Terms of service

These T&Cs govern the publisher's contractual relationships with corporate customers. Webshop www.akres-publishing.com is the official website of the publisher: AKRES Publishing e. K., Remscheider Str. 45, 42369 Wuppertal, Germany.

Our terms and conditions for the book trade can be found here.

1) Scope

(1) Our General Terms and Conditions (GTC) apply exclusively in the version available online at the time of ordering. General terms and conditions of the entrepreneurially active customer, which he regularly uses as the basis for his purchase, are hereby expressly contradicted. This also applies if we deliver without reservation in the knowledge of other terms and conditions. The delivery takes place solely on the basis of our terms and conditions, to which the customer agrees by way of conclusion of the contract. You can print these terms and conditions at your convenience or save them in a reproducible form.

(2) The publisher AKRES Publishing e. K. is hereinafter referred to as "we" or "us", the contractual partner as "customer".

2) Conclusion of contract

(1) The presentation of our publishing offer on the Internet does not constitute an offer in the legal sense, nor do other publications and advertising media in which the customer is merely invited to submit an offer.

(2) As soon as the customer orders from us by telephone, letter or in any other way without personal contact (i.e. in particular also on the Internet), an offer is made by the customer, whereby the customer submits a binding purchase offer in the case of a purchase via the Internet by clicking on "Send order". This is accepted by us by verbal acceptance on the telephone, in writing or in text form or by sending the ordered goods, whereby an acceptance period of two weeks within the meaning of § 148 BGB is deemed to have been agreed for the offer.

3) Advance payment, delivery, prices / shipping costs and transfer of risk

(1) In individual cases, we reserve the right to demand an advance payment of 100% of the order value from customers who are entrepreneurs. In such a case, the order will only be processed after receipt of payment. This applies in particular to customers for whom outstanding invoices are already in the dunning process at the time of receipt of the order, but also to business customers with whom we do not yet have a business relationship at the time of the order in question.

(2) Acceptance is subject to our timely self-delivery, provided that we have concluded a specific hedging transaction with a third party and this third party has not delivered the goods to us. We undertake to make a serious effort to secure and to conclude the hedging transaction as far as this is objectively possible. In such a case, we undertake to inform the customer immediately of the unavailability and to immediately reimburse any consideration provided by the customer.

(3) Delivery shall be made at the price applicable on the day of delivery. Deviations from the "approximate prices" stated in the order confirmation are possible. All prices include VAT.

(4) Information about the expected delivery time is non-binding, unless the delivery date has been bindingly promised in individual cases. Partial deliveries are permitted.

(5) The risk of accidental destruction or damage as well as the risk of price and performance shall pass to the customer at the earlier point in time at which the goods are delivered or the ownership of the goods has been transferred to the customer. The statutory transfer of risk due to default of acceptance by the customer remains unaffected. We do not insure the goods against damage in transit. As soon as the risk has passed in this sense, we undertake to assign to the customer all claims that we are entitled to against the carrier, the insurer or a third party acting in tort due to damage or other deterioration of the goods.

(6) The prices of our book products are legally bound in Germany within the meaning of the provisions of the Act on the Price Maintenance of Books (Book Price Fixing Act - BuchPrG of 2 September 2002, with subsequent amending laws). The customer, who is a reseller, undertakes to comply with the final prices set by us in accordance with § 5 BuchPrG in accordance with § 3 BuchPrG. The valid sales prices as well as price changes are displayed in the VLB reference database.

4) Due date, payment and default

(1) We only accept the payment methods displayed to the customer during the ordering process. Payments from abroad must be made to Wuppertal free of charge. In the case of deliveries abroad, the customer is responsible for any additional taxes, customs duties or import fees that may be incurred. The purchase price as well as any costs and fees incurred in accordance with these GTC shall be due without deduction of cash discount as soon as the risk has been transferred in accordance with § 3. The due date for payment occurs without any further preconditions. In the case of an advance payment required by us in accordance with § 3, the due date for the advance payment shall occur upon receipt by the customer of the request for advance performance.

(2) Default: Claims for payment become due upon delivery of the goods. If the conditions for default are met, an interest rate of 5 percentage points above the base rate shall apply to claims for remuneration. This does not preclude the assertion of further damage caused by delay.

(3) The customer may incur further costs if he does not comply with the first reminder within the set period. The customer may incur further costs if he does not pay the amount owed within the set period after receiving the first reminder. As soon as the default occurs, reminder fees will be charged for the second reminder in addition to the invoice amount and default interest. These amount to 4.00 euros per further reminder.

(4) The customer may request us to deliver again three weeks after exceeding an agreed delivery date or a non-binding delivery period. Only upon receipt of the request shall we be in default at the earliest, deviating from § 286 BGB. If the customer is entitled to compensation for damage caused by delay, this shall be limited to a maximum of 5% of the agreed purchase price in the event of slight negligence on our part. This limitation of liability does not apply to the claims for damages referred to in § 5 paragraph 4.

5) Warranty, Limitation of Liability

(1) We shall be liable for defects in accordance with the statutory provisions during a warranty period of 24 months from delivery of the goods, provided that the defects are present at the time of delivery of the goods and this can be proven by the customer according to the statutory distribution of the burden of proof. The provision of § 476 BGB expressly does not apply. In this respect, we have the right to vote within the meaning of § 439 (1) BGB in deviation from the statutory provisions. In deviation from § 440 BGB, subsequent performance shall only be deemed to have failed if three attempts at subsequent performance have not led to performance in accordance with the contract. If the customer wishes to withdraw from the contract and/or demand damages instead of performance, he must give us a reasonable grace period for delivery after a reminder within the meaning of § 4 paragraph 3.

(2) The customer must inspect the goods immediately after delivery by the carrier, insofar as this is feasible in the ordinary course of business and, if a defect becomes apparent, must notify us immediately. If the customer fails to do so, the goods shall be deemed to have been approved, unless the defect was not apparent during the inspection. If such a defect is subsequently discovered, the report must be made immediately after discovery; otherwise, the goods shall also be deemed to have been approved in view of this defect.

(3) We are not liable for the fact that the goods comply with the legal requirements that apply outside the Federal Republic of Germany. Irrespective of the legal requirements applicable within the Federal Republic of Germany, the delivered goods comply with the respective sales contract concluded between the parties, provided that they comply with the legal requirements applicable at the customer's place of business, provided that they do not impair the normal use of the goods at that location.

(4) Our liability for damages due to simple negligence is excluded. In the event of breaches of duty caused by simple negligence, we assume no liability for atypical consequential damages that are unrelated to the risk inherent in the contract. The exclusion of liability agreed herein generally does not apply if claims for damages by the customer are based on the culpable breach of an essential contractual obligation (cardinal obligation), an intentional or grossly negligent breach of contract by us or one of our vicarious agents or on the absence of an agreed quality of the object of purchase.

(5) Excluded from the limitation of liability are also damages resulting from injury to life, limb or health that are based on our negligent breach of duty or an intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty by one of our legal representatives or one of our vicarious agents.

6) Special provisions for the purchase of products in digital form

(1) If you purchase products in digital form, i.e. if there is at least one item in your shopping cart that you purchase in digital form (i.e. as a file to be downloaded), the following terms and conditions apply.

(2) You will receive eBooks in widely used PDF format as well as in ePub format. You can either get a program for reading these formats on the Internet or buy it from a computer store. There are no technical limitations when printing or copying from the document.

(3) Disclosure of the file or parts thereof to third parties is not permitted. In addition, no DRM (Digital Rights Management) is used, a digital watermark can be added. You will receive access to the file(s) immediately after completing the order and payment process and can download it in your customer account.

7) Retention of title

(1) We reserve title to the delivered goods until all our outstanding claims and other claims against the customer arising from the business relationship between us and the customer have been paid or fulfilled.

(2) The goods subject to retention of title may neither be pledged nor transferred as security without our consent. The business customer may resell our delivery in accordance with bookselling practice, but hereby assigns all claims arising from this resale to us in advance.

8) Assignment, set-off and retention

(1) Due to the special features of the contractual relationship with a publisher, assignments of the rights acquired under the contracts by the customer are invalid without our prior written consent (text form is sufficient). In cases in which the statutory provisions exclude a prohibition of assignment, we shall be released from our obligations despite the effective assignment by performance to the customer.

(2) Claims of the customer can only be offset against our claims if the claims of the customer to be offset are either legally established, ready for a decision in the sense of a court decision or undisputed. In all other respects, set-off is excluded.

(3) The customer's statutory rights of retention are excluded, unless we have seriously violated our contractual obligations to deliver and transfer ownership of the goods despite a written reminder by the customer and have not remedied this violation within a reasonable time.

9) Rights to Content

(1) All content and texts published in our products, in particular layouts, designs, images, illustrations and other information (hereinafter collectively referred to as "content") are the property of us or the respective rights holder and are subject to copyright and, if applicable, other legal provisions for the protection of intellectual property. Subject to mandatory statutory provisions, it is therefore not permitted to reproduce, distribute, publish, transmit, modify or edit, store, transmit, create derivative works from this content, in whole or in part, or to allow third parties to use the content. You may not use the Content to publish or distribute advertising or other promotional materials or to induce third parties to use or use certain goods or services without our permission. It is also prohibited to use the content or parts thereof for commercial purposes without our consent, regardless of the kind, in particular to resell, imitate, reproduce or distribute them. The use of the content for the purpose of unlawful activities is also not permitted.

10) Law and Jurisdiction, Final Provisions

(1) All contracts concluded between us and the customer are subject to German law, including private international law, but to the exclusion of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.

(2) All disputes relating to the contracts concluded between us and the customer shall be settled before the competent courts at the registered office of our company in Wuppertal. This jurisdiction agreement is exclusive. The place of fulfilment is also in Wuppertal.

(3) The Parties agree that each of the agreements concluded between them may be amended or adapted only by written agreement of the Parties. This written form clause also applies to the waiver of this written form clause itself and the parties expressly waive their contractual freedom with regard to the oral cancellation of this written form clause.

(4) If several persons are parties to the contract on the part of the customer, they irrevocably authorize each other to receive or make all declarations with effect from the respective contractual relationship, in particular the submission and receipt of deadlines, terminations, reminders, etc. The customer is aware that in individual cases we commission third parties to protect our legal interests. For the submission of unilateral declarations, the parties therefore agree, in deviation from § 174 BGB, that no original power of attorney is required for the submission of unilateral declarations by third parties, but a photocopy of the power of attorney (including pdf and fax) is sufficient.

Last updated on 01.10.2022.