• marketing@belizehotels.org
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Bidding Rules


All references to dollar values are in US Dollars.

Bidding starts at 12:00 am on November 27th. and ends at 12:00pm Central Standard Time on November 30th 2020. Starting and ending time is determined by the website clock. Bids will be accepted during this time period only. The Belize Hotel Association reserves the right, at its sole discretion and without notice, to extend, terminate or modify the online auction in the event of unforeseen technical difficulties that alter the proper functioning of the online auction.
Bids may be placed online 24 hours per day at the online auction website, between the online auction start date and time and the online auction end date and time.
The Belize Hotel Association will set a Starting Bid in US Dollars for each item. The Starting Bid is the minimum amount required to participate in the bidding for that item.
Each item has a Reserve Value. A Reserve Price is the minimum price that the Belize Hotel Association is willing to accept for an item. The Belize Hotel Association seller is only obligated to sell the vacation package once the bid amount meets or exceeds the Reserve Price. BHA can lower, but cannot raise, the Reserve Price.
Each item has a Reserve Status, which indicates one of two values:

  • Reserve not met. The amount of the highest Bid is less than the Reserve Value and the item will not sell.
  • Reserve met. The amount of the highest Bid is at least as much as the Reserve Value and the item will be sold to the highest bidder.

Choose your bid carefully, as you will be bound to pay up to that price if it is the final highest bid.
Bid must exceed the current leading bid on that package by at least US$100, which is the minimum increment for all packages.
Maximum Secret Bid. If you would like to participate in our Maximum Secret Bid option, BHA will place bids on your behalf at the lowest amount possible to make you the high bidder for the item. For example, if yours is the first bid on an item, the BHA will place a bid on your behalf equal to the Starting Bid for that item, or if your Maximum Secret Bid is greater than the Reserve Price of the item, the BHA will place a bid equal to the Reserve Price (and declare Reserve Met).
If another bidder places a Maximum Secret bid on an item for which you have placed a bid, and your Maximum Secret Bid on that item is higher than the other bidder's Maximum Secret Bid, the BHA will automatically place a bid on your behalf that is US$100 more than the current leading bid, to ensure you remain the leading bidder. BHA will continue bidding in this fashion until one of three things happens:
  • No other bids are higher than yours,
  • Your Maximum Secret Bid is reached, or
  • You are declared the highest bidder at the end of the online marketplace.

We encourage you to monitor the outcome and status of your bids on the online BHA Auction website and in the event that you are outbid, determine whether to continue bidding on an item.
if you do not participate in the Bid option, and you are outbid, you must submit a new Bid in order to continue your bidding on that package. You will receive an automatic email notification every time someone outbids you. If you submit a new Bid, that bid supersedes all your previous bids on that package. The amount of the new bid must be at least US$100 more than the current leading bid on the package.
BHA is not responsible for any bids that are lost, misdirected, incomplete, or for failed, partial or garbled computer transmissions, or for technical failures of any kind including, but not limited to, malfunctioning of any network, hardware or software, which may limit a bidder's ability to participate in the online auction. Proof of sending will not be proof of receipt by BHA.
During and after the auction event, you may receive emails confirming bids you place, notifying you that you have been outbid, or notifying you that you are a winner. These emails are for informational purposes only. Their transmission or omissions do not constitute any change in the status of your bid or those of other bidders. Only the record of bids in the online auction website constitutes the true bid record, as used by the BHA to determine the winning bidder at the close of the online auction.

Payment Rules

At the close of the online auction at 12:00pm Central Standard Time on November 30th 2020, BHA will determine the winning bidder (the buyer) for each vacation package and will contact that bidder by email and/or phone on November 16th, 2020 to notify him/her of his/her winning status and processed payment. As the buyer, you may not retract your bid and are obligated to make full payment of the total purchase price. If your credit card payment is declined, BHA reserves the right to disqualify that buyer and deem the next highest bidder on the item to be the buyer. As the new buyer, you may not retract your bid and are obligated to make full payment of the total purchase price. BHA reserves the right to continue the process of disqualification and notification of subsequent bidders.

We remind you that payments will be collected in Belize thus we recommend that you notify your card issuer prior to participation to avoid declined transactions due to security (fraud prevention) reasons.

Once full payment of the total purchase price has been made on the package, a confirmation email will be sent to you and a reply must be received within three business days with the name that will be placed on the Item Certificate which must be presented to the property when making your vacation reservation. Once the name for Item Certificate is provided, it cannot be changed. Unless specified in the item description, the certificate expires 12 months from the date of issue. All reservations must be made directly with the respective vacation property.

As stated in these rules, all sales are final. In the event that a package you won and paid for cannot be used within 12 months, no refund will be given. Any reservation made and subsequently cancelled is considered redeemed.


If your Maximum Secret Bid is exactly the same as another bidder's previously-placed Maximum Secret Bid on the same item, the bidder whose bid was placed first shall be declared the leading bidder.
In the event of a dispute between bidders or between bidders and the Bidder Trust Committee, or in the event of doubt or dispute as to the validity of any bid, the Bidder Trust Committee will have the discretion to determine the successful bidder. All decisions by the Bidder Trust Committee are final and binding
If the buyer fails to comply with these rules, including the obligation to make full payment of the total purchase price within the time limits and terms set out herein, in addition to other remedies available to the newspaper and the seller, you not only will remain obligated for your leading bid amount, you also will be responsible for an additional 20% of the leading bid amount, and you will be obligated to pay all attorney's fees and costs incurred to enforce payment of these amounts. The newspaper or the seller may also cancel the sale and re-offer the item or sell it privately and hold the buyer liable for any costs or losses associated therewith.

It is the seller's and the buyer's responsibility to ensure that all taxes that apply to the items or transactions are collected, reported and remitted to the appropriate tax authority. During collection of the winning bid payment, or upon receipt of the Winning Bidder Certificate, the vendor of the item will separately bill or invoice the sales/use tax due on the sale, upon shipment of the item, for delivery to those states the vendor is registered to collect such tax; and for those states the vendor is not registered to collect such sales/use tax (and as a result does not separately bill or invoice the buyer for such tax), it is the buyer's responsibility to remit the amount of sales/use tax due directly to the appropriate taxing jurisdiction.