Buying Instructions

It is REQUIRED that all buyers comprehensively read and understand these instructions! Cubicdissection staff will not respond to questions that are answered in this document.

This site is intended for use as a market by which buyers and sellers connect. Cubicdissection does not mediate or otherwise guarantee transactions between users. Use of this site constitutes your agreement to proactively communicate and resolve any issues between yourself and any other respective party, including pre and post-event questions, request for more detail in listings, complaints as to photographs or descriptions, and any other issues which may arise.

Placing a bid is a binding contract between the bidder and the seller.  Bid retraction is not allowed; please think carefully before submitting any bid.  Should a buyer not honor a bid they have placed, they will be permanently barred from participating in future Marketplace events.

Listing Details

The seller alone is responsible for the content of their listing, including descriptions and photographs.  Marketplace Admins do not have access to the items and can not provide any further details.

Buyers are encouraged to report listings that violate the terms of service. A link at the bottom of each listing is provided for this purpose. Commonly reported listing violations include:

Should you need more information about an item, please contact the seller using the Messaging feature.  Requests for more information should be done prior to placing a bid; subsequently learning new information after placing a bid does not constitute a valid reason to retract a bid unless it contradicts previously published information.  Ask before bidding!

The amount paid for an item shall not change expectations with regard to grade and function. Any buyer who receives multiple complaints of challenging an accurately stated item condition may be suspended or banned from future participation.

Puzzle Grading 

The grade is the cosmetic condition of the item

The function describes how well the puzzle feels and operates. 

What is the SPH Item Size?

The SPH ( Standardized Puzzle Hamster) is a unit of measure pioneered by collector Steve Nicholls.  One SPH equals 160mm x 76mm and weighs 64grams.  And is furry.

Listing Durations

The Marketplace is a scheduled event that runs four times per year; all items start with a seven-day duration and close at the same time unless the anti snipe feature is activated by bidders.

Auction Fees

All fees are paid by the seller; the buyer pays no fees.  Therefore the buyer has no need to send payment directly to the Marketplace; all purchase amounts including shipping should be paid directly to the seller after the item is won.  

Do not use the "Credit Account" button in the Members Area as this is used by sellers to pay their listing fees.

Bidding

To place your bid simply enter the amount you wish to bid (e.g. 50.00). Please note no currency symbols are required. The bid will be placed in the default auction currency (USD).

Once entered, you will be asked to review your bid. At this time you should also review vital item details such as the shipping conditions before confirming your bid. To submit your bid simply press the Place Bid button.

International Bidding

Some sellers do not wish to ship internationally and have therefore disallowed bids from buyers in a different country.  This is their personal choice and can not be changed by appealing to Marketplace Admins.

Proxy Bidding

The Marketplace utilizes a proxy bidding system. That means that when you place any bid, only the minimum necessary amount to maintain status as the highest bidder is committed.  The amount of your maximum proxy bid is not revealed to other bidders; you pay only what is necessary to win the auction within the constraints of the bidding increment.

Put another way, if an item is opened at $20 and you make the first bid for $100, the system will bid the minimum amount ($20) at that time.  Another user now comes after you and bids $30.  The system will immediately respond with another bid according to the bid increments table below, in this case resulting in a $32 bid being automatically placed on your behalf to defeat the new bidders' maximum bid.  Should another bidder exceed your maximum bid they will be the high bidder, and their maximum proxy bid will function the same as yours did.

Reserve Auctions

At times a seller may elect to protect his item with a reserve amount. This can be thought of as an undisclosed bid by the seller. If an auction is protected by a reserve, the seller is not obligated to sell the item unless the reserve amount has been met. 

Proxy Bids and Reserve Auctions

If a proxy bid is placed which is lower than a reserve amount, the entire amount of the proxy bid will be applied and show as a live but insufficient bid.  This is because the reserve amount is akin to a bid from the seller, thus the system treats the proxy amount in the same manner it would if the bid were placed against another bidder.

If a proxy bid is placed which is higher than the reserve amount, the minimum amount necessary to defeat the reserve will be posted as a winning bid, with the remainder held in proxy against future competing bids.

Anti-Snipe Feature

Auctions within one day of closing are protected by an anti-sniping feature. Due to the international nature of the clientele, any bid placed within the last 24 hours automatically extends the bidding time by a certain amount the moment the bid is placed. Therefore, sniping auctions is foiled. A sniper bidding during the last few seconds of the auction simply extends the auction time, allowing the sniped bidder to reply.  This extension diminishes over time to encourage resolution as shown in the table below:

Proxy Bidding and Anti-Snipe

When a bid is placed that increases the existing leading bidders proxy bid, the anti-snipe time extension WILL be triggered whether or not the new bid exceeds that existing proxy bid. This is intentional so as to give the losing bidder a chance to re-bid.

Reserve and Anti-Snipe

If an item is protected by a reserve, the anti snipe feature will not be activated unless the previous bid has met the reserve. To say it another way, if you place a bid and it does not meet the reserve requirement, the auction will end at the originally scheduled time, and will not be extended.

Bidding Increments

Bid increments are as follows: 

Bid Cancellations

Bids are a binding contract between the buyer and seller, and will not be canceled under any circumstances.  Non-paying bidders will be permanently banned from the Marketplace.  Before placing a bid, think twice and make sure you are willing and able to honor that bid.

Make Offer

The Make Offer function allows a bidder to make an instant offer on the item being sold. The offer range is specified by the seller during the auction listing process. If an offer is made within the range specified, the seller can choose to accept or turn down the offer.  

An accepted offer results in the immediate sale of the item. The presence of other bids, with or without having met any reserves, does not prevent a seller from accepting an offer. 

Shipping

If you win more than one item from a seller you may wish to combine shipping into one package for more efficient and affordable delivery.  It is up to the seller to decide if they wish to offer this service.  Always check with the seller first to confirm combined shipping!

Combined Invoices

Buyers may combine purchases from a single seller provided the following criteria are met:

To combine invoices, from the Purchases menu (Home -> Members Area -> Buying -> Purchases) select two or more invoices and click Combine.  Please note that by doing so you will be charged the full shipping amount for each item.  A better option is to request combined shipping from the seller, and if they should allow for such they will be able to combine invoices from their end and manually enter a lower combined shipping amount.  Finally, please note that combining invoices is irreversible, therefore please ensure you are finished bidding on items from that seller before requesting or combining invoices yourself.

Contacting Seller

Operating the Marketplace incurs overhead from hosting, software, support, participant verification, customer service, and other activities. Marketplace fees are in place to defray those costs and enable continued operation of the site. Therefore any attempt to circumvent the fee structure by any participant is strictly forbidden and will result in account suspension or revocation. 

The seller may be contacted through the built-in Marketplace messaging system.  Communication outside the Marketplace framework may be considered bypassing the fee structure and result in either buyer or seller being banned from future events.  At all times, buyers are expressly forbidden from soliciting sellers in order to purchase puzzles outside the Marketplace framework. Marketplace Admins have access to all communication on the Marketplace messaging board and reserve the right to monitor such information to detect users bypassing the system.

The buyer may ask public questions which will be visible for all users viewing the listing. Common questions regarding the condition of the item, the seller's shipping preferences, and other details will be posted under the listing's questions and answers tab. 

Pay attention to the dropdown selection when posting a question to the seller. Public questions can be viewed by all, private questions will only be seen by the seller.

After Sale

After the sale is complete, the buyer and seller use the built-in invoicing and messaging function to coordinate payment and delivery.  The seller may send you an invoice using the built-in Invoicing feature.  Buyer and seller work together to handle payment and delivery; Marketplace staff are in no way involved in the transaction and will not be able to answer questions specific to a particular listing.

PayPal

Payment sent through PayPal must be sent using purchase protection. Sellers are prohibited from requesting "trusted party" payments. Violation of this will result in an immediate suspension for one event, with further violations resulting in a permanent ban from the Marketplace.

Buyers and sellers alike are required to comply with PayPal's terms of service, which precludes sellers from charging buyers for PayPal fees. 

No handling or packaging fees are allowed. Sellers are prohibited from charging any fees in addition to the final sale price and shipping cost.

If enabled by the seller, a PayPal direct payment button will be shown on the invoice page which will take you directly to the PayPal payment screen. Please confirm the final price with the seller before sending payment.

Feedback

To leave feedback, go to Members Area > Feedback > Leave Feedback. There you may rate the user and leave specific comments. Please remember that comments are permanent and will not be deleted. Always attempt to work out any issues with the other member first - leaving negative feedback should be an absolute last resort.

Problems After Sale

The buyer and seller should make every effort to resolve any disputes arising from the sale of an item between themselves.  If as a buyer you are unable to come to a resolution, please contact us using the "Contact Us" button at the bottom of each page.  In the case of clear and documented misrepresentation, we will attempt to mediate.  Our remedy is limited to disallowing future participation in the marketplace.  Under no circumstances will we be able to, nor held liable for, replacing misrepresented items or recovering funds.

Non-Paying Bidder / Non-Shipping Seller

Payment must be sent within 10 days of the item close. Items must be shipped within 10 days of payment being received. Extensions to this timeline may be approved if both parties agree. After 10 days the non-compliant party will receive a 48-hour warning. If the listing is resolved within this time frame, one of two things will happen:

If the listing is not resolved during the warning period the non-compliant party will receive a final 24-hour warning. If the matter is not resolved they will be permanently banned from the Marketplace. If the listing is resolved there may still be a suspension depending on the history of the individual.

Terms Last Updated Monday, August 12th, 2024

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