Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

PRIVACY POLICY

Effective Date: 11 August 2026
Last Updated: 11 August 2026

RealTrade Online Auction House (“RealTrade”, “we”, “us” or “our”) respects the privacy of our customers, registered users and visitors to our website.

This Privacy Policy explains how RealTrade collects, uses, stores, protects and discloses personal information in connection with our website, online auction platform, customer accounts, auctions, purchases, shipping, collections and related services.

This Privacy Policy is intended to comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) and other applicable South African laws relating to personal information and privacy.

POPIA establishes eight conditions for lawful processing of personal information, including accountability, processing limitation, purpose specification, further-processing limitation, information quality, openness, security safeguards and data-subject participation.

1. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR INFORMATION?

RealTrade Online Auction House is responsible for the personal information processed through our website and auction platform.

For purposes of POPIA, RealTrade acts as the responsible party in relation to personal information collected and processed through our business activities.

Our contact details for privacy-related matters are:

RealTrade Online Auction House
Website: www.realtradeonline.co.za
Email: [support@realtradeonline.co.za]
Telephone: [0681114841]
Physical Address: [1454 Dickenson Avenue, Waverley, Pretoria]

Where required, RealTrade will maintain an Information Officer and comply with applicable registration and compliance requirements of the Information Regulator.

The Information Regulator requires private and public bodies to register their Information Officers in accordance with POPIA.

2. WHAT IS PERSONAL INFORMATION?

Personal information means information relating to an identifiable person or entity.

Depending on how you use RealTrade, this may include:

  • Full name;

  • Username;

  • Email address;

  • Telephone or mobile number;

  • Physical address;

  • Delivery address;

  • Collection information;

  • Account login information;

  • Auction participation information;

  • Bid history;

  • Winning bids;

  • Purchase history;

  • Communication with RealTrade;

  • Payment-related information;

  • Proof of payment;

  • Identification information where required for verification;

  • IP address;

  • Device information;

  • Browser information;

  • Website usage information;

  • Cookie information; and

  • Information provided when contacting customer support.

We only seek to collect information that is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it is processed.

3. HOW WE COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION

We may collect personal information when you:

  • Register for a RealTrade account;

  • Log into your account;

  • Place a bid;

  • Win an auction;

  • Purchase an item;

  • Make or arrange payment;

  • Request shipping;

  • Arrange collection;

  • Contact customer support;

  • Submit a form on our website;

  • Subscribe to communications;

  • Communicate with us by email, telephone, WhatsApp or other approved communication channels;

  • Visit or use our website; or

  • Otherwise voluntarily provide information to RealTrade.

We may also automatically collect certain technical information when you use our website, including information such as IP address, browser type, device information and website activity.

4. INFORMATION COLLECTED WHEN YOU REGISTER

When registering for a RealTrade auction account, we may collect information necessary to establish and manage your account.

This may include:

  • Name and surname;

  • Email address;

  • Telephone number;

  • Physical address;

  • Delivery address;

  • Username;

  • Password;

  • Account verification information; and

  • Other information reasonably necessary to operate the auction platform.

Providing certain information may be necessary for us to create and maintain your account.

If you do not provide information that is reasonably necessary for registration, RealTrade may be unable to provide you with access to certain auction services.

5. INFORMATION RELATING TO BIDS AND AUCTIONS

Because RealTrade operates an auction platform, we may record information relating to your participation in auctions.

This may include:

  • Items on which you bid;

  • Bid amounts;

  • Date and time of bids;

  • Auction identifiers;

  • Winning bids;

  • Unsuccessful bids;

  • Auction purchase history;

  • Payment status;

  • Collection status;

  • Shipping information; and

  • Account status.

Auction-related information may be retained as part of RealTrade’s business and auction records and may be used to administer auctions, resolve disputes, prevent fraud and comply with legal obligations.

6. WHY WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

RealTrade may process your personal information for the following purposes:

6.1 Account Management

To:

  • Create your RealTrade account;

  • Verify your account;

  • Manage your account;

  • Provide access to auctions;

  • Maintain account security; and

  • Communicate with you.

6.2 Auction Administration

To:

  • Allow you to participate in auctions;

  • Record bids;

  • Determine winning bids;

  • Notify winning bidders;

  • Maintain auction records;

  • Manage auction disputes; and

  • Prevent manipulation or fraudulent bidding.

6.3 Payments

To:

  • Confirm payment;

  • Match payments to auction purchases;

  • Verify proof of payment;

  • Maintain financial records; and

  • Comply with applicable financial and legal obligations.

6.4 Shipping and Collection

To:

  • Arrange delivery;

  • Provide information to courier or delivery service providers where necessary;

  • Confirm delivery information;

  • Arrange collection; and

  • Verify the release of purchased goods.

6.5 Customer Support

To:

  • Respond to enquiries;

  • Investigate complaints;

  • Assist with account issues;

  • Resolve auction disputes; and

  • Provide after-sales support.

6.6 Fraud and Security

To:

  • Detect suspicious activity;

  • Prevent fraudulent transactions;

  • Prevent auction manipulation;

  • Protect our website;

  • Protect our customers; and

  • Investigate suspected unlawful activity.

6.7 Legal Compliance

We may process and retain information where required or permitted by applicable law, regulation, court order or other lawful authority.

7. LEGAL BASIS FOR PROCESSING

RealTrade will process personal information only where there is a lawful basis for doing so.

Depending on the circumstances, this may include:

  • Your consent;

  • Processing necessary to perform or enter into a contract with you;

  • Compliance with a legal obligation;

  • Protecting legitimate interests;

  • Protecting the legitimate interests of RealTrade or another person; or

  • Other lawful grounds recognised under POPIA.

POPIA requires personal information to be processed lawfully and reasonably and establishes minimum requirements for lawful processing.

8. SHARING PERSONAL INFORMATION

RealTrade does not sell or rent your personal information as a business practice.

We may disclose personal information where reasonably necessary to operate our business.

This may include sharing relevant information with:

  • Payment service providers;

  • Banks or financial institutions;

  • Courier and delivery companies;

  • Website hosting providers;

  • IT service providers;

  • Website and software providers;

  • Customer-support providers;

  • Professional advisers;

  • Legal advisers;

  • Auditors or accountants;

  • Government authorities; or

  • Law-enforcement authorities where legally required or reasonably necessary.

We will seek to ensure that third parties processing information on our behalf provide appropriate protection for personal information.

POPIA requires appropriate safeguards where personal information is processed by third parties on behalf of a responsible party.

9. PAYMENT INFORMATION

RealTrade may receive or process information relating to payments for auction purchases.

Where payment is made through a third-party payment provider, payment information may be processed directly by that provider according to its own privacy and security practices.

RealTrade will only request or retain payment information to the extent reasonably necessary for processing, verifying, recording or administering transactions and complying with legal requirements.

10. COOKIES

RealTrade may use cookies and similar technologies to improve the operation of our website.

Cookies may be used to:

  • Keep users logged in;

  • Remember website preferences;

  • Improve website functionality;

  • Understand website usage;

  • Improve website performance;

  • Maintain website security; and

  • Support analytics and marketing where applicable.

You may be able to control or disable cookies through your browser settings.

Disabling certain cookies may affect some website functionality.

11. WEBSITE ANALYTICS

RealTrade may use analytics tools to understand how visitors use our website.

This information may include:

  • Pages visited;

  • Time spent on pages;

  • Device type;

  • Browser type;

  • Approximate location information;

  • Referring websites;

  • Website interactions; and

  • Technical information.

Analytics information may be used to improve the website, user experience and security.

Where third-party analytics services are used, their processing may also be subject to their own privacy policies.

12. DIRECT MARKETING

RealTrade may use your contact information to send you information about our services, auctions, promotions or other RealTrade activities where permitted by applicable law.

Where required, RealTrade will obtain the appropriate consent before sending direct marketing communications.

You may request that RealTrade stop sending you direct marketing communications.

Unsubscribing from marketing communications does not necessarily prevent RealTrade from sending important service-related communications, such as:

  • Account notifications;

  • Winning-bid notifications;

  • Payment information;

  • Shipping information;

  • Collection information;

  • Security notices; or

  • Important changes to our services or policies.

POPIA contains specific provisions regulating direct marketing by unsolicited electronic communications.

13. INFORMATION SECURITY

RealTrade takes reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against:

  • Unauthorised access;

  • Loss;

  • Theft;

  • Destruction;

  • Misuse;

  • Unauthorised disclosure;

  • Unauthorised alteration; and

  • Other unlawful processing.

Security measures may include access controls, passwords, authentication, secure hosting, restricted administrative access and other reasonable security practices appropriate to the information being processed.

However, no internet-based system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

The Information Regulator identifies security safeguards as one of POPIA’s eight conditions for lawful processing.

14. DATA BREACHES

If RealTrade becomes aware of a security compromise involving personal information, we will assess the incident and take appropriate steps as required by applicable law.

Where POPIA requires notification of a security compromise, RealTrade will notify the Information Regulator and affected data subjects in accordance with the applicable legal requirements.

15. HOW LONG WE KEEP INFORMATION

RealTrade will not retain personal information for longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected or further processed, unless retention is required or permitted by law.

Certain information may need to be retained for longer periods because of:

  • Financial and accounting requirements;

  • Auction records;

  • Legal requirements;

  • Tax requirements;

  • Fraud prevention;

  • Dispute resolution;

  • Contractual obligations; or

  • Other legitimate business purposes.

When personal information is no longer required, RealTrade will take reasonable steps to securely delete, destroy or anonymise it.

POPIA addresses retention and requires personal information not to be retained in identifiable form for longer than necessary, subject to applicable exceptions.

16. YOUR RIGHTS UNDER POPIA

Subject to applicable legal limitations, you may have the right to:

  • Ask whether RealTrade holds personal information about you;

  • Request access to personal information we hold about you;

  • Request correction of inaccurate or outdated information;

  • Request deletion of information where legally applicable;

  • Object to certain processing;

  • Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;

  • Request information about how your personal information is being processed; and

  • Lodge a complaint regarding the processing of your personal information.

POPIA provides data subjects with rights and remedies concerning their personal information.

17. CORRECTING YOUR INFORMATION

You are responsible for ensuring that information associated with your RealTrade account is accurate and up to date.

If your information changes, you should update your account where the functionality is available or contact RealTrade.

You may request correction of personal information that is inaccurate, incomplete, misleading or outdated.

18. REQUESTING ACCESS TO YOUR INFORMATION

You may request access to personal information that RealTrade holds about you.

RealTrade may require reasonable verification of your identity before processing an access request.

Certain information may be withheld where permitted or required by law.

Requests should be sent to:

Email: [INSERT PRIVACY / INFORMATION OFFICER EMAIL]

19. CHILDREN’S INFORMATION

RealTrade’s online auctions are intended for users who are legally able to participate in binding transactions.

RealTrade does not knowingly collect personal information from children where such collection would be unlawful.

If you believe that a child has provided personal information to RealTrade unlawfully, please contact us so that we can investigate and take appropriate action.

POPIA provides additional protections concerning the processing of children’s personal information. Certain processing involving children’s information may also trigger additional regulatory requirements.

20. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

Some of our technology or service providers may process information outside South Africa.

Where personal information is transferred outside South Africa, RealTrade will take reasonable steps to ensure that the transfer complies with applicable POPIA requirements.

This may include ensuring that the recipient provides an adequate level of protection or that another lawful basis for the transfer applies.

21. THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, payment services, courier services, social-media platforms or other external services.

RealTrade is not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites.

Users should review the privacy policies of third-party services before providing personal information to them.

22. ACCOUNT SECURITY

You are responsible for keeping your RealTrade account credentials confidential.

You should:

  • Use a strong password;

  • Not share your password;

  • Log out when using a shared device;

  • Notify RealTrade if you believe your account has been compromised; and

  • Not allow another person to use your account.

RealTrade will not knowingly request your account password through unsolicited communications.

23. FRAUD PREVENTION

RealTrade may process personal information to detect and prevent:

  • Fraudulent registrations;

  • Fraudulent payments;

  • Auction manipulation;

  • Fake accounts;

  • Unauthorised account access;

  • Non-payment;

  • Identity misuse; and

  • Other unlawful or abusive activity.

Where necessary and legally permitted, relevant information may be shared with professional advisers, service providers, financial institutions, law-enforcement authorities or other appropriate parties.

24. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

RealTrade may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.

The latest version will be published on the RealTrade website.

Where a significant change affects how we process personal information, RealTrade may provide additional notice where required.

The “Last Updated” date at the top of this Privacy Policy indicates when the policy was most recently amended.

25. COMPLAINTS

If you believe RealTrade has processed your personal information unlawfully or has not properly handled a privacy request, you should first contact RealTrade so that we can investigate and attempt to resolve the matter.

You may also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa.

The Information Regulator is responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with POPIA.

Official Information Regulator contact details and services are available through its website.

26. CONTACT US

For privacy-related questions, requests or complaints, contact:

RealTrade Online Auction House

Privacy / Information Officer: [Jp Venter]
Email: [support@realtradeonline.co.za]
Telephone: [0681114841]
Physical Address: [1454 Dickenson Avenue, Waverley, Pretoria]

27. ACCEPTANCE

By using the RealTrade website, registering for a RealTrade account, participating in an auction or otherwise providing personal information to RealTrade, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

REALTRADE ONLINE AUCTION HOUSE

Your privacy matters. We collect and use personal information responsibly and in accordance with applicable South African law.

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