INBULK Auction and Tender Rules

1. General provisions

1.1. These Rules determine the procedure for conducting Auctions and Tenders on the Platform. The identified terms of a particular Auction or Tender, displayed before a Bid, apply to that procedure.

1.2. The terms of a particular procedure may not conflict with the Agreement or retroactively change the legal consequences of a Bid already submitted.

2. Creation and terms

2.1. A procedure may be created by an Authorised User holding the corresponding Right.

2.2. The following are determined before launch:

• the organiser and the company represented;
• the subject matter, the goods or services, the quantity, the quality, the basis, the place, the time limits and the documents;
• the type of procedure, admission and the requirements for participants;
• the starting, reserve or limit price, the currency, the increment and the rounding rules;
• the term, extension, anti-sniping or other time rules;
• the binding nature and validity period of a Bid and whether it may be amended or withdrawn;
• the winner criterion and the tie-break;
• the moment at which a Business arises or the procedure for the formation of an Irrevocable Order (Firm) or a Counter Order;
• the Auto-Bidding rules;
• the consequences of a technical failure, suspension, cancellation and repeat procedure;
• the applicable documents, tariffs and sanctions agreed before a breach.

3. Admission

3.1. Admission may depend on Accreditation, Verification, role, licence, financial security, country restrictions and the organiser’s criteria.

3.2. The criteria are applied equally to comparable participants and are not changed after the start, save where required by law or by security.

4. Bids

4.1. A Bid is a Legally Significant Action, is binding and is irrevocable for the period determined by the terms.

4.2. Before submission, the price, the quantity, the parameters, the term, the legal effect, the applicable documents and the company represented are displayed.

4.3. Every Bid is recorded together with the participant, the time in UTC, the price, the volume, the version of the rules and the event ID.

4.4. A new Bid replaces the previous Bid of the same participant only where expressly provided. Amendment or withdrawal is permitted only under the rules of the particular procedure.

5. Auto-Bidding

5.1. The User sets the limit price, the increment, the term and, where required, the volume. The parameters are confirmed as a Legally Significant Action.

5.2. Bids submitted automatically within those parameters are Bids of the User. Separate confirmation of each is not required.

5.3. Changing or switching off Auto-Bidding does not cancel Bids already submitted. The system does not exceed the confirmed limit.

6. The winner and the arising of obligations

6.1. The winner is determined by the criteria established before the start. The algorithm is not changed after the start.

6.2. Where the results are equal, a predetermined tie-break applies: time, an additional round or another objective criterion.

6.3. Where the rules expressly provide for a Business to arise automatically, it arises at the moment displayed. Otherwise an Irrevocable Order (Firm) or a Counter Order is formed and the Business arises upon Acceptance.

6.4. The Platform generates a system confirmation of the result, which does not alter the terms.

7. Amendment, suspension and cancellation

7.1. Material terms are not changed after the start. To make a change, the procedure is terminated and a new edition is created; earlier Bids are not carried over without separate confirmation.

7.2. Before a Business arises, the procedure may be suspended on account of a technical failure, unauthorised access, manipulation, a sanctions or compliance risk or a lawful request.

7.3. Suspension is not an automatic conclusion that a breach has occurred. The events are preserved and the participants are notified where it is safe to do so.

8. Technical failures

8.1. The terms determine whether a failure affects all or individual participants, whether the term is extended and whether the procedure is resumed or repeated.

8.2. An incomplete or unknown Bid is not displayed as successful. A retry does not create a duplicate.

8.3. After a Business has been formed, a technical failure does not in itself annul it; a dispute is resolved on the evidence and the terms.

9. Prohibited conduct

9.1. The following are prohibited:

• coordination of prices or of the outcome between participants;
• fictitious, manipulative or spoofing bids;
• the use of connected accounts to create the appearance of competition;
• interference with the algorithm, the timer, the API or the infrastructure;
• transfer of access or submission of a Bid without authority;
• use of confidential information in breach of the law or of the terms.

10. Evidence and disputes

10.1. The rules, versions, Bids, times, event IDs, Auto-Bidding parameters, notifications, failures and the result are retained.

10.2. The Platform Operator does not resolve a commercial dispute on the merits unless it has a separate role. It may provide the available system evidence.

11. Tariffs and sanctions

11.1. A tariff, a participation or success fee and sanctions apply only where displayed and agreed before the relevant action or breach.

12. Changes

12.1. A new edition of these general Rules applies to procedures commenced after it takes effect. The specific edition is recorded for each procedure.

13. Contacts

13.1. Questions concerning these Rules — [email protected].

Sources and legal basis

This document has been prepared having regard to the Accession Agreement as the source of highest priority, to the public INBULK documentation in so far as it describes actual or planned working processes, and to the applicable legislation. Public pages which conflict with the Agreement do not determine legal consequences.

• The Accession Agreement to which the User has acceded.
• Platform Terms of Use — edition in force: https://help.inbulk.com/en/terms 
• The public INBULK documentation on order creation and trade participation, as the operational basis.

Version history