these policies may result in a range of actions, including:
Additional Terms The following policies are part of this Agreement and provide additional terms and conditions related to specific services offered on the Site: Outage Policy - TheDentalAuction's highest priority is its members’ trading success. However, the TheDentalAuction site occasionally experiences outages during which bidders cannot place bids or effectively locate items via our Title Search function. When outages occur that are at least one hour in duration, TheDentalAuction offers this Outage Policy to compensate for member inconvenience. See examples for specific types of outages and our response to each. Title search outage of one or more hours In the event of a title search outage of one or more hours, TheDentalAuction will credit all associated fees for affected listings after notification and review. The following listings will be eligible for credit: Unlike our policy for hard outages of two hours or more, listings will not be extended. Hard outage of more than one but less than two hours In the event of a hard outage of more than one but less than two hours, TheDentalAuction will credit all associated fees for affected listings after notification and review. The following listings will be eligible for credit: Hard outage of two hours or more In the event of a hard outage of two hours or more, TheDentalAuction may extend listings for 24 hours. TheDentalAuction also will credit all associated fees for affected listings after notification and review. The following listings will be eligible for extension and credit: Prohibited, Questionable & Infringing Item Policy - Misleading Titles
Sellers are not permitted to create titles for their listings that do not accurately describe the item for sale. Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions, including: Listing cancellation Limits on account privileges Account suspension Forfeit of TheDentalAuction fees on cancelled listings Loss of Seller status Keyword Spam Policy
Keyword spamming occurs when members place brand names or other inappropriate keywords in a title or description for the purpose of gaining attention or diverting members to a listing. Keyword spamming in listings is not permitted on TheDentalAuction. The searchable text sellers place in listings must be directly relevant to the item being sold. Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions, including: Stolen Property and Property with Removed Serial Numbers
TheDentalAuction strictly forbids the sale of stolen property, which violates state, federal and international law. TheDentalAuction strongly supports law enforcement efforts to recover stolen property that is listed on its Web site, and urges the prosecution of those responsible for knowingly attempting to sell such items on TheDentalAuction. TheDentalAuction forbids its members from listing goods that have altered or removed serial numbers, as the possession and sale of such items is prohibited in a majority of states in the U.S. Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions, including: Listing cancellation Limits on account privileges Account suspension Forfeit of TheDentalAuction fees on cancelled listings Loss of Seller status Offensive Material Policy
Sellers may not list items that promote or glorify hatred, violence, racial or religious intolerance, or items that promote organizations with such views. Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions, including: Listing cancellation Limits on account privileges Account suspension Forfeit of TheDentalAuction fees on cancelled listings Loss of Seller status Embargoed Goods and Prohibited Countries
Various U.S. agencies have sanctions in place that substantially regulate or ban all trade with particular countries (including Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea and other countries). Federal agencies have also banned or regulated trade between U.S. persons with certain organizations, businesses and persons. As a result, TheDentalAuction does not permit the sale of embargoed items from, with or to those countries, organizations, businesses or persons. Under U.S. law, trade in items made in Cuba may not be lawful, depending on the nature of the item, when it was manufactured, and when it left Cuba, among other factors. Generally, items from Cuba may be sold only if they are "informational," "pre-embargo," or "licensed." Sellers willing to ship internationally, and sellers of items made outside the United States, should periodically review current information about which countries may be affected by sanctions enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Each of these policies may be changed from time to time. Changes take effect when we post them on the Sites. When using particular services on the Sites, you are subject to any posted policies or rules applicable to services you use through the Sites, which may be posted from time to time. All such policies or rules are hereby incorporated into this Agreement.
General If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be struck and the remaining provisions shall be enforced. In our sole discretion, we may assign this Agreement in accordance with the Notices Section. 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 Agreement. We may amend this Agreement at any time by posting the amended terms on the Sites. Except as stated elsewhere, all amended terms shall automatically be effective 30 days after they are initially posted on the Sites. Additionally, we will notify you through the Sites' message center tools. This Agreement may not be otherwise amended except in a writing signed by you and us. This Agreement sets forth the entire understanding and agreement between us with respect to the subject matter hereof. The following Sections survive any termination of this Agreement: Fees and Services (with respect to fees owed for our services), Release, Content License, Liability, Indemnity and Resolution of Disputes. |
