General Terms and Conditions with Customer Information

General Terms and Conditions of Business and Customer Information

Table of Contents

  1. Scope of Application
  2. Conclusion of Contract
  3. Right of Withdrawal
  4. Prices and Payment Terms
  5. Delivery and Shipping Conditions
  6. Retention of Title
  7. Liability for Defects (Warranty)
  8. Liability
  9. Applicable Law
  10. Place of Jurisdiction
  11. Alternative Dispute Resolution

1) Scope of Application

1.1 These General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter “GTC”) of Hirmer Verlag GmbH (hereinafter “Seller”) apply to all contracts for the delivery of goods that a consumer or entrepreneur (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 and conditions is hereby denied, unless otherwise agreed.

1.2 A consumer within the meaning of these GTC is any natural who enters into a legal transaction for purposes that cannot be predominantly  attributed to their commercial or self-employed professional activity.

1.3 An entrepreneur within the meaning of these GTC is a natural or legal person or a partnership with legal capacity who acts in the exercise of their commercial or self-employed professional activity when entering into a legal transaction.

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 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. In doing so, after placing the selected goods in the virtual shopping cart and completing the electronic ordering process, the Customer submits a legally binding contractual offer regarding the goods contained in the shopping cart by clicking the button that completes the order process. Furthermore, 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 the receipt of the order confirmation by the Customer is decisive, or
  • by delivering the ordered goods to the Customer, whereby the receipt of the goods by the Customer is decisive, or
  • by requesting payment from the Customer after the order has been placed.

If several of the aforementioned alternatives occur, the contract shall be concluded at the time when one of the aforementioned alternatives first 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 this period, this shall be deemed a rejection of the offer with the consequence that the Customer is no longer bound by their declaration of intent.

2.4 If a payment method offered by PayPal is selected, payment processing shall be carried out 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/de/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/de/legalhub/paypal/privacywax-full. If the Customer pays using a payment method offered by PayPal that can be selected during the online ordering process, the Seller hereby declares acceptance of the Customer’s offer at the moment the Customer clicks the button that completes the order process.

2.5 When submitting an offer via the Seller’s online order form, the contract text is stored by the Seller after the contract is concluded and sent to the Customer in text form (e.g., email, fax, or letter) after the order has been sent. The Seller will not make the contract text accessible beyond this procedure. If the Customer has set up a user account in the Seller’s online shop before sending their order, the order data will be archived on the Seller’s website and can be accessed free of charge by the Customer via their password-protected user account using the relevant login data.

2.6 Before submitting a binding order via the Seller’s online order form, the Customer can identify possible input errors by carefully reading the information displayed on the screen. An effective technical means for better detecting input errors may be the browser’s zoom function, which enlarges the display on the screen. Customers can correct their entries during the electronic ordering process by using the usual keyboard and mouse functions until they click 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 and contact are generally carried out via email and automated order processing. 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 this address. In particular, when using SPAM filters, the Customer must ensure that all emails sent by the Seller or by third parties commissioned by the Seller to process the order can be delivered.

3) Right of Withdrawal

3.1 Consumers are generally entitled to 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 of concluding the contract, are not members of a Member State of the European Union and whose sole place of residence and delivery address at the time of concluding the contract are outside the European Union.

4) Prices and Payment Terms

4.1 Unless otherwise stated in the Seller’s product description, the prices indicated are total prices and include statutory VAT. Any additional delivery and shipping costs will be stated separately in the relevant product description.

4.2 For deliveries to countries outside the European Union, additional costs may arise 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 may also arise in relation to money transfers even if the 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 payment method(s) available will be communicated to the Customer in the Seller’s online shop.

4.4 If the SEPA direct debit payment method is selected, the invoice amount is due after a SEPA direct debit mandate has been issued, but not before the expiry of the pre-notification period. The direct debit is collected when the ordered goods leave the Seller’s warehouse, but not before the expiry of the pre-notification period. Pre-notification is any communication (e.g., invoice, policy, contract) from the Seller to the Customer announcing a charge via SEPA direct debit. If the direct debit is not honoured due to insufficient funds or because incorrect bank details were provided, or if the Customer objects to the debit without being entitled to do so, the Customer shall bear the fees incurred by the credit institution in question for the repayment if they are responsible for this. The Seller reserves the right to carry out a credit check when the SEPA direct debit payment method is selected, and to reject this payment method in the event of a negative credit check.

4.5 If the credit card payment method is selected, the invoice amount is due immediately upon conclusion of the contract. Payment processing via credit card is carried out in cooperation with TeleCash by fiserv – First Data GmbH, Marienbader Platz 1, 61348 Bad Homburg v. d. Höhe, which the Seller authorizes to collect the claim on its behalf. TeleCash by fiserv – First Data GmbH collects the invoice amount from the Customer’s specified credit card account. The credit card is charged immediately after the Customer’s order is sent in the online shop. Even when selecting the credit card payment method via TeleCash by fiserv – First Data GmbH, the Seller remains responsible for general customer inquiries, e.g., regarding goods, delivery time, shipping, returns, complaints, declarations of withdrawal and returns, or credit notes.

5) Delivery and Shipping Conditions

5.1 If the Seller offers shipment of the goods, delivery shall be made within the delivery area specified by the Seller to the delivery address provided by the Customer, unless otherwise agreed. The delivery address specified in the Seller’s order processing is decisive for the processing of the transaction. Notwithstanding this, if PayPal is selected as the payment method, the delivery address stored by the Customer with PayPal at the time of payment shall be 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 outbound shipping if the Customer effectively exercises their right of withdrawal. In the event of effective exercise of the right of withdrawal, the provisions in the Seller’s withdrawal policy shall apply to the return costs.

5.3 If the Customer acts as an entrepreneur, the risk of accidental loss and accidental deterioration of the sold goods shall pass to the Customer as soon as the Seller has handed over the goods to the forwarding agent, carrier, or other person or institution designated to execute the shipment. If the Customer acts as a consumer, the risk of accidental loss and accidental deterioration of the sold goods shall generally pass only upon delivery of the goods to the Customer or a person authorized to receive them. Notwithstanding this, the risk of accidental loss and accidental deterioration of the sold goods shall pass to the Customer even in the case of consumers as soon as the Seller has handed over the goods to the forwarding agent, carrier, or other person or institution designated to execute the shipment, if the Customer has commissioned the forwarding agent, carrier, or other person or institution designated to execute the shipment and the Seller has not previously named this person or institution to the Customer.

5.4 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 diligence. The Seller shall make all reasonable efforts to procure the goods. In the event of non-availability or only partial availability of the goods, the Customer shall be informed immediately and the consideration shall be refunded without delay.

5.5 Self-collection is not possible for logistical reasons.

6) Retention of Title

If the Seller makes advance performance, it retains ownership of the delivered goods until the purchase price owed has been paid in full.

7) Liability for Defects (Warranty)

Unless otherwise stated in the following provisions, the statutory provisions on liability for defects shall apply. In deviation from this, the following shall apply to contracts for the delivery of goods:

7.1 If the Customer acts as an entrepreneur,

  • the Seller shall have the choice of the type of subsequent performance;
  • in the case of new goods, the limitation period for defect claims shall be one year from delivery of the goods;
  • in the case of used goods, defect claims are excluded;
  • the limitation period shall not recommence if a replacement delivery is made within the scope of liability for defects.

7.2 The above limitations of liability and reductions of limitation periods shall not apply

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

7.3 Furthermore, for entrepreneurs, the statutory limitation periods for any existing statutory right of recourse shall remain unaffected.

7.4 If the Customer is a merchant within the meaning of § 1 HGB, they are subject to the commercial duty to inspect and give notice of defects pursuant to § 377 HGB. If the Customer fails to comply with the notification obligations regulated therein, the goods shall be deemed approved.

7.5 If the Customer acts as a consumer, they are requested to complain to the deliverer about delivered goods with obvious transport damage and to inform the Seller thereof. Failure to do so shall have no effect on the Customer’s statutory or contractual claims for defects.

8) Liability

The Seller shall be liable to the Customer for all contractual, quasi-contractual and statutory, including tort-liability claims for damages and reimbursement of expenses as follows:

8.1 The Seller shall be liable without limitation for any legal reason

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

8.2 If the Seller negligently breaches a material contractual obligation, liability shall be limited to the typical, foreseeable damage, unless unlimited liability applies in accordance with the above clause. Material contractual obligations are obligations that the contract imposes on the Seller according to its content to achieve the purpose of the contract, the fulfilment of which makes the proper execution of the contract possible in the first place and on whose compliance the Customer may regularly rely.

8.3 Otherwise, the Seller’s liability is excluded.

8.4 The above liability provisions shall also apply with regard to the Seller’s liability for its vicarious agents and legal representatives.

9) Applicable Law

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

9.2 Furthermore, this choice of law shall not apply with regard to the statutory right of withdrawal for consumers who, at the time of concluding the contract, are not members of a Member State of the European Union and whose sole place of residence and delivery address at the time of concluding the contract are outside the European Union.

10) Place of Jurisdiction

If the Customer is 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 shall be 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 shall be 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 above cases, 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.