Auctions, Fixed Price and 'Name Your Price' Listings FarmTrade.com offers two types of auctions. A forward auction is what people normally think of when they hear the word auction. In its simplest form, a forward auction is where a seller lists his product for sale, and potential buyers bid against each other at higher and higher prices until a winner is determined. There can be slight variations, such as allowing multiple winners for partial lots. A 'Name Your Price' listing (or reverse auction) is where a buyer lists the product he wants to buy and allows potential sellers to bid for the business. This feature allows buyers to list the products they want at a given price and for a given quantity. Sellers who are willing to meet the asking price and quantity win the business immediately upon bidding. If a potential seller wants to offer a price higher than the asking price, he may enter that offer, which will be recorded and shown on the site, but it will not constitute a sale. The buyer may accept individual offers which exceed his initial price without raising it for all sellers. In any case, a sale is made only when the asking and offering price meet. A fixed price listing is simply a product for sale. A seller lists a product at a set price and the buyer can make the purchase. There are no negotiations. To Top

Pricing and Lot Size Pricing is established by unit (i.e. gallon, pound or ounce), depending on packsize. Lots are sold by pallet but can be structured at the seller's discretion. To Top

Determining Winning Bids and Clearing Prices For auction listings, winning bids are determined according to a hierarchy of price, volume and initial timing of bids. In regular auctions, the highest bid always wins. But if two bidders bid the same price, then the one who bids for the greater quantity gets his order filled first. If two bidders bid the same price and the same quantity, then whoever started the bidding first wins. There can be multiple winners in an auction. For example, if a seller has listed 20 pallets for sale and the highest bidder only wants 10 pallets, then the remaining pallets go to the next highest bidder or bidders on down the line. The price at which product is sold for all winning bidders in a particular auction will be determined by the "clearing price" at the end of each auction. The clearing price is the price of the lowest winning bid (the lowest winning bid that is greater than or equal to the asking price). The quantity of product will be awarded in priority based on higher bid prices, but the price paid will be the same for all winning bidders. For more details on how clearing prices are established, go to the How Winners Are Determined page. To Top

Payment and Security At the end of a trade, payment is automatically transferred from the buyer (i.e., either from the buyer's bank account or from the buyer's third party credit facility) to an electronic lockbox at Bank of America. The funds are held on behalf of the buyer and seller until the goods have been received and accepted by the buyer, at which time funds are released to the seller, the freight company and to FarmTrade.com. In this way, as a seller, you can be confident of receiving payment and the buyer does not have to worry about sending money to a stranger before inspecting the product. All banking information is kept strictly confidential. All transmissions of this data over the Internet are encrypted by Verisign for security. Additionally, our database is further protected by a state-of-the-art firewall. To Top

Freight Costs and Analysis Freight costs are calculated automatically during the trading process based on several factors, such as address, zip code, weight, liftgate requirements and hazardous material, with several major carriers. Because of FarmTrade.com's thin margins, any changes made after a trade closes will incur charges that will be billed to the responsible party. The XSpert Freight Analyst will allow members to test the freight costs prior to closing a trade. To Top

Shipping Shipping is handled by FarmTrade.com. The shipping status of an order can be found on the Shipment Status page. Addition questions can be directed to our Freight Department: Call 877-497-2436, then select option 3 for the Freight Department. To Top

Cancellations and Returns FarmTrade.com cannot accept the cancellation of a trade once a commitment to purchase or offer has been made. Should a member commit to purchasing or selling a product, it will be billed or shipped accordingly. Buyers must carefully examine the shipment upon arrival and make notation of any visible damage on the delivery notice or bill of lading. The buyer then has 48 hours to fully inspect the product and report any product discrepancy to FarmTrade.com. All sales are final 48 hours after receipt of product. Please see the Return and Claims policy in the User Agreement for additional information. To Top

Auction Length Auctions can run from one to seven days in duration at the discretion of the seller. Auctions expire at 12 midnight (ET) on the date indicated for each auction. To Top

FarmTrade.com XSpert Tools FarmTrade.com provides several tools to improve your effectiveness in the auction process.

XSpert Search	Notifies you of new listings of products that you want to buy.
XSpert Bidder	Bids on your behalf up to a pre-determined maximum amount. This feature can be accessed on the auction detail page where you would place a normal bid.
XSpert Alert	Notifies you when you have been outbid. This tool can be helpful for longer or slow-moving auctions, but XSpert Bidder is the best way to ensure that the action doesn't leave you behind.
XSpert Freight Analyst	Calculates freight charges based on volume and destination. This tool is essential to understand your freight costs when you are unsure of the final volume you may win in an auction.
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FarmTrade.com Fees FarmTrade.com charges sellers a fee on successfully completed trades. There are no listing fees or service charges for unsuccessful trades. To Top

Do's and Don'ts The do's and don'ts for this site are very simple. Just remember that this exchange is a serious business forum and that results are a contract just like any other contract. Therefore, if you place an order or a winning bid, or list a product for sale, you are making a commitment that is legally and morally binding. All of the rest is just detail, and can be found in the User Agreement and Policies or Frequently Asked Questions. To Top

Registration You must register to see prices or trade on the FarmTrade.com site. Visitors may view the listings but may not participate in trading unless they register on the Registration Page. To Top

Contact Us Please contact FarmTrade.com with any additional questions. Our toll-free number is (877) 497-2436 or you can e-mail us at CustomerService@farmtrade.com To Top