Liffey Metals Buyer Programme Terms

These terms are between the person or business named on the account (the "Buyer") and Liffey Metals Ltd, a company registered in Ireland (company number [TBC], registered office [TBC]) ("Liffey Metals", "we", "us"). The Buyer may be a shop, a dealer or an individual buying on their own account; the same terms apply to each, and "it" and "its" below mean the Buyer whoever that is. They set out how the Liffey Metals Buyer Programme works: the Buyer buys gold and silver from its own customers, over a counter or otherwise, and sells that metal to us. They sit alongside the Liffey Metals Business Client Agreement, which applies to every lot the Buyer sells to us; where the two differ on a point about the programme, these terms apply. The person accepting these terms confirms that they are authorised to bind the Buyer.

1. The Buyer's status

1.1 Independent status. The Buyer is an independent business trading on its own account. Nothing in this agreement makes the Buyer an employee, agent, partner or representative of Liffey Metals Ltd. The Buyer has no authority to act, quote, buy or make any commitment on behalf of Liffey Metals.

1.2 Own account. The Buyer buys from its own customers with its own funds, at prices it alone sets, and at its own risk. Liffey Metals is not a party to those purchases and has no obligation to buy any item.

1.3 Branding. The Buyer must not use the Liffey Metals name, logo or materials in dealings with its customers, or suggest it is connected to Liffey Metals.

1.4 The Buyer may say, if asked, that it sells metal to Liffey Metals. It must not describe itself as a Liffey Metals buying counter, agent, branch or partner, must not display our name, logo, prices or materials where its customers can see them, and must not quote our rates to its customers as if they were its own or ours.

1.5 A Buyer who is an individual trades as a sole trader and is responsible for registering with the Revenue Commissioners, for its own tax, and for any licence or registration that applies to buying precious metal from the public. We do not employ the Buyer, pay it a wage or deduct anything on its behalf.

1.6 There is no fee to join the programme, no minimum volume and no obligation on either side to trade. We do not set, suggest or limit the prices the Buyer pays its customers, and we are not responsible for them. Any complaint, refund, return or dispute between the Buyer and its customers is the Buyer's alone.

2. Joining, signing and new versions

2.1 The programme is open to approved business accounts only. We open, refuse, suspend and close accounts at our discretion.

2.2 The Buyer accepts these terms electronically by typing the full name of the account holder and confirming the acceptance. Typing that name is the Buyer's electronic signature. It has the same effect as a handwritten signature under the Electronic Commerce Act 2000 and Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 (eIDAS), and the Buyer will not dispute the agreement on the ground that it was signed electronically.

2.3 We record every acceptance with the typed name, the business name, the date and time, the IP address and browser used, the version of these terms and a cryptographic hash of their exact text, and we email the Buyer a signed copy. That record is evidence of the agreement.

2.4 When we publish a new version of these terms the Buyer is shown it on its next sign-in and must accept it before confirming further sales on the programme. Until it does, the Buyer's account is not on the programme rate. A sale confirmed under an earlier version is completed under that version.

3. Prices and quotes

3.1 We publish a programme rate per gram for each metal and purity on the programme page and in the counter calculator. Rates move with the market and may change at any time without notice. The rate that applies to a sale is the one shown when the Buyer confirms that sale in the calculator.

3.2 When the Buyer confirms a sale through the calculator, the quoted rate per gram and the quoted payout are recorded against the sale with the date and time. The quoted rate is honoured if the parcel reaches us within 7 days of the sale being confirmed; after that the parcel is priced at our rate on the day it arrives.

3.3 A quoted payout is an estimate based on what the Buyer told the calculator. The final payout is based on our own scale and test result for each item (section 4).

3.4 The difference between what the Buyer pays its customers and what we pay the Buyer is the Buyer's margin. We take no part in it.

3.5 The programme rate, the calculator and the pages behind the Buyer's account link are for the Buyer's own use. They must not be published, passed to other businesses or quoted to the Buyer's customers.

4. Testing and what we pay for

4.1 Testing. Liffey Metals pays on tested metal content only. Plated, filled or weighted items, or material that fails testing, will be returned at the Buyer's cost or disposed of with the Buyer's agreement.

4.2 We open every parcel on camera and weigh and test every item, mainly by non-destructive XRF. We may file, scratch or acid-test an inconspicuous area, and may remove stones or other fittings, where needed to reach the metal. The recording is kept and is our record of what the parcel contained.

4.3 Where our test disagrees with a hallmark, a stamp, a receipt, a seller's word, the Buyer's own test or a third-party test, our test decides. Our weight and test result are final, subject only to section 4.9.

4.4 We are not liable for, and do not pay for, any item we do not accept. That includes, without limitation: fake gold, gold-plated, rolled-gold or gold-filled items, gold-tone or "fashion" metal, plated silver (EPNS, EP, silver plate, Sheffield plate, A1, nickel silver, German silver), filled, rolled or weighted items, base metal, stainless steel, brass, copper, pewter, aluminium, any item whose metal or purity does not match what the Buyer paid for, and any item we reasonably reject as not being the metal or purity the Buyer bought it as. A hallmark, a seller's word, a receipt or another test does not change this: the Buyer's own checks under section 5 are what protect it.

4.5 Gold is bought at the purities we list (9ct, 14ct, 18ct, 22ct and 24ct, and their fineness marks). Where our test shows a lower fineness than the mark, the item is paid at the fineness we find.

4.6 Silver is bought at sterling (925) and at the continental standards we list (800, 835 and 900). Electroplate and nickel silver carry no silver value and are not bought. Weighted or filled silver (candlesticks, knife handles, some trophies, bases and handles) is paid on the silver content we measure, not on the weight on the scale. Silver below the lowest standard we list is bought only by prior agreement.

4.7 Stones, glass, enamel, pearls, watch movements, springs, pins and any other non-metal content are not paid for and are not valued. Where practical they are returned with the item. The Buyer must not pay its customers for stones as if they were metal and must not expect us to.

4.8 Anything the Buyer sends that fails our test, and anything we do not accept, is returned to the Buyer at the Buyer's cost (deducted from the payout on the parcel, or from the Buyer's next payout, or invoiced), or disposed of with the Buyer's agreement given in writing (a WhatsApp message is fine). If the Buyer has not told us which it wants within 30 days of our message, we may dispose of the material and the Buyer has no further claim to it.

4.9 One allowance, because everyone misreads a hallmark once: the first item a Buyer sends that fails our test is written off by us at the Buyer's quoted price, up to [TBC: write-off limit] and once per Buyer, provided the Buyer bought the item in good faith after the checks in section 5. After that every item that fails is returned unpaid under section 4.8.

4.10 We may decline to accept any item or any lot, in our sole discretion, including items we reasonably suspect are not genuine, not of the stated purity, altered, counterfeit, unlawfully obtained or otherwise unsuitable. We are not liable to the Buyer for declining an item, and the Buyer remains liable to its customer for whatever it paid.

5. The Buyer's duties

5.1 Title and compliance. The Buyer warrants that it has full lawful title to everything it sells to Liffey Metals, has taken reasonable steps to verify sellers, keeps records of its purchases, and is responsible for its own tax affairs and registrations.

5.2 Check that every item is real gold or silver before paying for it. This is the Buyer's responsibility alone: read the hallmark, test with the magnet and, unless the item carries a clear hallmark from our list, test with the acid, following our guide "How to check if you have real gold or silver" at liffeymetals.com/buyerprogram/testing. We are happy to look at a photo on WhatsApp before the Buyer buys, but anything we say about a photo is an opinion, not a promise to buy; the decision to buy, and the risk that an item is plated, filled, rolled, base metal or a lower fineness than its mark, rest with the Buyer.

5.3 Photo ID from every seller, checked against the person, with the type of ID written on the record sheet. No purchase from anyone under 18, and no purchase from an adult on a minor's behalf. This is the Buyer's "know your customer" obligation under anti-money laundering law and good trade practice.

5.4 The Buyer confirms, on every purchase, that it has no reason to believe the goods are stolen and that it has the right to buy them. It refuses anything it suspects is stolen, and it reports rather than buys anything it reasonably believes is stolen or connected to crime.

5.5 Refuse anything suspicious: an item engraved with another name, a seller who cannot say where an item came from, a handful of identical new items, chains that look freshly cut, a seller who is in a hurry or will not show ID, or anything that does not feel right. The Buyer is never obliged to buy.

5.6 A line on the record sheet for every purchase, written at the counter before the seller leaves (date, seller name, type of ID, description, weight and price paid), and the completed sheet in every parcel.

5.7 Keep the record sheets, and any purchase records the law requires, for at least five years, and give us a copy within 5 business days if we ask.

5.8 Comply with every law that applies to buying precious metal from the public in Ireland, including the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 as amended, any guidance issued to dealers in second-hand goods, data protection law in respect of the seller records it keeps, consumer law in its dealings with its customers, and any licence, registration or tax requirement that applies to its business.

5.9 Tell us promptly of any change to the Buyer's legal name, ownership, address, contact person or bank details.

6. Starter kit

6.1 We may lend the Buyer a starter kit (scale, testing acids, touchstone, file, magnet, loupe, pouches, prepaid labels and record sheets). It remains our property, is for the programme only, and must be returned within 14 days of the arrangement ending or paid for at replacement cost.

6.2 Testing acids are corrosive. The Buyer is responsible for storing and using them safely, in line with the instructions supplied, and for keeping them away from the public and from children. We are not liable for injury, damage or loss arising from the Buyer's storage or use of the kit.

6.3 Our pouches, labels and record sheets are for programme parcels only. The Buyer must not use them for anything else or pass them to anyone else.

7. Confirming a sale and sending parcels

7.1 Every item the Buyer sends is confirmed first through the calculator, so that the quoted rate, the items and the record sheet line up with what arrives. A parcel that does not match the confirmed sale is priced on what we receive.

7.2 Parcels travel in our tamper-evident pouches on our prepaid insured labels, handed over at a post office counter with the receipt kept. Only a sealed pouch sent on our label is covered: our liability for a parcel in transit is limited to the insured value of the label (currently €2,000 per parcel) and arises only if the Buyer can produce the post office receipt.

7.3 Anything above the insured limit must be agreed with us before it is posted. We may collect or split a large parcel. Metal posted above the limit without agreement travels at the Buyer's risk for the excess.

7.4 A parcel without its record sheet is held until we have the sheet or the details on it. We may hold any parcel while we complete verification or anti-money laundering checks.

7.5 The Buyer must post within 7 days of confirming a sale to keep the quoted rate (section 3.2), and should post Monday to Thursday so that parcels do not sit over a weekend.

8. Quotes after testing, title and payment

8.1 After testing we send the Buyer an itemised quote on WhatsApp or by email: each item, its weight, the purity we found and the price. Where the parcel matches the confirmed sale and arrived in time, the quote is at the confirmed rate.

8.2 The Buyer accepts or declines the quote in writing (a WhatsApp message is fine). On acceptance, title to the metal passes to us and the sale is final. If the Buyer declines, the items are returned to it tracked and insured at the Buyer's cost, or it may collect them by appointment. If we hear nothing within 30 days of sending the quote, we may treat the quote as accepted and pay it.

8.3 The Buyer may dispute a weight or test result in writing before accepting the quote. If we cannot agree, either party may send the item for independent assay at a laboratory we both accept. The result is binding, and the party whose figure was further from the assay result pays the assay cost.

8.4 We pay by bank transfer (or Revolut) to an account in the Buyer's name only, never in cash and never to a third party, the same business day where we can and within 2 business days of acceptance in any case. We may delay payment while we complete verification or anti-money laundering checks.

8.5 Invoicing and VAT follow the Business Client Agreement and, where one is in place, the Self-Billing Agreement. Each party is responsible for its own tax.

8.6 We may set off against any payment due to the Buyer any amount the Buyer owes us under these terms or the Business Client Agreement, including return postage, kit not returned and sums repayable under section 10.

9. Right to refuse

9.1 Right to refuse. Liffey Metals may refuse any item or lot, and may report any item it reasonably suspects to An Garda Síochána.

9.2 We may also refuse to deal with a particular seller's goods, refuse a parcel, or decline to continue the programme with the Buyer, at any time and without giving a reason.

10. Stolen or disputed items

10.1 If we reasonably believe an item is stolen, disputed or connected to crime, we may hold it, hand it to An Garda Síochána or the rightful owner, and report the matter. We are not liable to the Buyer for doing so.

10.2 If we have paid for such an item, the Buyer must repay the amount paid plus our reasonable costs within 7 days of our request. We may set this off against any amount we owe the Buyer.

10.3 The Buyer indemnifies us against any loss, claim, demand, fine or cost (including legal costs) arising from a breach of section 5, from any claim by a third party to goods the Buyer sold us, or from the Buyer's dealings with its own customers.

11. Liability

11.1 Neither party is liable to the other for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, business or goodwill.

11.2 Our total liability to the Buyer in connection with any parcel is limited to the value of the metal in that parcel at the programme rate at the time of the quote or loss, and for a parcel lost in transit to the insured value under section 7.2.

11.3 We give no warranty about the Buyer's own trade: nothing we publish (the testing guide, the calculator, the red list, a reply on WhatsApp) is advice to buy a particular item, and we are not liable for anything the Buyer pays its customers.

11.4 Nothing in these terms limits liability for fraud, for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for anything that cannot be limited by law.

12. Ending the arrangement

12.1 Termination. Either party may end this agreement at any time by notice in writing (email is fine).

12.2 We may suspend the Buyer's account immediately, without notice, if we reasonably suspect a breach of section 1, 5 or 10, if a parcel contains items we believe to be stolen, or if the account is used by anyone other than the Buyer.

12.3 On ending: sales confirmed before the end are completed under these terms; the kit is returned within 14 days (section 6.1); the Buyer stops using our pouches, labels, sheets, calculator and pages; and any money owed either way is settled within 14 days.

12.4 Sections 1, 3.5, 4, 5.7, 10, 11, 13 and 14 continue after the arrangement ends.

13. Data and records

13.1 Photos the Buyer takes through the calculator (items, record sheet lines and, above the threshold shown, seller ID) are stored privately, used only to log and check the sale and to meet our legal obligations, and kept for as long as the law requires or allows.

13.2 We may share our records, including seller records the Buyer gives us, with An Garda Síochána, the Revenue Commissioners or any other authority where required or permitted by law.

13.3 The Buyer is the controller of the personal data of its own customers. It must keep that data securely and give us only what these terms and the law require.

14. General

14.1 We may publish a new version of these terms at any time. The new version applies to sales confirmed after the Buyer accepts it (section 2.4).

14.2 If any part of these terms is found invalid, the rest continues to apply.

14.3 These terms and the Business Client Agreement are the whole agreement about the programme. Nothing said on WhatsApp, by phone or in person changes them unless we confirm it in writing as a change to the terms.

14.4 These terms are governed by Irish law and the Irish courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

Contact: andrew@liffeymetals.com