Privacy Policy

Bidvana is an online store for retail returns and overstock. We buy inventory in bulk from major retailers, open and inspect it by hand in Charlotte, NC, photograph and score every unit, then sell it one item at a time.

This policy is issued by Bidvana, LLC, operating as Bidvana (“Bidvana”, “we”, “us”). It covers our online store, your account and checkout, together the “Services”.

We collect what a store needs to sell you something and get it to you:

• Account information. Accounts are handled by Clerk, our authentication provider. Depending on how you sign in, that means your email address, your name, a phone number, or the account identifier from a third-party sign-in service such as Google. If you use a password, Clerk holds it and we never see it.
• Order and shipping details. What you bought, the price you paid, the shipping charge, the email address we send order messages to, and a phone number so the carrier or our driver can reach you about a delivery.
• Shipping addresses. The address you give us at checkout, and the addresses you save to your account so you do not have to type them again. When you enter an address we send it to an address verification service, which standardizes it against postal records and returns its map coordinates. We keep the standardized address and those coordinates with it, because the delivery area and the way an order travels are decided from them. A ZIP code or address you enter while browsing, to see shipping estimates before checkout, is kept in your browser rather than on your account.
• Payment information. Payments are processed by Stripe, which receives your card or payment account details directly. We never store full payment card numbers. What we keep is what is needed to recognize a card or a transaction: the card brand, the last four digits, the expiry, and the Stripe reference. Cards you save for next time are stored by Stripe, not by us.
• Store credit. A ledger of credit added to your account, held for a checkout in progress, spent on an order, or refunded, with the order each entry relates to.
• Saved items and offers. The items you save, and the offers you make: the amount, our response and the deadlines on each side.
• Order history. Your past orders, their status, refunds and returns, so you can see them in your account and so we can service them.
• Inspection requests. When you ask us to inspect a coming-soon item, or to inspect an item you are buying before it ships, we keep the request, anything you asked us to check, whether you asked to be emailed when the inspection is complete, and the report we send you.
• Customer support messages. Emails and messages you send us, and our replies, so we have the history of your issue.
• Usage and analytics data. How the store is used: which product pages are viewed and what people search for, and, where we run an analytics tool, how a visit moves through browsing, saving items and checking out. See Product analytics for what we record and what we do with it.
• Technical and log data. Our servers automatically record standard information such as IP address, browser and device type, pages requested and timestamps. This is how we keep the store up, debug problems and detect abuse.

We do not intentionally collect sensitive categories of personal information, such as health, biometric or precise geolocation data, and we ask that you not send them to us.

We use the information above to:

• Fulfil your order: take payment, hold the unit while you check out, pack it, and ship it to you by carrier or on our own route.
• Run your account: sign you in, show your order history and saved addresses, keep your saved items, offers and inspection requests, and maintain your store credit balance.
• Send the messages a store owes you: order confirmations, shipping and delivery updates, responses to your offers, inspection reports and the inspection-complete notices you asked for, refund and store credit notices, and changes to our terms or this policy.
• Answer your questions and handle returns, refunds and price adjustments.
• Understand how the store is used, so we can fix what is confusing and list more of the inventory people are looking for. See Product analytics.
• Operate and secure the Services, including preventing fraud, abuse and unauthorized access.
• Comply with our legal obligations, including tax and accounting record-keeping, and enforce our Terms of Service.

The store keeps its own small log of demand: when a product page is viewed and when a search runs, with the search words and how many results came back. The only identifier on those rows is a one-way hash of the cart cookie, used to count one person’s repeat views of the same unit within an hour once. No IP address, browser details or account id is stored with them. That log is what orders the shop’s Recommended sort and tells us which searches find nothing.

We may also use product analytics tools, such as Google Analytics or PostHog, to understand how people use the store: which pages and products get viewed, what people search for, and how a visit moves through browsing, saving items and checking out. We read that to improve the experience and to show more of the inventory people are actually looking for.

Those tools may set cookies or use similar identifiers, such as a browser or device id, to recognize a returning visit. When you are signed in, that activity may be associated with your account, so that one person on a phone and a laptop is not counted as two.

Search itself may also use an AI provider: the words you type into the search box can be sent to Voyage AI, which turns them into a numeric representation we match against our listings by meaning. The search text alone is sent, with nothing that identifies you.

This is used for our own product and service improvement. We do not sell your information, and we do not use analytics for third-party advertising or cross-site marketing.

The providers process this information on our behalf and under their own terms. We do not switch on their advertising or data-sharing features, and there are no ad networks or data brokers on the store.

Limiting it. Your browser can block or delete cookies, and blocking them limits what analytics can record. Where a tool publishes its own opt-out, such as the Google Analytics browser opt-out add-on, using it works here too, and we honour browser privacy signals where the tool supports them. Opting out does not change your price, your access to the store, or how we handle your order.

We keep analytics data for as long as we need it for that purpose, and then aggregate or delete it.

Three commitments, stated plainly:

• We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, as those terms are used under California law.
• We do not run third-party advertising on the store. No ad networks, no advertising pixels, no data brokers. The analytics described above are for our own product decisions.
• We do not rent or trade our email lists. The address on your account is used for Bidvana messages only.

We share personal information only with service providers who need it to help us run the store, and only for that purpose. Each is bound by its own contractual and legal obligations to protect the information and to use it on our instructions. The categories are:

• Authentication. Clerk handles sign-up, sign-in and account security.
• Payments. Stripe authorizes and settles transactions, stores saved cards and handles disputes.
• Cloud hosting and storage. Our application, database and photos run on Amazon Web Services in the United States.
• Email delivery. Order, offer, inspection and support email is sent through Amazon Simple Email Service.
• Address verification. Smarty receives the address you enter so it can be standardized against postal records and located on a map.
• Search. Voyage AI receives the text of a search to match it by meaning, as described above. Nothing else is sent with it.
• Analytics. The product analytics tools described above, when we run one, on our behalf.
• Shipping and delivery. Carriers receive the name, address and contact details needed to deliver your order. Our own driver sees the same.

We may also disclose information if we are legally required to do so, including in response to a valid subpoena, court order or other lawful request, or where we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property or safety of Bidvana, our customers or the public. If Bidvana is ever involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, personal information may transfer as part of that transaction, and this policy continues to apply to it until you are notified otherwise.

The store sets two kinds of cookie:

• Essential cookies. Your sign-in session, set by Clerk; the cart cookie (bv_cart) that lets a cart you filled before signing in still be yours afterwards; the checkout cookie (bv_checkout) that proves the reservation you are paying for is yours; and, for orders on our own delivery route, a cookie (bv_drop) that ties your browser to that delivery stop. Without these you cannot sign in or complete an order, so there is nothing meaningful to opt out of. The cart cookie holds a random value, not your name: what it points at is a list of items, and we store only a one-way hash of the value itself. We do not collect or store a guest delivery address or ZIP code in a browsing cookie.
• Analytics cookies. Set by the product analytics tools described in Product analytics, to recognize a returning visit and measure how the store is used. They are not used for advertising, and you can block them without losing access to anything.

Your browser can block or delete any of them. If you block the essential ones, you will not be able to sign in or check out.

We keep personal information for as long as we need it for the purpose we collected it, and then for as long as the law requires:

• Account information: while your account is open, and for a short period afterwards in case you come back or a dispute arises.
• Order, payment, store credit and tax records: for the period required by tax and accounting law, which is typically several years. These records are why closing an account does not delete everything.
• Saved items, offers and inspection requests: until you remove or withdraw them, or close your account.
• Support correspondence and inspection requests: while they are useful for servicing your account and resolving disputes.
• Analytics data: as long as needed for the purpose, then aggregated or deleted.
• Server logs: for a limited period for security and debugging, then discarded or aggregated.

Traffic to and from the store is encrypted in transit. Data is stored on managed cloud infrastructure with access limited to the people at Bidvana who need it to do their jobs. Sign-in credentials are held by Clerk and card numbers by Stripe, rather than by us.

No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If you believe your account has been compromised, email us at support@bidvana.com and we will act on it.

Wherever you live, you can ask us to do the following, and we will honour the request to the extent the law allows:

• Access: get a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct: fix information that is wrong or out of date. Your name, email, addresses and saved cards can also be changed from your account.
• Delete: close your account and delete your personal information, except records we must keep, such as completed order and tax records.
• Opt out of optional email: the inspection-complete notice is sent only when you tick the box on a request, and you can withdraw the request from your saved items at any time. We do not send marketing email today; if we ever do, every message will carry an unsubscribe link. Order and service messages are not marketing and continue while you have an open order.
• Limit analytics: block cookies or use the opt-outs described in Product analytics.

To make a request, email support@bidvana.com from the address on your account, or tell us enough for us to verify you. We do not charge for this and we will not treat you differently for asking.

California residents

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the CPRA, you have the right to know what personal information we collect, use and disclose; to request deletion or correction; to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information; to limit the use of sensitive personal information; and not to be discriminated against for exercising those rights. As stated above, we do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we do not use sensitive personal information for purposes that require an opt-out. You may use an authorized agent to submit a request; we will ask for proof of their authority. Send requests to support@bidvana.com.

Other states and jurisdictions

Residents of other states with comprehensive privacy laws have comparable rights of access, correction, deletion and portability. Use the same address and we will apply whichever protections your law provides.

The Services are not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal information, email support@bidvana.com and we will delete it. Accounts and purchases require you to meet the age requirements in our Terms of Service.

We may update this policy as the store changes: new features, new service providers, new legal requirements. When we do, we revise the effective date at the top of this page. If the change is significant, we will give notice through the Services or by email to account holders. Continuing to use the Services after an update means you accept the revised policy.

Questions about privacy, or a request about your data? Email support@bidvana.com. A person on our team reads it. Expect a reply within one business day.

Bidvana, LLC
Charlotte, NC
support@bidvana.com