Terms and Conditions

Platform Role

BidMyCarGhana acts as a service provider and platform to connect vehicle buyers and sellers. While we implement verification processes and safeguards, we cannot be held liable for inaccuracies in vehicle details provided by sellers. We encourage all users to perform their due diligence.

Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles

In cases where a vehicle is listed as 'Certified Pre-Owned', the seller bears the full responsibility for ensuring all defects have been restored and the vehicle meets the required standards.

Seller Types

BidMyCarGhana supports two types of sellers:

• Business Sellers: Registered businesses that have completed Know Your Business (KYB) verification, including company registration documents and key individual verification.
• Individual Sellers: Private individuals selling personal vehicles. Individual sellers must complete Know Your Customer (KYC) verification, including Ghana Card, proof of address, and biometric verification.

Individual Seller Listing Limits

• Annual Limit: Individual sellers are limited to a maximum of 3 vehicle listings per calendar year. This limit resets on January 1st of each year.
• Tax Compliance Notice: Under the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) Income Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896), individuals who frequently sell vehicles may be classified as conducting business activity and may be required to register for tax purposes. BidMyCarGhana enforces the 3-listing limit to help individual sellers remain within personal sale thresholds. If you intend to sell vehicles regularly, we strongly recommend registering as a business seller.
• Upgrading to Business Seller: Individual sellers who wish to list more than 3 vehicles per year must register a new account as a business seller and complete the full KYB verification process.

Vehicle Listings & Information

• Accurate Description: Sellers must provide accurate and truthful information about their vehicles. Any significant misrepresentation discovered may result in holding fee forfeiture or account suspension.
• Auction Scheduling: After a vehicle listing is approved, sellers may schedule their vehicle for any available auction window. Once scheduled, sellers may unschedule their vehicle at any time up until 1 hour before the auction start time.
• Schedule Abuse Prevention: Repeatedly scheduling and unscheduling vehicles (pattern abuse) may result in warnings, temporary restrictions on scheduling privileges, or other consequences as determined by BidMyCarGhana. This policy ensures auction reliability and prevents gaming of the system while maintaining fair seller control.

Subscription Coverage Requirements

To ensure commitment and platform reliability, your subscription must remain valid for the entire duration of any scheduled auction:

• Auction Scheduling: When scheduling a vehicle for auction, your subscription must be valid until at least one day after the scheduled auction date. This ensures you can fulfill your commitment and benefit from auction features throughout the entire process.
• Unscheduling Impact: If you unschedule an auction vehicle, all buyer pre-bids for that vehicle will be automatically cancelled and affected buyers will be notified. Use this feature responsibly to maintain platform trust.

Important: If your subscription does not cover the required period, you will not be able to schedule vehicles for that auction date. Please ensure your subscription is active for the full duration before scheduling.

Subscription & Participation

• A subscription is required for buyers to access certain features, such as watching auctions in real-time.
• Participation in any auction requires both a subscription and a paid holding fee.

Subscription Coverage Requirements

To ensure fair participation and platform integrity, your subscription must remain valid for the entire duration of any auction or pre-bid commitment you make:

• Pre-Bidding: When setting or updating a pre-bid, your subscription must be valid until at least one day after the scheduled auction date. This ensures you can participate if your pre-bid is activated during the auction.
• Live Auction Participation: When accessing an auction page to bid in real-time, your subscription must be valid until at least one day after the auction date. This covers the entire auction duration plus any potential extensions.
• Auction Cancellation: If a seller unschedules or removes an auction vehicle, all pre-bids for that vehicle will be automatically cancelled and you will be notified via email and in-app notification. No charges will apply for cancelled pre-bids.

Important: If your subscription does not cover the required period, you will not be able to set pre-bids or access auction pages. Please ensure your subscription is active for the full duration before committing to any auction participation.

Payment Commitment

By participating in any auction, you agree that winning an auction creates an immediate and binding obligation to complete payment within the specified timeframe for the vehicle's sale mode.

Payment Deadlines by Sale Mode

• AS IS AUCTION Vehicles: Payment must be completed within 12 hours of winning the auction. This accelerated timeline reflects the "as-is" nature of the sale and the seller's expectation of quick completion.
• Dual-Fund Holding (DFH) AUCTION Vehicles: Payment must be completed within 48 hours of winning the auction. This extended timeframe allows for additional verification processes inherent in the DFH protection model.

Post-Auction Process

• Upon winning an auction, you will immediately receive the seller's contact information and payment instructions.
• You are responsible for coordinating payment, vehicle inspection (where applicable), and pickup arrangements directly with the seller.
• BidMyCarGhana facilitates the connection but does not handle the physical transaction or vehicle transfer.

Default Consequences

• Failure to complete payment within the specified deadline will result in forfeiture of your entire holding fee.
• Late Payment Processing: In the event that payment is made after the specified deadline, whether intentional or otherwise, the buyer shall forfeit their entire holding fee and the transaction will be considered void. Any payment amount received after the deadline will be refunded to the buyer, less applicable transaction fees and processing costs, within the timeframe determined by our payment processor's settlement schedule, which may take up to 5-10 business days depending on banking and payment processing timelines.
• Repeated defaults may result in suspension or permanent ban from auction participation.
• The seller may receive a portion of your forfeited holding fee as compensation for the failed transaction.

Holding Fee Requirement

A holding fee must be paid before participating in any auction. This fee demonstrates your commitment to complete transactions and helps maintain the integrity of the auction system. The holding fee is separate from any subscription fees and is required for each auction participation period.

Purpose

The holding fee is a refundable GH₵1,000 deposit required from both buyers and sellers. It protects transactions by ensuring both parties are committed to completing their obligations.

Buyer Holding Fee

• Buyers pay a single holding fee to participate in auctions or Buy Now purchases.
• With an active holding fee, the buyer can bid on any auction or initiate any Buy Now purchase.
• When the buyer wins an auction or initiates a purchase, the holding fee locks to that specific order.
• While locked, the buyer cannot bid on or purchase other vehicles unless they pay a new holding fee.
• The holding fee cannot be applied toward the order payment — it is a separate deposit.
• After the order is fully complete (settled, no active disputes), the buyer may request a refund or keep the fee active for future transactions.

Seller Holding Fee

• Sellers pay a holding fee per listing — each vehicle listing requires its own holding fee.
• The holding fee is paid after submitting listing details, before the listing enters admin review.
• If a listing is rejected by admin, the seller can fix the issues and resubmit at no additional cost — the original holding fee remains active.
• Sellers can have multiple active listings, each with its own holding fee.

Seller Cancellation

• Sellers may cancel a listing and receive a full holding fee refund only while the listing is in Pending Review status (before an admin begins reviewing).
• Once an admin starts reviewing the listing (status changes to In Review), cancellation is no longer possible and the holding fee is non-refundable through cancellation.

Refund Process

• Refunds are processed via the original payment method through our payment processor.
• The refund amount is GH₵1,000 (the holding fee amount). The payment processing fee paid at the time of the original transaction is non-refundable.
• Refunds are only available when no order or dispute is active on the associated transaction or listing.
• In partial dispute rulings, only the user's portion of the holding fee is refundable — the forfeited portion is transferred to the other party as part of the dispute settlement.

Forfeiture

• If either party defaults on their obligations (e.g., buyer fails to pay, seller refuses to honour a sale), their holding fee is forfeited as per the holding fee terms.
• In dispute scenarios, BidMyCarGhana reserves the right to split the holding fee based on the ruling (partial forfeiture).

Multiple Holding Fees

Users who wish to participate in multiple concurrent transactions must pay separate holding fees for each. For buyers, each active order requires its own holding fee. For sellers, each vehicle listing requires its own holding fee.

Subscription Fees

• By using our platform, both Buyers and Sellers agree to the costs associated with subscriptions. Subscription fees are non-refundable.
• Settlement Processing: Seller payments for vehicle sales are processed when funds are settled to our business account by our payment processor. This settlement process typically occurs within 1 business day from the date of buyer payment completion.
• Automatic Transaction Finalization: Vehicle pickup confirmations are automatically finalized when seller payments are processed. This ensures transactions are completed promptly once funds are settled, typically within 1 business day of buyer payment.

Defaults and Forfeitures

• Buyer Default: In the event that an assigned buyer defaults on their payment obligations or other agreed-upon terms, the seller may receive a portion of the buyer's holding fee. The exact amount will be determined solely by BidMyCarGhana.
• Failure to Pay: If a buyer fails to complete payment for a vehicle within the stipulated time frame for the given sale mode, they agree to forfeit their entire holding fee.
• Seller Default: Conversely, if a seller defaults (e.g., through significant misrepresentation or failure to deliver the vehicle as described), the buyer may receive a portion of the seller's holding fee. The amount will be determined solely by BidMyCarGhana.
• Misrepresentation Forfeiture: If a seller is found to have provided deliberately false or misleading information about a vehicle's condition or history, they agree to forfeit their entire holding fee.

Account Suspension & Bans

BidMyCarGhana reserves the right to temporarily or permanently suspend accounts for violations including but not limited to: transaction defaults, fraud, misrepresentation of vehicle condition, submission of fraudulent evidence, and repeated violations of these Terms and Conditions.

Progressive Discipline

Repeated violations result in escalating consequences:

• First violation: 1-week account suspension with a GH₵ 1,000 reactivation fee required to restore access.
• Second violation: 1-month account suspension with a GH₵ 2,000 reactivation fee required to restore access.
• Third violation: Permanent account termination with no possibility of reinstatement.

Reactivation Fee

The reactivation fee is a commitment deposit that covers administrative costs of account review and reactivation. Upon payment, the reactivation fee becomes the user's active holding fee. The reactivation fee follows standard holding fee refund rules — it is fully refundable unless forfeited due to a subsequent transaction default.

Elevated Holding Fee

Users reinstated after a second suspension will have a permanently elevated holding fee of GH₵ 2,000 for all future transactions. This elevated amount reflects the increased risk profile and higher commitment required from repeat offenders.

Holding Fee Forfeiture at Elevated Amounts

Users who default on transactions forfeit their full holding fee amount, regardless of whether the amount is the standard GH₵ 1,000 or the elevated GH₵ 2,000. Holding fees that are not forfeited remain fully refundable at any amount.

Identity Verification & Anti-Circumvention

BidMyCarGhana uses identity document verification and biometric checks to maintain account integrity and prevent ban circumvention. Attempting to circumvent a suspension by creating new accounts using different credentials is a serious violation that may result in immediate permanent banning of all associated accounts.

Reactivation Fee Refundability

The reactivation fee becomes the user's active holding fee upon reinstatement and follows standard holding fee refund rules (refundable unless forfeited due to a transaction default). If the user is subsequently banned again, any active holding fee is subject to admin review as part of the offense resolution.

Dispute Timeline and Process

Disputes may be initiated by the buyer after payment completion but before final settlement. The dispute resolution process follows a structured timeline:

• Payment Window: 4 hours for AS IS Buy Now, 12 hours for AS IS Auctions, 24 hours for Dual-Fund Holding Buy Now, 48 hours for Dual-Fund Holding Auctions
• Dispute Window: Available from payment completion until pickup confirmation
• Investigation Period: BidMyCarGhana reviews all evidence and makes a resolution decision
• Appeal Window: 72 hours after resolution decision for appeals with new evidence or procedural concerns
• Final Settlement: Seller payment and any penalties are processed only after all dispute and appeal windows close

Partial Resolution Settlement

For partial resolutions, settlements are calculated by first deducting incoming payment processing fees, then applying percentages to the net amount, with additional payout fees deducted from each party's individual settlement:

• Net Amount Calculation: Incoming payment processing fees are deducted from the original transaction amount
• Percentage Split: The resolution percentages (e.g., 70% buyer, 30% seller) are applied to this net amount
• Individual Payout Fees: Additional processing fees for transferring funds are deducted from each party's allocated amount

Example: On a GH₵10,000 transaction with 70% buyer / 30% seller resolution:

• Original payment: GH₵10,000
• Less incoming payment fees: GH₵9,850 (net amount)
• Buyer allocation: 70% of GH₵9,850 = GH₵6,895
• Seller allocation: 30% of GH₵9,850 = GH₵2,955
• Buyer receives: GH₵6,895 less payout fees
• Seller receives: GH₵2,955 less payout fees

Resolution Types

BidMyCarGhana acts as the administrative authority in all disputes, with the following resolution options:

• Resolved in Buyer's Favor: Full refund to buyer, seller forfeits entire holding fee
• Resolved in Seller's Favor: Full payment to seller, buyer forfeits entire holding fee if dispute deemed frivolous
• Partial Resolution: Split settlement based on fault assessment (e.g., 70% refund, 30% to seller)
• Dispute Dismissed: Original transaction proceeds, frivolous dispute party may forfeit holding fee

Evidence Requirements

Parties raising disputes must submit substantial evidence within 48 hours of initiating the dispute:

• High-resolution, time-stamped photographs showing alleged issues
• Professional mechanic's diagnostic report for mechanical disputes
• Any other relevant documentation supporting the claim

Fraudulent Evidence: Submission of tampered, falsified, or fraudulent evidence will result in immediate forfeiture of holding fee and permanent platform ban.

Appeals Process

Either party may appeal a resolution decision within 72 hours of the decision notification. Appeals are limited to:

• Presentation of new, previously unavailable evidence
• Procedural errors in the original review process
• Significant factual errors in the decision

Each party (buyer and seller) may submit one appeal independently. Both parties can appeal the same dispute within the 72-hour window. If both parties appeal, BidMyCarGhana will review both appeals and make a final binding decision. Appeal decisions are final and binding with no further recourse.

Holding Fee Forfeiture

Parties found at fault in disputes will forfeit their entire holding fee. The non-defaulting party receives compensation from this forfeited amount, with BidMyCarGhana retaining a portion for administrative costs.

"As Is" vs "Dual-Fund Holding" Dispute Standards

"As Is" Sales

Buyers acknowledge acceptance of the vehicle's stated condition. Disputes are only valid for:

• Deliberate concealment of major defects not disclosed in listing
• Significant misrepresentation of vehicle specifications
• Vehicle not matching the advertised unit

The burden of proof is high, requiring clear evidence of intentional deception.

"Dual-Fund Holding" Sales

Enhanced protection for both parties with more comprehensive dispute coverage including:

• Undisclosed mechanical issues affecting vehicle safety or operation
• Condition misrepresentation beyond normal wear and tear
• Documentation or title issues
• Failure to deliver vehicle as described

Settlement Suspension

Seller payments are automatically suspended when disputes are active. Final settlement occurs only after:

• Dispute resolution decision is made
• 72-hour appeal window expires without appeal, OR
• Appeal process is completed with final decision

Repeat Offenders

Users with multiple upheld disputes against them may face:

• Increased holding fee requirements
• Mandatory additional verification for listings
• Temporary or permanent platform suspension

To ensure the swift and cost-effective resolution of disputes, you agree that any and all disputes, claims, or controversies arising out of or relating to these Terms and Conditions or your use of the BidMyCarGhana platform, which cannot be resolved through our internal dispute resolution process, shall be settled by binding arbitration.

The arbitration shall be conducted in Accra, Ghana, under the rules of the Ghana Arbitration Centre. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding on all parties. Each party shall bear their own costs unless the arbitrator determines otherwise.

Waiver of Class Action

You agree that any arbitration or legal proceeding shall be conducted on an individual basis only and not as part of a class, collective, or representative action. You waive any right to participate in a class action lawsuit or class-wide arbitration.

BidMyCarGhana reserves the right to modify, suspend, or terminate the platform or any user's access to the platform at any time, with or without notice, for any reason including but not limited to violation of these terms, fraudulent activity, or business reasons.

For questions about these Terms and Conditions, please contact us through our support channels available on the platform.

Last updated: 4/3/2026