Welcome to eLancer! Access to and use of eLancer's Web site and other eLancer Internet services are subject to the following Terms and Conditions. Please read these Terms and Conditions carefully. Creating an account with eLancer or otherwise using or accessing the eLancer Service will signify your acceptance of these Terms and constitute a binding agreement between you and eLancer ("User Agreement"). If you do not agree to these Terms, discontinue use of the eLancer Service immediately. eLancer's acceptance is expressly conditioned on your assent to these terms.
1. Terms and Conditions of Use
By clicking "I agree", you accept the terms and conditions set forth below and declare that the information that you provide is truthful and correct. eLancer Hong Kong Limited (hereunder "eLancer") may revise these terms from time to time, at our sole discretion.
Our services are available only to registered user who can form legally binding contracts under applicable law. We may modify or terminate this website and the services available at it without notice to you.
The website functions as a place to connect buyers and service providers (hereunder "users") in a virtual marketplace. As a neutral facilitator, eLancer is not directly involved in the actual transactions between users of the website. In addition, eLancer is not responsible to the truth, accuracy, quality, legality, or safety of information posted by the buyers and service providers and does not confirm the identity of users. eLancer also does not validate the qualifications, background or experience of users. Therefore, users should be careful when dealing with any users on the website. To assist service providers in finding buyers in need of services, eLancer is considered the official finder for each project accepted through the website and charges the relevant buyer a transaction fee.
eLancer will not charge any membership fees to users. However, eLancer reserves the right to charge membership fees or new service fee at any time by giving advance notice to users on this website.
You should not disclose your telephone number, email address, URL and other such contact information to other users without the agreement by eLancer.
You acknowledge that eLancer is not responsible for the accuracy of any information published on this website by any persons other than authorized eLancer employees acting in their official capacities.
eLancer is not responsible for any loss arise from the trade and business between users, merchants and advertisers on the website.
You may be held legally responsible for damages to eLancer, the website and other users by your comments or information which you post to the website. eLancer reserves the right to remove or restrict access to any information posted on its website by its users or any third party eLancer considers such information to be in violation of this agreement, including information we consider to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, illegal, overly disparaging or deprecating of eLancer or other users.
You agree to provide true, accurate and complete information on the website and update such information to maintain its truth, accuracy and completeness when you post any information on the website, including but not limited to posting a request for services, bidding on a posted project, and/or posting your profile). eLancer reserves the right to terminate your account without further notice if you provide incomplete or inaccurate information on the website.
Guard Your Password
You must safeguard the User ID and password You use to access this Site. You
authorize us to assume that any person using the Site with Your User ID and
password either is You or is authorized to act for You.
Privacy
Please see our Privacy Agreement, which is incorporated herein by reference.
User Obligations
Buying and Selling Services on eLancer
You agree to:(a) be financially responsible for Your use of eLancer and purchase of services; (b) abide by eLancer's guidelines on posting projects and bidding on projects, which may be updated from time to time; and (c) perform your obligations and complete the transaction as specified by the terms of your posted project or your bid once you have selected a service provider or accepted a project, respectively, unless such transaction is prohibited by law of Hong Kong or country of the user or by this Agreement. Specifically, upon acceptance of a bid, the buyer agrees to purchase the services and the seller agrees to provide the services according to the terms of the Service Agreement agreed to by the parties, subject to any further increase or decrease in project scope. If the scope of the project increases beyond the final bid price after the project begins, the parties are bound to report that higher amount to eLancer Customer Service by email to cs@elancer.com.hk, and eLancer's transaction fee will increase proportionally to the contract value.
Circumvention of eLancer's Fee Structure
You agree not to engage in any action or activities meant to circumvent our
site or our stated fees. Prohibited systems or techniques include (but are not
limited to) the following:
Penalties
Without limiting eLancer's other remedies, We may issue a warning, temporarily suspend, indefinitely suspend or terminate your membership and refuse to provide any services to You (a) if You breach any terms and conditions of this User Agreement or the agreements incorporated herein by reference, including our written policies and procedures posted on the Site; (b) if We are unable to verify or authenticate any information You provide to Us; or (c) if We believe that your actions may cause legal liability for You, our users or for eLancer. Violations of this User Agreement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law of Hong Kong or country of user and may result in additional penalties and sanctions, as defined below.
To the extent any User engages in actions or activities which circumvent the eLancer Site or otherwise reduces transaction fees owed eLancer under this User Agreement, that User shall be liable to Us for our full fees due for the project and any follow-up or additional work, as described under "Fees charged by eLancer," below, and may be subject to additional sanctions, including immediate suspension or termination of eLancer membership, and penalties of up to twenty percent (20%) of the total value of all projects circumvented, at eLancer's sole discretion. We expressly reserve the right to institute additional penalties and fees for repeated violations of the User Agreement and/or our written policies and procedures posted on the Site.
Notices
eLancer will provide notices by posting them on the Site and You agree to check the Site for notices. You also authorize eLancer to send notices to You, at eLancer's discretion, via electronic mail unless You otherwise indicate in writing to cs@elancer.com.hk. Regardless of whether eLancer sends an email notification, You will be considered to have received a notice when it is made available to You by posting on the Site.
Cancellation
To cancel Your elancer or buyer registration contact eLancer Customer Service from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (Hong Kong time), Monday through Friday, at +852-2389-3889, or send requests to cs@elancer.com.hk.
We may cancel Your registration if We reasonably believe that You have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of this User Agreement, or violated our rights or those of another party. eLancer reserves the right to terminate any user for any reason, at its sole discretion. We will notify You if We cancel your registration, unless in our judgment giving notice would cause a risk of further violation or damages. However, We will notify You that Your account will be canceled if the law requires such notification. When Your registration is canceled, You may no longer have access to data, messages, files and other material You keep on the Site. The material may be deleted along with all Your previous posts and bids. The provisions entitled "Errors and Disclaimer of Warranties," "Indemnity," "Limitation of Liability," "Audit Provisions and Maintaining Records," "Reservation of Rights," and "General Provisions" will survive cancellation of Your registration. If eLancer terminates this User Agreement based upon Your breach of any portion of the User Agreement, eLancer reserves the right to refuse to provide registration and/or membership to You in the future
Protection of Copyrights and Trademarks
The Site contains trademarks and other material furnished by eLancer, its licensors, and other users. You should assume that everything You see or read in publicly viewable areas of the Site that was not furnished or received by You (such as images, photographs, illustrations, text and other materials) ("Site Content") is copyrighted unless otherwise noted. You may not sell, reproduce, distribute, modify, display, publicly perform, prepare derivative works based on, repost or otherwise use any of the Site Content in any way for any public or commercial purpose without prior written consent of eLancer or the rights holder. You may not use the Site Content on any other web site or in a networked computer environment for any purpose except your own personal viewing. In order to protect eLancer's and its Licensor's trade secrets, You agree that You will not 'reverse engineer' any Site Content consisting of downloadable software, unless specifically authorized by the trade secret owner or otherwise permitted by law. If You violate any of these terms, Your permission to use the Site Content will automatically terminate; You must immediately destroy any copies You have made of the Site Content; and We may revoke Your authorization to use the Site.
Reproduction
This Site or any portion of this Site may not be reproduced, duplicated, copied, sold, resold, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose that is not expressly permitted by eLancer. eLancer and its affiliates reserve the right to refuse service, terminate accounts, and/or cancel service requests or memberships in its discretion, including, without limitation, if eLancer believes that a User's conduct violates applicable law or is harmful to the interests of eLancer and its affiliates
Intellectual Property Policy
eLancer respects the intellectual property of others and expects our account holders to do the same. At our discretion and in appropriate circumstances, eLancer may terminate the accounts of users who infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others.
Pursuant to Intellectual Property Department (Trade Mark Ordinance of 2003), eLancer's designated legal advisor, trademark & patent agent for notice of alleged copyright infringement appearing on our Site is:
HASTINGS & CO.
5th Floor, Gloucester Tower, The Landmark,
11 Pedder Street, Central, Hong Kong.
Phone: +852-2523-9161
Fax: +852-2845-9266
Email address: enquiry@elancer.com.hk
Links
The Site may contain links to other web sites or resources. You acknowledge and agree that eLancer is not responsible or liable for (i) the availability or accuracy of such sites or resources, or (ii) the content, advertising, or products on or available from such sites or resources. The inclusion of any link on the Site does not imply that We endorse the linked site. You use the links at Your own risk.
Limitation of Liability
NEITHER ELANCER NOR ANY OTHER PARTY INVOLVED IN CREATING, PRODUCING, OR DELIVERING THE SITE (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THIRD PARTY APPLICATIONS AND SITE CONTENT) SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INDIRECT DAMAGES RESULTING FROM YOUR ACCESS TO, OR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE AND THE SITE CONTENT, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT WE KNOW OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
eLancer is not responsible for any liability related to the completion, timeliness, adequacy, and/or payment for services listed on our Site. Any questions, complaints or claims related to the completion, timeliness, adequacy, and/or payment for services should be directed to the appropriate service provider.
If Your use of the Site results in the need for servicing or replacing property, material, equipment or data, We are not responsible for those costs.
Reservation of Rights; Limited Licenses
eLancer and its licensors shall retain all of its right, title and interest in and to all patent rights, inventions, copyrights, know-how and trade secrets relating to the Site. User acknowledges that the eLancer logo and name are trademarks of eLancer, and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. All other product names, company names, marks, logos, and symbols on the Site may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Except where expressly provided by eLancer, nothing in this Use Agreement shall be construed to confer any license under any of eLancer's or any third party's intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, implication, or otherwise.
Errors and Disclaimer of Warranties
YOU USE THE SITE AT YOUR RISK. We endeavor to provide a convenient and functional Site, but We do not guarantee that it will be error free or that the Site or the server that operates it are free of viruses or other harmful components. We urge You to keep backup copies of material You maintain on or use with the Site.
As mentioned above, We remind You to be careful in Your dealings with other users. Without limiting the foregoing, EVERYTHING ON THE SITE (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THIRD PARTY APPLICATIONS AND SITE CONTENT) IS PROVIDED TO YOU "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. Please note that some jurisdictions may not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so some of the above exclusions may not apply to You.
ELANCER MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE SITE (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THIRD PARTY APPLICATIONS AND SITE CONTENT) WILL MEET USER'S REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR FREE; NOR DOES ELANCER MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE SITE OR AS TO THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE. ELANCER MAKES NO WARRANTY REGARDING ANY GOODS OR SERVICES PURCHASED OR OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE OR ANY TRANSACTIONS ENTERED INTO THROUGH THE SITE. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY USER FROM ELANCER OR THROUGH THE SITE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY MADE HEREIN.
Indemnity
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless eLancer, its officers, directors, employees, agents and partners, from and against any claims, actions or demands, including without limitation reasonable legal and accounting fees, made by any third party due to or resulting from Your use of the Site or the Site Content, including without limitation claims against eLancer for unsatisfactory performance of services listed on the Site, or Your violation of this User Agreement.
General Provisions
You are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws, keeping in mind that access to the Site Content may not be legal by certain persons or in certain countries. If any part of this User Agreement is held to be unenforceable, the unenforceable part shall be given effect to the greatest extent possible and the remainder will remain in full force and effect. This User Agreement is personal to You and You may not transfer, assign or delegate this User Agreement to anyone without the express written permission of eLancer. Any attempt by You to assign, transfer or delegate this User Agreement without the express written permission of eLancer shall be null and void. This User Agreement and any registration for or subsequent use of the Site will not be construed as creating or implying any relationship of agency, independent contractor, franchise, partnership, or joint venture between any User and eLancer.
This User Agreement will be governed by the law of Hong Kong., without regard to its conflicts of law provisions. Any dispute related to this User Agreement will be settled in the court of Hong Kong or country of the user.
The paragraph headings in this User Agreement, shown in boldface type, are included to help make the agreement easier to read and have no binding effect.
The User Agreement and the agreements referenced in this User Agreement comprises the entire agreement between You and eLancer with respect to the use of the Site and supersedes all prior agreements between the parties regarding the subject matter contained herein as well as any conflicting or inconsistent terms in any web site that links-to or is linked-from the Site.
We suggest that You print out a copy of this Use Agreement for Your records.
2. Payment and Billing Service Terms
This Payment and Billing Service Terms of User Agreement (this "Payment Service Agreement") may affect your rights regarding your purchase or sale of services through the eLancer Web site ("the Site"). Please read it carefully. By clicking "I agree", You accept the terms and conditions set forth below and assert that the information that You provide is truthful and correct.
Capitalized terms not otherwise defined in this Payment Service Agreement shall have the meanings given such terms in our Terms and Conditions of Use, which is incorporated into this Payment Service Agreement by this reference. By agreeing to the terms of this Payment Service Agreement, You agree to accept all disclosures and all other communications between us electronically at the email address You provide. (This does not supersede other notification terms of The Terms and Conditions of Use.) If You have any questions or comments about the information contained here, please contact us at enquiry@elancer.com.hk
Fees Charged by eLancer: Transaction Fee
Transaction Fee is equal to ten percent (10%) of the greater of: (a) the total amounts actually paid by the Buyer to the Service Provider for such project, (b) the total amounts invoiced through eLancer, or (c) the amount of the bid for a project placed by the Service Provider and accepted by the Buyer if invoices for the full bid amount are not sent through eLancer within 30 days of project acceptance. In the event that the total amount actually paid by the Buyer to the Service Provider for such project is greater than the amount invoiced by the Service Provider, eLancer will adjust the amount charged to the Service Provider. The Transaction Fee is due and payable thirty (30) days from the date each invoice is submitted for payment. If invoices for the full bid amount are not sent, the transaction fee for the difference between the bid amount and the invoiced amount is due 30 days from project acceptance. All invoices and associated transaction fees are treated separately, even if they are part of the same project. In addition, certain minimum transaction fees apply for each category.
In the event that more than one thousand dollars (HK$1,000) (or its equivalent) of any Transaction Fee due and payable has not been paid to eLancer within forty-five (45) days from the date of invoicing (or, if invoices for the full bid amount have not been sent, from the date of the project acceptance) eLancer may, at its sole discretion, prohibit any or all further activities by the Service Provider until such Transaction Fee is paid in full, including but not limited to the placement of any bid on a project and the listing of the service profile. In the event that You are a Service Provider, You agree that You shall not be entitled to exercise any of Your rights or benefits that You may have with respect to any activities prohibited by eLancer.
In the event that User owes transaction fees to eLancer, eLancer will apply any payments first to the outstanding transaction fees owed.
The Transaction Fee is charged in Hong Kong dollars, but may be paid in any currency. Please note, however, that payments made in any non-Hong Kong currency may take more than one week to process.
It is the Service Provider's and the Buyer's responsibility to determine whether sales or use taxes apply to the transactions and to collect, report and remit the correct tax to the appropriate tax authority. eLancer is not obligated to determine whether sales or use taxes apply and is not responsible to collect, remit or report any sales or use taxes arising from any transaction.
We reserve the right to change the method of calculating the transaction fee at any time. However, the new transaction fee will apply only to projects accepted after notification of the changed fee.
How to Pay for a Service
Paying a Service Provider is accomplished by wire transfer to eLancer's account at HSBC, Hong Kong Branch A/C 593-5-016880.
Getting Paid as a Service Provider
Once funds have been directed to eLancer's bank account, we will credit the payment less transaction fee to such Service Provider. If We determine, in our sole discretion, that a Service Provider has violated this Payment Service Agreement, We may refuse to credit such Service Provider's bank account and may instead maintain the amount of such credit in a trust account or may return the amount of the credit to the appropriate Buyer. We will not be liable to any Service Provider if We act in accordance with the provisions of this Section.
Reservation of Rights
eLancer may refuse service to anyone for any reason. eLancer may earn and retain interest or other compensation from the balances in its bank accounts that result from the timing difference between the receipt of funds from any Buyer and any debit of its bank account to pay any Service Provider.
eLancer may amend this Payment Service Agreement at any time in its sole discretion by notifying affected users. If a User does not terminate use of the Payment Service as described below, User will be deemed to have accepted such amendment.
eLancer will not be considered to have waived any of our rights or remedies described in this Payment Service Agreement unless the waiver is in writing and signed by an authorized representative of eLancer. No delay or omission by eLancer in exercising its rights or remedies will impair its rights or be construed as a waiver. Any single or partial exercise of a right or remedy will not preclude further exercise of any other right or remedy.
eLancer reserves the right to seek reimbursement from any Service Provider and Service Provider will reimburse eLancer if eLancer discovers erroneous or duplicate transactions. eLancer may obtain such reimbursement by deducting from future payments owed to such Service Provider, by reversing any credits to such Service Provider's bank account, or by seeking reimbursement from such Service Provider by any other lawful means.
This Payment Service Agreement and any User's registration for and use of the Payment Service will not be construed as creating or implying any relationship of agency, franchise, partnership, or joint venture between any User and eLancer.
3. How We Use Information
Registration Information
We use Personally Identifiable Information for our own internal purposes including contacting You via email to inform You about updates to our services and providing You with information relating to e-commerce transactions that You conduct on the Site. We reserve the right to disclose your information as required by law. We do not rent or sell our Users Personally Identifiable Information to third parties. We do, however, provide You with the opportunity to receive third party offers via email. If You decide to opt-in to receive third party offers, You may opt out of receiving these third party promotional emails at any time by sending a message to cs@elancer.com.hk.
Advertising
We may send You email communications including information that We may think may be of interest to You. You may opt out of receiving these email communications either when You register to become a Member, via the Preferences section of your My Account area, or by sending a message to cs@elancer.com.hk. We do not send any of your Personally Identifiable Information to our advertisers. You may see a cookie from a third-party banner server, and this cookie comes from the third-party banner server, not eLancer. Again, we do not pass along any Personally Identifiable Information to this party.
Co-Branded Services
eLancer enters into co-branding relationships with third-party web sites and companies to provide products and services to our Users. eLancer may share your Personally Identifiable Information, including User ID and password, with certain co-branded third-party service or product providers as required to provide a specific product or service that You request from a co-branded page or co-branded site. However, these third-party partners may not use this Personally Identifiable Information for any reason other than to provide the service or product that the user has explicitly signed up for.
If You join eLancer through a co-branded site (e.g. on a co-branded registration page), it is eLancer's general policy not to share anything other than summarized or aggregated data with the partner; however, any Personally Identifiable Information You provide may also be received by the co-branded site and could be stored and used by the co-branded service or product provider according to their privacy policy. Please take the time to review these third-party privacy policies.
Comments Submitted by Users
eLancer constantly seeks to improve the quality of the services We provide and
the User experience on the Site. We value your input and encourage You to help
us expand and make improvements to the Site by providing Us with any thoughts
or comments You might have regarding our services or the operation of the Site.
You can submit any comments You have to Us by clicking on the link entitled
"Send us your comments" at the bottom of most of the pages on the
Site, or by sending an email to cs@eLancer.com.hk. The "Send us your
comments" page asks for your email address or User Id and the country in
which You are located. This information is optional. If You provide this information,
we will only use it to acknowledge or respond to your comments. Submitting comments
via an email will not cause you to receive any secondary or promotional material,
unless specifically requested by You. In certain circumstances, we may ask for
your permission to post your comments in marketing or promotional materials.
Security
We will use commercially reasonable methods to keep Personally Identifiable Information securely in our files and systems.
Terminating Your Membership
We save your Personally Identifiable Information until your membership with us is terminated. To terminate your Buyer or Service Provider membership, send an email to cs@elancer.com.hk, or contact eLancer Customer Service at +852-2389-3889 and speak directly to a representative. If You terminate your membership, your Personally Identifiable Information cannot be recovered. You may continue to receive email communications for a short period of time until we have updated all of our databases. After termination of your membership, your Personally Identifiable Information may remain on our archived database and records for a reasonable time as residual information. We will not use this residual information. Notwithstanding the above, We will maintain information on Users who have been removed for violating our User Agreement.
Correcting/Updating Your Information and Opting Out
This Site gives the following options for changing and modifying information
previously provided.
You may update your registration information using the Preferences page, under
My Account, in the eLancer navigation bar after You register.
This Site provides users the opportunity to opt out of receiving promotional email communications from us, eLancer newsletters and other site information using Preferences, Email Notifications under the My Account section of the site, or by contacting cs@elancer.com.hk.
For other requests, please email enquiry@elancer.com.hk.
Contacting Us
If You have any questions about this Privacy Agreement or the practices of this Site, you may contact us at enquiry@elancer.com.hk.
Community Policing
eLancer prohibits the exchange of contact details between buyer and seller during
the bidding period. Those who violate this rule put users who follow eLancer
policies at an unfair disadvantage. Many members of the eLancer community have
been helping us to keep the playing field level by reporting violations. In
order to help those users and to streamline the reporting process, we've created
a special "hotline" - police@eLancer.com.hk. Send any reports of contact
violations directly to this email address. police@eLancer.com.hk is an automated
address for reporting violations only, and direct replies are not possible.
Please do not send questions or customer service issues.
4. Market Maker
The Market Maker enforces policies and assists users in order to create an efficient and fair marketplace. Specifically, the Market Maker ensures the following:
What should I do if I am contacted by the eLancer Market Maker?
The eLancer Market Maker contacts users for several reasons such as violations
of Rules and Policies, potential disputes, removal of projects due to lack of
detail or suggestions for improving project descriptions and bids. If you are
contacted about violations or potential disputes, respond promptly to avoid
further action. If your project or bid is removed, replying to the Market Maker
with more detail or clarification will allow it to be reposted.
5. How to Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this User Agreement or our Policy, please email enquiry@elancer.com.hk or use the following addresses:
eLancer Hong Kong Limited 2/F, Cheung Fai Industrial Building, 133 Wai Yip Street, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. www.eLancer.com.hk
Should you want to give us a call, please feel free to contact eLancer Customer Service from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (Hong Kong time), Monday through Friday, at +852-2389-3889. Our representatives are proficient in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.
Last updated December 18, 2003