Auction rules

1. The auction and TROTTERA's role

TROTTERA organises a weekly online auction for trotting horses, run from the Netherlands and open to sellers and buyers across Europe. Horses go online as soon as they are registered; bidding is open all week; on Sunday evening the lots close one by one.

TROTTERA is an intermediary. The sales contract is concluded directly between the seller and the buyer at the closing of the lot; TROTTERA is not a party to that contract, does not own the horses and gives no warranty on them. TROTTERA facilitates the payment: the buyer pays TROTTERA, and TROTTERA pays the seller after the handover.

At most 60 horses close in one session.

2. Accounts and verification

Only a person of 18 years or older, or a business represented by such a person, can hold an account. One account per person or business. You keep your login to yourself; everything done with your account counts as done by you.

Before the first bid or sale your identity is verified: your details, your mobile number and an identity document, followed by a check by TROTTERA (in the test phase by hand, later by a verification partner). An account that is not verified can browse and follow horses, nothing else. A blocked account can sign in and read, but cannot bid, sell or verify again.

Bidders are anonymous towards each other: the bid list shows an alias, the amount, the time and the country of the bidder. The seller and the buyer learn each other's name and contact details when the buyer has paid. TROTTERA sees every name.

3. Registering a horse

The seller registers a horse with its name, category, country of registration and location; the horse is then online and can receive bids. The seller declares to be the owner or to be authorised by the owner, that the horse may be sold, and that everything in the dossier is correct and complete. The seller enters the UELN and the chip number from the horse's passport and uploads the passport page where TROTTERA asks for it.

The dossier must be complete before Thursday 12:00 (Europe/Amsterdam) to close in the session of that Sunday: at least one photo, and for starters and coldblood trotters a veterinary report that was at most 7 days old on the day it was uploaded. A report that was valid when uploaded stays valid when the horse moves to a later week. A horse whose dossier is not complete in time is withdrawn from that week; a horse whose dossier is complete but for which the week is full moves to the next week.

Every registered horse carries a listing fee of € 75 ex VAT, also when the horse is bought back, receives no bid or is withdrawn. Nothing is charged at registration: when the horse is sold, the fee is deducted from the payout; otherwise it is invoiced separately, and the seller cannot register a new horse until that invoice is paid.

TROTTERA can take a horse offline, before or during the auction, when the dossier is incorrect, the horse may not be sold, or the listing breaks these rules. Bids on such a horse lapse; nobody owes anything on them.

4. Bidding

Every horse starts at € 1,000. There is no reserve price and the seller cannot choose a higher opening bid. Bid steps: € 150 up to € 5,000, € 400 up to € 10,000, € 750 above. A bid may jump several steps at once.

A bid is binding from the moment TROTTERA's server accepts it. Before a bid is placed, TROTTERA shows the total the bidder pays if the bid wins, including the buyer fee, the transaction costs and VAT. A bid cannot be withdrawn. A bid above three times the current price asks for a second confirmation against typing errors.

Automatic bidding: a bidder can leave a hidden maximum. TROTTERA then bids on the bidder's behalf in the normal steps, only as much as needed to lead, never above the maximum. At equal maxima the earlier one wins. A maximum can be raised, lowered (not below the current price) or stopped; every bid placed stays binding.

The seller may bid on their own horse. When the seller places the highest bid at closing, the horse is bought back: there is no sale, and the seller pays 1% of the highest bid plus the listing fee, ex VAT. A seller's bid is marked as such for TROTTERA and shown anonymously in the bid list like every bid.

At most five bid attempts per bidder per horse per ten seconds. TROTTERA can refuse or remove bids and block accounts in case of fraud, collusion, bidding with several accounts or any other abuse.

5. The closing session

On Sunday from 19:00 (Europe/Amsterdam) the lots close one by one in lot order. Every lot has a timer of 2 minutes; every bid on the live lot sets the timer back to 2 minutes. The next lot starts when the previous one has closed, never two at once.

The highest bid at the moment the timer runs out wins. TROTTERA's server clock decides; what a phone shows is only a rendering of it. A bid that reaches the server after the timer has run out is refused. A lot without a bid closes unsold.

When a lot closes sold, the sales contract between seller and buyer is concluded at that moment. TROTTERA sends both parties an e-mail with the result, the contract, the payment statement and the invoice.

6. Fees

The buyer pays a buyer fee of 2.25% of the hammer price plus € 10 transaction costs per purchase. The seller pays a seller fee of 2.25% of the hammer price plus the listing fee of € 75. When the seller buys the horse back: 1% of the highest bid plus the listing fee. When no bid is received: 1% of the opening bid plus the listing fee. When the horse is withdrawn: the listing fee.

All fees are ex VAT. VAT is added according to the buyer's or seller's own situation: in the Netherlands 21%; for a business elsewhere in the EU with a valid VAT number the VAT is reverse charged; for a consumer elsewhere in the EU the VAT rate of the country where the horse stands applies; outside the EU no VAT. The fees page shows worked examples.

TROTTERA invoices only its own fees and costs. The hammer price is never on a TROTTERA invoice: it is shown on a payment statement issued on behalf of the seller and in the sales contract.

7. Payment

The buyer pays the hammer price, the buyer fee, the transaction costs and the VAT on fee and costs in one payment to TROTTERA, within 5 days after the closing, through the payment link, by bank transfer or iDEAL. TROTTERA's payment partner holds the hammer price until the payout to the seller. In the test phase payments are simulated.

Not paid in time: a reminder on day 3, a formal notice on day 5 with a final period of fourteen days, and on day 19 the sale is dissolved: the claim goes to collection, the buyer's account is blocked, and the seller is free and may register the horse again without a listing fee. The claim is TROTTERA's buyer fee and seller fee on the failed sale with VAT plus a fixed compensation of € 250 for the seller; the hammer price is never claimed. A payment before day 19 is still accepted.

8. Ownership, risk, pickup and payout

Ownership of the horse passes to the buyer when the full payment has been received by TROTTERA. The risk passes at the pickup. From day 5 after the closing the costs of care are for the buyer; the seller keeps caring for the horse until the pickup.

The buyer collects the horse at the seller's location within 10 days after the payment, at a moment agreed between the parties. The seller may ask the person collecting the horse for identification. The seller arranges the studbook transfer after the payment.

The buyer or the seller confirms the pickup on TROTTERA; the first confirmation counts. When neither has confirmed 3 days after the pickup deadline and no problem has been reported, the handover counts as confirmed. TROTTERA can confirm or reverse a pickup after contact with both parties.

TROTTERA pays the seller the hammer price minus the seller fee, the listing fee and the VAT on both, 7 days after receipt of the buyer's payment, or after the withdrawal period when a consumer bought from a professional seller. The payout goes to the seller's bank account as given on the account page. Until the payout is sent, the buyer can report on TROTTERA that the horse was not handed over; the payout then waits until TROTTERA has heard both parties and decides to pay out or to refund the buyer and dissolve the sale.

9. Inspection and complaints

The buyer has the horse examined by a veterinarian within 14 days after the pickup. Complaints are made within 14 days after that examination, in writing to the seller with a copy to TROTTERA, and only about differences from the dossier as it was published in the auction. The auction is a sale of the horse as described; a horse is a living animal and TROTTERA gives no warranty on it.

A complaint is a matter between seller and buyer. TROTTERA mediates where it can, but does not decide on it.

10. Withdrawal right of consumers

When the buyer is a consumer and the seller listed the horse as a professional, the buyer may withdraw from the sales contract within 14 days after receiving the horse, which the buyer confirms at the pickup, without giving a reason, by a written statement to TROTTERA. The seller is paid out only after that period. The buyer returns the horse to the seller at the buyer's cost within fourteen days after the withdrawal; the seller refunds the hammer price through TROTTERA. TROTTERA's own fees are refunded as far as the law requires.

Whether the seller is a private person or a professional is shown on every horse page. Between two private persons, between two professionals, or when a professional buys from a private person, no statutory withdrawal right applies.

11. Incidents and voiding a lot

When a technical fault at TROTTERA has affected the closing of a lot (for example bids that could not be placed, a timer that did not run correctly or a live update that failed), TROTTERA can void the lot within 24 hours after the closing. TROTTERA informs the seller and the buyer with the reason, no fees are due on the voided lot, and the seller may register the horse again without a listing fee. Neither party has a claim against TROTTERA beyond that.

TROTTERA can pause or move a session in case of an outage; the lots then close at the announced later moment.

12. Changes

These rules have a version and a date. When TROTTERA changes them, the new version applies to horses registered and bids placed after the change; everyone accepts the new version before the next bid or sale. The version accepted at registration and every later acceptance are kept with the account.