Disclaimer: The following template was created by a lawyer (https://drschwenke.de) in accordance with the typical requirements associated with an online shop. You should nevertheless only apply the template further to careful scrutiny and adaptation to your specific business model. In order to assist you in doing so, the following template contains additional notes that must be adhered to as well as red passages that require special attention and, where applicable, adaptation. Please delete the notes once you have worked your way through the template. Take legal advice if you are unsure about particular elements. Copyright: You are only permitted to use the template within the respective domain/website if the latter is covered by your Marketpress license. The passing on of this template to third parties (including customers, e.g. as developers) is prohibited.
General Terms and Conditions (including information for customers)
1. Applicability
2. Offers, service descriptions
3. Order process, conclusion of the contract4. Prices, delivery costs
5. Delivery, product availability
6. Terms of payment7. Retention of title8. Product warranty, guarantee9. Liability
10. Storage of the contract itself
11. Closing remarks
1. Applicability
1.1. The business relationship between [please insert: DemoShop Ltd, owner: Tom Template, 1 Template Street, Post Code Template City] (hereinafter referred to as the “vendor”) and the customer (hereinafter referred to as the “customer”) is exclusively governed by the following General Terms and Conditions in the version valid at the time of order placement.
1.2. Please address any questions or complaints to our customer service department, who are available weekdays from [9:00 a.m.] to [6:00 p.m.] on [+44123456789]. You can also send an email to [name @ domain.com].
1.3. These General Terms and Conditions deem a consumer to be any natural person who completes a legal transaction for purposes that are for the most part not attributable to any professional activity of either a commercial or self-employed nature they engage in (as defined in § 13 BGB).
1.4. Neither the customer’s own terms and conditions nor any other terms and conditions that deviate from these General Terms and Conditions will be honoured unless the vendor expressly consents to the validity thereof.
2. Offers, service descriptions
The display of products in the online shop is to be equated with an invitation to place an order and not a legally binding offer. Service descriptions included in catalogues or on the vendor’s websites are not to be equated with either a promise or a guarantee.
All offers are valid “as long as stocks last” unless otherwise stated in the respective product description. Errors excepted.
NB: Please enter the correct button labels in the following section.
3. Order process, conclusion of the contract
3.1. The customer is free to select the products of their choice from the vendor’s product range and gather them together in a so-called “basket” using the [Add to basket] button. The customer can then proceed to their basket and amend their selection as required, for example by removing a product from the basket. Once they are happy with their selection the customer can proceed to the final step in the order process using the [Proceed to checkout] button.
3.2. When the customer clicks the [Place order (payment will be taken)] button they make a binding request to buy the goods currently in their basket. Prior to order placement the customer is able to view and amend their order data at any time and can also use their browser’s “Back” function to return to their basket or abort the order process. Essential entries are marked with an asterisk (*).
3.3. The vendor responds by emailing the customer an automatic confirmation of receipt; the email recapitulates the order placed by the customer and can be printed using the “Print” function (order confirmation). The automatic confirmation of receipt only documents the receipt of the customer’s order by the vendor and is not to be equated with order acceptance. A binding purchase contract is only deemed to be concluded if the vendor dispatches or hands over the product ordered to the customer within 2 days or confirms the dispatch of the product ordered within 2 days by sending the customer a second email, order confirmation or an invoice.
3.4. If the vendor offers an advance payment option the contract is deemed to be concluded at such time as the customer provides their bank details and fulfils the payment request. If, despite being due and despite the customer being sent a reminder, payment is not received by the vendor within 10 calendar days of the sending of the order confirmation, the vendor is entitled to withdraw from the contract, thus rendering the order invalid and in turn freeing the vendor from their obligation to supply. At this point the order is considered to have been brought to a conclusion with no further consequences for either the customer or the vendor. Products for which advance payment is offered can therefore be reserved for a maximum of 10 calendar days.
4. Prices, delivery costs
4.1. All prices indicated on the vendor’s website are inclusive of statutory value-added tax (VAT) at the valid rate.
4.2. The vendor charges delivery costs in addition to the prices indicated. Delivery costs are clearly explained to the customer on a separate webpage and during the order process itself.
5. Delivery, product availability
5.1. If the customer selects advance payment delivery will occur further to receipt of the invoice amount.
5.2. The vendor is entitled to withdraw from the contract if, at the fault of the customer, delivery of the goods fails despite three delivery attempts. Any payments already made by the customer will be refunded without delay.
5.3. The vendor is entitled to withdraw from the contract if the product ordered is not available because the vendor, through no fault of their own, has not been supplied with the product in question by their supplier. If this situation arises the vendor will inform the customer without delay and, where necessary, offer to supply them with a comparable product. If there are no comparable products available or the customer does not wish to be supplied with a comparable product the vendor will refund any payment already received to the customer without delay.5.4. Customers are notified of delivery periods and restrictions on delivery (e.g. delivery to specific countries to the exclusion of others) on a separate webpage or in the respective product description.
6. Terms of payment
6.1. The customer is free to select one of the available payment types during the order process; their selection is made prior to completion of the order process. Customers are informed about available payment types on a separate webpage.6.2. If payment on account is available payment must be made within 30 days of receipt of the goods and the corresponding invoice. Full payment must be made in advance in the case of all other payment types.6.3. If third-party providers are commissioned to process the payment (e.g. PayPal) the general terms and conditions operated by those providers apply.6.4. If the due date by which payment must be made is defined as a calendar date the customer will be deemed to be in arrears as soon as they fail to comply with that due date and be liable for statutory interest on arrears.6.5. The customer’s obligation to pay interest on arrears does not preclude the enforcement of other claims for delay-related damages by the vendor.
6.6. The customer only has the right to set-off if their counterclaims are legally valid or acknowledged by the vendor. The customer can only enforce a right of retention if their claims result from the same contractual relationship as the vendor’s claims.
7. Retention of titleThe vendor retains the title of the goods supplied until such time as full payment has been made.8. Product warranty and guarantee
8.1. The vendor offers a warranty as required under statutory regulations.8.2. The goods supplied by the vendor are only subject to a guarantee if the customer was expressly informed of such a guarantee and the terms thereof prior to the commencement of the order process.9. Liability
9.1. The following exclusions and restrictions of liability in connection with the vendor’s liability for compensation apply irrespective of other statutory eligibility criteria.
9.2. The vendor is liable without restriction if damage was caused with wilful intent or gross negligence.
9.3. The vendor is also liable for minor negligence leading to the violation of fundamental obligations whose violation jeopardises the fulfilment of the contractual purpose and the violation of obligations whose fulfilment is a prerequisite for the proper performance of the contract and can normally be relied upon by the customer. In this case the vendor’s liability is nevertheless restricted to foreseeable damage typical to the type of contract involved. The vendor is not liable for minor negligence leading to the violation of obligations other than those mentioned in the previous sentences.9.4. The above restrictions of liability do not apply to damage to life, limb or health, defects identified after the acceptance of a guarantee regarding the nature of the product or defects kept secret with wilful deceit. Liability under the terms of the German Act on Liability for Defective Products remains unaffected.
9.5. Insofar as the vendor’s liability is excluded or restricted, such exclusion and/or restriction also applies to the personal liability of employees, representatives and agents.
10. Storage of the contract itself
10.1. The customer is able to print out the contract with the aid of their browser’s print function during the last step of the order process (i.e. prior to placing their order with the vendor).
10.2. The vendor will also send the customer an order confirmation containing all order data to the email address provided by the customer. In addition, the customer will receive a copy of the vendor’s general terms and conditions (including the vendor’s cancellation policy and information on shipping costs and the vendor’s terms of shipping and payment) along with the order confirmation or upon delivery of the goods at the latest. If you have registered with our shop you can view the orders you have placed in your profile. We also store the contract in your profile but do not make it accessible on the internet.
NB: Please note in the following that the link to http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/ must be clickable
11. Closing remarks
11.1. The legal domicile and place of fulfilment is the vendor’s headquarters insofar as the customer is a businessperson, a legal entity under public law or a special asset under public law.
11.2. The language of the contract is German.
11.3. European Commission consumer platform for Online Dispute Resolution (ODR): http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/. We are neither willing nor obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings in front of a consumer arbitration board.
