Pioneer Auctions – Buyer Terms & Conditions

1. Background

1.1  These terms (Buyer Terms) set out the legal agreement between persons attending Pioneer Auctions auctions as buyers or potential buyers of items (You, Buyer) and Pioneer Auctions, a sole proprietorship registered in the Emirate of Dubai with the Department of Economic development, under licence number 601567 (Us, We, Our, Pioneer Auctions).

1.2  By attending one of Our auctions, online or in person, or by creating a Buyer account with Us, You agree to be bound by and to observe these Buyer Terms. If You are creating a Buyer account You will be required to confirm Your acceptance of these Buyer Terms as part of the account creation process. You may be required to accept these Buyer Terms by physical signature if You attend our auction in person.

1.3  We may make changes to these Buyer Terms from time to time. Any such changes will be effective from publication on Our website and mobile app. If You do not agree with such changes You must close Your account, if applicable, and not participate in any of Our auctions. You are advised to check the latest version of the Buyer Terms before participating in any of Our auctions.

1.4  You may attend Our auctions online (where You view lots via the internet and bid via the internet) or in person, where You physically attend our auction hall and bid by making a physical expression of Your bid. Where You attend an auction online the Online Buyer Terms set out below apply, as do the General Online Terms. The Online Buyer Terms and General Online Terms apply with respect to any and all websites and mobile applications. We may operate from time to time in connection with the operation of our auctions.

1.5  Where You attend an auction physically, the Physical Buyer Terms set out below apply.

1.6  Our auctions are in one of the following categories: (i) Motor Vehicles; (ii) General Materials; (iii) Building & Construction. If You are attending a Motor Vehicle auction, the Motor Vehicle Buyer Terms set out below apply. If You are attending a General Materials or Building & Construction materials auction, the General Material Buyer Terms set out below apply.

1.7  The General Buyer Terms and the General Legal Terms set out below apply regardless of the category of auction and Your mode of attendance.

2. General Buyer Terms

2.1  Buyer conditions

2.1.1  You must create an account with Us (Buyer Account) and lodge the appropriate deposit before You are able to bid in an auction. You must be at least 18 years old to create a Buyer Account. You must provide all information We request from time to time as part of Our account creation process and ensure that You update Your information without delay if it becomes inaccurate.

2.1.2  You must be at least 18 years old to attend an auction as a Buyer.

2.1.3  If You are under 18 years old and you make a bid or attempt to make a bid, we may disregard and void Your bid at the time of auction or subsequently, even if you have successfully created a Buyer Account.

2.1.4  You agree to provide Us with all information We may reasonably request from time to time in order to verify Your age and identity.

2.1.5  Any personal information We collect from You is processed by Us in accordance with Our privacy policy.

2.1.6  You undertake to act lawfully, honestly and in good faith at all times when participating in Our auctions.  In particular, You agree to honour all winning bids and to comply with all necessary obligations relating to transfer of ownership and collection of the items in question.

2.1.7  You must not collaborate with any seller to attempt to conduct a sale and purchase transaction which is contrary to the letter or spirit of any law, including acquiring goods with the intent to return them to the seller or an affiliated person (by lease, sale or otherwise) or with intent to deprive creditors of the seller from his or her assets.

2.1.8  You must not collaborate with any other Buyer or with any seller to “bid-up” the price of any item. All bids must be expressions of Your good faith intent to acquire the item in question for Your own use or the use of Your business, if applicable.

2.1.9  If You are the legal representative of any seller You may not bid for items sold by such seller or entrusted to You and You may not bid for items being sold by Yourself. Breach of this section ‎2.1.9 may be a breach of the law.

2.1.10  We are entitled to suspend or close the Buyer account of any person, at any time, for any reason.

2.1.11  We may report any suspected fraudulent or criminal activity to the appropriate authorities.

2.2  Status of bids and lots

2.2.1  When You make a bid as a Buyer, You are making an irrevocable offer to purchase the lot in question for the amount of Your bid from the seller of the item. If no higher legitimate bid is received within the term of the auction, and provided the bid exceeds any minimum price set in the terms of the auction, Your offer will be automatically accepted and You will be forming a legally binding agreement to purchase the lot. You must therefore not make any bid which You do not intend to be legally bound by.

2.2.2  We do not sell auction lots. We are an intermediary platform that allows You to make offers to sellers and helps to facilitate the sale and purchase process. Transfer of the legal title to any lots is passed to You, if Your bid is the winning bid, by the seller in question and therefore when you make a winning bid you are forming a contract for purchase with the seller.

2.2.3  We may receive fees from the Buyer or seller, as applicable, as set out in these Buyer Terms and in our seller terms.

2.2.4  Further information as to the status of the lots and the actions, if any, we have taken with respect to the lots are set out in the Motor Vehicle Terms and General Materials Terms below.

2.2.5  Before transfer of legal title in any lot to the winning bidder, We are entitled to cancel the sale process for any reason, without explanation. If We do so, We will return any purchase monies You have already submitted.

2.3  Right to bid

2.3.1  Your right to bid is contingent upon You having lodged the required deposit in advance of the auction. Further details are set out in the Motor Vehicle Terms and General Materials Terms below in the “Buyer Deposit” sections.

2.3.2  We may increase the required deposit levels for any particular lot if We believe the purchase price for such lot is likely to materially exceed the stated thresholds.

2.3.3  If You make a winning bid, We may retain Your deposit to offset the purchase price plus the Buyer Fee. Any excess deposit will be refunded to you.

2.3.4  If You do not make a winning bid, Your deposit will be refunded following the end of the auction.

2.3.5  We have no liability to You in any circumstances whatsoever if you are unable to bid for a lot or complete a purchase, whether due to a failure of the deposit process, cancellation or delay of an auction, the act of a seller, technical failure of our platform or any other reason.

2.4  Payments

2.4.1  Any payments due to Us under these Buyer Terms must be made by the time stated by cash in person, credit card in person or via our online links, bank cheque delivered in person or payment through bank deposit or bank transfer. Our bank details are:

2.4.2  If You make a payment via bank transfer or deposit, You must obtain a confirmation receipt and provide that to Us as soon as possible.

2.4.3  If we are required to charge Value Added Tax or any other mandatory sales tax or similar on any of Our fees or any purchase amount, You will also be liable to pay such tax.

2.4.4  All payments due to us under these Buyer Terms for winning bids and auction charges must be paid within two business days of the date of auction.

2.5  Publicity

2.5.1  We may use images of the auction lots and our auction attendees for publicity purposes, for internal business purposes, or if required in connection with the establishment or defence of legal proceedings or as required by applicable laws. By participating in an auction as a Buyer, You agree to the use of your image in such manner.

3. Online Buyer Terms

3.1  Buyer account

3.1.1  You must register on our website or mobile app; and create a Buyer account in order to participate in Our online auctions.

3.1.2  You will need to create log-in credentials to access Your account. You are responsible for keeping these secure and personal to You. You must not share Your account with any person. We are not responsible for any activity carried out on Your account due to Your failure to keep Your account secure. If You suspect Your account details have been compromised, You must tell us immediately and You must reset Your account password.

3.1.3  You may close your account at any time.

3.2  No warranty

3.2.1  We provide no warranty as to the availability or performance of our online auction platform or that it shall be error free or operate uninterrupted. We accept no liability to You whatsoever for any failure of our online system which prevents You from submitting a bid or participating in an auction.

3.3  Security

3.3.1  We cannot control public telecommunications networks or Your personal network connection or Your devices. You are responsible for ensuring Your own internet connection and the suitability of Your own devices in order to access Our online platforms. You recognise that communications over public telecommunications networks cannot be guaranteed to be secure or confidential.

3.4  General

3.4.1  You recognise that if You submit a bid which is in excess of any other bid submitted during an online auction, Our platform may display Your bid as being the current highest bid but Your identity will not be linked publicly to the bid.

3.4.2  You must comply in all respects with the General Online Terms set out in section ‎7.

4. Physical (Live - Hall) Buyer Terms

4.1  If You attend an auction in person, You are subject to these Buyer Terms. We may require You to indicate and record Your agreement as a condition of entry but any failure by Us to do so does not invalidate these Buyer Terms.

4.2  You must not make physical expressions of bids or do anything which may be taken as expressing an intention to bid unless You intend to be bound by such bid.

4.3  You must not attempt to bid any sum in excess of Your authorised bid limit. Any such bid may be voided by Us or We may require You to immediately increase your deposit amount, if it is a winning bid, before leaving the auction (or otherwise void the bid).

4.4  Unless you have provided all necessary information to Us, as requested, before leaving the auction We will not be able to honour any winning bids You make.

4.5  Photography inside our venue is prohibited unless undertaken by Our authorised photographers.

5. Motor Vehicle BUYER Terms

5.1  Vehicles and Buyer’s responsibility

5.1.1  All vehicles are sold “AS IS WHERE IS”. We provide no warranty or guarantee at all in relation to the vehicle, including as to its provenance, history, safety, status, performance, specification, mechanical condition, roadworthiness, legal compliance, modification, original construction or manufacture or suitability for any purpose.

5.1.2  It is Your sole responsibility to investigate and inspect the lot before making any bid and to assess whether the lot is suitable for your requirements and to form an assessment of its value. Other than in cases of Our proven fraudulent act, You agree to indemnify us and to hold us harmless with respect to all and any harm, damages or other losses you or any other person may suffer as a result of acquiring any vehicle through Our auctions.

5.1.3  We may provide an inspection report with respect to any particular lot. The inspection report may indicate that certain checks have been made on the vehicle, such as verifying the vehicle’s odometer corresponds with the stated mileage and that the chassis number appearing on the vehicle corresponds with the stated details. The inspection report is provided for information only and the Buyer is not intended to have any right of legal reliance on the report and You hereby irrevocably waive any such right to rely on our report, other than in the case of our proven fraudulent act.

5.1.4  Without prejudice to the generality of section ‎5.1.1, we accept no liability whatsoever for any issues of any nature which come to light after Your purchase of the items.

5.2  Buyer Deposits

5.2.1  In order to be eligible to bid in a Motor Vehicle auction up to the bid limit set out below, You must have lodged a deposit with Us in Emirati Dirhams (AED) as cash or as a cheque drawn against an account held with a licensed bank in the UAE. The required standard deposit levels are set out below:

5.3  Buyer Fees

5.3.1  We charge a fee to Buyers with respect to motor vehicles purchased via Our auctions (Buyer Fee).

5.3.2  The applicable Buyer Fee is calculated as follows (excluding VAT).

5.3.3  If You make a winning bid, you are liable to pay Us the applicable Buyer Fee in addition to the value of the winning bid.

5.4  Payment

5.4.1  If You make a winning bid, You must pay the full balance of the bid, plus the Buyer Fee, plus any mandatory tax (less any deposit retained by Us) within two business days of the date of the auction.

5.4.2  If You make a winning bid and the amount You are required to pay exceeds Your deposit and You do not make the required excess payment in full by the due date in accordance with these Buyer Terms, We may retain the entire security deposit and Your right to purchase the lot shall lapse.

5.5  Vehicle transfer and collection

5.5.1  Subject to receipt of all amounts owing from the Buyer, We shall arrange for the appropriate paperwork to be handed over to enable You to transfer ownership of the vehicle from the seller to the Buyer. You are responsible for completing this paperwork and all official procedures. We have no responsibility for Your failure to complete the process and We are not responsible for any delay or unavailability of any official website, customer service centre or other facility. Until such time as all paperwork and official payments have been completed and We have received all funds due, the Buyer shall have no legal interest in the vehicle.

5.5.2  The Buyer must ensure that it completes transfer of ownership of the vehicle within two business days of the collection of vehicle documents from Us. We accept no liability attaching to the vehicle which occurs after such date, including any liability for any fines or violations attaching to the vehicle after such date.

5.5.3  If You complete the process described in section ‎5.5.1, above, You must either instruct Us to deliver the vehicle to Your delivery address in the UAE or collect and remove the vehicle from Our facility at Your own cost within two business days of the date of completion.

5.5.4  If you instruct Us to deliver the vehicle, We will confirm Our delivery costs for doing so. You must then pay Us Our costs, as communicated, plus any applicable taxes, or confirm that You will collect the vehicle Yourself.

5.5.5  If You have not paid Our delivery fees or collected the vehicle within two business days of completion of the process described in section ‎5.5.1, above We will be entitled to charge You an additional AED 100 plus applicable taxes per day or part day, as a storage fee, until You have paid Our delivery fe es or collected the vehicle. If you do not collect or arrange delivery of the vehicle for an extended period of time We shall be entitled to take any action we deem appropriate including moving the vehicle to a storage facility or informing the police that the vehicle appears to have been abandoned by You, and You hereby agree to fully indemnify Us and hold us harmless with respect to all of Our costs and expenses occurred in such circumstances.

5.5.6  We will deliver all relevant documentation in our possession to You within ten business days of receiving all monies owed to Us by You in connection with the sale of the vehicle.

5.5.7  From the moment of collection or delivery, We accept no liability whatsoever for any damage to the vehicle. You must ensure that You insure the vehicle from such time, in line with all applicable legal requirements.

6. General Materials BUYER Terms

6.1  Items and Buyer’s responsibility

6.1.1  All items are sold “AS IS WHERE IS”. We provide no warranty or guarantee at all in relation to the item, including as to its provenance, history, safety, status, performance, specification, mechanical condition, roadworthiness, legal compliance, modification, original construction or manufacture or suitability for any purpose.

6.1.2  Without prejudice to the generality of section ‎6.1.1, we accept no liability whatsoever for any issues of any nature which come to light after Your purchase of the items.

6.1.3  It is Your sole responsibility to investigate and inspect the lot before making any bid and to assess whether the lot is suitable for your requirements and to form an assessment of its value. Other than in cases of Our proven fraudulent act, You agree to indemnify us and to hold us harmless with respect to all and any harm, damages or other losses you or any other person may suffer as a result of acquiring any item through Our auctions.

6.1.4  We may cancel the sale of any lot at any time before we have received all monies due to us and transfer of ownership of the lot to the Buyer has completed for any reason. In such circumstances we will refund all amounts paid by the Buyer.

6.2  Buyer Deposits

6.2.1  In order to be eligible to bid in a General Materials auction up to the bid limit set out below, You must have lodged a deposit with Us in Emirati Dirhams (AED) as cash or as a cheque drawn against an account held with a licensed bank in the UAE. The required standard deposit levels are set out below:

6.3  Buyer Fees

6.3.1  We charge an administration fee per lot purchased to Buyers with respect to General Materials / Building & Construction materials purchased via Our auctions (Buyer Fee). The Buyer Fee is AED 500 for purchases of individual lots up to AED 100,000/- and AED 1,000 for purchases of individual lots in excess of AED 100,000/-., in each case excluding VAT.

6.3.2  If You make a winning bid, you are liable to pay Us the applicable Buyer Fee in addition to the value of the winning bid.

6.4  Payment

6.4.1  If You make a winning bid, You must pay the full balance of the bid, plus the Buyer Fee, plus any mandatory tax (less any deposit retained by Us) within two business days of the date of the auction.

6.4.2  If You make a winning bid and the amount You are required to pay exceeds Your deposit and You do not make the required excess payment in full by the due date in accordance with these Buyer Terms, We may retain the entire security deposit and Your right to purchase the lot shall lapse.

6.4.3  If you do not pay us the amounts due by the time stated, We will charge You a fee of AED 200 for each day or part day of non-payment, up to a maximum of 10 (ten) business days. If such period elapses and the amounts owing to Us have not been paid by You, We may retain the full amount of the relevant Buyer deposit and your right to receive and own the items will lapse and we may re-auction the item again without prior notice to You.

6.5  Equipment transfer and collection

6.5.1   Subject to receipt of all amounts owing from the Buyer, We shall arrange for the appropriate paperwork to transfer ownership of the items from the seller to the Buyer (to the extent there are legal formalities attaching to the items in question) or for a bill of sale to be produced. Once the seller and Buyer have completed the relevant paperwork and any official fees payable in relation to the transfer have been paid, the transfer of interest in the items to the Buyer shall complete. You are responsible for paying all official fees attributable to the transfer of the items and for complying with all applicable sales process that We require. Until such time as all paperwork has been completed, all official fees have been paid and We have received all funds due, the Buyer shall have no legal interest in the items.

6.5.2  The Buyer must ensure that it completes transfer of ownership of the items within two business days of the auction date. We accept no liability attaching to the items which occurs after such date.

6.5.3  The items under General Materials auctions are not typically held at Our facilities and are generally items typically used for industrial and commercial purposes and not personal use. Details of the location of the items will be provided as part of the lot information. If You complete the process described in section ‎6.5.1, above, You must collect and remove the items from their location, at your Own cost, within two business days of the date of completion. If the lot information indicates that the collection site must be made good or cleaned, then You must ensure such works are completed in a good and orderly manner at the time of collection. You agree to indemnify Us and hold Us harmless with respect to: i) any claim alleging that You have caused property damage to any third party, death or personal injury to any third party, or failed to discharge obligations to make good or clean any site; and ii) any costs suffered by any third party as a result of your failure to promptly collect the items.

6.5.4  We will deliver all relevant documentation in our possession to You within ten business days of receiving all monies owed to Us by You in connection with the sale of the items.

6.5.5  The Buyer is responsible to collect the items from the Seller’s location within the specified period, failing which, Pioneer Auctions reserves the right to charge AED 500 per day as a storage fee until the day the materials are fully removed from site.

6.5.6  From the moment of collection or delivery, We accept no liability whatsoever for any damage to the items. You are responsible for insuring the items from this point.

 7. General Online Terms

7.1  Our Sites

7.1.1  We may update and change Our sites and apps (Sites) from time to time for any reason.

7.1.2  Our Sites are made available free of charge, unless stated otherwise.

7.1.3  We do not guarantee that our Sites, or any content on them, will always be available or be uninterrupted. We may suspend or withdraw or restrict the availability of all or any part of the Sites for business and operational reasons.

7.1.4  You are responsible for ensuring that all persons who access Our site through Your internet connection are aware of these terms of use and other applicable terms and conditions, and that they comply with them.

7.2  Materials on Our Sites

7.2.1  We are the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in the Sites, and in the material published on them. Those works are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All such rights are reserved.

7.2.2  You may print off one copy, and may download extracts, of any page(s) from Our site for Your personal use and if You are considering buying general materials as a business user You may share the same internally within Your organisation to the extent You reasonably need to do so.

7.2.3  You must not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials You have printed off or downloaded in any way, and You must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text.

7.2.4  Our status (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors of content on the Sites must always be acknowledged.

7.2.5  Apart from the limited exception in section ‎7.2.2, You must not use any part of the content on the Sites for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from Us or Our licensors.

7.2.6  If you print off, copy or download any part of the Sites in breach of these terms of use, your right to use the Sites will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.

7.3  Do not rely on information

7.3.1  The content on the Sites is provided for general information only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which You should rely.

7.3.2  Although We make reasonable efforts to monitor the quality of the information on the Sites, we make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content on the Sites is accurate, complete or up to date.

7.4  Third party websites

7.4.1  If the Sites contain links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for Your information only. Such links should not be interpreted as approval by Us of those linked websites or information You may obtain from them. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources.

7.5  User-generated content

7.5.1  If the Sites contain content generated by other users, including sellers, this information and these materials have not been verified or approved by Us. The views expressed by other users on the Sites do not necessarily represent Our views or values.

7.5.2  If You upload content to the Sites, You must ensure all content is respectful and lawful in all ways. You agree to indemnify us and hold us harmless with respect to losses, damages and claims suffered by Us as a result of Your uploading of any unlawful or offensive content.

7.5.3  Any content You upload to the Site (other than your private account details and payment details) will be considered to be non-confidential and You hereby agree to grant us an unrestricted licence to Use all such content however we see fit.

7.5.4  If a third-party alleges that content You have uploaded infringes any of their rights, we may disclose Your identity to such third-party. We may also disclose Your identity to law enforcement authorities if we consider it appropriate to do so. You hereby consent to all such disclosures mentioned in this section.

7.5.5  If You see anything on the Sites which you believe is illegal or offensive, please inform Us without delay.

7.6  Viruses

7.6.1  We do not guarantee that the Sites are virus (of whatever form) free.

7.6.2  You are responsible for the configuration of Your own devices and for ensuring that appropriate virus protection software is installed.

7.6.3  You must not misuse the Sites by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material that is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Sites, the server on which the Sites are hosted or any server, computer or database connected to the Sites. You must not attack the Sites via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack. You must not attempt to conceal Your location or identity when accessing the Sites. By breaching this provision, you may commit a criminal offence under UAE Federal Law No. 5 of 2012 on Combatting Cybercrimes and potentially under other laws. We will report any suspected criminality to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing Your identity to them.

7.7  Web-scraping

7.7.1  You must not deploy any software by any means with the intent to extract information from the Sites, other than Your own normal access of the Sites through commonly used browser software. In particular, You must not Use web-scraping tools or similar. We consider such actions to be unauthorised attempts to access our Sites.

8. General Legal Terms

8.1  Liability

8.1.1  Our total aggregate liability to You in connection with any auction or lot shall be limited in aggregate to any amount which You have paid to Us, unless applicable law does not permit for such liability to be limited.

8.1.2  Unless we are liable under fraud, Our sole liability to You and Your sole remedy against us is to receive a refund of any amounts You have paid to Us if a purchase does not complete, subject to any provision of these Buyer Terms which provides for us to retain some or all of such monies in such circumstances.

8.1.3  Neither We nor You will have any liability for any indirect, consequential or special losses.

8.2  Interpretation and general provisions

8.2.1  Any reference in these Buyer Terms to phrases like including, includes, such as, for example etc. are to be understood as illustrative and not to limit the generality of the preceding words.

8.2.2  These Buyer Terms constitute the entire agreement between You and Us in relation to the subject matter and supersede any previous contracts or arrangements of any kind relating to the subject matter. Each of You and Us undertakes to the other that it has not entered into these Buyer Terms in reliance on any statement or representation made by the other which is not expressly incorporated into these Buyer Terms and waives any right to claim reliance on any such thing.

8.2.3  Nothing in these Buyer Terms is intended to be or establishes any type of joint venture, employee-employer, escrow, partnership, or any fiduciary relationship between the parties.

8.2.4  If any portion of these Buyer Terms is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining portions will remain in full force and effect and, upon either party’s request, the court will construe any invalid or unenforceable portions in a manner that most closely reflects the effect and intent of the original language. If such construction is not possible, the provision will be severed from these Buyer Terms and the rest of the agreement shall remain in full force and effect.

8.2.5  To be effective, any waiver by a party of any of its rights or the other party’s obligations must be made in a writing signed by the waiving party. No failure or forbearance by either party to insist upon or enforce performance of any of the provisions of these Buyer Terms or to exercise any rights or remedies under these Buyer Terms or otherwise constitutes a waiver or relinquishment to any extent of such party’s right to assert or rely upon any such provision, right, or remedy in that or any other instance; rather, the same will be and remain in full force and effect.

8.2.6  You may not assign or transfer any rights, obligations, or privileges that You have under these Buyer Terms. We may deal with our rights, obligations and privileges under these Buyer Terms in any manner whatsoever.

8.3  Disputes, governing law and jurisdiction

8.3.1  The parties shall attempt to resolve any disputes, controversies or claims arising out of or in connection with these Buyer Terms ("Dispute") amicably.

8.3.2  If a Dispute cannot be resolved, either party is free to take such action as it deems appropriate.

8.3.3  These Buyer Terms and all Disputes are to be governed by the laws of the United Arab Emirates, as applied in the Emirate of Dubai.

8.3.4  Both parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Dubai to resolve any Disputes.