Terms of service
General Online Shop Terms and Conditions for Purchase of Goods of A⁴ COSMETICS on www.a4cosmetics.com
§ 1 General, Scope of GTC
1.1 All deliveries and services are made only on the basis of the following General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter "GTC") according to the valid version when placing the order. No variations to these terms and conditions shall apply unless agreed otherwise between the parties in text form
1.2 Your contractual partner is ESM GmbH & Co.KG, Cuvilliésstraße 14, 81679 Munich (hereinafter referred to as "A⁴ Cosmetics or "We“), represented by the managing associate ESM Verwaltungs-GmbH, which is represented by the managing director Dr. Martin Steinmeyer. A⁴ Cosmetics is operating the onlineshop at https://www.a4cosmetics.com (hereinafter referred to as "Shop“).
1.3 Customers in terms of these business conditions mean both consumers and contractors (hereinafter "Customer" or "You"). If we use these terms in the GTC, those are consumers in the sense of § 13 German Civil Code and contractors in the sense § 14 German Civil Code.
§ 2 Subscribing for the Online Shop
2.1 The Customer has the possibility to set up a customer account for using the Shop or to make an order as guest only. As a guest, Your order data will be blocked after processing Your order and will only be used to clarify any warranty claims or for other purposes stipulated by law.
2.2 Setting up a Customer account for our Shop is free of charge. For subscribing the customer will need to provide us with his address, his first and last name, an email address and a password. Afterwards, the Customer will receive an e-mail with a confirmation link. Only if the Customer clicks on the confirmation link the account will be activated. A⁴Cosmetics will confirm the successful setup of the customer account towards the Customer by e-mail. The customer account allows the Customer to store data referring to his payment methods as well as billing and shipping addresses. In the order path, the Customer can save his delivery address to the Customer account by clicking “Save this information for next time”. Further, his orders are stored in the customer account.
2.3 In the event of changes, the Customer has to update his customer account. Change of the address of delivery made to the customer account after making an order cannot be taken into account by A⁴Cosmetics anymore. If You like to change the delivery address with respect to an existing order, please call A⁴Cosmetics immediately.
2.4 The Customer can terminate his account with A4Cosmetics at any time. This does not affect orders that have already been made. A⁴Cosmetics is entitled to terminate a customer account with four weeks’ prior notice. The right of both parties to terminate the account for cause shall remain unaffected.
§ 3 Close of Agreement
3.1 The offers and presentations of the products are a shop window only and do not constitute a binding offer. You will make an offer for entering into a purchase agreement by adding the goods to Your cart and clicking on the button “Order and pay now”. Once You have made Your order, we will first confirm the receipt of Your order by email. Within three business days after receipt of Your order, we will accept it by a separate e-mail, which will be sent to You together with our invoice. Otherwise we will deny Your order.
3.2 This shall not apply in the event that You use the payment methods PayPal or SOFORT Ueberweisung for Your order. In those cases, the purchase price will be immediately collected by us. By doing so, we accept Your order. However, You will as well receive the emails as listed above. With respect to the payment methods Google Pay, Amazon Pay and Apple Pay, Your order will be accepted by us with sending a payment request to Your provider. Moreover, we will provide You with an order confirmation by email. If the latter happens first, the agreement will be closed.
3.3 If You have found the product You like You can have a closer look by clicking on the product name or the product picture. If You click the button "Add to shopping cart" You can put the article into the cart. You can view the contents of the shopping cart at any time by clicking on the "Shopping Cart" button. You can also remove or change the products from the shopping cart by clicking on the "Change" and "Delete" buttons. If You want to buy the products in the shopping cart, please click on the "Checkout" button on the "Shopping Cart" page.
3.4 During the order process You can define the shipping and payment options. In the box “Discount or Voucher Code” You can add a code (if any) and click on “apply” for redeeming. Finally, under "Check order" You can get an overview on Your order data to check all details and delete or change them by using the link "Correct".
In the event of wrong data, You can correct those by using the “back” feature of Your browser or cancel the order process and start again. To complete the order, You have to click on the button "Order and pay now". By doing so, Your order will be sent to us.
3.5 If You make on order by our customer hotline, the agreement will be entered into with Your order by phone and us sending You an order confirmation by email. Payment of Your order will always be initiated after receipt of our order confirmation.
§ 4 Vouchers
4.1 You can also buy vouchers in our Shop. Therefore, You can choose one of the following amounts: 50€, 75€, 100€, 150€ or 200€
Ordering those vouchers takes place the same way as ordering goods. With payment of Your voucher, You will receive an email with the voucher code. By adding this code during the order process in the field “Discount or Voucher Code” You or anyone selected by You can redeem the voucher.
4.2 You can only redeem the voucher online on our Shop. Further, the voucher can be used for products only and not for delivery costs. Delivery costs will need to be paid separately, if any. The voucher can be used for several orders until the amount of the voucher has been reached. Amounts remaining on Your voucher will not be paid out.
4.3 In the event of returning goods, the following rules will apply: The price of the product which is subject to return will be re-added to Your voucher and can then be used for future orders on our Shop. If the order in return also included a payment with one of our payment methods, then this payment will be refunded to Your payment method. In any event, no amount which was paid with a voucher will be refunded to Your bank account or to a payment method. With respect to the voucher, the limitation period of 3 years (§ 195 of the German Civil Code) will apply.
§ 5 Recording the Content of the Agreement
We will store Your order and the details of the order You entered. First, we will confirm the receipt of Your order by email. Afterwards we will provide You with a confirmation including all details of Your order. You have the possibility to print out the order as well as the general terms and conditions before making Your order. You also can log into Your customer account for checking all Your orders if You have set up an account.
§ 6 Statutory Right of Withdrawal for Consumers as per § 13 of the German Civil Code
The following right of withdrawal shall apply only for Consumers with respect to distance selling:
INSTRUCTION CONCERNING RIGHT OF WITHDRAWAL
Right of Withdrawal
You are entitled to withdraw from this Contract within fourteen (14) days without giving any reason for doing so.
The deadline for withdrawal shall be fourteen (14) days from the date on which You or a third party appointed by You, who is not the carrier, takes possession of the final goods delivered, in the event of partial shipment with receipt of the final component.
In order to exercise the statutory right of withdrawal, You must notify us
ESM GmbH & Co. KG
Cuvilliesstraße 14, 81679 Munich
Tel.: + 49 89 33 03 56 56
Fax: + 49 89 38 66 58 83
E-Mail: onlineshop@a4cosmetics.de
of Your decision to withdraw from this Contract in a clear declaration (e.g. by sending a letter by mail, fax or email). You may use the withdrawal form template attached for this purpose; however, this is not obligatory. The withdrawal deadline shall be deemed to be met if You send the communication concerning the exercise of the right of withdrawal before the expiry of the deadline.
Consequences of withdrawal
If You withdraw from this Contract, we must reimburse any payments we have received from You, including delivery costs (excluding any additional costs incurred if You have selected a different type of delivery to the cheapest standard delivery option offered by us) without delay, but no later than fourteen (14) days after the day on which we receive the notice of the customer’s withdrawal from this Contract. We will use the same payment method the customer used for the original transaction in order to provide the reimbursement, unless otherwise expressly agreed; under no circumstances You will be charged a fee for this refund. We may withhold the reimbursement until we have received the returned goods or until You have provided proof that You have returned the goods, whichever is earlier.
You must return or hand over the goods to us without delay and no later than fourteen (14) days from the date on which You notified us of withdrawal from this Contract. The deadline is deemed to be met if You send the goods before the expiry of the fourteen-day deadline. A⁴ COSMETICS shall bear the costs of returning the goods.
You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods if this loss in value is attributable to any use or handling of the goods which is not deemed necessary in order to verify the condition, features and functioning of the goods.
End of instruction concerning the right of withdrawal.
Note: The right of withdrawal does not apply to distance contracts for the supply of sealed goods which are not suitable for return for health or hygiene reasons if their seal has been removed after delivery.
§ 7 Specimen form to withdraw from the Contract
(Complete and return this form only if You wish to withdraw from the contract)
To ESM GmbH & Co.KG, Cuvilliésstraße 14, 81679 Munich, Fax: + 49 89 38 6658 83, Tel.: + 49 89 33 03 56 56 E-Mail: onlineshop@a4cosmetics.de:
I / We (*) herewith withdraw from the Contract entered into by me/us (*) relating to the purchase of the following goods: (*) / rendering the following services: …………………(*)
Ordered on: (*) Received on: (*)
Order number (**):_______________________
Name of customer(s)______________________________________
Address of customer(s) ___________________________________
____________________________________
Signature of customer(s) __________________________________
(online when sent offline)
Date ________________________________________________________
(*) Please strike out if not relevant
(**) Optional information
§ 8 Prices and Shipping Costs
All listed prices include the applicable value added tax. We deliver with DHL or another supplier at our choice. All products are delivered exclusively by standard shipping and free of shipping costs. The standard shipping to Austria will be invoiced with EUR 4,95.
§ 9 Terms of Delivery
9.1 We deliver solely within Germany and Austria. Within the EU and the EEA, You are welcome to organize delivery to another country Yourself or to collect the goods from us. We will then make the goods available for such purposes at our warehouse in Germany. We will inform You of the address of the warehouse when You make an order. The risk and liability to goods shall pass to You as soon as goods are collected by You or Your transportation service provider.
9.2 The goods will be delivered within five business days after Your receipt of the order confirmation, unless stated otherwise in the offer.
§ 10 Payment Methods
The payment can either be made on account by PAYONE, by credit card, PayPal, Google, Apple or Amazon Pay or so-called “Sofort-Ueberweisung” (= immediate transfer). We reserve the right to accept or refuse single payment methods for specific orders.
10.1. Buy on account with PAYONE: If You decided to purchase on account by PAYONE the payment will be made via the external payment processor PAYONE GmbH, Lyoner Str. 9, 60528 Frankfurt on the Main, Germany (hereinafter "PAYONE”). The payment period amounts up to 14 days from the date of invoicing. You will receive an invoice together with the goods or separately by e-mail which You must pay to PAYONE.
PAYONE will then forward this payment to A4Cosmetics. PAYONE's general terms and conditions for invoice purchase can be accessed here https://www.payone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/10700_DE-AGB_0220.pdf (English version not available), You can only pay to PAYONE with discharging effect. Please note that we are still responsible for general customer enquiries (e.g. about the goods, delivery time, shipping), returns, complaints, withdrawals and returns or credit notes.
10.2 Payment by credit card: When paying by credit card, we will debit Your account within 2 days after receiving Your order if we have approved it. We accept VISA and MASTERCARD.
10.3 Payment with PayPal and SOFORT Ueberweisung: If You pay by PayPal or SOFORT Ueberweisung, You will be directly forwarded to the pages of the payment providers to initiate the transfer.
10.3.1 SOFORT Ueberweisung:
For initiating a payment via SOFORT Ueberweisung the provider SOFORT GmbH, Theresienhoehe 12, 80339 Munich, Germany requires the login data of Your online banking account (login and PIN) and account data (IBAN, BIC). Your ordered goods will be released for shipment after successful transaction (receipt of payment).
10.3.2 PayPal
The payment with PayPal is offered by the provider PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg takes place via Your access data for Your PayPal account and after close of the purchase agreement. Your ordered goods will be released for shipment after receipt of payment.
10.4 Google Pay, Apple Pay and Amazon Pay
10.4.1 Google Pay
If You decide to pay with Google Pay You will be forwarded to a website of Google. For using this service, You need to subscribe with Google and add Your payment data to Your Google account.
After placing Your order we will ask Google to initiate the payment and herewith accept Your order. You can access the terms and conditions for Google pay here: https://payments.google.com/payments/apis-secure/get_legal_document?ldo=0&ldt=buyertos&ldr=en
10.4.2 Apple Pay
The payment method will only be displayed to users of an Apple device, as it requires a subscription with Apple (so-called Apple ID). During Your order You will be forwarded to a site of the provider Apple. There, You can enter or access Your payment data and confirm the payment order towards Apple. After placing Your order in our shop, we will ask Apple to initiate the payment and therewith accept Your order. Further information with respect to Apple Pay is available here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203027
10.4.3 Amazon Pay
If You would like to pay with Amazon Pay You will be forwarded to the site from Amazon after Your selection. Using this payment method requires that You have an account with Amazon. Hence, Amazon will ask You for Your login data. You then can decide which of the payment methods stored with Amazon You would like to use. After confirming Your payment, You will return to our shop for finalizing Your order. We will then ask Amazon to arrange the payment.
§ 11 Payment Conditions
11.1 For Consumers, we reserve the ownership rights of the goods until full payment of the purchase price. If You are Contractor, we reserve the ownership rights of the goods until all outstanding claims arising from the business relationship with the Customer are settled. Those security interests can be assigned to third parties.
11.2 You only have a right to offset if Your counterclaims have been recognized by us or are undisputed. This will not apply to so-called “synallagmatic claims” (= claims based on the same contractual relationship and legally linked with each other). Furthermore, You only shall have a right of retention if Your claim is based on the same contractual relationship.
11.3 The purchase price will be subject to interest as defined by applicable law for Consumers and Contractors.
§ 12 Warranty
12.1 If You are a Consumer, the statutory provisions shall apply with respect to warranty. In any event, the specific legal provisions for the delivery of raw goods to a Consumer (supplier's recourse according Art. 478 of the German Civil Code) shall remain unaffected.
12.2 If You make Your order as a Contractor, the following shall apply:
12.2.1 The Customer has to check the goods right after delivery if this is common in the ordinary course of business. If the Customer discovers a defect, we must be immediately notified. If the customer does not make an announcement, the goods are considered accepted, except for defects which could not be detected during the inspection. If such deficiencies show up later, then the Customer must report this immediately after discovery; otherwise the goods or services will be considered accepted despite those deficiencies. The provisions of Art. 377 of the German Commercial Code shall remain unaffected. Even in the event of recourse by the Contractor according to Art. 478 of the German Civil Code, the Customer shall still be obliged to inspect the goods. If he fails to inform us about the defect claimed by his buyer, the goods shall be deemed approved despite of this defect.
12.2.2 In the event of a defect, we are authorized to define the type of subsequent fulfillment, taking the kind of defect and the legitimate interests of the Customer into account. Under these contracts, subsequent fulfillment shall be regarded as failed with completing the third unsuccessful attempt.
12.2.3 If there is a defect which needs subsequent fulfillment we are liable for the necessary expenses, including but not limited to transport, movement, work and material costs, to the extent that they do not increase due to a shipment of the goods to a place other than the location of the Customer's registered offices or trading subsidiary. This section and section 12.2.2 will not apply in the event of recourse in accordance with § 478 German Civil Code.
12.2.4 The Customer's claims for defects, including but not limited to damage claims will expire within one year after receipt of goods. This shall not apply in the event of recourse pursuant to Art. 478 of the German Civil Code as well as in the event of Art. 438 para. 1 No. 2 of the German Civil Code and Art. 634a para. 1 No. 2 of the German Civil Code. Moreover, it will not apply to claims for damages alleging fatal or bodily injury or damage to health, or grossly negligent or deliberate breach of a duty by us or our agents and for all cases covered by Art. 444 German Civil Code.
§ 13 Limitation of Liability
13.1 We shall be liable for intent or gross negligence in line with applicable law. In the event of slight negligence, we shall only be liable if we are in breach of a material duty under this agreement. Material duties under this agreement shall cover any duties which need to be rendered to the other party pursuant to the agreement’s aim or which enable the proper performance of this agreement and where the other party may trust in the compliance of such obligations.
13.2 In case of slight negligence we limit our liability to the typical and foreseeable damages when entering into this contract. The liability in case a person’s life, health or body is affected and a strict liability as foreseen by law – including but not limited to the liability pursuant to the German Act on Product Liability as well as the liability for guarantee shall remain unaffected by the provisions above
13.3 This limitation of liability shall also apply to A⁴Cosmetics’ staff, legal representatives and assistants. They further cover all legal claims (including but not limited to tort) and contractual claims resulting from the use of this website and from this agreement.
13.4 No reversing the burden of proof shall take place by the afore-mentioned provisions.
§ 14 Customer Service and Newsletter
14.1 Please contact us if You have any questions, concerns or complaints. You can reach us Monday to Thursday between 09.00 a.m. and 05.30 p.m. and Friday between 09.00 a.m. and 04.00 p.m. by phone + 49 89 33 03 5656 or by e-mail at onlineshop@a4cosmetics.de.
14.2 Any consultation services and information are provided without commitment and without costs. Errors and changes are excepted.
14.3 In our Shop You have the possibility to register for our newsletter. By entering Your e-mail address and clicking on the "Subscribe" link, You are submitting a binding request. Afterwards You will receive an e-mail with an offer to receive the newsletter. By clicking on the link contained herein ("Please click here to confirm Your subscription") to verify Your e-mail address, You accept the offer and the newsletter subscription is completed. You can cancel Your newsletter subscription at any time with effect for the future.
§ 15 Applicable Law, Place of Jurisdiction
15.1 The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies in exclusion of UN buying law.
15.2 As for Consumers this choice of law does not have any impact on the mandatory provisions of the country’s law where the Customer is resident.
15.3 If the customer is a merchant, Munich is agreed as the place of jurisdiction.
§ 16 Information about extra-judicial settlement of conflicts for Consumers
The EU Commission's platform for online dispute resolution can be accessed via the following link: https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/
A⁴Cosmetics is not willing or under duty to participate in dispute resolution proceedings with consumers before a conciliation body. However, it will use its best efforts to immediately resolve a dispute and thus avoid any legal action.
§ 17 Miscellaneous
17.1 The contract is available to You in German and in English.
17.2 If one or more provisions of these GTC come out to be invalid, the remaining contract shall stay valid. Where any provisions are invalid, the statutory provisions will apply.
Last updated 06/02/2023