The Students Supermarkets Rules and policies are in place to create a fair and enjoyable experience for all.

Your User Agreement is the most important policy of The Student Supermarket. All members are responsible for reviewing and understanding The Student Supermarket’s policies and all applicable laws and regulations contained in this legal contract.

The Student Supermarket’s policies are intended to:

• - Support government laws and regulations
• - Minimise risk for all parties involved
• - Provide equal opportunity to all buyers and sellers
• - Protect intellectual property rights
• - Provide an enjoyable buying experience
• - Support the values of the Student Supermarket Community

The Student Supermarkets policies are organised into the following categories:

• - Rules for buyers
• - Rules for sellers
• - Rules for Everybody
• - Feedback policies

Rules for buyers

• - Buyers must not complete the purchase buy selecting the “Commit to Buy” option without paying, by doing this they are subject to action detailed in the “Unpaid items” section.
• - Commit to buying the item with no intention of buying simply to have the listing removed so as to disrupt the seller’s process. This is known as malicious buying and as the “Commit to buy” process is a binding legal action, it leaves the offender subject to the appropriate action.
• - Commit to buying the item without meeting specific terms and conditions that the buyer has outlined in their listing.

Unpaid Items

When a buyer selects “Commit to buy” on an item that they have in their basket, then they enter into a legally binding contract with the seller, which carries the obligation to send the appropriate payment to the seller within the set time period.

Initially it is suggested that the seller contacts the buyer to try and resolve the issue and discuss why payment has not been received.

As sellers do not have to pay a listing fee then if items are unpaid for then The Student Supermarket are not liable to pay any compensation.

If a seller does not respond the following steps can be followed:

• - The seller can report the issue to The Student Supermarket, who will contact both parties. If it is felt that the seller has misled the buyer in anyway then the report can be dismissed.
• - If the buyer is at fault they will receive a formal warning.
• - If this is a secondary offence they can have their account suspended.
• - If deemed necessary as the buyer has entered into a legally binding contract, then further legal action can be pursued.

Rules for sellers

Before sellers create a listing they must understand the policies in the following areas:

• - Prohibited and Restricted Items
• - Rules for listings

In addition to the above policies, sellers must also follow the guidelines below:

• - Sellers must honour the transaction contract. Sellers cannot fail to deliver an item for which payment was accepted, significantly misrepresent an item by not meeting the terms and item description outlined in the listing, or refuse to accept payment for an item at the end of a successful sale.
• - Sellers must pay the relevant Taxes and fees.
• - Business listings – Businesses are required by the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 to display their contact details.
• - Sellers SHOULD NOT send the item or allow the user to download the item until payment has been received into their account.

Banned and Restricted Items

The Student Supermarket adopts a very strict view on items that are listed on the site and if they feel any are unsuitable for the site, then they will be removed immediately and the seller noted of the action taken. There are certain terms which can be used to define items which cannot be placed for sale on the site.

• Banned - These items CANNOT be placed for sale on this site
• Restricted – Can be place on the site if possible conditions are met
• Infringing – Items which are banned as they breach copyright or trademark laws. These Item CANNOT be placed for sale for this reason.

Banned items

These are items that:

• - Are illegal or encourage illegal activity.
• - Are offensive to other users e.g. Racially offensive.
• - Promote gambling.
• - Are not an actual listing.

Restricted

These are items that can be listed as long as certain conditions are met For example:

• - If a user was to list an item that contained perishable such as food, they must add in the description the measures that they will undertake to ensure the item reaches the buyer in an appropriate condition.

If a seller is unsure as to weather an item is restricted they should contact The Student Supermarket before listing so they can be told of the conditions to be met as this will avoid the item being unnecessarily being removed.

Rules for Everyone

Members cannot:

• - Make offers to complete transactions outside of The Student Supermarket.
• - Continue to use the site if the Account is suspended or under investigation.
• - Create a listing to advertise a service, business or products listed on other sites.
• - Post “want adds”.
• - Create listing with the intention of offending other users.

Rules for creating profile:

• - Members must be 16 years old and over.
• - Must provide the correct contact details.
• - Provide the a valid email.
• - Provide the correct location details

Rules for communicating with other members:

• - Members must not send abusive messages to other members.
• - Members must not send messages containing spam.
• - Members must not send messages advertising a service, business or products listed on other sites.

Feedback Policies

The feedback feature is an integral part of The Student Supermarket, it acts as a valuable indication of a members reputation across the site. A users feedback will include comments and a measure of Positive, Negative or Neutral feedback. A members feedback is positive, so it is imperative than when a user leaves feedback for another user it is completely honest and accurate.

With this in mind, users must NOT:

• - Threaten to leave negative feedback unless unreasonable requests are met e.g. the seller lowering the price of postage after a “Commit to Buy” is made.
• - Manipulate feedback, where feedback is left to deliberately alter a member’s feedback both in a positive manner or negative manner.
• - Instruct users not to leave feedback in their listing.
• - Offer users positive feedback in exchange for positive feedback.
• - Send unreasonable messages to users asking them to re-write feedback left.

Members MUST:

• - Leave accurate feedback.
• - Leave feedback for users they have dealt with, as this will aid further potential buyers.