FIRST OF ALL, WE TRUST YOU. WE REALLY, REALLY TRUST YOU. WE WISH OUR COMMUNITY COULD ENJOY OUR WEBSITE ON NOTHING MORE THAN A VIRTUAL HANDSHAKE. OUR LAWYERS DID NOT LIKE THAT IDEA. WE ASKED THEM TO KEEP OUR AGREEMENT WITH YOU TO THE SIZE OF A POST-IT NOTE. THEY DID NOT LIKE THAT IDEA EITHER. EVEN THOUGH WE DID NOT COMPLETELY WIN THE WRESTLING MATCH WITH OUR LAWYERS, WE THINK WE HAVE KEPT THEM IN CHECK – AND HAVE AMUSED OURSELVES IN THE PROCESS. AND NOW TO THE BORING PART.
By using Online Storage Auctions in any way, you acknowledge and agree to comply with the following:
Our service and content will contain information, classified ads, lien sales and private party sales being conducted by entities and/or individuals all of whom are independent from OnlineStorageAuctions.com. Your interactions with entities and/or individuals found on or through our service, including payment for and delivery of goods or services and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such entities and/or individuals.
- Bidder registration. Before you can take advantage of all the site’s features, you’ll need to register with OnlineStorageAuctions.com. There is no fee to register. Please provide your name, address, e-mail address and MOBILE phone number. You will receive a verification text. Please be responsible with your account, you’ll only get one. Once registered, you are free to buy, sell and place advertisements.
- Payment. If you win a storage unit, please contact the storage facility as soon as possible. Full payment must be made at the storage facility within the time specified in the auction description. If no time is specified, please make payment within 48 hours. If you fail to make payment, the seller reserves the right to cancel your bid and sell the unit to the next highest bidder.
If you win a unit being sold by a storage facility, please note you will be required to pay the bid amount, sales tax (unless exempt), and the security deposit. Unlike our competitors, we do not charge any additional fees. Our site is completely free for buyers to use. The consummated sale will occur in-person at the storage facility. Cash is the primary method of payment, although some storage facilities do accept debit and credit cards. Please contact the storage facility (in advance) regarding their preferred method of payment. Checks are generally not accepted.
Failure to pay within the specified time frame could result in your IP address & phone number being blocked where you can no longer use OnlineStorageAuctions.com. You only get one account, so take care of it!
Although rare, some storage facilities may have an online and in-person lien sale on the same day. The online sale will usually end one hour before the in-person sale begins. At the live sale, the bidding will start at the amount of the highest online bid. If no one at the in-person sale bids, the online bidder wins the unit. The storage facility will then contact the winning bidder to make payment arrangements.
- Sales tax. Must be paid unless no tax is due. If you have a lawful exemption, a valid resale tax number; the unit is located in a state that doesn’t have sales tax or if you are purchasing a vehicle, trailer, recreational vehicle or boat; sales tax will not be charged. If you are tax exempt the storage facility will need to make a copy of your resale tax permit and will have you fill out a tax exempt form. All other buyers must pay sales tax on the amount of each winning bid. Once payment is accepted, you will be issued a receipt by the storage facility.
- Announcements. Made the day of the sale, prior to or during the online or in-person sale, which will then supersede any other announcement or advertising. OnlineStorageAuctions.com, storage facilities, private sellers, and auctioneers reserve the right to reject any bid, place a minimum bid, remove items from the sale, revoke bidding privileges, or cancel the sale completely.
- Age minimum. Buyers must be over the age of 18 to bid.
- All items are sold – “As Is.” Please examine the photos of the storage unit and read the seller’s description thoroughly before placing a bid. Once you have placed a bid, you have entered into a binding contract with the seller in which you agree to purchase the unit if you are the highest bidder. All storage units are sold “as is” and without warranties, representations or guarantees. All sales are final. If, during inspection of your purchase, you determine that the unit was blatantly misrepresented, or that items seen in the photos have been removed from the unit, you may refuse payment.
- Cleaning out the unit. Most storage facilities allow you 24-48 hours to remove all of the contents and sweep the unit clean. Every now and then, you will come across a facility that requires the winning bidder to remove the contents on the same day, although this is rare. The seller will notify you of how much time you have to clean out the unit in the auction listing. If you need additional time, most storage facility managers are willing to work with you as long as you keep them informed. You also have the option of renting the unit, which allows you to take your time. If you fail to clean out a unit, it can have severe consequences like losing your security deposit, receiving negative feedback or being banned from future sales at that storage facility.
The storage facility’s dumpster may not be used by buyers without the permission of the facility manager.
If you purchase a unit from a private seller, you will need to coordinate a time to meet at the storage facility in order to clean out the unit or transfer the unit into your name. When meeting a private seller, please be cautious. We recommend that you bring someone along with you and that you only meet during the storage facility’s business hours.
- Cleaning deposit. Most storage facilities require you to pay a cleaning deposit on every unit you purchase. These deposits usually range from $20-100 and are fully refundable if the unit is cleaned properly within the designated time. The purpose of the cleaning deposit is to prevent people from purchasing a unit, removing all of the valuables, then leaving the unwanted items and trash behind.
Once you are finished cleaning out the unit, please stop by the rental office and let the employee on duty know. The employee will inspect the unit to verify that all of the contents have been removed and that it has been swept out. If the unit was cleaned properly, the employee will return your security deposit.
- Personal items. Please leave any personal items with the property manager so they can return them to the tenant. These items would include photographs, identification, tax and legal documents, birth, death and marriage certificates, diplomas, passports, and items with sentimental value.
- Leave Feedback. Be sure to leave accurate feedback on every transaction. Doing so will help our community be safer and more productive for everyone.
1. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS
Online Storage Auctions, OnlineStorageAuctions.com or OSA, a website service of TCL Media Group, provides various online resources, including listings for online lien and private sales, blog, forum and various email services (the “Service”) subject to the following Terms of Use. By using the Service in any way, you are agreeing to comply with these Terms of Use. In addition, you agree to abide by any applicable posted guidelines, which guidelines may change from time to time. Should you object to any term or condition of the Terms of Use, any guidelines or any subsequent modifications to them, or should you become dissatisfied with the Service in any way, your only recourse is to decline use or immediately discontinue use of the Service. OSA has the right but is not obligated to strictly enforce the Terms of Use through self-help, active investigation, litigation and prosecution.
2. MODIFICATIONS TO THIS AGREEMENT
OSA reserves the right at its sole discretion to modify these terms and conditions at any time. Such modifications shall become effective immediately upon posting on the OSA website. It is your responsibility to review this agreement on a regular basis to keep yourself apprised of any changes.
3. CONTENT
You understand that:
(a) All listings, text, files, images or other materials (“Content”) posted on, transmitted through or linked from the Service are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such Content originated. If you list Content on the Service, you are entirely responsible for each individual item of Content that you post or otherwise make available via the Service, as well as for any errors or omissions in them (“Posting”).
(b) OSA does not control and is not responsible for Content made available through the Service, and that by using the Service you may be exposed to Content that is inaccurate, misleading, offensive or is otherwise objectionable.
(c) The Service and Content may contain links to other websites which are wholly independent of OSA. OSA makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or validity of the information contained in any such link or website. Linking by you to any other website(s) is done at your own risk.
(d) You agree that you must evaluate and bear all risks associated with the use of any Content, that you may not rely on such Content and that under no circumstances will OSA be liable in any way for any Content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted or otherwise made available via the Service.
(e) OSA does not pre-screen or approve Content, but OSA shall have the right, but not the obligation, in its sole discretion, to refuse, delete or modify any Content for violating the spirit of the Terms of Use or for any other reason, for which any fee that was paid for use of the Service will not be refunded.
(f) Storage lien laws vary from state to state. It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with your state’s storage lien laws and consult with your attorney before listing your lien sale on OSA. Storage lien laws are undergoing a renaissance. In the near future, we expect to see specific changes in our storage lien laws addressing online storage auctions. Until then, we all must do our best to interpret and comply with our state laws. If, after doing your “legal homework,” you believe that having an online only lien sale does not comply with your state’s storage lien laws, you’re still in luck. You can still use our website as a supplement to your live lien sale at your storage facility. This way, you can maximize your return on delinquent units while complying with your state’s storage lien laws.
(g) Occasionally, sales will be cancelled. This is usually due to the delinquent tenant satisfying their debt to the storage facility. Sellers reserve the right to reject any and all bids and/or cancel their sale completely.
4. THIRD PARTY CONTENT
The Service and Content will contain information on lien sales and private party sales being conducted by entities and/or individuals all of whom are independent from OSA. In addition, the Service and Content may contain features and functions that may provide you with access to third party content which is wholly independent of OSA, including websites, directories, servers, networks, systems, information and databases, applications, software, programs, products or services and the Internet as a whole. Your interactions with entities and/or individuals found on or through the Service, including payment for and delivery of goods or services and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such entities and/or individuals. You acknowledge and agree that it is your responsibility to conduct such investigation as you feel necessary or appropriate before pursuing or engaging in any transaction with such entities and/or individuals.
You agree that OSA shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings. If there is a dispute between participants brought together by virtue of use of the Service, or between users and any third party, you understand and agree that OSA is under no obligation to become involved. In the event that you have a dispute with one or more other users, you hereby release OSA, its officers, employees, agents, members and successors from claims, demands and damages, actual and consequential, of every kind or nature, known or unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way related to such dispute.
5. PRIVACY AND INFORMATION DISCLOSURE
OSA has established a Privacy Policy to explain to users how information is collected and used.
Your use of the Service signifies acknowledgment of and agreement to the privacy policy, and that OSA may, in its sole discretion, preserve or disclose your content as well as your information, such as email addresses, IP addresses and other user information, if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: comply with legal process; enforce the Terms of Use; respond to claims that any Content violates the rights of third-parties; respond to claims that contact information (e.g. phone number, street address) of a third-party has been posted or transmitted without their consent or as a form of harassment; protect the rights, property, or personal safety of members of OSA, its website users or the general public.
6. CONDUCT
You agree not to post, email or otherwise make Content available:
a) That is harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy or that is prohibited by law;
b) That is pornographic or depicts a human being engaged in abusive or sexual conduct of any kind;
c) That harasses, degrades, intimidates, is hateful toward or discriminates in any fashion against an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age or disability or which violates any state or local law prohibiting discrimination on any basis;
d) That impersonates any person or entity, including but not limited to, a OSA employee or member, or falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity;
e) That includes personal or identifying information about another person without that person’s explicit consent;
f) That is false, misleading, deceitful or which constitutes “bait and switch”;
g) That infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party, or Content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships;
h) That constitutes or contains any form of advertising or solicitation other than the details of an upcoming self-storage auction, except in areas specifically designated by OSA for such purpose, and then only upon such terms and conditions as may be imposed by OSA for such advertising;
i) That includes links to commercial services or websites, except as specifically allowed by OSA, and then only upon such terms and conditions as may be imposed by OSA for use of such links;
j) That lists for sale any illegal service or the sale of any materials the sale of which is prohibited or restricted by any applicable law;
k) That disrupts the normal flow of dialogue with the Service with an excessive amount of Content to the Service (commonly referred to as a “flooding attack”), or that otherwise negatively affects other users’ ability to use the Service; or
l) That employs misleading identification or otherwise manipulated identifiers in order to disguise the origin of Content.
You agree not to:
m) Contact any user of the Service who has asked not to be contacted, or make unsolicited contact with any user for any commercial purpose;
n) “Stalk” or otherwise harass any users of the Service;
o) Collect personal data about other users of the Service for commercial or unlawful purposes;
p) Use automated means, including spiders, robots, crawlers or other data aggregating tools to download data from the Service, except as expressly permitted by OSA;
q) Post irrelevant Content, repeatedly post the same or similar content or otherwise impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the Service’s infrastructure;
r) Post the same auction more than once;
s) Attempt to gain unauthorized access to OSA’s computer systems or engage in any activity that disrupts, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of or impairs the functionality of the Service;
t) Use any form of automated device or computer program that enables the submission of Postings on the Service without each Posting being manually entered by its author, including without limitation, the use of any such automated Posting device to submit Postings in bulk, or for automatic submission of Postings at regular intervals.
u) Use any form of automated device or computer program that interferes with OSA’s administration of the Service, or which seeks to remove or compromise the Postings of other users in any way.
v) Post any listing if you under the age of 18. OSA will remove any posting if it is determined to have been posted by someone under the age of 18.
7. POSTING AGENTS
In order to moderate demands on OSA’s resources, you may not use a third-party agent, service, or intermediary that offers to post Content to the Service on behalf of others (commonly referred to as a “Posting Agent”) to post Content to the Service without express permission or license from OSA. Correspondingly, Posting Agents are not permitted to post Content on behalf of others, to cause Content to be so posted or otherwise access the Service to facilitate posting content on behalf of others, except with the express permission from OSA.
8. NO SPAM POLICY
You understand and agree that sending unsolicited email advertisements to OSA email addresses or through OSA computer systems is prohibited. Any unauthorized use of OSA computer systems is a violation of these Terms of Use and certain federal and state laws, including without limitation the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C.A.,§1030, et seq.), various state Commercial Electronic Mail Acts and various Business and Commercial Codes. Such violations may subject the sender and his or her agents to civil and criminal penalties.
9. FEES
OSA is completely free to use. There are no buyer or seller fees. In some situations, OSA may charge a non-refundable fee to post advertisements to the Service.
10. LIMITATIONS ON SERVICE
You acknowledge that OSA may establish limits concerning use of the Service, including the maximum number of days that content will be retained by the Service, the maximum number and size of Postings, email messages or other Content that may be transmitted or stored by the Service and the frequency with which you may access the Service. You agree that OSA has no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any Content maintained or transmitted by the Service. You acknowledge that OSA reserves the right at any time to modify, suspend or discontinue all or any part of the Service with or without notice, and that OSA shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuation of the Service.
11. ACCESS TO THE SERVICE
OSA grants you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive license to access the Service for your own personal use. This license does not include:
(a) Access to the Service by Posting Agents; or
(b) any aggregation, duplication, display or derivative use of the Service nor any use of data mining, robots, spiders, or similar data aggregating and extraction for any purpose unless expressly permitted by OSA. Except however, a limited exception is provided to general purpose internet search engines and non-commercial public archives that use such tools to gather information for the sole purpose of displaying hyperlinks to the Service, provided they each do so from a stable IP address or range of IP addresses using an easily identifiable agent. This limited exception does not apply, however, to any website, search engine or other service that specializes in auction or sale listings or which is in the business of providing such listing services.
OSA permits you to display on your website, or create a hyperlink on your website to the Service so long as the link does not portray OSA, its employees, members or affiliates in a false, misleading, derogatory or otherwise offensive matter.
Use of the Service beyond the scope of authorized access granted to you by OSA immediately terminates said license or permission. In order to collect, aggregate, copy, duplicate, display or make derivative use of the Service or any Content for other purposes not stated here, including commercial purposes, you must first obtain a license from OSA.
12. TERMINATION OF SERVICE
You agree that OSA in its sole discretion has the right, but not the obligation, to delete or deactivate your account or to otherwise terminate your access to or use of the Service or any part thereof, and to remove and discard any Content posted on the Service by you, immediately and without notice, for any reason, including without limitation if OSA believes that you have acted inconsistently with the spirit of the Terms of Use. Further, you agree that OSA shall not be liable to you or to any third-party for any termination of your access to the Service. You agree not to attempt to use the Service after such termination.
13. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS
The Service is protected to the maximum extent permitted by copyright laws and international treaties. Content displayed on or through the Service is protected by copyright as a collective work and/or compilation, pursuant to copyrights laws, and international conventions. Any reproduction, modification, creation of derivative works from or redistribution of the website or the collective work, and/or copying or reproducing the websites or any portion thereof to any other server or location for further reproduction or redistribution is prohibited without the express written consent of OSA. You further agree not to reproduce, duplicate or copy Content from the Service without the express written consent of OSA, and you agree to abide by any and all copyright notices displayed on the Service. You may not decompile or disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise attempt to discover any source code contained in the Service. Without limiting the foregoing, you agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any aspect of the Service.
Although OSA does not claim ownership of content that its users post, by posting Content to the Service you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that, you have the right to grant to OSA an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, worldwide license to use, copy, display and distribute such Content and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such Content, and to grant and authorize sub-licenses of the foregoing. By posting Content to any public area of the Service you automatically grant OSA all rights necessary to prohibit any subsequent aggregation, display, duplication, reproduction or exploitation of the Content by any party for any purpose.
14. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES
YOU AGREE THAT USE OF THE SERVICE IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, OSA DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES:
• EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF PROPRIETARY RIGHTS.
• FOR THE SECURITY, RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS, ACCURACY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SERVICE.
• RESPECTING OTHER SERVICES OR GOODS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED ON THE SERVICE, OR ACCESSED THROUGH ANY LINK ON THE SERVICE.
• RESPECTING VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICE.
15. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL OSA BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, EVEN IF OSA HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, RESULTING FROM ANY ASPECT OF YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARISE FROM USE OR MISUSE THE SERVICE, FROM INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE OR THE INTERRUPTION, SUSPENSION, MODIFICATION, ALTERATION OR TERMINATION OF THE SERVICE. SUCH LIMITATION SHALL ALSO APPLY WITH RESPECT TO DAMAGES INCURRED BY REASON OF OTHER SERVICES OR PRODUCTS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICE OR ANY LINK APPEARING ON THE SERVICE, ANY ERROR OR OMISSION IN RESPECT TO CONTENT, ADVERTISING RELATED LIABILITY, AS WELL AS BY REASON OF ANY INFORMATION OR ADVICE RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICE OR ANY LINK APPEARING ON THE SERVICE.
16. INDEMNITY
You agree to indemnify and hold OSA, its officers, affiliates, successors, assigns, directors, officers, agents, service providers, suppliers, members and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorney fees and court costs, made by any third party due to or arising out of Content you submit, post or make available through the Service; your use of the Service; your violation of the Terms of Use; your breach of any of the representations and warranties herein or your violation of any rights of another.
17. VIOLATION OF TERMS AND LIQUIDATED DAMAGES
Please report any violations of the Terms of Use by email .
______________________________________
Failure to act by OSA with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive its right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches. You understand and agree that, because damages are often difficult to quantify, if it becomes necessary for OSA to pursue legal action to enforce these Terms of Use, you will be liable to pay OSA the following amounts as liquidated damages, which you accept as reasonable estimates of OSA’s damages for the specified breaches of these Terms:
a) If you create a Posting that impersonates any person or entity, falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity or that includes personal or identifying information about another person without that person’s explicit consent, you agree to pay VSA $1,000 for each such Posting.
b) If OSA establishes limits on the frequency with which you may access the Service, or terminates your access to or use of the Service, you agree to pay OSA $100 for each Posting in excess of such limits or for each day on which you access the Service in excess of such limits, whichever is higher.
c) If you send unsolicited email advertisements to OSA member email addresses or through OSA computer systems, you agree to pay OSA $25 for each such email.
d) If you post Content in violation of the Terms of Use, you agree to pay OSA $100 for each such Posting.
e) If you are a Posting Agent that uses the Service in violation of the Terms of Use, in addition to any liquidated damages under clause (d), above, you agree to pay OSA $100 for each and every Posting you post in violation of the Terms of Use. A Posting Agent will also be deemed an agent of the party engaging the Posting Agent to access the Service (the “Principal”), and the Principal, by engaging the Posting Agent in violation of the Terms of Use, agrees to pay OSA an additional $100 for each Posting posted by the Posting Agent on behalf of the Principal in violation of the Terms of Use.
f) If you aggregate, display, duplicate, reproduce, or otherwise exploit for any purpose any Content (except for your own Content) in violation of these Terms of Use without OSA’s express written permission, you agree to pay OSA $3,000 for each day on which you engage in such conduct.
Otherwise, you agree to pay OSA’s actual damages to the extent such actual damages can be reasonably calculated. In its sole discretion, OSA may elect to issue a warning before assessing damages.
18. GENERAL
These Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement between you and OSA in respect to the Service, and govern your use of the Service, superseding any prior agreements between you and OSA in that regard. The Terms of Use and the relationship between you and OSA shall be governed by the laws of the State of Texas without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and OSA agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within Bell County, Texas. The failure of OSA to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the Terms of Use is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Terms of Use remain in full force and effect. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the Service or the Terms of Use must be filed within one year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.
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