Terms and Conditions

Koi Auction is operated by Koi Water Garden Limited, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 03474013.

Our trading and contact address is Dormer Cottage, Spurgrove Lane, Frieth, Henley on Thames, Oxon, RG9 6NU.

Our registered office is The Old Star, Church Street, Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, England, HP27 9AA.

You can contact us by email at sales@koicarp.org.uk, by telephone on 01494 882600, or by mobile on 07814 011357.

In these Terms, “we”, “us” and “our” means Koi Water Garden Limited. “You” and “buyer” means the person using the website, creating an account, placing a bid, winning an auction or buying koi through koi-auction.com.

Koi Auction is a specialist single-seller online auction website for selected Japanese koi and related koi offered by Koi Water Garden Limited.

The public cannot list koi for sale on this website. Koi Auction is not a general marketplace, broker platform, classified advertising website or multi-seller auction site.

By creating an account, verifying your email, completing a buyer profile, registering a payment method, placing a bid, winning an auction, making a payment or using this website, you agree to these Terms and Conditions and Auction Rules.

You must also read our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy before registering.

If you do not agree with these Terms, you must not create an account, place bids or purchase koi through the website.

To bid on koi, you must create a buyer account. You agree that all information you provide is accurate, complete and up to date.

This includes your name, email address, telephone number, account details, billing or contact details, delivery or collection information, and any other information reasonably required to operate the auction and complete a sale.

You are responsible for keeping your login details secure. You must not allow another person to use your account to bid.

We may suspend or close an account if we believe the account has been misused, contains false information, is involved in suspicious activity, has failed payment, has caused welfare concerns, or has breached these Terms.

Before bidding is enabled, buyers must verify their email address and complete the required buyer profile details.

We may also require a registered payment method before a buyer can place bids.

These requirements help reduce fake bidding, failed payments, duplicate accounts and time-wasting, and help protect the auction process for genuine koi buyers.

Because bids are binding and payment may be taken automatically from a registered payment method, buyers must only use the website if they are legally able to enter into the purchase.

If a person under 18 uses the website, they may only do so with the consent and supervision of a parent or legal guardian. The parent or legal guardian is responsible for the account, all bids placed, all payments due, collection or delivery arrangements, and the welfare of any koi purchased.

We reserve the right to refuse bids, cancel an account or request further confirmation where we reasonably believe there is an age, payment authority, welfare or legal concern.

Each koi listing may include details such as variety, size, age, sex where known, breeder information where available, photographs, video, description, auction timing, reserve price where applicable, collection details and delivery information.

We aim to describe each koi accurately and honestly. However, koi are live animals and their appearance, colour, skin quality, body shape, behaviour and condition may naturally change over time.

Photographs and videos are provided to help buyers assess the koi, but images may vary depending on lighting, water clarity, camera settings, screen settings and viewing angle.

Koi are live animals. No absolute guarantee can be given about future development, colour, growth, fertility, show performance, temperament, long-term health or suitability for a particular pond, system or purpose.

Koi are sold as described at the time of listing, subject to any specific written statement made by us on the listing or in writing.

Where appropriate, we may offer advice, replacement, credit or another remedy at our discretion. This does not affect any statutory rights you may have.

Before placing a bid, you must make sure you are satisfied with the koi listing and that you can properly house, quarantine and care for the koi if you win.

You are responsible for ensuring that your pond, quarantine facilities, filtration, water quality, temperature, stocking levels and general setup are suitable for the koi.

You should not bid unless you are ready, willing and able to complete the purchase if you win.

Every bid placed through Koi Auction is a binding offer to buy the koi at the bid amount.

You cannot withdraw a bid simply because you changed your mind, entered the wrong amount, failed to read the listing properly, later found another koi, or no longer wish to complete the purchase.

We may, at our discretion, correct obvious website errors, technical faults, duplicate bids, payment issues or bidding irregularities.

At the end of an auction, the highest valid bid that meets any applicable reserve price will normally win.

We reserve the right to refuse, cancel or reverse a bid or sale if we reasonably believe there has been fraud, technical error, payment failure, bidding manipulation, abuse of the auction process, false account information, welfare concern or breach of these Terms.

If you win an auction, full payment is due after the winning bid is confirmed.

Where a registered payment method is held on your account, you authorise us and/or our payment provider to take payment automatically for the winning bid amount and any applicable delivery or agreed charges.

Payment must be completed within 24 hours of the auction ending unless we agree otherwise in writing.

If payment fails, we may contact you to resolve the issue. If payment is not completed within the required time, we may cancel the sale, offer the koi to another buyer, relist the koi, suspend your account or take other reasonable action.

Prices and bids are shown in pounds sterling.

Koi Water Garden Limited is VAT registered. Prices, VAT treatment and any applicable delivery or additional charges will be shown or explained on the relevant listing, payment page, invoice, receipt or written communication where applicable.

Any delivery charge, specialist transport charge, holding charge or additional agreed cost will be explained before payment is completed where applicable.

Koi may be available for collection, delivery, or both, depending on the listing and the arrangements agreed after purchase.

Where we arrange delivery, we will arrange delivery using suitable methods for live koi.

Collection or delivery may take place up to four weeks after purchase unless we agree otherwise in writing.

If the koi is in quarantine, the four-week collection or delivery period will run from the end of quarantine, not from the auction end date.

Live koi welfare takes priority over convenience, preferred delivery dates or buyer availability.

We may delay collection or delivery where this is necessary or sensible for welfare, quarantine, health monitoring, weather, water conditions, temperature, transport safety, courier availability or other live animal welfare reasons.

You agree that we may make reasonable welfare-led decisions about timing, transport and handover.

You must collect or accept delivery within the agreed period.

If you fail to collect or accept delivery within the agreed period, or if you fail to make reasonable arrangements with us, we may continue to hold the koi for a reasonable period, but we are not required to hold it indefinitely.

If the koi remains uncollected or undelivered due to buyer delay for more than one month after the agreed collection or delivery deadline, we may resell the koi.

If we resell the koi because you failed to collect or accept delivery, we may refund you the resale proceeds or original amount paid, less a 20% handling charge, plus any reasonable care, holding, administration, transport or resale costs where applicable.

This does not affect any statutory rights that cannot be excluded or restricted by law.

If a koi arrives dead on arrival, you must notify us immediately on receipt.

You must provide clear evidence, including photographs and/or video, as requested by us.

Where we are satisfied that the koi was dead on arrival and the issue was not caused by buyer delay, mishandling, unsuitable receiving conditions, failure to follow instructions or another issue outside our control, we will provide a full credit.

This credit may be used towards a replacement koi or future purchase, subject to availability and agreement.

Because koi are live animals and their welfare can be affected by water quality, pond conditions, transport stress, quarantine conditions, handling, stocking levels, parasites, bacterial issues and other factors outside our control, we cannot provide an open-ended health guarantee.

However, we will always try to deal fairly with genuine issues. Where appropriate, we may offer advice, replacement, credit or another remedy at our discretion.

You must contact us promptly if you believe there is a problem. Delay may affect what we can reasonably do.

Once a koi has been collected or delivered, you are responsible for its care, quarantine, water quality, acclimatisation, pond suitability and ongoing welfare.

You must not introduce koi into unsuitable, unstable, overcrowded, unfiltered or unsafe water conditions.

Nothing in these Terms affects your statutory rights.

Online and distance selling rules can give consumers cancellation rights and require sellers to give certain pre-contract information. Because this website sells live koi, cancellation rights may be affected by the nature of the goods, welfare considerations, delivery or collection timing, quarantine, and any legal exemptions that may apply.

Bids remain binding under these Auction Rules unless cancellation is required by law or accepted by us in writing.

We recommend that buyers ask any important questions before placing a bid.

We aim to keep the website available, accurate and secure, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted access.

We are not responsible for bids that fail due to internet issues, device problems, payment provider downtime, database provider downtime, hosting provider downtime, browser issues, user error or other technical problems outside our reasonable control.

We may correct obvious errors, withdraw a listing, pause bidding, cancel an auction or rerun an auction where we reasonably believe this is necessary.

Payments may be processed by a third-party payment provider such as Stripe.

We do not store full card numbers on our own website servers. Payment details are handled by the payment provider.

You must comply with any payment provider terms that apply.

We reserve the right to refuse, cancel or reverse a sale where we reasonably believe there has been fraud, abuse, payment failure, false account information, welfare concern, legal concern, technical error, bidding manipulation or breach of these Terms.

We are responsible for losses you suffer that are a foreseeable result of our breach of these Terms or our negligence.

We are not responsible for losses that are not foreseeable, business losses, loss of profit, loss of opportunity, indirect loss, or issues caused by your pond conditions, water quality, handling, quarantine failure, unsuitable setup, delayed collection, delayed acceptance of delivery, failure to follow advice or events outside our reasonable control.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability where it would be unlawful to do so.

We process personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

You must provide accurate contact and account details so that we can operate auctions, process payments, arrange collection or delivery, and contact you about purchases.

We may update these Terms from time to time.

The version in force when you place a bid will normally apply to that bid and any resulting purchase.

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

The courts of England and Wales will have jurisdiction, subject to any consumer rights that give you protection in another part of the UK.