Terms and Conditions

Last updated 26 July 2026.

1. About These Terms

These Terms and Conditions govern access to and use of The Aviary Hub website, accounts, adverts, marketplace features, seller tools, contact features, reporting tools and related services.

By creating an account, posting an advert, contacting another user, purchasing a platform service, or otherwise using The Aviary Hub, you agree to these Terms and all policies linked from them. If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.

The Aviary Hub is operated by Alan Gillespie, trading as The Aviary Hub, of Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland, as a sole trader. Contact: theaviaryhubireland@gmail.com.

2. About The Aviary Hub

The Aviary Hub provides an online marketplace where users may advertise permitted birds, animals, pet-related goods, approved Pet Shop products, second-hand accessories, and responsible rehoming opportunities. Dogs and horses are not permitted categories on this Platform.

Unless expressly stated otherwise for a specific transaction, The Aviary Hub:

  • is not the seller or buyer of an advertised animal or item;
  • is not a party to the contract between users;
  • does not take ownership or possession of listed animals or goods;
  • does not inspect every animal, product, seller or listing;
  • does not guarantee identity, ownership, health, condition, legality, quality, value, delivery or payment;
  • does not provide veterinary, legal, tax or financial advice;
  • does not hold funds in escrow, offer checkout, commission, payout or split-payment services, or guarantee any transaction.

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old and legally capable of entering a binding agreement to create a seller account, post an advert, purchase a paid platform service, or enter a transaction through the Platform. A parent or guardian is responsible for any supervised use by a minor.

You must not use the Platform if your account has been suspended or banned, or if applicable law prevents you from taking part in the proposed transaction.

4. Accounts

You must provide accurate, current and complete information. You are responsible for keeping login details confidential, all activity carried out through your account, promptly updating your details, using a secure password, and notifying us if you suspect unauthorised access.

You must not create accounts using false identities, impersonate another person or business, create accounts to evade restrictions, sell or transfer an account, or allow a banned person to use your account.

We may require account, identity, trader, business, registration or listing information where necessary for safety, law, platform integrity or marketplace compliance. Registration requires explicit acceptance of these Terms and our Privacy Policy before an account can be created; this acceptance is recorded against your account.

5. Private Sellers and Traders

Sellers must accurately state whether they are acting as a private individual (our Casual Seller account type) or as a trader/business (our Registered Pet Seller, Registered Charity, or approved Pet Shop account types). A seller is responsible for choosing the correct status, and we may reclassify or restrict an account where evidence indicates a person is acting commercially while registered as private.

Traders must comply with all applicable consumer, product-safety, pricing, tax, distance-contract, information and cancellation obligations. Consumer rights may differ when buying from a private seller rather than a trader – see our Trader and Consumer Information page. We will not describe a private seller as a trader, or a trader as a private seller, where the available information indicates otherwise.

6. Listings

Every listing must be accurate, lawful and not misleading; use the correct category and subcategory; describe the animal or item honestly; use photographs that show the actual animal or item unless clearly stated otherwise; include all information required by law and platform rules; state the seller’s true status; avoid concealed fees or misleading pricing; avoid copying another person’s advert or images without permission; and avoid claims that cannot be substantiated.

The seller confirms that they own the item or animal, or are authorised to advertise it, and that the listing does not infringe any third-party right. We may edit category placement, request additional information, pause, reject, remove or restrict any listing.

7. Animal Listings

Anyone advertising an animal must comply with applicable animal welfare, identification, registration, sale, supply, transport, advertising and record-keeping rules – see our DAFM Information and Animal Welfare Policy pages.

Sellers must prioritise welfare over speed or price; disclose relevant age, sex, condition and care information; avoid advertising an animal that is unlawfully held, unlawfully bred, stolen, protected, illegally imported, illegally captured, or sick or injured in circumstances where transfer would be unlawful or harmful; use safe and species-appropriate housing and transport; provide required registration or identification information; not encourage impulse acquisition; and not advertise animals for fighting, baiting, cruelty, illegal breeding or other harmful purposes.

A listing may be marked as a rehoming / Free-to-Approved-Home advert rather than an ordinary sale. A reasonable rehoming contribution may still be requested where lawful and clearly stated, but rehoming must never be used to disguise a commercial sale or to avoid advert-fee or trader-disclosure rules – see our Responsible Rehoming Policy.

We may request documentation, registration details or further evidence, and may report serious concerns to relevant authorities, including DAFM.

8. Advert Declaration

By submitting an advert, the seller confirms that: all information is accurate and complete; they have the authority to advertise the animal or item; the advert complies with these Terms and linked policies; required licences, registrations and permissions are held; photographs are authorised; the animal or item is lawfully available; age, weaning, and welfare requirements for the species are met; required documentation is available; the listing is not a prohibited listing, a swap/trade arrangement, or postal/courier delivery of a live animal; and the seller will not use the Platform for fraud, evasion, or prohibited activity. This declaration is shown on the advert submission form and applies to every live-animal listing.

9. Prices and Platform Fees

Platform charges, packages and promotional offers are shown before purchase. All standard live-animal adverts are free for the first five weeks after the official public launch of The Aviary Hub. This free period begins only once Coming Soon is removed and public launch is confirmed by the owner – it does not begin during development, and no calendar dates are shown until the launch date is confirmed. Exact dates will be published on our Advertising Prices page once known.

We will not automatically start charging existing adverts or existing sellers once the free period ends, and we will give clear advance notice before any paid adverts begin. A standard advert-publication fee of €2.99 per applicable advert, along with any Pet Shop subscription, bundle, or optional featured/upgraded listing (“boost”), remains configured but inactive until clearly activated, displayed, and approved by the owner.

Verified charity accounts and approved VIP Friend accounts are, and will remain, exempt from any future advert fee at our discretion once such fees are introduced. Your asking price for an animal or item is always separate from, and unaffected by, any platform fee.

10. Payments

Stripe may be used to process eligible platform payments. Stripe is currently kept in test mode until public payment activation is approved by the owner – no real payment can currently occur on this Platform. We do not, and will not, store complete payment card details. A payment is not complete until confirmed by the payment processor and the Platform. Failed, cancelled, duplicate, reversed or suspicious payments may be investigated, cancelled or refunded as appropriate.

11. Who Your Contract Is With

It is important to understand that this Platform involves two different kinds of contract, and The Aviary Hub is only ever a party to one of them.

A. Contracts between users. These are contracts directly between a buyer and a seller, and The Aviary Hub is not a party to them. They include:

  • the sale or supply of an animal, bird or other pet arranged between a buyer and a seller;
  • a second-hand item transaction arranged between users;
  • a Pet Shop product transaction, where the approved Pet Shop is itself the trader selling the product.

B. Contracts with The Aviary Hub. These are contracts for a paid platform service, made directly between you and The Aviary Hub. They include (once and if such a service is activated and you purchase it):

  • an advert-publication fee, once the five-week free launch period ends;
  • a Pet Shop subscription;
  • a paid “bump” or re-promotion of a listing;
  • a Spotlight or other featured-placement service;
  • any other paid promotional or platform service we offer.

To be clear:

  • The Aviary Hub normally provides marketplace and advertising services – it publishes and promotes listings on behalf of users.
  • The Aviary Hub is not automatically the seller, breeder, supplier or owner of any animal or item advertised by a user.
  • Where you buy an advertised animal or item, your contract for that animal or item is normally with the relevant seller, not with The Aviary Hub.
  • A business seller or approved Pet Shop remains responsible for its own consumer-law obligations in respect of what it sells – see our Trader and Consumer Information and Pet Shop / Business Seller Terms pages.
  • A private, person-to-person sale may not carry the same statutory consumer protections as a sale from a trader to a consumer – see our Trader and Consumer Information page.
  • Nothing in these Terms removes any right that cannot legally be excluded.

Sections 12 to 14 below (Right of Withdrawal, Statutory Consumer Rights, and Complaints and Dispute Resolution) concern paid services supplied directly by The Aviary Hub – category B above. They do not apply to, and do not create, a right against The Aviary Hub for a private animal or item transaction arranged between users – category A above. A concern about a specific advert, seller, or animal should instead be raised using our Report an Advert or Report a Concern pages.

12. Right of Withdrawal (Cancelling a Paid Aviary Hub Service)

This section applies only to a paid service you buy directly from The Aviary Hub (category B in Section 11 above) – for example, once activated, an advert-publication fee, a Pet Shop subscription, a paid bump, or a Spotlight placement. It does not apply to a private animal, bird, pet or second-hand item transaction between users, which is not a contract with The Aviary Hub.

14-day cancellation period. Where you are an eligible consumer entering an online service contract with The Aviary Hub, you may generally have a right to cancel that contract within 14 days, without giving a reason, subject to applicable Irish and EU consumer law and the exceptions described below.

When the period begins. For a service contract of this kind, the 14-day period generally begins on the day the contract between you and The Aviary Hub is concluded (broadly, the point at which your order for the paid service is accepted).

How to cancel. To cancel, send a clear written statement of your decision to cancel to theaviaryhubireland@gmail.com before the 14-day period ends. Please include enough information for us to identify you and the service, such as your account email address, the order or transaction date, and the name of the service purchased (for example, “advert-publication fee” or “Pet Shop subscription”).

Model cancellation form. You may, but do not have to, use the following model form:

To The Aviary Hub, theaviaryhubireland@gmail.com:
I/We hereby give notice that I/We cancel my/our contract for the supply of the following service: [describe the service]
Ordered on: [date]
Name of consumer: [name]
Account email address: [email]
Signature (if this form is sent on paper):
Date:

Starting the service during the cancellation period. If you expressly ask for a paid service to begin before the 14-day period ends, and you acknowledge that doing so may affect your cancellation right as described below, we may begin supplying the service straight away.

Charges if you cancel after the service has started. Where you expressly asked for the service to begin during the cancellation period and then cancel:

  • you may be charged a proportionate amount for the part of the service already supplied up to the point you told us you were cancelling, calculated by reference to the total price agreed; and
  • if the service is fully performed within the 14-day period, you may lose the right to cancel altogether once performance is complete, but only where you gave your prior express consent to the service beginning within the cancellation period, and acknowledged that you would lose your cancellation right once the service was fully performed.

What this section does not do. This 14-day cancellation right is specific to a service contract directly between you and The Aviary Hub. It does not create a general 14-day platform refund promise for:

  • a private animal, bird or pet sale between users;
  • a private second-hand item sale between users;
  • any transaction where The Aviary Hub is not the seller or service provider;
  • a paid promotional service (such as a bump or Spotlight placement) that has already been fully delivered, unless the law requires otherwise in the circumstances.

See also our Advertising Prices page for practical information on refunds and cancellations for platform fees.

13. Statutory Consumer Rights

Where The Aviary Hub directly supplies a paid service to a consumer (category B in Section 11 above), that service will be provided in accordance with applicable Irish consumer law, and you retain all mandatory statutory remedies and rights that cannot legally be excluded. Nothing in these Terms limits any liability or remedy where doing so would be unlawful.

Where a business seller or an approved Pet Shop sells goods to a consumer through the marketplace (category A in Section 11 above), that trader – not automatically The Aviary Hub – is responsible for the legal conformity of those goods, and for any related remedies, guarantees and consumer information, in line with its own obligations as a trader.

A private seller must not be described, and must not describe themselves, as providing a trader’s statutory guarantee or warranty unless they are genuinely acting as a trader.

Live animals are not products with a generic commercial “warranty.” Where we refer to a seller’s responsibilities for an animal, we mean: giving an accurate description, disclosing known health and welfare information, meeting applicable welfare and identification obligations, and (where the seller is a trader) honouring the non-excludable statutory rights that apply to a sale of goods to a consumer. This is different from, and must not be confused with:

  • a legal guarantee or statutory remedy – a right that exists because the law says so, and cannot be removed by these Terms;
  • a voluntary commercial warranty – an extra promise a seller chooses to give, on top of the law, which is not required and is not offered by The Aviary Hub itself for animals or items advertised by users; and
  • our own platform moderation or buyer-support procedures – for example, reviewing a report or a listing – which are ways we try to keep the Platform safe and are not a guarantee, warranty, or legal remedy in themselves.

14. Complaints and Dispute Resolution

This section is about a complaint or dispute concerning a service supplied directly by The Aviary Hub (category B in Section 11 above) – for example, a paid advert-publication fee, a Pet Shop subscription, a bump, or a Spotlight placement. It is separate from a dispute about a private animal, bird, pet or item transaction between a buyer and a seller, which is not a service supplied by The Aviary Hub – for that, please use our Report an Advert or Report a Concern pages instead.

Contact us first. If you have a complaint about a service we have supplied to you directly, please contact us first at theaviaryhubireland@gmail.com, including your account email address, the order or transaction date, the service concerned, and a description of the issue. We aim to acknowledge and respond to your complaint as soon as reasonably possible.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Where a dispute concerns a service we have supplied directly to you as a consumer, and qualifies for Alternative Dispute Resolution under applicable Irish or EU consumer law, you may be entitled to refer it to an authorised ADR body. The Aviary Hub has not currently registered with a specific ADR scheme; if this changes, we will name the applicable body and how to contact it on this page. We do not currently offer access to an EU online dispute resolution platform.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is Ireland’s consumer protection regulator. It provides information and guidance to consumers and traders, but it does not itself mediate or adjudicate individual disputes between a consumer and a business.

Your right to go to court. Nothing in this section limits your right to pursue any available court action or other statutory remedy. Where a dispute concerns a qualifying consumer claim against a trader for goods or services bought for private use, and falls within the relevant financial and other limits, the Irish Small Claims Procedure (via courts.ie) may be available as an informal, lower-cost option – this is general information only, not legal advice, and we cannot confirm whether any particular dispute qualifies.

15. User-to-User Transactions

Users are responsible for assessing each other and the proposed transaction. Before agreeing, users should verify seller and item details, inspect animals and goods where appropriate, ask for required documents, avoid unsafe payment methods, retain messages, receipts and evidence, meet safely, and stop if pressured or suspicious – see our Buyer & Seller Safety and Scam Prevention pages.

We are not responsible for private arrangements, off-platform payments, transport, delivery, veterinary assessment, ownership disputes, or user promises.

16. Contact and Communication

Do not use the Platform to send threats, harassment, discrimination, spam, malicious files, phishing links, unlawful content, or unsolicited marketing. Do not request passwords, one-time codes, full card details, or unnecessary identity documents. We may retain and review relevant platform records where needed for safety, dispute handling, fraud prevention, legal compliance, or enforcement.

17. Reviews, Feedback and Content

Where reviews, comments or feedback are available, they must be honest, relevant, and based on genuine experience. You grant The Aviary Hub a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, display, reproduce, and technically process content you upload for operating and promoting the Platform. You retain ownership of your content.

18. Moderation

We may use automated rules, manual review, user reports, and other proportionate measures to identify prohibited or suspicious activity. We may request information, limit visibility, place content under review, reject or remove content, warn a user, suspend features, suspend or terminate an account, preserve evidence, and report serious concerns. A moderation decision does not guarantee that all unlawful or harmful activity will be detected. We keep an internal record of moderation actions and their reasons, and where your own listing is placed under review, we will tell you why.

If you believe a moderation decision was made in error, you may request reconsideration via our Contact page, explaining why – we will review the original decision and respond, though we cannot guarantee a specific outcome.

19. Reporting Illegal or Prohibited Content

Use our Report an Advert or Report a Concern pages to report suspected illegal, prohibited, fraudulent, unsafe, or welfare-related content. Reports should identify the content, explain the concern, provide supporting information where available, and confirm the report is made in good faith.

We may contact the reporter for clarification, inform the affected user where appropriate, preserve records, and notify relevant authorities where required or justified. Once we have reviewed a report, we will let the reporter know, where they have given us a way to contact them. Reporter details are not published. Knowingly false, abusive, or malicious reports are prohibited.

20. Suspension and Termination

We may restrict or terminate access where reasonably necessary because of a Terms breach, fraud or attempted fraud, safety or welfare concerns, illegal activity, repeated misleading listings, payment abuse, evasion of restrictions, security risk, authority request, or platform integrity. Where appropriate, we will provide a reason and an opportunity to clarify or appeal. Immediate action may be taken where delay could create harm.

21. Intellectual Property

The Aviary Hub name, branding, site design, original text, software, and platform materials are protected by applicable intellectual-property law. You may not copy, scrape, reproduce, sell, reverse engineer, or commercially exploit platform materials without permission, except where law allows.

22. Service Availability

The service may be changed, suspended, or unavailable because of maintenance, security, technical failure, third-party services, legal requirements, or events outside our reasonable control. We do not guarantee uninterrupted access or that every defect will be corrected immediately.

23. Liability

Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot legally be excluded. To the extent permitted by Irish law, The Aviary Hub is not liable for: user conduct; listing accuracy; animal health or behaviour; product condition; ownership disputes; loss caused by off-platform dealings; indirect or consequential loss; loss of profit, opportunity, or data; third-party websites or services; or events outside our reasonable control. Where The Aviary Hub supplies a paid digital platform service to a consumer, mandatory consumer rights continue to apply – see Section 13 (Statutory Consumer Rights) above.

24. Indemnity

A business user or seller agrees to be responsible for losses, claims, or costs arising from their unlawful listing, rights infringement, fraud, misrepresentation, or serious breach, to the extent permitted by law.

25. Privacy and Cookies

Personal data is handled under our Privacy Policy. Cookies and similar technologies are handled under our Cookie Policy and consent preferences.

26. Changes

We may update these Terms. Material changes will be communicated by reasonable means, including an updated “last updated” date at the top of this page. Continued use after the effective date means the updated Terms apply, except where law requires another form of agreement.

27. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Ireland, and the courts of Ireland shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from these Terms or use of the Platform. Mandatory consumer protections and rights to use competent courts or dispute-resolution bodies are not restricted. The Platform is intended for use within the Republic of Ireland only.

28. Contact

Contact: theaviaryhubireland@gmail.com.