Terms and Conditions of Use of MinAuctions

These Terms apply to all users of the Service, including visitors, registered users, buyers, bidders, sellers and content contributors.

The following documents form an integral part of these Terms, where applicable:

• the MinAuctions Privacy Policy;
• the Auction Regulations;
• the purchase and payment rules;
• seller standards, the commission schedule, category rules (minerals, fossils and meteorites) and any other policy made available within the Service.

The user must have the legal capacity to enter into binding contracts in order to buy or sell through the Service. Where applicable law provides for a minimum age or other requirements, the user must satisfy them before using the transactional functionalities.

During registration, the user is required to provide truthful, complete and up-to-date information, including name, surname, address, email address and any further data reasonably requested by MinAuctions for account creation, compliance, payment or marketplace management purposes. The email address provided is subject to mandatory verification: the account will not be activated without confirmation.

The user is required to keep the information in his or her account up to date and is responsible for the confidentiality of his or her login credentials and for all activities carried out through the account, without prejudice to the prompt reporting to MinAuctions of any unauthorised use.

Access to the Service is exclusively by authentication with email address and password.

MinAuctions provides an online platform and the technical infrastructure through which users can publish, search, watch, bid on, purchase and sell specimens of minerals, fossils and meteorites and related items. Unless expressly otherwise indicated in a specific transaction, MinAuctions is not the seller, buyer, principal, intermediary, exporter, importer, depositary or shipper of the items published.

MinAuctions is not a party to contracts concluded directly between buyers and sellers through the Service, unless expressly provided otherwise for specific functionalities. MinAuctions does not guarantee the truthfulness, accuracy, quality, lawfulness, safety, authenticity, provenance, condition, merchantability, fitness for purpose or availability of items published by sellers.

MinAuctions reserves the right to add, modify, suspend or discontinue any part of the Service at any time.

All users are required to comply with the Auction Regulations, the purchase rules, seller standards, the commission schedule and any specific instructions published by MinAuctions. Before participating in an auction or any other transaction, the user must read and understand the applicable rules.

In particular:

• auctions are published and publicly visible only from the scheduled start time;
• auctions normally close in the evening time window indicated on each auction group page;
• sellers may upload lots to an auction group only before the group starts;
• the award of a lot binds the buyer to payment within the terms provided for in the Auction Regulations.

The seller must have the legal right to offer, market and transfer ownership of each item published. By creating a lot, the seller declares that the item can be legally sold and transferred, subject to licences, permits, export controls or information requirements.

The seller warrants that each listing is accurate, complete and not misleading. Descriptions, images, locality of origin, species names, treatments, dimensions, weight, defects, provenance statements and any reference to brands or origin must be presented honestly and accurately.

The seller is required to:

• complete all mandatory fields of the lot publication form, including at least three photographs of the specimen;
• define the terms of the transaction, including starting price, any reserve price, any accepted payment methods and shipping conditions;
• ship the item within three (3) working days of receiving payment, communicating the courier or postal service used and the tracking number;
• comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including consumer protection rules, sanctions, export controls, customs and tax obligations, intellectual property laws and laws relating to the collection, sale, transport or export of mineral, fossiliferous or related specimens.

The buyer or bidder must participate in transactions in good faith, with the intention and ability to complete them in the event of award.

The successful bidder is required to pay the invoice within three (3) days of the date of issue, in accordance with the MinAuctions regulations. The seller will ship the package within three (3) working days of payment.

The buyer must use only payment methods for which he or she is authorised, with sufficient funds to cover the amount of the transaction and any ancillary costs. It is the buyer's responsibility to verify the listing details, transaction rules, shipping restrictions and any duties, taxes, legal restrictions or licensing requirements applicable in the destination country.

In the event of non-payment within the terms, the seller may report the buyer as a non-payer in accordance with the procedures provided for by the Service; MinAuctions may take the measures provided for in Section 11.

Commissions and any fees for paid services are those indicated by MinAuctions at the time of provision. By using a paid feature, the user agrees to pay the applicable commissions.

Commissions due from sellers are summarised and invoiced on a monthly basis: on the first day of each month, MinAuctions sends each seller with accrued commissions a summary of sales for the previous month, followed by a commercial invoice with the payment details. Unless otherwise indicated, commissions are non-refundable once the service has been provided.

In the event of non-payment of amounts due, MinAuctions may suspend listings, limit account functionality, offset credits, deny access to paid services or close the account, in addition to taking legal action to recover the debt.

Users may submit texts, sheets, images, videos, messages, profile materials and other content through the Service ("User Content"). The user retains ownership of his or her User Content, but grants MinAuctions a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable and sublicensable licence to host, store, reproduce, adapt for formatting, publish, display, distribute, moderate and use such Content to manage, improve, promote and protect the Service.

The user declares that he or she owns all rights, authorisations and consents necessary to publish the User Content and that it does not infringe third-party rights or applicable regulations.

User Content may persist in backups, logs, archives and historical transaction records where retention is reasonably necessary for marketplace integrity, legal obligations, evidentiary purposes, fraud prevention or technical operation of the Service. Awarded lot sheets may remain available as a historical archive of transactions.

MinAuctions reserves the right to remove, reject, modify, moderate or restrict access to any User Content that reasonably violates these Terms, the law, third-party rights or the quality standards of the marketplace.

The user must not:

• use the Service for unlawful, fraudulent, deceptive, abusive or harmful purposes;
• describe items inaccurately, manipulate bids, evade commissions or interfere with other users' transactions;
• publish false, misleading, offensive, defamatory, rights-infringing or irrelevant content;
• use user information for spam, harassment, scraping or unauthorised marketing;
• upload content without the necessary rights of use;
• attempt to circumvent security measures, access controls or technical protections;
• introduce malicious code or carry out abusive automated activities that compromise the Service;
• use the Service to publish or facilitate the sale of items prohibited by law or applicable sanctions regimes.

MinAuctions may verify, examine, moderate, suspend, remove or limit content, listings, accounts or conduct where it reasonably considers it appropriate for legal compliance, marketplace security, fraud prevention, rights protection or Service quality.

The Service provides reporting tools, including reports of non-paying buyers by sellers. A report does not oblige MinAuctions to take a specific measure; any intervention remains discretionary.

In the event of suspension or closure of an account for violation of the Terms, risk of fraud, sanctions violation, recurring complaints, non-payment of commissions or misuse of the Service, the user may not create a replacement account without the prior written consent of MinAuctions. Account blocking may limit the user to viewing the Service only, without the possibility of carrying out operations or making changes.

All intellectual property rights relating to the Service — including software, databases, trademarks, logos, layouts, marketplace presentation, design elements and original content — belong to MinAuctions or are licensed to it. Except as permitted by law or these Terms, it is prohibited to copy, extract, collect, republish, decode, distribute or exploit any part of the Service without prior written authorisation.

Nothing in these Terms transfers MinAuctions' intellectual property rights to users.

MinAuctions processes personal data in accordance with its Privacy Policy, which forms an integral part of these Terms. By using the Service, the user acknowledges that personal data may be collected, used, stored and disclosed for account management, transaction execution, invoicing, fraud prevention, support, security, analytics, legal compliance and marketplace management purposes.

In the event of a conflict between these Terms and the Privacy Policy with regard to the processing of personal data, the Privacy Policy shall prevail to the extent of the conflict.

The user may discontinue use of the Service at any time and request closure or deletion of his or her account in accordance with the procedures available within the Service or through support channels.

Account deletion does not entail the immediate deletion of all data where retention is reasonably necessary for the completion of transactions, legal, tax and accounting obligations, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, sanctions controls, security or enforcement of these Terms. The minimum information necessary to preserve the integrity of the transaction history may be retained.

MinAuctions does not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation of the Service. Some functionalities may be temporarily unavailable due to maintenance, updates, testing, security interventions, third-party failures or events beyond MinAuctions' reasonable control.

MinAuctions reserves the right to modify, suspend or withdraw any functionality, listing format, policy, pricing structure or part of the Service. Where reasonably possible, notice will be given in the event of substantially prejudicial changes.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Service is provided "as is" and "as available". MinAuctions makes no representation or warranty that the Service will always be available, secure, accurate, complete, up-to-date, error-free or fit for a particular purpose.

MinAuctions does not guarantee users, listings, items, transaction outcomes, seller or buyer performance, delivery times, provenance statements, market values or the legal compliance of third-party conduct.

Mandatory rights recognised by law, including consumer protections that cannot be legally excluded, remain unaffected.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, MinAuctions, its directors, employees, affiliates, agents and collaborators shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive losses or damages, or for loss of profits, business, opportunities, reputation, expected savings or data arising from or in connection with the Service.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, MinAuctions' total liability arising from or in connection with the Service shall not exceed the greater of:

• EUR 100; or
• the total amount of commissions paid by the user to MinAuctions in the transaction or transactions that directly gave rise to the claim.

The user undertakes to indemnify and hold MinAuctions harmless from losses, liabilities, costs, claims, expenses, penalties and damages arising from breach of these Terms, misuse of the Service, infringement of third-party rights, unlawful conduct or use of the account by persons authorised by the user or resulting from failure to protect login credentials.

MinAuctions reserves the right to modify these Terms periodically. The updated version will be published on the Service with a revised "Last updated" date; in the event of material changes, users may be informed by notice on the website, email or other reasonable method.

Unless otherwise indicated, the updated Terms enter into force upon publication. Continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the changes. The user who does not accept the modified Terms must cease using the Service and may request account closure.

MinAuctions may suspend, restrict or discontinue access to the Service, remove listings, block account functionalities or cancel marketplace activities where it reasonably believes that the user has violated these Terms, created legal risks, failed to pay commissions, misused the Service or compromised the integrity or security of the marketplace.

Suspension or termination shall not affect accrued rights, payment obligations, dispute rights or provisions which by their nature survive termination, including sections relating to commissions, licences on User Content, liability, indemnity, applicable law and dispute resolution.

These Terms and any non-contractual obligation arising from or connected to them are governed by Italian law.

For disputes arising from these Terms or the Service, an Italian court of competent jurisdiction shall have exclusive jurisdiction, without prejudice to the mandatory rights of consumers and the judicial protections provided for by current law, including the consumer's right to bring proceedings before the court of his or her place of residence or domicile.

If any provision of these Terms is held to be unlawful, invalid or unenforceable, it shall be deemed severable and the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

MinAuctions may assign, transfer or subcontract rights and obligations arising from these Terms. The user may not assign or transfer any right or obligation without the prior written consent of MinAuctions.

The failure or delay of MinAuctions to exercise a right shall not constitute a waiver of that right.

These Terms constitute the entire agreement between MinAuctions and the user in relation to the Service, without prejudice to the regulations, policies and transaction-specific terms expressly referred to.

For any questions relating to these Terms or the Service, users may use the contacts published on minauctions.com or the contact form available within the Service.