Liability Notice: The following template was created by a lawyer (https://drschwenke.de) according to the typical requirements of an online shop. However, you should only use the template after careful review and adaptation to your specific business model. The following template therefore contains additional notes that you must observe and red passages that you must review and, if necessary, adapt. Please remove the notes after editing. If in doubt, seek legal advice. Copyright: You may use the template within the domain/website as long as your Marketpress license is valid for it. Distribution to third parties, including customers (e.g., as a developer), is not permitted.
Terms and Conditions with Customer Information
1. Scope of Application
2. Offers and Service Descriptions
3. Order Process and Contract Conclusion
4. Prices and Shipping Costs
5. Delivery, Product Availability
6. Payment Terms
7. Retention of Title
8. Customer Account
9. Warranty for Defects and Guarantee
10. Liability
11. Storage of Contract Text
12. Final Provisions
1. Scope of Application
1.1. The business relationship between [Insert: DemoShop e.K., Owner: Max Muster Demostraße 1, 12345 Demostadt] (hereinafter “Seller”) and the customer (hereinafter “Customer”) is governed exclusively by the following Terms and Conditions in the version valid at the time of the order.
1.2. A consumer within the meaning of these Terms and Conditions is any natural person who enters into a legal transaction for purposes that are predominantly outside their trade, business, or profession. An entrepreneur is a natural or legal person or a partnership with legal capacity who, when entering into a legal transaction, acts in the exercise of their trade, business, or self-employed professional activity.
1.3. Deviating terms and conditions of the Customer will not be recognized unless the Seller expressly agrees to their validity.
2. Offers and Service Descriptions
2.1 The presentation of products in the online shop does not constitute a legally binding offer, but rather an invitation to place an order. Service descriptions in catalogs and on the Seller’s websites do not have the character of an assurance or guarantee.
2.2 All offers are valid “while supplies last” unless otherwise stated for the products. Otherwise, errors are reserved.
Note: Please enter the applicable button labels below.
3. Order Process and Contract Conclusion
3.1. The Customer can select products from the Seller’s range without obligation and collect them in a so-called shopping cart using the Enter button label: [add to cart] button. Within the shopping cart, the product selection can be changed, e.g., deleted. The Customer can then proceed to complete the order process within the shopping cart using the Enter button label: [Proceed to checkout] button.
3.2. By clicking the Enter button label: [Place order with obligation to pay] button, the Customer submits a binding offer to purchase the goods in the shopping cart. Before submitting the order, the Customer can change and view the data at any time and use the browser’s “back” function to return to the shopping cart or cancel the order process entirely. Required information is marked with an asterisk (*).
3.3. The Seller then sends the Customer an automatic confirmation of receipt by email, in which the Customer’s order is listed again and which the Customer can print out using the “Print” function (order confirmation). The automatic confirmation of receipt merely documents that the Customer’s order has been received by the Seller and does not constitute acceptance of the offer. The purchase contract is only concluded when the Seller ships the ordered product to the Customer within 2 days, hands it over, or confirms the shipment to the Customer within 2 days with a second email, express order confirmation, or by sending the invoice. Acceptance can also be made by a payment request sent by the Seller to the Customer and at the latest by the completion of the payment process. In the case of multiple acceptance events, the earliest acceptance time is decisive. If the Seller does not accept the Customer’s offer within the acceptance period, no contract is concluded and the Customer is no longer bound by their offer.
3.4 In the case of Customers who are entrepreneurs, the aforementioned period for shipment, handover, or order confirmation is seven days instead of two.
3.5. If the Seller allows advance payment, the contract is concluded upon provision of the bank details and payment request. If payment has not been received by the Seller despite being due, even after a renewed request, by a date of 10 calendar days after sending the order confirmation, the Seller withdraws from the contract with the result that the order becomes invalid and the Seller has no obligation to deliver. The order is then settled without further consequences for the buyer and seller. A reservation of the item for advance payments is therefore made for a maximum of 10 calendar days.
4. Prices and Shipping Costs
4.1. All prices stated on the Seller’s website include the applicable statutory value-added tax.
4.2. In addition to the stated prices, the Seller charges shipping costs for delivery. The shipping costs are clearly communicated to the buyer on a separate information page and during the order process.
5. Delivery, Product Availability
5.1. If advance payment is agreed, delivery takes place after receipt of the invoice amount.
5.2. If delivery of the goods fails due to the buyer’s fault despite three delivery attempts, the Seller may withdraw from the contract. Any payments made will be refunded to the Customer immediately.
5.3. If the ordered product is not available because the Seller is not supplied with this product by their supplier through no fault of their own, the Seller may withdraw from the contract. In this case, the Seller will inform the Customer immediately and, if applicable, suggest delivery of a comparable product. If no comparable product is available or the Customer does not wish delivery of a comparable product, the Seller will immediately refund any consideration already provided by the Customer.
5.4. Customers are informed about delivery times and delivery restrictions (e.g., restriction of deliveries to certain countries) on a separate information page or within the respective product description.
5.5 In the case of Customers who are entrepreneurs, the risk of accidental loss and accidental deterioration of the goods passes to the buyer as soon as the Seller has delivered the goods to the carrier, freight carrier, or other person or institution designated to carry out the shipment; the stated delivery dates and periods are not fixed dates, subject to other assurances and agreements.
5.6 The Seller is not responsible to Customers who are entrepreneurs for delivery and performance delays due to force majeure and due to unforeseeable events that make delivery significantly more difficult or impossible for the Seller, even in the case of bindingly agreed periods and dates. In this case, the Seller is entitled to postpone delivery or performance by the duration of the hindrance plus a reasonable start-up period. The right to postpone the period also applies to Customers who are entrepreneurs in cases of unforeseeable events that affect the operation of a pre-supplier and are not the responsibility of either the pre-supplier or the Seller. During the duration of this hindrance, the Customer is also released from their contractual obligations, in particular payment. If the delay is unreasonable for the Customer, they may withdraw from the contract by written declaration after setting a reasonable period or by mutual consultation with the Seller.
6. Payment Terms
6.1. The Customer can choose from the available payment methods during and before completing the order process. Customers are informed about the available payment methods on a separate information page.
6.2. If payment by invoice is possible, payment must be made within 30 days of receipt of the goods and invoice. For all other payment methods, payment must be made in advance without deduction.
6.3. If third-party providers are commissioned with payment processing, e.g., PayPal, their Terms and Conditions apply.
6.4. If the due date for payment is determined by the calendar, the Customer is already in default by missing the deadline. In this case, the Customer must pay the statutory default interest.
6.5. The Customer’s obligation to pay default interest does not exclude the Seller’s assertion of further default damages.
6.6. The Customer only has a right to offset if their counterclaims have been legally established or recognized by the Seller. The Customer may only exercise a right of retention insofar as the claims result from the same contractual relationship.
7. Retention of Title
The delivered goods remain the property of the Seller until full payment.
For Customers who are entrepreneurs, the following additionally applies: The Seller reserves ownership of the goods until all claims from an ongoing business relationship have been fully settled; The buyer is obliged to treat the purchased item with care as long as ownership has not yet passed to them. In particular, they are obliged to insure it adequately at replacement value against theft, fire, and water damage at their own expense, if appropriate or customary in the industry. If maintenance and inspection work must be carried out, the buyer must carry it out at their own expense in a timely manner. Processing or transformation of the goods subject to retention of title by the Customer is always carried out for the Seller. If the goods subject to retention of title are processed with other items not belonging to the Seller, the Seller acquires co-ownership of the new item in the ratio of the value of the goods subject to retention of title to the other processed items at the time of processing. For the item resulting from processing, the same applies as for the goods subject to retention of title. The Customer also assigns the claim to secure the claims against them that arise from the connection of the goods subject to retention of title with a property against a third party. The Customer must immediately notify the Seller of third-party access to the goods owned or co-owned by the Seller. The Customer bears the costs arising from such interventions for a third-party opposition action or costs for an out-of-court release. The Customer is entitled to resell the goods subject to retention of title in the ordinary course of business. The Customer hereby assigns to the Seller in full as security all claims arising from resale or other legal grounds regarding the goods subject to retention of title (including all balance claims from current accounts). The Seller authorizes the Customer, subject to revocation, to collect the claims assigned to the Seller for their account and in their own name. This collection authorization can be revoked if the Customer does not properly fulfill their payment obligations. The Seller undertakes to release the securities to which the Seller is entitled at the Customer’s request if their total sales value exceeds the sum of all outstanding claims of the Seller from the business relationship by more than 10% (in the case of a realization risk by more than 50%). The selection of the securities to be released is at the Seller’s discretion. Upon settlement of all claims of the Seller from delivery transactions, ownership of the goods subject to retention of title and the assigned claims pass to the buyer. The selection of the securities to be released is at the Seller’s discretion.
8. Customer Account
8.1 The Seller provides the Customer with a customer account. Within the customer account, the Customer is provided with information about orders and their customer data stored with the Seller. The information stored in the customer account is not public.
8.2. Choose alternative: To place an order, Customers must create a customer account. Guest checkout is not possible. / Customers can also place an order as a guest without having to create a customer account.
8.3. Customers are obliged to provide truthful information in the customer account and to adapt the information to changes in actual circumstances where necessary (e.g., the changed email address in the event of a change or the changed postal address before an order). Customers are responsible for any disadvantages arising from incorrect information.
8.4. The customer account may only be used in accordance with applicable legal provisions, in particular the provisions for the protection of third-party rights, and in accordance with the Seller’s Terms and Conditions using the access masks and other technical access options provided by the Seller. Any other type of use, in particular by external software such as bots or crawlers, is prohibited.
8.5. Insofar as Customers store, provide, or otherwise post content or information (hereinafter referred to as “Content”) within the customer account, the Customers are responsible for this information. The Seller does not adopt the Customers’ content as their own. However, the Seller reserves the right to take appropriate measures depending on the degree of risk of legal infringement posed by the content, in particular the risk to third parties. The measures, which take into account the criteria of necessity, appropriateness, care, objectivity, and reasonableness and the interests of all parties involved, in particular the fundamental rights of the Customers, may include the (partial) deletion of content, requests for action and declarations, warnings and admonitions, and bans.
8.6. Customers can cancel the customer account at any time. The Seller can cancel the customer account at any time with a reasonable notice period, which is usually two weeks. The cancellation must be reasonable for the Customer. The Seller reserves the right to cancel for extraordinary reasons.
8.7. From the time of cancellation, the customer account and the information stored in the customer account are no longer available to the Customer. It is the Customer’s responsibility to back up their data when canceling the customer account.
9. Warranty for Defects and Guarantee
9.1. The warranty (liability for defects) is determined by statutory provisions, subject to the following regulations.
9.2. A guarantee for the goods delivered by the Seller only exists if it has been expressly given. Customers are informed about the guarantee conditions before initiating the order process.
9.3 If the Customer is an entrepreneur, they must examine the goods immediately, notwithstanding statutory inspection obligations, and notify the supplier of recognizable defects immediately, at the latest within two weeks of delivery, in writing, and of non-recognizable defects immediately, at the latest within two weeks of discovery. Customary deviations in quality, weight, size, thickness, width, finish, pattern, and color that are permissible according to quality standards or minor are not defects.
9.4 If the Customer is an entrepreneur, the choice between repair or replacement delivery of defective goods is made by the Seller.
9.5 Defects become time-barred, notwithstanding the liability provisions of these Terms and Conditions, for Customers who are entrepreneurs, generally one year after transfer of risk, unless mandatory longer periods are prescribed by law, in particular in the case of special provisions for the entrepreneur’s recourse. For used goods, the warranty is excluded for Customers who are entrepreneurs.
9.6 If the Customer, who is an entrepreneur, has installed the defective item within the meaning of § 439 para. 3 BGB into another item or attached it to another item in accordance with its type and intended use, the Seller, subject to an express agreement and notwithstanding other warranty obligations, is not obliged within the scope of supplementary performance to reimburse the Customer for the necessary expenses for removing the defective item and installing or attaching the repaired or delivered defect-free item. Accordingly, the Seller is also not obliged to reimburse expenses for removing the defective item and installing or attaching the repaired or delivered defect-free item within the scope of recourse by the Customer within the supply chain (i.e., between the Customer and their customers).
10. Liability
10.1. For the Seller’s liability for damages, the following liability exclusions and limitations apply, notwithstanding the other statutory requirements for claims.
10.2. The Seller is liable without limitation insofar as the cause of damage is based on intent or gross negligence.
10.3. Furthermore, the Seller is liable for the slightly negligent breach of essential obligations, the breach of which endangers the achievement of the purpose of the contract, or for the breach of obligations whose fulfillment makes the proper execution of the contract possible in the first place and on whose compliance the Customer regularly relies. In this case, however, the Seller is only liable for the foreseeable, contract-typical damage. The Seller is not liable for the slightly negligent breach of obligations other than those mentioned in the preceding sentences.
10.4. The above limitations of liability do not apply in the event of injury to life, body, and health, for a defect after assumption of a guarantee for the quality of the product, and in the case of fraudulently concealed defects. Liability under the Product Liability Act remains unaffected.
10.5. Insofar as the Seller’s liability is excluded or limited, this also applies to the personal liability of employees, representatives, and vicarious agents.
11. Storage of Contract Text
11.1. The Customer can print out the contract text before submitting the order to the Seller by using the print function of their browser in the last step of the order.
11.2. The Seller also sends the Customer an order confirmation with all order data to the email address provided by them. With the order confirmation, but at the latest upon delivery of the goods, the Customer also receives a copy of the Terms and Conditions together with the cancellation policy and information on shipping costs as well as delivery and payment conditions. If you have registered in our shop, you can view your placed orders in your profile area. Beyond that, we store the contract text but do not make it accessible on the internet.
11.3 Customers who are entrepreneurs can receive the contract documents by email, in writing, or by reference to an online source.
12. Final Provisions
12.1. If the buyer is an entrepreneur, subject to other agreements or mandatory statutory provisions, the place of performance is the Seller’s registered office, while the place of jurisdiction is located at the Seller’s registered office if the Customer is a merchant, a legal entity under public law, or a special fund under public law, or if the buyer does not have a general place of jurisdiction in the Seller’s country of residence. The Seller’s right to choose another permissible place of jurisdiction remains reserved.
12.2 In the case of entrepreneurs, the law of the Please select: [Federal Republic of Germany / Republic of Austria] applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, unless mandatory statutory provisions preclude this.
12.3. The contract language is German.
12.4. We are not willing and not obliged to participate in a dispute resolution procedure before a consumer arbitration board.
Note: If you are obliged to participate in a dispute resolution procedure before a consumer arbitration board or should participate in one, change the information accordingly (“We are willing to settle disputes with consumers before the following consumer dispute resolution body” or “We are obliged to settle disputes with consumers before the following consumer arbitration board”) and provide the responsible arbitration board including address.