General Terms and Conditions for all orders placed via the webshop https://shop.ditf.de of the Deutsche
Institute für Textil- und Faserforschung Denkendorf (DITF), a foundation under public law subject to the supervision of the Wirtschaftsministerium Baden-Württemberg.

Version 1.0 (April 2025)

§1 Applicability

(1) The terms and conditions set out hereinafter shall exclusively govern all orders which have been placed via  the webshop of DITF (https://shop.ditf.de). None of the buyer's terms and conditions which are either differing from or inconsistent with or supplementary to these terms and conditions shall become part of any respective agreement unless their applicability is expressly assented to by DITF in writing.

(2) The products offered in the DITF webshop are aimed equally at consumers and entrepreneurs, but in any case only at end customers. The buyer confirms this by registering or by placing an order in the webshop. For the purposes of these GTC, (i) a consumer is any natural person who concludes the contract for a purpose that cannot be attributed to its commercial or independent professional activity (Section 13 of the German Civil Code - BGB) and (ii) an entrepreneur is a natural or legal person or a partnership with legal capacity that acts in the exercise of its commercial or independent professional activity when concluding the contract (Section 14 (1) BGB)

§2 Order Process and Conclusion of Contract

(1)  The offers in the DITF webshop are non-binding.

(2) The buyer can select products in the webshop without obligation and collect them in a shopping cart using the “Add to cart” button. Within the shopping cart the product selection can be changed, e.g. deleted. The buyer can then proceed to complete the order process within the shopping cart by clicking the “Continue to checkout” button.

(3) The buyer makes a binding offer to purchase the relevant product by clicking the “Order with obligation to  pay” button. Before submitting the order, the buyer can change and view the data at any time and use the  browser function “back” to return to the shopping cart or cancel the order process altogether. Required information within the order process is marked with an asterisk (*). Input errors, e.g. failure to complete a field marked with an asterisk (*), are automatically indicated during the  ordering process.

(4) The DITF may accept the offer until the end of the third working day following the day of the offer.

(5) The DITF will send the buyer a confirmation of receipt of the offer by e-mail immediately after receipt of the offer, but this shall not yet constitute acceptance of the offer. In the confirmation, the buyer's order is listed again, which can be printed out using the “Print” function.

(6) The offer shall only be deemed accepted by the DITF as soon as the DITF declare acceptance to the buyer (by e-mail) or dispatch the goods. The purchase contract is only concluded upon acceptance by the DITF.

§3 Prices and Payment

(1) The prices stated in the DITF webshop include the statutory value added tax, but not shipping costs. Any shipping costs will be shown separately in the ordering process before the order is completed.

(2) Deliveries are only made against prepayment (bank transfer, credit card, PayPal), in each case against issue of an invoice.

(3) Delivery on account is possible from the second order by the buyer and can be selected as an additional payment option during the ordering process by entering the customer number. In this case, the invoice amount must be paid without deduction within 14 days of receipt of the invoice, stating the invoice number, to the account specified on the invoice.

(4) The buyer shall have no right of set-off or retention unless the counterclaim is undisputed or has been legally established.

§4 Delivery, Availability of Goods

(1) All delivery periods stated by the DITF in the order or otherwise agreed upon shall commence (a) if delivery against advance payment has been agreed upon, on the day of receipt of the full purchase price (including VAT and shipping costs) or (b) if payment by invoice has been agreed upon, on the day of conclusion of the purchase contract.

(2) Deadlines and dates specified by the DITF for the shipment of the goods are always only approximate and may therefore be exceeded by up to three working days. This shall not apply if a fixed shipping date has been agreed.

(3) The date of handover of the goods by the DITF to the shipping company shall be decisive for compliance with the shipping date.

(4) Digital products will be made available to the buyer via a link to the e-mail address provided in the order form. If payment is not made on time, the DITF are entitled to block access to the digital products until full payment has been received. The blocking does not release the buyer from the obligation to pay the purchase price.

(5) If an ordered product is not available at the time of the order, the DITF shall inform the buyer immediately of the expected delivery period. In the event of a delay in delivery of more than two weeks, the buyer shall be entitled to withdraw from the contract.

§5 Shipping, Transfer of Risk

(1) The DITF shall only be responsible for the timely and proper delivery of the goods to the transportation company. The DITF shall not be responsible for delays caused by the transportation company. A shipping time stated by the DITF is therefore non-binding.

(2) If the buyer is a consumer, the risk of accidental destruction, accidental damage or accidental loss of the delivered goods shall pass to the buyer at the time when the goods are delivered to the buyer or the buyer is in default of acceptance. In all other cases, the risk shall pass to the buyer upon delivery of the goods to the transportation company.  

§6 Retention of Title

The DITF reserve the title to the delivered goods until the purchase price (including VAT and shipping costs) has been paid in full.

§7 Warranty

(1) If the delivered goods have a material defect, the buyer may first demand that the DITF remedy the defect or deliver a defect-free item. If the buyer is an entrepreneur, the DITF are entitled to choose between rectification of the defect or delivery of a defect-free item, whereby this can only be done by notification in text form (e.g. e-mail) to the buyer within three working days after receipt of the notification of the defect. The DITF may refuse the type of subsequent performance chosen by the buyer if this is only possible at disproportionate cost.

(2) If the supplementary performance according to paragraph 1 fails or is unreasonable for the buyer or if the DITF refuse the supplementary performance, the buyer shall be entitled to withdraw from the contract, to reduce the purchase price or to claim damages or reimbursement of his futile expenses in accordance with the statutory provisions. In addition, the special provisions of Section 9 of these GTC shall apply to claims for damages by the buyer.

(3) The warranty period is two years from delivery if the buyer is a consumer, otherwise twelve months from delivery.

(4) The following applies only to entrepreneurs: The buyer must carefully inspect the goods immediately after delivery. The delivered goods shall be deemed approved by the buyer if a defect is not notified to the DITF (i) in the case of obvious defects within five working days after delivery or (ii) otherwise within five working days after discovery of the defect.

§8 Copyright, Software

(1) The buyer shall not be entitled to make copies of the products sold (including any software).

(2) Unless expressly agreed in writing, the DITF are under no obligation to disclose the source code of any software.

§9 Liability

(1) The DITF shall be liable in accordance with the statutory provisions if the buyer asserts claims for damages based on intent or gross negligence, including intent or gross negligence on the part of the DITF's representatives or vicarious agents. Insofar as the DITF are not accused of intentional breach of contract, the liability for damages shall be limited to the foreseeable, typically occurring damage.

(2) The DITF shall be liable in accordance with the statutory provisions if the DITF culpably violate a material contractual obligation; in this case, however, the liability for damages shall be limited to the foreseeable, typically occurring damage.

(3) Liability for culpable injury to life, limb or health or for guaranteed characteristics within the meaning of Section 444 BGB remains unaffected; this also applies to mandatory liability under the Product Liability Act.

(4) The DITF endeavor to guarantee access to digital products around the clock. However, temporary restrictions or interruptions cannot be ruled out for technical reasons such as maintenance work, system failures or other disruptions. Short-term restrictions or interruptions to availability of up to 24 hours are deemed reasonable and do not entitle the user to assert claims against the DITF.

§10 Data Protection

(1) The DITF are entitled to process and store the data relating to the respective contract to the extent necessary for the performance and execution of the contract and as long as the DITF are obliged to store such data due to statutory provisions.

(2) The DITF are not permitted to collect, transmit or otherwise process the buyer's personal data for purposes other than those specified in this Section 10.

§11 Miscellaneous

(1) Ancillary agreements, amendments and supplements must be made in writing.

(2) The place of performance for services of the DITF as well as for payments of the buyer shall be Denkendorf, Germany.

(3) The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply to the exclusion of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). If the buyer is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law, Denkendorf, Germany shall be the exclusive place of jurisdiction; in this case, however, the DITF shall be entitled to appeal to any court having jurisdiction under the law.

(4) The DITF are not willing and not obliged to participate in a dispute resolution procedure before a consumer arbitration board.

(5) Should one or more provisions be or become invalid in whole or in part, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions.