STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS, INCLUDING THE RULES OF AUCTION, USE OF WEBSITE AND PRIVACY POLICY (COLLECTIVELY THE "TERMS AND CONDITIONS"): PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT CAREFULLY. YOUR USE OF THIS WEBSITE AND/OR ANY BID PLACED WITH CROWNMILL TRADING ("THE COMPANY") CONFIRMS YOUR UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE HEREOF.

 

Definitions

1. Unless expressly stated or unless the context indicates otherwise, the following words or expressions have the following meanings in these Auction Terms and Conditions:
   • “Auctioneer” means Crownmill Trading (Pty) Ltd;
   • “Auction” means an electronic auction of the Goods to be conducted by the Auctioneer via the Website from time to time, on the date and time as stipulated in the relevant listing;
   • “Bid” or “Bidding” means a bid made by a User in respect of any Auction, which represents the total, monetary amount, exclusive of VAT, that the relevant User is willing to offer to the Seller for the Goods in question, to be paid by such User in terms of clause 47 to 50 (Payment of Purchase Price);
   • “Bidder(s)” means Users who are duly registered to participate in an Auction and has paid the deposit;
   • “Bidders Record” means a document which contains the names and bidder numbers of all Users who are registered to participate in a particular Auction;
   • “Business Day” means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or official public holiday in the Republic of South Africa;
   • “Buyer” means the person who achieved the highest bid and is regarded as the purchaser of the Goods in question;
   • “Company” means Crownmill Trading (Pty) Ltd with registration number 2015/116638/07 and current address at 8B Phumelela Park, Cnr Montague Drive and Racecourse Road, Montague Gardens, 7441;
   • “CPA” means the Consumer Protection Act, 68 of 2008 and can be accessed at https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/321864670.pdf;
   • “Delivery” means the change in possession of the relevant purchased Goods from the Seller to the Buyer at such location as agreed between the Parties in writing;
   • “ECTA” means the Electronic Communications and Transaction Act, 2 of 2002 and can be accessed at https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/a25-02.pdf;
   • “Effective Date” means the date of Payment of the approved Bid purchase price;
   • “FICA” means the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 38 of 2001 and can be accessed at https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/a38-010.pdf;
   • “Goods” means the vehicles, trucks, buses, yellow equipment and/or any other item listed for sale on the Website;
   • “Listing” means a notice published on the Website from time to time of upcoming Auctions, of which shall contain particulars of the Goods to be offered for sale on Auction, date and time of commencement, date and time of closing, and any other related matters;
   • “Party” means the Buyer, Seller and/or the Company as the context may refer, and Parties shall include a combination of either one of them or as a whole as the context may refer;
   • “Person” means either an individual or juristic person as the context may apply;
   • “POPIA” means the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013. The Act can be accessed at https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/3706726-11act4of2013popi.pdf;
   • “Purchase Price” means the highest Bid amount (exclusive of VAT) duly accepted by the Seller and/or the Company to be paid by the Buyer;
   • “Regulations” shall mean the regulations to the CPA and can be accessed at https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/34180rg9515gon293.pdf;
   • “Reserve Price” means the minimum price, exclusive of VAT, at which the Seller is prepared to sell particular Goods;
   • “Seller” means the owner or authorised person of the Goods, who wishes to sell the Goods;
   • "Terms and Conditions” means this terms and conditions of which is inclusive of the rules of auction and the conditions of sale;
   • “User” means the registered subscribed user, juristic or natural, of the Website and includes the Buyer and Seller;
   • “VAT” means value added tax, in terms of the Value Added Tax Act, 89 of 1991;
   • “Website” means auction.co.za;
   • “Weekday” means from Monday to Friday.

 

Assent to terms and conditions

2. The Buyer, by its application for registration and subscription to the Website and the submission of deposit and/or electronic bids, warrants that it has read and understood these Terms and Conditions and agrees to be bound hereby.
3. The Seller, by listing the Goods on the Website, warrants that it has read and understood these Terms and Conditions and, where applicable, agrees to be bound thereby.

 

General

4. The Company is in the business of offering for auction on behalf of the Seller, from time to time, the Goods using an electronic internet-based auction system.
5. Information about the particular Goods on the Website are as provided by the Seller to the Company and the Company makes no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of any description. The responsibility for the information provided in the listing of the Goods lies with the Seller.
6. The Auctioneer is the Company, which auction takes place online.
7. A representative of the Company can be contacted at info@dealersonline.co.za / neels@auction.co.za or (021) 551 8059.
8. The Website is run by the Company.
9. These Terms and Conditions may be periodically modified and/or amended by the Company from time to time and it is the User's responsibility to ensure that they are familiar with the updated and/or amended terms. The User’s continued use of the Website signifies their acceptance of these Terms and Conditions and any updates and/or amendments thereof.

 

Auction Operating Hours

10. The Auctions shall operate within the confides as below:

• All Auctions and biddings shall only close on weekdays at 15:00.
• No Auction shall close on the weekend.
• In the event where a bid is submitted within 5 (Five) minutes before the 15:00 closing time, an additional 10 (Ten) minutes shall be added to the bidding process, until activity ceases and/or 90 (Ninety) minutes post auction closing time has passed (This continuation of competitive process shall be at the sole and exclusive discretion of the Company).
• The Users must refer to each Goods Listing for the open and closing date of respective Goods.

 

Auction rules and procedure

11. All sales are subject to a reserve price unless otherwise stated, and the Seller reserves the right to reject any bid below the minimum Reserve Price.
12. The Company is the Auctioneer and the auction is a closed auction as defined in the Regulations.
13. Where the User falls within the ambit of the CPA the rules of auction shall comply with the CPA and with the Regulations (insofar as the CPA is applicable).
14. Section 45 subsection (2) of the Act provides that: “When goods are put up for sale by auction in lots, each lot is, unless there is evidence to the contrary, regarded to be the subject of a separate transaction.”
15. The Company and/or the Seller reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion and without reason to withdraw from an auction at any time before acceptance of a bid and/or to reject any bid received.
16. Save for the situation provided for in clause 46 and 47 below, notice of acceptance of a successful bid will be forwarded, by electronic mail, to the Buyer notifying him of his successful purchase of the Goods. The receipt of such notice by the Buyer shall bind him to purchase the Goods from the Seller at the amount bid by the Buyer on the Website.
17. Receipt of the electronic mail notice referred to in clause 16 above sent as a result of, among other things, a Website error or a defect in the Website or server will not be binding on the Company and/or the Seller and the Company reserves the right to retract the notice in such circumstances. The User shall have no recourse against the Company and/or the Seller in such circumstances whatsoever.
18. The auction will commence at the published time and will not be delayed to allow any specific person or more persons to take part in the auction.

 

Registration

19. A User who wishes to participate in particular Auction(s) or make use of the auction platform must register as a subscriber on the Website of the Company. The User will be required to:
    • complete, in full, the registration documents provided on the Website;
    • certify that the information provided by the User in all respects are true and correct;
    • furnish the Company with such supporting documentation as may be required by the Company for any legitimate reason whatsoever including, without limitation, documentation required for FICA purposes;
    • certify if the User is acting in the capacity of a natural or judicial person domiciled or registered in the Republic of South Africa; and
    • acknowledge that the bidding for any Goods on the Website and any sale concluded as a result thereof will give rise to a contractual relationship between the Seller and the Buyer.
20. As per the aforementioned, the User acknowledges that registration must meet the requirements of FICA in respect of the establishment and verification of identity of the person of which shall include (but not limited to) the following information:

• Full name(s) of the User;
• Identity / passport / registration number;
• Physical address;
• Income tax number;
• VAT number (if applicable);
• Any other information as required by law.

21. In order to comply with legislation including, but not limited to the CPA, POPIA and FICA, the Company may from time to time request updated information from the User or from registered credit bureaus, to verify the User's information.
22. The User must notify the Company as soon as reasonably possible of any changes to the Users information.
23. Any documentation held by the Company may be provided by the Company, to a Seller with whom the Buyer has successfully concluded a transaction on the Website. The documents and information shall only be provided in relation to and as is necessary for the concluded transaction.
24. The Company shall comply with any lawful request for information, with regards to Goods or Users.
25. By accepting these Terms and Conditions, the User consents to the use and transfer of information to third parties, as set out in clauses 21 to 24.
26. A person who intends to bid on behalf of another person (i.e. on behalf of a company) must produce a letter of authority that expressly authorises him or her to bid on behalf of that person and that person and the person bidding on its behalf must meet the requirements set out in clause 20 Where a person is bidding on behalf of a company the letter of authority must appear on the letterhead of the company and must be accompanied by a certified copy of the resolution authorising the person to bid on behalf of the company.
27. Bidders are required to register to bid at the auction and will be required to pay a refundable deposit of R20 000.00 before commencement of the auction.

28. The deposit shall be refunded to the bidder after close of Auction or may be kept in the Trust Account of the Company to enable the bidder to participate in other Auctions upon request.
29. In the case where the bidder is regarded as the Buyer on any Goods that was sold at the Auction, the deposit shall be refunded after payment is received from the Buyer or by choice/request of the Buyer it can be applied towards settlement of the amount/s due in respect of the Goods purchased. All refunds of the deposit will only be processed through a written request from the bidder / Buyer.

 

General Auction Terms

30. The Bidder’s Record and the vendor roll will be made available for inspection at the offices of the Company during normal business hours without the charge of a fee, subject to compliance requirements with POPIA.
31. Unless the reason for the auction is the normal and voluntary disposal of the Goods by the Seller, the reason shall be displayed with the Goods.
32. The conduct of the auction is subject to the control of the Auctioneer who has the sole right to regulate the Bidding procedure and may on a reasonable basis accept or reject bids in its sole discretion without providing reasons.
33. Only bids submitted from duly approved registered Users will be accepted. The Company employees, or their representatives are NOT permitted to bid on auction. No “Ghost or Vendor Bidding allowed”.
34. The Auction shall be by the rise and the Goods shall be sold to the highest bidder subject to this Terms and Conditions.
35. Every prospective bidder must read the Terms and Conditions and are advised not to bid unless done so.
36. Every bid shall constitute an offer to purchase the Goods for the amount bid in coherence with these Terms and Conditions, which the Seller or the Auctioneer may accept or reject in their absolute discretion.
37. If no Bid equals or exceeds the Reserve Price, the Goods may be withdrawn from the auction.
38. In the event of any dispute in relation to an auction sale, the decision of the Auctioneer shall be final and binding.
39. The Auctioneer is entitled to correct any bona fide error in the conduct or conclusion of any Auction, or arising from any incorrect reference to the Goods for Auction. In the event that the error is not capable of being corrected, then the Auction shall be deemed not to have taken place and no Party participating at the Auction in question, will have any claim against the Auctioneer and/or the Seller arising from the cancellation of the Auction.
40. The Goods shall be made available for inspection by means of providing reasonable notice to arrange for inspection, or as advertised on stated viewing days.
41. Subject to these Terms and Conditions, the person that has submitted the highest bid at the closing time of the auction shall be regarded as the Buyer.
42. All bids that are made and received are exclusive of Commission and VAT. (In the case of export VAT, arrangements must be made in writing).
43. Foreign Buyers wiring funds must include an additional R1050.00 (One Thousand and Fifty Rand) per wire transfer to cover Bank Charges. These charges are subject to change from time to time.

 

General procedures at close of auction

44. In the case where the highest Bid for the Goods at close of Auction falls short of the Reserve Price, the Auctioneer shall immediately notify the Seller and the Seller shall have 2 (Two) business days from the conclusion of the respective Auction to either accept, reject or provide a counter-offer to the highest bid (the “Confirmation Period”). The Auctioneer shall also notify the Buyer if its bid are subject to this Confirmation Period Procedure.
45. The Buyer’s offer shall remain open for acceptance by the Seller or by the Auctioneer on behalf of the Seller, until expiry of the Confirmation Period. The Auctioneer shall notify the Buyer of decision or counter-offer made by the Seller, in terms of clause 39 and 46 No bid may be withdrawn until the expiry of the Confirmation Period.
46. A Successful Bid shall constitute an offer to purchase the Goods for the Purchase Price. The Goods must be paid in full by the Buyer to the Auctioneer immediately upon receive of Tax Invoice from the Auctioneer.
47. Upon completion of the auction a completed sale shall be indicated on the Website showing the Goods as “SOLD”.
48. In the case where no bids were received for particular Goods, such Goods as per discretion and request of the Seller shall be marked as “Open to Offer” (for a limited time) where offers may be submitted for the respective Goods. A offer made may be accepted per discretion by the Seller and the Seller shall not be obligated to accept any offer in this case.
49. The Buyer shall be responsible for any registration required for the Goods. The Seller shall provide the required information or documentation (if any) to assist with such registration. Neither the Seller nor Auctioneer shall be held liable if the Buyer receives any fines for failure to register respective Goods.

 

Payment of Purchase Price

50. All prices are quoted and are payable in South African Rand unless otherwise stated and are exclusive of VAT.
51. The Company has a Trust Account. All money due to be paid by the Buyer in terms of the rules of auction will be paid into this Trust Account.

52.   Payment by Buyer:

• The Purchase Price of respective Goods must be paid by the Buyer by means of a bank guaranteed cheque, electronic funds transfer, immediately upon the tax invoice received from the Auctioneer. No cash payments will be accepted.
• The tax invoice shall consist of the Purchase Price, Auctioneer Commission and the VAT applicable thereto, as well as the Reference Code to use when making the payment.
• The Buyer shall make full payment of the Total Amount reflected in the tax invoice to the Auctioneer into its nominated Trust Account.
• The Buyer shall issue the Auctioneer with a confirmation of payment when payment is made to the following email address invoicing@dealersonline.co.za.
• No Goods may be collected until funds have cleared in the Auctioneer’s Trust Account.
• As soon as all funds for tax invoice for specific Goods has cleared in Auctioneer’s Trust Account, a Release Note pertaining further instructions will be issued by the Auctioneer to both the Buyer and Seller in question.

53.   Payment by Auctioneer:

• The Auctioneer shall duly notify the Seller by means of Formal Confirmation when payment has cleared in the Account of the Auctioneer, of which said confirmation shall include acknowledgement from the Auctioneer for the respective amount (inclusive of VAT) to be paid to the Seller.
• The Seller shall invoice the Auctioneer as soon as the seller has received Formal Confirmation as per clause 1 above. The tax invoice shall consist of details of the Goods sold, Auction number, amount to be paid, the VAT applicable thereto and Reference Code to use when making payment.
• The Auctioneer shall make payment of the full amount as reflected in the tax invoice from the Seller within a period not exceeding 7 (seven) business days from date of sellers tax invoice into the nominated account of the Seller.

 

Delivery and collection

54. The Buyer shall collect the Goods purchased, within 5 (five) business days after all amounts as per clause 54 above have reflected as Cleared Funds in the Trust Account of the Auctioneer. The Buyer must arrange with the Auctioneer for a date and time
55. The Goods must be collected at the Buyer’s own cost, at the premises confirmed by the Auctioneer and/or Seller.
56. Should the Buyer fail to collect the Goods within a reasonable time as per clause 56 above then the Goods shall be stored, of which storage and associated costs shall be for the Buyer's sole account and will not exceed an amount of more than R100.00 (One Hundred Rand) per day (VAT exclusive). The Goods shall not be released to the Buyer until such time as the storage and associated costs have been paid by the Buyer.

 

Transfer of Ownership

57. Transfer of ownership in and to the Goods shall remain vested in the Seller until such time as the successful bid Purchase Price has been paid in full by way of payment of Cleared Funds into the Auctioneers Trust Account.
58. Ownership in and to the Goods shall be deemed to pass from the Seller to the Buyer once the Auctioneer has confirmed receipt of all Cleared Funds owing to the Seller.

 

Auctioneers Commission

59. Unless otherwise stated, the Buyer shall pay auctioneer’s commission to the Auctioneer at the rate specified on the respective Goods Listing and of which shall also be reflected on the tax invoice received from the Auctioneer.
60. In the event that a sale transaction is cancelled or reversed and such cancellation or reversal is not in respect of a breach as per clause 68 and 69 below, then the Buyer shall not be liable for payment of the Auctioneers commission due, provided that the Buyer has notified the Company of such cancellation in writing, within 2 (two) business days of sale at creditrequest@dealersonline.co.za.

 

Voetstoots

61. In so far as the CPA and Regulations are applicable to a transaction and in conflict with the provisions below, the provisions of the CPA will take preference:
62. The Goods are sold voetstoots (“as is” basis) and as listed on the Website and/or inspected by the potential Buyer (in their sole discretion);
63. The Seller and/or the Company shall not be liable for any latent or patent defects in and to the Goods;
64. The Seller and/or the Company does not warrant the accuracy of the description of the Goods (as per the vehicle details listing and/or the advertisement);
65. The Seller shall not make any wilful misrepresentations of the Goods prior to the conclusion of the sale, whether express, oral, implied or in any other form whatsoever;
66. The Company shall not be held liable for any representations made by the Seller to the Buyer prior to the conclusion of the sale, whether express, oral, implied or in any other form whatsoever.

 

Assignment and succession

67. The Buyer may not actually or purportedly cede, assign or otherwise alienate any rights or obligations which it may have in terms hereof or in terms of any Contract with the Seller, without the prior written consent of the Company and/or Seller, which consent will not be unreasonably withheld.
68. These Terms and Conditions and the Contract, where applicable, shall be binding on the User’s heirs, trustees, liquidators, curators and/or successors in title.

 

Domicilium citandi et executandi

69. The User elects as its domicilium citandi et executandi the physical address as stipulated in the registration documents completed by the User on the Website for service of all notices or legal processes.
70. The Company elects as its domicilium citandi et executandi its registered address specified at clause 8.

 

Breach

71. If the User breaches any of these Terms and Conditions, it may be held liable to pay the total cost of advertising and conducting the auction of the applicable Goods that were to be auctioned and/or purchased, and such additional costs as provided for by the Consumer Protection Act Regulations.
72. The Buyer shall forfeit their Registration Deposit in the event that an invoice is not fully settled or in the event of breaching these Terms and Conditions.

 

Governing Law and Jurisdiction

73. The Website, these Terms and Conditions, and any contract entered into between the Company and the Buyer and/or Seller shall be subject to the laws of the Republic of South Africa.
74. The User hereby consents to the jurisdiction of the Magistrates Court having jurisdiction in respect of any action to be instituted against the Parties hereto.
75. In the event of the User committing any breach or in the event of the Company being required to take any legal action, the User agrees and undertakes to pay the Company's legal costs on the scale as between attorney and client, including collection commission, tracing fees, valuation charges, transport costs and other expenses in connection therewith.

 

Limitations and Indemnity

76. In addition to any other specific exclusions of liability contained herein and unless otherwise expressly stated herein, the Parties agree that the Buyer shall have no claim against the Company for any loss or damage, of any nature whatsoever, occasioned by any defect, whether patent or latent, or product liability in the Goods supplied by the Seller or any failure to provide adequate instructions in respect of any hazards that might arise from the use or incorrect use of the Goods or the User's use or inability to use any Goods sold on the Website, save to the extent that the User is a consumer for the purposes of the CPA and such loss or damage is contemplated in section 61 of the CPA and provided that nothing in these terms and conditions must be construed as in any way limiting the rights of the Company to raise such defences as may be available to it at common law or in terms of any statute.
77. In the event of the breach of these terms and conditions by the Company, the User's remedies shall be limited to damages which shall under no circumstances exceed the purchase price of the Goods.
78. The User hereby indemnifies and holds the Company harmless against any losses, expenses, costs or damages of whatsoever nature incurred by the User howsoever arising, including from any wilful misconduct or gross negligence of the Company. The Company shall under no circumstances whatsoever be liable for damages, directly or indirectly caused, or consequential loss of any nature whatsoever. Where applicable, this clause 75 will not apply to a User insofar as it is in conflict with the CPA.
79. The User hereby indemnifies and holds the Company harmless and waives any right that it may have to claim against the Company in relation to any loss which it may suffer occasioned by the unauthorised use of the User's Website secret password and username.

 

Use of website

80. Save for the provisions of section 43(5) and 43(6) of ECTA, neither the Company nor its duly authorised agents or representatives shall be liable for damages, loss or inability to use the Website, the services or content provided therein. The Company furthermore makes no representation or warranties whatsoever that the content and/or the technology available on the Website is free of errors, omissions, and viruses of any nature or free of interruption.
81. Any and all information on the Website should not be regarded as professional advice or the official opinion of the Company and it is the User's responsibility to ensure the correctness of any of the content displayed on the Website.
82. The User agrees to use the Website only for lawful purposes and in a manner which does not in any way infringe on the rights of or restrict or inhibit the use and the enjoyment of the Website for any third party including, without limitation, conduct which is unlawful or which may harass or cause distress or inconvenience to any person. The Company will not be responsible in any way whatsoever for the content of external websites linked to the Website, whether directly or indirectly. It is the User's responsibility to confirm any external website's privacy policy before transmitting personal information thereto.
83. No right or license is hereby granted to any User, whether juristic or natural, to any trademark, mark, branding, design or any other intellectual property of the Company whatsoever.
84. All material located on the Website including, without limitation, text, logos and images may not be copied, reproduced, republished, downloaded, posted, broadcast or transmitted in any way whatsoever except for the User's personal non-commercial use.
85. The User agrees not to adapt, alter or create any derivative work from any of the Company's material contained on the Website nor to use any of the Company's content for commercial use in any way whatsoever, without the Company's prior written approval.

 

Privacy Policy

86. The Company shall take reasonable steps to protect the personal information of the User collected by the Company through its Website. For the purposes of this clause "personal information" shall be defined as detailed in POPIA.
87. The personal information will not be made available to any third party without the User's consent, unless required by law, in legal process or proceedings or to protect the rights, property or safety of the Company or other parties. The User acknowledges that the Company will supply the Seller and all other necessary third parties with the User's personal information for the purpose of concluding a sale of Goods.
88. The User recognises that it is the User's sole responsibility to protect its Website username and password.
89. The User agrees that the Company may use its confidential information to communicate with the User from time to time, unless otherwise specified by the User in writing.
90. It is recorded that the Website may collect cookies and/or make use of tracking. All Users of the Website accept that the Company may collect the User's computer IP address in order to, among other things, measure the number of visitors to the Website for marketing research purposes. The Company shall only use the information for the intended purpose of collection.

 

PAIA Policy

91. Please open the following link to view our PAIA Policy: PAIA Manual.