Terms of service

Table of contents

1. Scope
2. Conclusion of contract
3. Right of withdrawal
4. Prices and terms of payment
5. Delivery and shipping terms
6. Retention of title
7. Liability for defects (warranty)
8. Liability
9. Applicable law
10. Place of jurisdiction
11. Alternative dispute resolution

1) Scope

1.1 These General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter “Terms”) of RS Trade GmbH & Co. KG (hereinafter “Seller”) apply to all contracts for the delivery of goods that a consumer or business (hereinafter “Customer”) concludes with the Seller regarding the goods presented by the Seller in its online shop. The inclusion of the Customer's own terms is hereby objected to, unless otherwise agreed.

1.2 A consumer within the meaning of these Terms is any natural person who enters into a legal transaction for purposes that are predominantly outside their trade, business or profession.

1.3 A business within the meaning of these Terms 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 profession.

1.4 If the Customer is based in Switzerland or Liechtenstein and uses a billing and delivery address provided by MeinEinkauf AG, Fürstenlandstrasse 35, 9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland (hereinafter “MeinEinkauf”), the following terms apply subject to the proviso that “MeinEinkauf”, rather than the Seller, becomes the Customer's contractual partner. In this case, the Seller acts merely as an intermediary between the Customer and MeinEinkauf and does not itself become a party to the purchase contract. The Customer is expressly informed of this in the Seller's online shop. In this case, MeinEinkauf is responsible for contract processing. In this case, the Seller handles correspondence with the Customer on behalf of MeinEinkauf. This also applies to correspondence relating to any performance disruptions, in particular when the Customer asserts rights arising from defects.

2) Conclusion of contract

2.1 The product descriptions contained in the Seller's online shop do not constitute binding offers on the part of the Seller, but rather serve to enable the Customer to submit a binding offer.

2.2 The Customer may submit the offer via the online order form integrated into the Seller's online shop. After placing the selected goods in the virtual shopping cart and completing the electronic ordering process, the Customer submits a legally binding contractual offer in respect of the goods contained in the shopping cart by clicking the button that completes the order process. The Customer may also submit the offer to the Seller by email, fax, online contact form, post or telephone.

2.3 The Seller may accept the Customer's offer within five days,

• by sending the Customer a written order confirmation or an order confirmation in text form (fax or email), whereby receipt of the order confirmation by the Customer is decisive in this respect, or
• by delivering the ordered goods to the Customer, whereby receipt of the goods by the Customer is decisive in this respect, or
• by requesting payment from the Customer after the Customer has placed the order.

If several of the above alternatives apply, the contract is concluded at the time when the first of the above alternatives occurs. The period for accepting the offer begins on the day after the Customer sends the offer and ends at the end of the fifth day following the sending of the offer. If the Seller does not accept the Customer's offer within the aforementioned period, this shall be deemed a rejection of the offer, with the result that the Customer is no longer bound by their declaration of intent.

2.4 If a payment method offered by PayPal is selected, payment is processed via the payment service provider PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg (hereinafter: “PayPal”), subject to the PayPal terms of use, available at https://www.paypal.com/en/legalhub/paypal/useragreement-full, or – if the Customer does not have a PayPal account – subject to the terms for payments without a PayPal account, available at https://www.paypal.com/en/legalhub/paypal/privacywax-full. If the Customer pays using a PayPal payment method selectable during the online ordering process, the Seller already declares acceptance of the Customer's offer at the time the Customer clicks the button that completes the order process.

2.5 When ordering via the Seller's online order form, the text of the contract is stored by the Seller after the conclusion of the contract and is sent to the Customer in text form (e.g. email, fax or letter) after the Customer has placed the order. The Seller does not make the text of the contract available in any further way. If the Customer has created a user account in the Seller's online shop before placing the order, the order data is archived on the Seller's website and can be accessed free of charge by the Customer via their password-protected user account by entering the corresponding login details.

2.6 Before submitting the order via the Seller's online order form in a legally binding manner, the Customer can identify possible input errors by carefully reading the information displayed on the screen. An effective technical means of better detecting input errors can be the browser's zoom function, which enlarges the display on the screen. The Customer can correct their entries during the electronic ordering process using the usual keyboard and mouse functions until clicking the button that completes the order process.

2.7 Various languages are available for concluding the contract. The specific language selection is displayed in the online shop.

2.8 Order processing generally takes place automatically by email. The Customer must ensure that the email address provided for order processing is correct, so that emails sent by the Seller can be received at that address.

3) Right of withdrawal

3.1 Consumers generally have a right of withdrawal.

3.2 Further information on the right of withdrawal can be found in the Seller's withdrawal policy.

3.3 The right of withdrawal does not apply to consumers who, at the time the contract is concluded, do not belong to a member state of the European Union and whose sole place of residence and delivery address at the time the contract is concluded are outside the European Union.

4) Prices and terms of payment

4.1 Unless otherwise stated in the Seller's product description, the prices quoted are total prices that include statutory value added tax. Any additional delivery and shipping costs will be stated separately in the respective product description.

4.2 For deliveries to countries outside the European Union, additional costs may be incurred in individual cases for which the Seller is not responsible and which must be borne by the Customer. These include, for example, costs for money transfers by credit institutions (e.g. transfer fees, exchange rate fees) or import duties or taxes (e.g. customs duties). Such costs relating to money transfers may also be incurred even if delivery is not made to a country outside the European Union, but the Customer makes the payment from a country outside the European Union.

4.3 The available payment method(s) will be communicated to the Customer in the Seller's online shop.

4.4 If advance payment by bank transfer has been agreed, payment is due immediately after the conclusion of the contract, unless the parties have agreed on a later due date.

4.5 If a payment method offered via the “PayPal” payment service is selected, payment is processed via PayPal, whereby PayPal may also use the services of third-party payment service providers for this purpose. If the Seller also offers payment methods via PayPal under which the Seller makes an advance payment to the Customer (e.g. purchase on account or installment payment), the Seller assigns its payment claim to that extent to PayPal or to the payment service provider commissioned by PayPal and specifically named to the Customer. Before accepting the Seller's assignment declaration, PayPal or the payment service provider commissioned by PayPal carries out a credit check using the transmitted customer data. The Seller reserves the right to refuse the Customer the selected payment method in the event of a negative check result. If the selected payment method is approved, the Customer must pay the invoice amount within the agreed payment period or at the agreed payment intervals. In this case, the Customer can only make payment to PayPal or the payment service provider commissioned by PayPal with discharging effect. However, even in the event of an assignment of claims, the Seller remains responsible for general customer inquiries, e.g. regarding the goods, delivery time, shipping, returns, complaints, withdrawal declarations and submissions, or credit notes.

4.6 If a payment method offered via the “Shopify Payments” payment service is selected, payment is processed by Shopify International Limited, Victoria Buildings, 2nd Floor, 1-2 Haddington Road, Dublin 4, D04 XN32, Ireland (“Shopify”). The individual payment methods offered via Shopify Payments will be communicated to the Customer in the Seller's online shop. Shopify may use further payment services to process payments, which may be subject to special payment terms, of which the Customer will be specifically informed where applicable. Further information on “Shopify Payments” is available online at https://www.shopify.com/legal/terms-payments.

5) Delivery and shipping terms

5.1 If the Seller offers to ship the goods, delivery will be made within the delivery area specified by the Seller to the delivery address specified by the Customer, unless otherwise agreed. For the processing of the transaction, the delivery address specified in the Seller's order processing is decisive. By way of exception, if the PayPal payment method is selected, the delivery address stored by the Customer with PayPal at the time of payment is decisive.

5.2 If delivery of the goods fails for reasons for which the Customer is responsible, the Customer shall bear the reasonable costs incurred by the Seller as a result. This does not apply to the costs of delivery if the Customer effectively exercises their right of withdrawal. With regard to the costs of returning the goods, the provisions made for this purpose in the Seller's withdrawal policy shall apply in the event of the Customer's effective exercise of the right of withdrawal.

5.3 If the Customer acts as a business, the risk of accidental loss and accidental deterioration of the sold goods passes to the Customer as soon as the Seller has delivered the item to the forwarding agent, the carrier, or any other person or institution designated to carry out the shipment. If the Customer acts as a consumer, the risk of accidental loss and accidental deterioration of the sold goods generally passes only upon handover of the goods to the Customer or an authorized recipient. By way of exception, the risk of accidental loss and accidental deterioration of the sold goods also passes to the Customer, even if the Customer is a consumer, as soon as the Seller has delivered the item to the forwarding agent, the carrier, or any other person or institution designated to carry out the shipment, if the Customer has commissioned the forwarding agent, the carrier, or any other person or institution designated to carry out the shipment, and the Seller has not previously named this person or institution to the Customer.

5.4 If the Customer acts as a consumer based in Germany or as a business, the Seller reserves the right to withdraw from the contract in the event of incorrect or improper self-supply. This applies only if the non-delivery is not the Seller's responsibility and the Seller has concluded a specific covering transaction with the supplier with due care. The Seller will make every reasonable effort to procure the goods. In the event of unavailability or only partial availability of the goods, the Customer will be informed immediately and any consideration already paid will be refunded without delay.

5.5 In-store pickup is not possible for logistical reasons.

6) Retention of title

6.1 Vis-à-vis consumers, the Seller retains title to the delivered goods until the purchase price owed has been paid in full.

6.2 Vis-à-vis businesses, the Seller retains title to the delivered goods until all claims arising from an ongoing business relationship have been settled in full.

6.3 If the Customer acts as a business, the following also applies:

In the event of processing of the delivered goods, the Seller is deemed to be the manufacturer and acquires ownership of the newly created item. If the processing is carried out together with other materials, the Seller acquires ownership in proportion to the invoice value of its goods to that of the other materials. If, in the event of combination or mixing of the Seller's goods with an item belonging to the Customer, the latter is to be regarded as the principal item, co-ownership of the item passes to the Seller in proportion to the invoice value of the Seller's goods to the invoice value, or, in the absence thereof, to the market value of the principal item. In these cases, the Customer is deemed to be the custodian.

The Customer may neither pledge nor assign as security any items subject to retention of title or other rights. The Customer is only entitled to resell the goods subject to retention of title in the ordinary course of business. The Customer hereby assigns to the Seller in advance all claims against third parties arising from such resale, in the amount of the respective invoice value (including VAT). This assignment applies regardless of whether the goods subject to retention of title were resold without or after processing. The Customer remains authorized to collect the claims even after the assignment. The Seller's authority to collect the claims itself remains unaffected. However, the Seller will not collect the claims as long as the Customer meets its payment obligations to the Seller, does not default on payment, and no application for insolvency proceedings has been filed.

The Customer must notify the Seller immediately of any access by third parties to goods owned or co-owned by the Seller or to the assigned claims. The Customer must immediately remit to the Seller any amounts collected that have been assigned to the Seller, insofar as the Seller's claim has become due.

If the value of the Seller's security interests exceeds the amount of the secured claims by more than 10%, the Seller will, at the Customer's request, release a corresponding portion of the security interests.

7) Liability for defects (warranty)

Unless otherwise provided below, the statutory provisions on liability for defects apply. The following applies by way of derogation for contracts for the delivery of goods:

7.1 If the Customer acts as a business,

• the Seller has the choice of the type of subsequent performance;
• for new goods, the limitation period for claims for defects is one year from delivery of the goods;
• for used goods, claims for defects are excluded;
• the limitation period does not begin again if a replacement delivery is made within the scope of liability for defects.

7.2 The limitations of liability and shortened periods set out above do not apply

• to claims by the Customer for damages or reimbursement of expenses,
• in the event that the Seller has fraudulently concealed the defect,
• to goods that have been used in a building in accordance with their normal use and have caused its defectiveness,
• to any obligation the Seller may have to provide updates for digital products, in the case of contracts for the delivery of goods with digital elements.

7.3 Furthermore, for businesses, the statutory limitation periods for any statutory right of recourse remain unaffected.

7.4 If the Customer acts as a merchant within the meaning of § 1 of the German Commercial Code (HGB), the Customer is subject to the commercial duty to inspect and give notice of defects in accordance with § 377 HGB. If the Customer fails to comply with the notification obligations set out therein, the goods are deemed approved.

7.5 If the Customer acts as a consumer, the Customer is requested to complain to the delivery person about goods delivered with obvious transport damage and to inform the Seller of this. If the Customer fails to do so, this has no effect whatsoever on the Customer's statutory or contractual claims for defects.

8) Liability

The Seller is liable to the Customer for all contractual, quasi-contractual and statutory claims, including tortious claims, for damages and reimbursement of expenses as follows:

8.1 The Seller is liable without limitation on any legal grounds

• in the case of intent or gross negligence,
• in the case of intentional or negligent injury to life, body or health,
• on the basis of a guarantee given, unless otherwise agreed in this respect,
• on the basis of mandatory liability, such as under the Product Liability Act.

8.2 If the Customer acts as a consumer based in Germany or as a business, the following limitations of liability apply:

If the Seller negligently breaches a material contractual obligation, its liability is limited to the foreseeable damage typical for the type of contract, unless it is liable without limitation in accordance with the above paragraph. Material contractual obligations are obligations which the contract imposes on the Seller according to its content in order to achieve the purpose of the contract, the fulfillment of which makes the proper performance of the contract possible in the first place, and on the observance of which the Customer may regularly rely. Otherwise, the Seller's liability is excluded, unless it is liable without limitation in accordance with the above paragraph.

8.3 The above liability provisions also apply with regard to the Seller's liability for its agents and legal representatives.

9) Applicable law

9.1 The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies to all legal relationships between the parties, excluding the laws on the international sale of movable goods. For consumers, this choice of law only applies insofar as the protection granted by mandatory provisions of the law of the state in which the consumer has their habitual residence is not thereby withdrawn.

9.2 Furthermore, with regard to the statutory right of withdrawal, this choice of law does not apply to consumers who, at the time the contract is concluded, do not belong to a member state of the European Union and whose sole place of residence and delivery address at the time the contract is concluded are outside the European Union.

10) Place of jurisdiction

If the Customer acts as a merchant, a legal entity under public law, or a special fund under public law with its registered office within the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from this contract is the Seller's place of business. If the Customer's registered office is outside the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Seller's place of business is the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from this contract if the contract or claims arising from the contract can be attributed to the Customer's professional or commercial activity. In the cases set out above, however, the Seller is in any case entitled to bring an action before the court at the Customer's place of business.

11) Alternative dispute resolution

The Seller is neither obliged nor willing to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.