Disclaimer: The sample below has been prepared by a lawyer(https://drschwenke.de) according to the typical requirements of an online store. However, you should use the template only after careful review and adaptation to your specific business model. The following sample therefore contains additional notes that you must observe and red passages that you must particularly check and adjust if necessary. Please remove the notes after editing. If in doubt, seek legal advice. Copyright: You may use the design within the domain/website as long as it is also covered by your Marketpress license. Passing on to third parties, including customers (e.g. as developers) is not permitted.
General terms and conditions with customer information
1. scope
2. offers and service descriptions
3. order process and conclusion of contract
4. prices and shipping costs
5. delivery, availability of goods
6. payment modalities
7. retention of title
8. customer account
9 Warranty for material defects and guarantee
10. liability
11. storage of the contract text
12. final provisions
1. scope
1.1. For the business relationship between [insert: DemoShop e.K., owner: Max Muster Demostraße 1, 12345 Demostadt] (hereinafter “Seller”) and the customer (hereinafter “Customer”), the following General Terms and Conditions apply exclusively in the version valid at the time of the order.
1.2. A consumer within the meaning of these General Terms and Conditions is any natural person who enters into a legal transaction for a purpose that can predominantly be attributed neither to his commercial nor to his independent professional activity. An entrepreneur is a natural or legal person or a partnership with legal capacity who, when concluding a legal transaction, acts in the exercise of his commercial or independent professional activity.
1.3. Deviating terms and conditions of the customer shall not be recognized unless the seller expressly agrees to their validity.
2. offers and service descriptions
2.1 The presentation of the products in the online store does not constitute a legally binding offer, but an invitation to place an order. Descriptions of services in catalogs as well as on the websites of the seller do not have the character of an assurance or guarantee.
2.2 All offers are valid “while stocks last”, unless otherwise stated with the products. Apart from that, errors are excepted.
Note: Please enter the relevant button labels below.
3. order process and conclusion of contract
3.1. The customer can select products from the seller’s range without obligation and enter them in a so-called shopping cart by clicking on the button labeled: [in den Warenkorb]. 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 by clicking on the button labeled: [Weiter zur Kasse].
3.2. The customer submits a binding request to purchase the goods in the shopping cart by clicking on the button labeled enter: [zahlungspflichtig bestellen]. Before submitting the order, the customer can change and view the data at any time and use the browser function “back” to return to the shopping cart or cancel the ordering process altogether. Required information is marked with an asterisk (*).
3.3. The seller then sends the customer an automatic confirmation of receipt by e-mail, in which the customer’s order is listed again and which the customer can print out using the “Print” function (order confirmation). The automatic acknowledgement of receipt merely documents that the seller has received the customer’s order and does not constitute acceptance of the application. The purchase contract is concluded only when the seller has shipped the ordered product within 2 days to the customer, handed over or confirmed the shipment to the customer within 2 days with a second e-mail, express order confirmation or sending the invoice. Acceptance may further be made by a request for payment sent by the Seller to the Customer and at the latest by the completion of the payment transaction. In the event of several acceptance procedures, the earliest acceptance time shall be decisive. If the Seller does not accept the Customer’s offer within the acceptance period, no contract shall be concluded and the Customer shall no longer be bound by its offer.
3.4 In the case of customers who are companies, the aforementioned period for dispatch, delivery or order confirmation is seven days instead of two.
3.5. If the seller allows payment in advance, the contract is concluded with the provision of bank details and request for payment. If the payment is not received by the seller within 10 calendar days after sending the order confirmation, the seller withdraws from the contract with the consequence that the order is invalid and the seller is not obliged to deliver. The order is then completed for the buyer and seller without further consequences. A reservation of the article in case of advance payment 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 are inclusive of 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 ordering process.
5. delivery, availability of goods
5.1. If payment in advance has been agreed, delivery will be made after receipt of the invoice amount.
5.2. If the delivery of the goods fails through the fault of the buyer despite three attempts at delivery, the seller may withdraw from the contract. Any payments made will be refunded to the customer without delay.
5.3. If the ordered product is not available because the Seller is not supplied with this product by its supplier through no fault of its own, the Seller may withdraw from the contract. In this case, the seller will inform the customer immediately and, if necessary, propose the delivery of a comparable product. If no comparable product is available or if the customer does not want a comparable product to be delivered, the seller will immediately refund to the customer any consideration already paid.
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 companies, the risk of accidental loss and accidental deterioration of the goods shall pass to the buyer as soon as the seller has delivered the goods to the forwarding agent, carrier or other person or institution designated to carry out the shipment; the specified delivery dates and deadlines are not fixed dates, unless otherwise promised or agreed.
5.6 The Seller shall not be responsible for delays in delivery and performance due to force majeure and due to unforeseeable events that make delivery significantly more difficult or impossible for the Seller vis-à-vis customers who are entrepreneurs, even in the case of bindingly agreed deadlines and dates. In this case, the Seller shall be entitled to postpone the delivery or service by the duration of the impediment plus a reasonable start-up period. The right to postpone the deadline also applies to customers who are entrepreneurs in cases of unforeseeable events that affect the operations of a pre-supplier and for which neither he nor the seller is responsible. During the duration of this impediment, the customer is also released from his contractual obligations, in particular payment. If the delay is not reasonable for the customer, the customer may withdraw from the contract by written declaration after a reasonable period to be set by the customer or after mutual consultation with the seller.
6. payment modalities
6.1. The customer can choose from the available payment methods within the framework and before completion of the ordering process. Customers are informed about the available means of payment 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 the invoice. For all other methods of payment, payment must be made in advance without deduction.
6.3. If third-party providers are commissioned with the payment processing, e.g. Paypal. their general terms and conditions apply.
6.4. If the due date of payment is determined according to the calendar, the customer is already in default by missing the deadline. In this case, the customer shall pay the statutory interest on arrears.
6.5. The customer’s obligation to pay interest on arrears does not preclude the seller from claiming further damages caused by the delay.
6.6. The customer shall only be entitled to set-off if his counterclaims have been legally established or acknowledged 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
Until full payment, the delivered goods remain the property of the seller.
For customers who are entrepreneurs, the following shall apply in addition: The seller shall retain title to the goods until all claims arising from an ongoing business relationship have been settled in full; the buyer shall be obliged to treat the purchased item with care as long as title has not yet passed to him. In particular, he is obliged to insure them adequately at his own expense against theft, fire and water damage at replacement value, provided that this is appropriate or customary in the industry. If maintenance and inspection work has to be carried out, the purchaser must carry this out in good time at his own expense. The processing or transformation of the reserved goods by the customer is always carried out for the seller. If the reserved goods are processed with other items not belonging to the Seller, the Seller shall acquire co-ownership of the new item in the ratio of the value of the reserved goods to the other processed items at the time of processing. In all other respects, the same shall apply to the item created by processing as to the goods subject to retention of title. The customer also assigns the claim to secure the claims against him which arise against a third party through the connection of the reserved goods with a property. Access by third parties to the goods owned or co-owned by the seller must be reported immediately by the customer. The customer shall bear any costs for a third-party action or costs for an extrajudicial release arising from such interventions. The customer is entitled to resell the reserved goods in the ordinary course of business. The customer already assigns to the seller by way of security all claims arising from resale or other legal grounds with regard to the goods subject to retention of title (including all balance claims from current account). The Seller revocably authorizes the Customer to collect the claims assigned to the Seller for its account and in its own name. This direct debit authorization can be revoked if the customer does not properly fulfill his 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 arising from the business relationship by more than 10% (or by more than 50% if there is a risk of liquidation). The selection of the securities to be released shall be incumbent upon the Seller. Upon settlement of all claims of the seller from delivery transactions, the ownership of the reserved goods and the assigned claims shall pass to the buyer. The selection of the securities to be released shall be incumbent upon the Seller.
8. customer account
8.1 The Seller shall provide the Customers with a Customer Account. Within the customer account, customers are provided with information about the orders and their customer data stored with the seller. The information stored in the customer account is not public.
8.2 Select alternative: To place an order, customers must create a customer account. Guest orders are 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 adjust the information to changes in the actual circumstances, as far as this is necessary (e.g. the changed e-mail address in case of a change or the changed postal address before an order). Customers are responsible for any disadvantages that may arise due to incorrect information.
8.4. The Customer Account may only be used in accordance with the applicable legal provisions, in particular the provisions on the protection of third party rights, and in accordance with the Seller’s GTC by means of the access masks and other technical access options provided by the Seller. Any other kind of use, especially by external software, such as bots or crawlers, is prohibited.
8.5. Insofar as customers store, specify 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 content of the customers. However, the Seller reserves the right to take appropriate measures depending on the degree of risk of infringement emanating from the content, in particular the risk to third parties. Measures that take into account the criteria of necessity, appropriateness, diligence, objectivity as well as 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 explanations, warnings and warning notices as well as house bans.
8.6. Customers can cancel the customer account at any time. The seller may terminate the customer account at any time with reasonable notice, which is usually two weeks. The termination must be reasonable for the customer. The seller reserves the right to terminate the contract for extraordinary reasons.
8.7. From the time of termination, 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 terminating the customer’s account.
9 Warranty for material defects and guarantee
9.1. The warranty (liability for defects) shall be governed by statutory provisions subject to the following provisions.
9.2. A guarantee exists for the goods delivered by the seller only if it has been expressly given. Customers are informed about the warranty conditions before initiating the order process.
9.3 If the Customer is an entrepreneur, it shall inspect the goods without undue delay, notwithstanding any statutory obligations to give notice of defects, and shall notify the Supplier in writing of any visible material defects without undue delay, at the latest within two weeks after delivery, and of any non-visible material defects without undue delay, at the latest within two weeks after discovery. Customary deviations in quality, weight, size, thickness, width, finish, pattern and color that are permissible or minor according to quality standards are not defects.
9.4 If the customer is an entrepreneur, the choice between rectification or subsequent delivery of defective goods shall be made by the seller.
9.5 Notwithstanding the liability provisions of these GTC, material defects shall become statute-barred one year after the transfer of risk for customers who are entrepreneurs, unless longer periods are prescribed by law, in particular in the case of special provisions for the recourse of the entrepreneur. For used goods, the warranty of customers who are entrepreneurs is excluded.
9.6 If the customer, who is an entrepreneur, has used the defective item within the meaning of § 439 para. 3 BGB (German Civil Code) in accordance with its nature and intended use, the Seller shall, subject to an express agreement and without prejudice to the other warranty obligations, not be obliged to reimburse the Customer for the necessary expenses incurred in removing the defective item and installing or mounting the repaired or delivered defect-free item. Accordingly, the Seller shall also not be obliged to reimburse expenses for the removal of the defective item and the installation or fitting of the repaired or delivered defect-free item within the scope of a recourse by the Customer within the supply chain (i.e. between the Customer and its customers).
10. liability
10.1. The following exclusions and limitations of liability shall apply to the Seller’s liability for damages, without prejudice to the other statutory prerequisites for claims.
10.2. The Seller shall be liable without limitation insofar as the cause of the damage is based on intent or gross negligence.
10.3. Furthermore, the Seller shall be liable for the slightly negligent breach of essential obligations, the breach of which jeopardizes the achievement of the purpose of the contract, or for the breach of obligations, the fulfillment of which makes the proper execution of the contract possible in the first place and on the compliance with which the Customer regularly relies. In this case, however, the Seller shall only be liable for the foreseeable damage typical for the contract. The Seller shall not be liable for the slightly negligent breach of obligations other than those mentioned in the preceding sentences.
10.4. The above limitations of liability shall not apply in the event of injury to life, limb or health, for a defect following the assumption of a guarantee for the quality of the product and in the event of fraudulently concealed defects. Liability under the Product Liability Act remains unaffected.
10.5. Insofar as the liability of the Seller is excluded or limited, this shall also apply to the personal liability of employees, representatives and vicarious agents.
11. storage of the contract text
11.1. The customer can print the text of the contract before submitting the order to the seller by using the print function of his 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 e-mail address provided by him. With the order confirmation, but at the latest upon delivery of the goods, the customer will also receive a copy of the General Terms and Conditions together with the cancellation policy and the information on shipping costs and delivery and payment terms. If you have registered in our store, you can view your orders in your profile area. In addition, we store the text of the contract, but do not make it accessible on the Internet.
11.3 Customers who are entrepreneurs can receive the contract documents by e-mail, in writing or by referring to an online source.
12. final provisions
12.1. If the Buyer is an entrepreneur, the place of performance shall be the Seller’s registered office, subject to other agreements or mandatory statutory provisions, while the place of jurisdiction shall be 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 has no general place of jurisdiction in the Seller’s country of domicile. The right of the seller to choose another permissible place of jurisdiction remains reserved.
12.2 In the case of entrepreneurs, the law of Please select: [Bundesrepublik Deutschland / Republik Österreich] shall apply to the exclusion of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, provided that this does not conflict with any mandatory statutory provisions.
12.3. Contract language is German.
12.4. European Commission platform for online dispute resolution (OS) for consumers: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/. We are not willing and not obliged to participate in a dispute resolution procedure before a consumer arbitration board.
Note: Please note that the link http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/ must be clickable. If you are obliged to participate in a dispute resolution procedure before a consumer arbitration board or should participate in such a procedure, please change the information (“We are prepared to settle disputes with consumers before the following consumer arbitration board” or “We are obliged to settle disputes with consumers before the following consumer arbitration board” and state the responsible dispute resolution board and address.