1. Acceptance of these Terms
By accessing or using the Website, registering for an account or entering a competition, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy.
If you do not agree to these Terms you must not use the Website or any of the services offered through it.
You may only enter into binding agreements with us if you are at least 18 years old and have the legal capacity to do so. If you are under 18, you may only use the Website with the involvement and consent of a parent or legal guardian.
2. About Bargain Books
The Website is operated by Books, Magazines and Stationery CC trading as Bargain Books (“we”, “us” or “our”), a close corporation registered in the Republic of South Africa.
In line with section 43 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (the “ECT Act”), our contact details are:
- Trading name: Bargain Books
- Legal name: Books, Magazines and Stationery CC
- Email: customerservice@bargainbooks.co.za
- Telephone: +27 21 706 1461
- Website: bargainbooks.co.za
3. Definitions
In these Terms, unless the context indicates otherwise:
- “CPA” means the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008, as amended.
- “ECT Act” means the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002, as amended.
- “POPIA” means the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013, as amended.
- “You” or “your” means the user, customer or visitor of the Website.
4. Use of the Website
You agree to use the Website only for lawful purposes and in a way that does not infringe the rights of, or restrict or inhibit the use and enjoyment of, the Website by anyone else. You may not:
- use the Website in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden or impair our systems;
- attempt to gain unauthorised access to any account, server or network connected to the Website;
- upload, transmit or distribute any virus, worm, malicious code or other software intended to interfere with our service;
- scrape, harvest or otherwise extract data from the Website without our prior written consent;
- use the Website to harvest personal information of other users or send unsolicited commercial communications;
- impersonate any person or entity or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity.
We reserve the right to suspend or terminate access to the Website at our discretion if these Terms are breached.
5. User Accounts
You may register an account with us. When you do so:
- you must provide accurate, current and complete information;
- you are responsible for keeping your password confidential and for all activity that occurs under your account;
- you must notify us immediately at customerservice@bargainbooks.co.za if you suspect any unauthorised use of your account;
- you agree not to share your account credentials with any third party.
We may suspend or close any account that we reasonably believe has been used in breach of these Terms or applicable law.
6. Promotions & Competitions
6.1 Promotions
Promotions advertised on the Website are subject to the specific terms published with each offer (e.g. validity period, exclusions). Where there is a conflict between these Terms and an offer’s specific terms, the offer’s terms prevail in respect of that offer.
6.2 Competitions
Competitions and giveaways run by Bargain Books are governed by their own competition rules, as required by the CPA. Those rules are published alongside each competition on our Competitions page.
7. User-Generated Content
The Website may from time to time allow you to submit reviews, comments, ratings, questions or other content (“User Content”). By submitting User Content, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide licence to use, reproduce, edit, publish and display that content on the Website and in our marketing.
You undertake that any User Content you submit:
- is your own original work or that you are authorised to share it;
- is accurate, lawful and does not infringe any third party’s rights (including intellectual-property and privacy rights);
- is not defamatory, harassing, obscene, hateful, threatening or otherwise objectionable;
- does not contain spam, malware, advertising or solicitations.
We may, but are not obliged to, moderate User Content and may remove or refuse to publish any submission at our sole discretion.
8. Intellectual Property
All content on the Website — including the “Bargain Books” name, logo, the “South Africa’s Favourite Bookstore” tagline, “The Margin” blog branding, text, graphics, photographs, illustrations, layout, software and the compilation of all of these — is owned by or licensed to Bargain Books and is protected by copyright, trade-mark and other intellectual-property laws.
You may view, download and print pages from the Website for your own personal, non-commercial use, subject to these Terms. You may not otherwise copy, reproduce, distribute, modify, transmit, re-publish or commercially exploit any content from the Website without our prior written consent.
Book covers, author photographs, blurbs and other publisher-supplied material are reproduced on the Website with the permission of the relevant rights-holders and remain their property.
9. Third-Party Links & Services
The Website may contain links to third-party websites, applications or services (including social-media platforms and book-publisher sites). Those links are provided for your convenience only.
We do not control, endorse or assume responsibility for the content, products, services, privacy practices or terms of any third-party site or service. Your use of any third-party site or service is at your own risk and is governed by that third-party’s own terms.
10. Disclaimers & Limitation of Liability
We make every reasonable effort to keep the Website available, up to date and free from error and malicious code. However, other than as expressly provided in these Terms, the Consumer Protection Act and other applicable law, the Website and its content are provided “as is” and “as available”.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, and without limiting any right you have under the CPA, the ECT Act or POPIA:
- we will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special or punitive damages arising out of or in connection with your use of the Website;
- we will not be liable for any loss arising from your failure to comply with these Terms.
Nothing in these Terms is intended to limit or exclude any liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded — including liability for death or personal injury caused by our gross negligence, fraud or wilful misconduct.
11. Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold us, our employees, directors, members and suppliers harmless from any claim, demand, loss or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or connected with: (a) your use of the Website in breach of these Terms; (b) any User Content you submit; or (c) your violation of any applicable law or third-party right.
12. Privacy & POPIA
We process your personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) and as described in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms.
By using the Website you consent to the collection, use, storage and disclosure of your personal information as described in the Privacy Policy. You may withdraw your consent or exercise any of your POPIA rights (access, correction, deletion, objection) by contacting us at customerservice@bargainbooks.co.za.
14. Changes to these Terms
We may change these Terms from time to time, for example to reflect changes in our services, the law or operational practice. The current version of the Terms will always be available at bargainbooks.co.za/terms and the “Last updated” date at the top of the page will indicate when they were last revised.
Where a change materially affects your rights, we will use reasonable efforts to bring the change to your attention (for example, by email or an on-site notice) before it takes effect. Continued use of the Website after a change has taken effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.
15. Force Majeure
We will not be in breach of these Terms, nor liable for any delay or failure to perform our obligations, where the delay or failure is caused by an event beyond our reasonable control — including (without limitation) acts of God, fire, flood, extreme weather, civil unrest, strikes, sabotage, load-shedding, cable theft, supplier failure, cyber-attacks, pandemics, epidemics or governmental action.
16. Severability & General
If any provision of these Terms is found to be unlawful, void or unenforceable, that provision will be severed and the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.
Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms is not a waiver of that right or provision. These Terms (together with our Privacy Policy and any policies referenced in them) constitute the entire agreement between you and us in respect of the Website and supersede any prior arrangement.
You may not cede or assign your rights under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may cede or assign our rights and obligations to any successor or affiliate on reasonable notice.
17. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution
These Terms are governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa.
If you have a complaint, please contact us first at customerservice@bargainbooks.co.za so that we have an opportunity to put things right. We will acknowledge your complaint within five (5) business days and aim to resolve it within twenty (20) business days.
If we are unable to resolve a dispute directly, you have the right to refer the dispute to:
- the National Consumer Commission (www.thencc.org.za);
- the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (www.cgso.org.za); or
- a competent South African court of appropriate jurisdiction.
The parties consent to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Magistrates’ Court of South Africa, regardless of monetary value, in respect of any action or proceeding arising from these Terms.
18. Contact Us
If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us:
- Email: customerservice@bargainbooks.co.za
- Telephone: +27 21 706 1461
- Online: bargainbooks.co.za/help#contact