Last Updated: Feb 26, 2006

This Site and Services only may be used for lawful purposes and in a lawful manner. You agree to comply with all applicable laws, statutes, ordinances and regulations regarding your use of our service. Our guidelines for listing items are outlined in this policy. Sellers and buyers are responsible for researching and complying with any applicable laws, regulations or restrictions on items, or manner of sale or exchange, that may pertain to transactions in which they participate. We may issue warnings, suspension or termination of service, denying access and/or removal of any materials on the Site, including listings and bids if you violate any portion of this policy or our User Agreement. Please keep in mind the following policies apply to all listing formats.

Proper category listing
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Items must be listed in the appropriate category.

Policy: Items that don't belong in a category will be moved to the appropriate category.

Complete Description
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You must accurately describe the item you are selling.

You must include information in your auction listing that describes the terms of sale, including payment methods accepted, shipping methods and who will pay the costs, any additional costs associated with the item, and the applicable return or refund policy.

Choice Auctions
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A Choice Listing occurs when a seller allows buyers to choose from a selection of items. Choice Listings can be problematic because the item agreed upon is negotiated offline and can lead to either misrepresentation or fraud.

Policy: Choice Auctions are not allowed and will be ended.

Multi-Listing
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The best method to list identical items is through our Dutch Auction format. We understand sellers have reasons to list identical items at the same time. This is permissible as long as the seller can complete the sale of all listings. At any one time you may not promote identical items in more than five (5) listings. This will prevent listing "Flooding".

Policy: If a seller lists in more than one category, the categories must be relevant. Any additional identical listings may be ended.

Links and Credits from your item listing
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BidOnUSA allows sellers to place the following types of links in your item's description:

• One link to a page that further describes the item being sold in that listing.
• A 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 BidOnUSA Auction listings.
• Links to your About Me page (in addition to the About Me icon already provided by BidOnUSA).
• Links that provide credits to third parties.
• 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 BidOnUSA)

Linking to web sites that offer to trade, sell or purchase goods or services, or including links for any purpose other than those listed above is not allowed. Prohibited links include, but are not limited to:

• Links to web pages that offer to trade, sell or purchase goods or services outside of BidOnUSA. This applies whether it is a static URL or an active link
• Links to web sites or pages offering merchandise is not permitted on <% %SITE_NAME%%> Auction
• Links to sites that solicit BidOnUSA User Ids or passwords from buyers
• Links that encourage buyers to place their BidOnUSA Auction bids through a site other than BidOnUSA

Policy: Linking to web sites that offer to trade, sell or purchase goods or services, or including links for any purpose other than those listed above is not allowed. Prohibited and will be ended.

Sign Posts
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BidOnUSA does not permit listings that are primarily used to direct a user to a seller's other listings or Store. These types of listings are referred to as "signposts".

Policy: Sign Post listings are not permitted and will be ended.

Want ads or trades
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Listings advertising a desire to buy or trade items are not allowed. We do not allow users to post Trades (trades are not auctions and have a high rate of fraud), users posting trades will have their accounts removed.

Lotteries and prize competitions
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Listings that promote prize draws, prize competitions, lotteries, giveaways or raffles as an enticement for bidders are not permitted on BidOnUSA as these promotions may be illegal lotteries under US law.

Policy: These types of listings are not permitted and will be ended.

No contact info allowed in auctions
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Sellers are not allowed to enter any kind of contact info in their auctions, this includes email links, message system contacts (such as ICQ, MSN Messenger, Jabber, etc), phone numbers or any other type of information that a person can use to contact a seller. If a bidder has a question for a seller they can click on your username in the auction or they can click on the link that reads "ask seller a question". Anyone caught putting contact info in their auctions will have their auctions removed and the account suspended. If your account has been suspended you will need to email us at to reactivate the account.

Listing Techniques that Circumvent BidOnUSA's membership fee structure
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Users may not use systems or techniques to circumvent BidOnUSA fees. Some examples include:

• Offering in a listing the opportunity to purchase the item or other merchandise outside of BidOnUSA.
• Listings with low prices but unreasonably high shipping or handling costs.
• Listing an item that requires or offers an additional purchase.
• 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.
• Listings with an e-mail address or domain name in the title. Exception: This will be permissible only in listings that are offering a domain name for sale.
• Offering items for sale in a manner that circumvents BidOnUSA fees.

Listings that circumvent BidOnUSA fees are not permitted and will be ended. Disciplinary action may result in the indefinite suspension of a user's account, temporary suspension, or a formal warning. BidOnUSA will consider the circumstances of an alleged offense and the user's trading records before taking action

Listing Catalog Sales
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Users may not use systems or techniques to post Catalogs or links. Some examples include:
Offering in a listing the opportunity to purchase the item or other merchandise outside of BidOnUSA.

Catalog Sales - listings of catalogs or links 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 BidOnUSA Auction for items found in the catalog. Old, collectible catalogs (i.e., those that you cannot order from any longer) are permissible.

Policy: Catalog Post listings are not permitted and will be ended.

Reserve Price listing violations
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Reserve price stated in the description of the item when not listed as a reserve listing.
Seller states buyer is obligated to purchase when reserve is not met.

Policy: These types of listings are not permitted and will be ended.

Terms and Conditions contradictory to any BidOnUSA Auction Policy
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Misleading listing titles
Key word spamming

Excessive use of key words, including (but not limited to) brand names, which are referenced for the purpose of attracting or diverting buyers to a listing will be considered key word spamming and is not permitted.

Policy: These types of listings are not permitted and will be ended. The insertion fee will be automatically credited for that listing.

Payment Surcharges
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Sellers may not charge BidOnUSA buyers an additional fee for their use of ordinary forms of payment, including acceptance of checks, money orders, electronic transfers or credit cards. Such costs should be built into the price of the item -- this policy reduces the potential for confusion among bidders about the true cost of an item. Further, some forms of payment surcharges, such as credit card surcharges, are forbidden under the laws of many states, including California.

Can a seller add a surcharge to the final price of an BidOnUSA item? Yes, in three instances.

1. Sellers may charge reasonable shipping and handling fee to the final price of their item, providing that this fee is disclosed up front in the listing. A shipping and handling fee can cover the seller's reasonable costs for mailing, packaging and handling the item. Shipping and handling fees cannot be listed as a percentage of the final sale price.
2. Sellers may pass along the costs associated with using a third party escrow service, if the buyer chooses to use an escrow service.
3. Sellers may choose to accept payment in a different currency than the currency listed on BidOnUSA. If the buyer chooses to take advantage of this optional payment method, the seller may pass along to the buyer any costs associated with the currency exchange, provided that the costs are disclosed and agreed to in advance by the buyer.

Profanity
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BidOnUSA does not allow the use of profanity or patently vulgar language. This includes the use of language that is racist, hateful, sexual, or obscene in nature in a public area. This policy extends to text within auction listings, or anywhere else within BidOnUSA Auction.

We make allowances for certain items listed on the core site that may contain profane words that are a part of the title. An example of such an item might be a comic book with profanity in the comic book title. If the profane words are part of a title for the item being sold, we allow sellers to 'blurb' out the bulk of the offending word with asterisks (i.e., s*** or f***).

Policy: The use of profanity on our site is not permitted. Listings that contain profanity will be ended.

Trade Auctions
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We do not allow users to post Trades (trades are not auctions and have a high rate of fraud), users posting trades will have their accounts removed.

Want To Buy Listings
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We do not allow users to post WTB (want to buy) type auctions, these are not auctions. Any user posting WTB type auctions will have their accounts removed.

Any user posting auctions that suggest outside sales will be removed. You must sell your auction on BidOnUSA, any auction suggesting otherwise will result in the termination of your account.

Items that are Prohibited by BidOnUSA


It is the responsibility of both the seller and the buyer to ensure that the items listed for auction and bought by the winning bidder are appropriate for sale under all applicable laws and regulations. We've provided a few illustrative examples and suggested URLs where you may be able to do further research about the specific item that you're interested in selling.

Here's a list of some of the types of items that generally are not allowed on BidOnUSA.




Narcotics, Steroids and Other Controlled Substances
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Narcotics, steroids or other controlled substances may not be listed on BidOnUSA. Further, gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), which is unlawful in many jurisdictions, may not be listed on BidOnUSA.

Cigarettes

Illegal Drug Paraphernalia
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Drug paraphernalia may not be listed on BidOnUSA. Such paraphernalia includes all items that are primarily intended or designed for use in manufacturing, concealing or using a controlled substance.

• Pipes made from metal, wood (except briar), acrylic, glass, stone, plastic or ceramic.
• Water pipes, chamber pipes, carburetor pipes, electric pipes, ice pipes, bongs, chillums.
• Wired cigarette papers
• Marijuana
• Heroin
• Bongs
• Anabolic steroids
• Cocaine

Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices
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• Contact lenses
• Viagra
• Prozac

• Blood
• Urine
• Eggs
• Sperm
• Organs (heart, liver, etc.)

Firearms, Ammunition, Replicas, and Militaria
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Firearms cannot be listed on BidOnUSA. In addition US residents cannot list firearms on any BidOnUSA site worldwide. Firearms include all component parts of a firearm, sporting, weapons, collectible, curio & relic, signaling pistols, and antique firearms, regardless of their capability to fire a shot. Any item that is designed to discharge any shot, bullet or other missile is covered by this ban, regardless of that item's present ability to fire. Replica or imitation firearms may also not be listed on BidOnUSA.

Related items: Other firearms related items that are not permitted on BidOnUSA include BB guns, air guns, air pistols, paintball guns, rifle scopes, concealed weapons, martial arts weapons, switchblades, non-antique firearms, silencers, converters (any item which can convert a firearm to have automatic capability), kits (any kit that can be used to create a firearm), high voltage electric stunning devices (for example "tazers"), flares, flare launchers, flare guns, and the receivers for flare guns. Illegal components, such as silencers, converters (to convert a firearm to have automatic capability), and short barrels are prohibited. Weapons which discharge noxious substances, liquids or gas, including tear gas or pepper spray dispensers, are also prohibited in the US and may not be listed on BidOnUSA.

Ammunition: High capacity magazines (magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds) and ammunition with propellant (such as gunpowder) cannot be listed. Blank ammunition is not allowed under our fireworks policy. In addition any bullet reloading device or any equipment used to manufacture ammunition is not permitted.

Ordnance: Generally, ordnance (military weaponry, ammunition and related parts) is not permitted, even if the user states that the item is "unserviceable" or has been "de-militarized" or "demilled," as BidOnUSA cannot confirm that the item has effectively and permanently altered for lawful and safe transport and sale.

Grenades: Grenades, including metal military practice grenades, rifle grenades, dummy grenades, grenade launcher attachments, and mines, may not be listed on BidOnUSA.

Policy: If your listing violates any part of this policy your account may be immediately suspended.

Learn more - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms

Alcohol and Tobacco
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The sale of alcoholic beverages and tobacco is highly regulated and taxed in the US. For example, sellers of alcoholic beverages and tobacco must be licensed, and must take steps to ensure that they do not sell their products to minors.

Policy: Due to the many difficulties inherent in Internet alcohol and tobacco sales, BidOnUSA will not permit the listings of tobacco related items, wine, beer and other alcoholic beverages on its website.

Learn more - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms

Copyright or Trademark-Sensitive Goods
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• CD-Rs
• Demo copies
• Back-up copies
• Warez
• Bootlegs
• OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) software

• Fake brand name goods
• Fake autographs

Items Subject to Embargo
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• Iranian rugs
• Cuban cigars

• Swastika flags/patches/posters
• Hitler mousepads
• KKK patches/belt buckles/hats

Government IDs
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• Driver's licenses
• Green cards
• Birth certificates
• Passports
• Law enforcement IDs

• Sirens
• ID cards
• Badges

Hacking/Surveillance/Interception/Descrambling Equipment
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• Password sniffers
• Access cards
• Cable descramblers
• Viruses

Stolen Products and Items Used for Theft
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• Lock-picking devices
• Stolen art and artifacts
• Vehicle master keys

Recalled Goods

Learn more - U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission

Individual Contracts

• Employment contracts

• Psychic services
• Travel planning
• Financial services
• Legal services
• Massages

Fireworks, Explosives, and Hazardous Materials
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• Detonation devices
• Fireworks
• Dynamite
• Grenades
• Bombs

Gambling Items
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• Lottery tickets
• Grab bags
• Slot machines
• Raffle tickets
• Pyramid schemes
• Sweepstakes

Live Animals

Goods Made From Protected Animal/Plant Species
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• Tortoise shell
• Skins
• Claws
• Ivory
• Teeth
• Stuffed birds

Other
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• Any used goods not appropriate for resale for safety, health, or other reasons, including any clothing items that have not been appropriately cleaned (e.g., used underwear).
• Non-packaged food items, and other food or beverage items sold in a manner inconsistent with federal, state or legal regulations.
• Speleothems, stalactites and stalagmites from caves on federal land or as prohibited by state or federal law.
• Any item that is harmful to minors, obscene, or otherwise objectionable.