General Terms and Conditions for Sellers on machinery-market.eu

by GSK – TechTrade (owner Uwe Schrenk, hereinafter referred to as the “Operator”)

Preamble

(1) These General Terms and Conditions for Sellers (hereinafter “Seller T&Cs”) supplement the “General Terms and Conditions for the Use of the machinery-market.eu Platform” (hereinafter “Platform Terms and Conditions”) and govern the legal relationship between the Operator and Sellers who offer machinery or comparable capital goods via the platform.

(2) In the event of any conflict between the Platform T&Cs and these Seller T&Cs, the provisions of these Seller T&Cs shall take precedence insofar as they specifically concern the relationship with the Seller.

(3) The Seller’s Terms and Conditions become part of the contract upon initial registration as a seller and apply to all subsequent listings and use of the platform.

§ 1 Who may become a seller

(1) Only traders within the meaning of § 14 of the German Civil Code (BGB), legal entities under public law or special funds under public law acting in the course of their commercial, professional or official activities may become sellers. Consumers within the meaning of § 13 of the German Civil Code (BGB) are excluded from becoming sellers.

(2) The operator reserves the right to request appropriate supporting documents (in particular an extract from the commercial register, business registration and VAT registration number) as part of the registration process.

(3) Registration as a seller is subject to acceptance of these Seller Terms and Conditions, the Platform Terms and Conditions, the Privacy Policy and any applicable marketplace rules.

§ 2 Conclusion of Contract, Tariffs and Remuneration

(1) By selecting a tariff or service package and subsequently confirming this during the registration process, the seller makes a binding offer to conclude a seller contract with the operator. The contract is concluded as soon as the Operator activates the account or confirms the conclusion of the contract in writing.

(2) The current tariffs, scope of services, commissions and additional fees are set out in the price list valid at the time the contract is concluded, which is available in the seller’s area of the platform.

(3) The seller pays a fixed fee for the use of the platform in accordance with the selected tariff (subscription). Depending on the chosen payment method, the fee is payable monthly or annually in advance; in the case of annual payment, the discount stated in the price list applies. The operator does not charge any performance-related commissions, sales fees or enquiry fees. Only additional services that the seller expressly books (e.g. top listings in excess of the tariff allowance or SEO packages) are charged separately, in each case in accordance with the price list displayed at the time of booking.

(4) Where commissions or performance-based fees have been agreed, the seller is obliged to notify the operator in writing of the conclusion and terms of any transaction brokered via the platform without delay, and at the latest within 14 days of the conclusion of the contract with the buyer. The Operator is entitled, in cases of justified suspicion, to request information and access to the documents required for the calculation of the commission.

(5) Unless otherwise stated, all prices are quoted in euros. Where the Operator is subject to the small business scheme, invoices shall be issued without showing VAT.

(6) Invoices are generally issued electronically. Unless otherwise agreed, they are due for payment without deduction within ten days of receipt. In the event of late payment, the operator is entitled to charge interest on arrears at the statutory rate (currently nine percentage points above the base rate for transactions with businesses) as well as a flat-rate late payment fee in accordance with Section 288(5) of the German Civil Code (BGB), and to block the seller’s account in whole or in part until outstanding claims have been settled in full.

§ 3 Obligations when placing advertisements

3.1 Duty of truthfulness and completeness

(1) The seller is obliged to provide only truthful, complete, up-to-date and non-misleading information in their advertisements. This applies in particular to:

• manufacturer, type/model designation and serial number (where specified);
• Year of manufacture, operating hours, mileage or comparable wear and tear indicators;
• Technical specifications, standard and optional equipment;
• Condition of the machine (e.g. ‘new’, ‘used’, ‘fully reconditioned’), visible defects, repair history;
• Location of the machine, availability, estimated delivery time;
• Price and basis for pricing (e.g. ‘net plus VAT’, ‘on request’, ‘ex works’, ‘delivered free to door’);
• Scope of delivery and, where applicable, warranty or guarantee details.

(2) In the case of machinery subject to CE marking requirements or similar conformity requirements, the seller is responsible for compliance with the applicable regulations (in particular the Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 or the previous Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC) and for providing the necessary documentation.

3.2 Images, media and third-party rights

(1) As a general rule, only original photographs of the machine being offered may be used. Placeholder images (‘photo to follow’), generic catalogue images without a licence to use them, or company logos alone in place of the machine are not permitted.

(2) Images, videos and other media must not contain any telephone or fax numbers, email addresses, domain names, QR codes or other direct contact details that could circumvent the platform, unless expressly permitted by the operator.

(3) The seller warrants that they are the owner of all rights to the images and media uploaded, or hold the relevant rights of use, and that no third-party rights (in particular copyright, trade mark, personality, competition or data protection rights) are infringed.

3.3 Prohibited content

The following content is prohibited in listings and in communication with buyers:

• Content that contravenes applicable law, public policy or the rights of third parties;
• Machinery whose sale, export or recommissioning is prohibited or subject to authorisation under the applicable regulations, where the necessary authorisations have not been obtained;
• Machinery lacking the legally required safety equipment, unless this fact is clearly indicated in the advertisement;
• Multiple listings for the same machine, misuse of categories, and the manipulation of keywords to influence rankings;
• unrealistic ‘bait prices’ (e.g. 1-euro listings with no genuine intention to sell);
• Requests to contact sellers outside the platform with the sole aim of circumventing the platform;
• advertising of services that compete with the platform.

3.4 The seller’s own legal notice and terms and conditions

(1) The seller is obliged to include a complete legal notice in accordance with Section 5 of the German Digital Services Act (DDG) as well as all mandatory information required under the applicable regulations in their seller profile.

(2) The seller is entitled and – where required by law – obliged to use their own general terms and conditions for their sales contracts with buyers. These terms and conditions of the seller apply directly between the seller and the buyer; the operator is not involved in them and does not review their content.

(3) The seller bears sole responsibility for ensuring that their own General Terms and Conditions, mandatory information and contract conclusion processes comply with the applicable regulations.

§ 4 Conclusion of Contracts with Buyers, Warranty and Guarantee

(1) Contracts of sale for the machinery offered on the platform are concluded exclusively between the seller and the respective buyer. The operator is not involved in this.

(2) The obligations arising from the contract of sale (in particular delivery, handover, instruction, payment and transfer of ownership), as well as the warranty towards the buyer, rest solely with the seller. The seller may offer any warranty in their own name in the advertisement or in the contract of sale.

(3) The seller is obliged to respond to enquiries from buyers within a reasonable period – as a rule, within two working days – in a factual and comprehensive manner, and to deactivate or delete listings immediately after the machine has been sold.

(4) Where the seller offers machinery that does not belong to them (e.g. under a brokerage agreement), they are obliged, upon request, to provide the operator with proof of their authority to act as an agent or intermediary.

§ 5 Reviews and Communication

(1) Where the platform offers a review system, the seller is obliged not to manipulate it; in particular, they must not submit, arrange for the submission of, or obtain in return for payment any reviews containing inaccurate information.

(2) Communication with buyers must be objective and professional. Offensive, discriminatory, misleading or harassing messages are prohibited.

(3) No unsolicited advertising messages, newsletters or other mailings may be sent via the platform’s messaging system or using contact details obtained from the platform. The initiation of business transactions not related to the specific machine in question is only permitted with the buyer’s separate consent.

(4) The operator is technically capable of accessing all internal platform messages between sellers and buyers. No systematic or automated analysis of the content takes place. The operator accesses such messages only on an ad hoc basis, in particular to handle complaints, resolve disputes, prevent misuse and fulfil legal obligations (in particular those arising from the Digital Services Act, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065). The seller hereby gives their consent. Further details are set out in the platform’s privacy policy.

(5) In the event of repeated or serious breaches of paragraphs 1 to 3, the operator is entitled to suspend the seller’s account temporarily or permanently, to remove individual listings and/or to terminate the seller’s contract without notice. Clause 6 of these General Terms and Conditions applies mutatis mutandis.

§ 6 Suspension, Removal and Extraordinary Termination

(1) The operator is entitled to temporarily suspend or permanently delete individual listings, content or the seller’s account if there is a breach of these Seller Terms and Conditions, the Platform Terms and Conditions, the Marketplace Rules or statutory provisions, or if the security of the platform or third parties so requires. Section 7 of the Platform Terms and Conditions applies mutatis mutandis.

(2) The Operator is entitled to terminate the Seller Agreement without notice for good cause if the Seller seriously breaches, or repeatedly breaches despite a warning, essential obligations, has provided false information during registration, is in substantial arrears with payment obligations, or misuses the platform.

(3) In the event of a justified extraordinary termination by the operator, the seller shall have no claim to a refund of fees already paid, insofar as this is reasonable in the circumstances of the individual case.

(4) If the Operator restricts the visibility of listings, suspends or removes listings or temporarily suspends the seller account, it informs the Seller of the reasons by e-mail no later than when the measure takes effect. The statement of reasons names the specific facts or circumstances and the underlying rule of these Terms or of the law.

(5) Ordinary termination of the entire seller contract by the Operator is notified to the Seller by e-mail, with reasons, at least 30 days before it takes effect; shorter periods in § 7 do not apply in this respect.

(6) Paragraph 5 does not apply if the Operator is obliged by law or by an authority to terminate, if there is good cause under paragraph 2 or if the Seller has repeatedly breached these Terms; in that case the Seller receives the reasons without undue delay. Reasons are only withheld where legal obligations or official orders prevent them from being given.

(7) The Seller may have any measure reviewed in the complaints procedure (section “Complaints, mediation and access to data”). If it proves unjustified, the Operator lifts it without undue delay.

§ 7 Term and ordinary termination

(1) The Seller Agreement is concluded for an indefinite period, unless a tariff with a specific minimum term has been expressly selected.

(2) The minimum term is set out in the price list for the selected tariff (currently 12 months; 18 months for the Partner tariff). Tariffs without a minimum term may be terminated by either party in writing, subject to 30 days’ notice to the end of a billing period.

(3) In the case of tariffs with a minimum term, the contract shall be extended by the originally agreed term unless it is terminated in writing at least 30 days before expiry, unless otherwise agreed.

(4) The right to terminate the contract extraordinarily for good cause remains unaffected.

(5) Notice of termination may be given in writing (e.g. by email to the contact address specified on the platform or via the termination function in the seller’s area, where available).

§ 8 Taxes, Compliance and Sanctions

(1) The Seller is solely responsible for the correct tax treatment of transactions initiated and processed via the Platform. This applies in particular to value added tax, any import and export transactions, and compliance with record-keeping and reporting obligations.

(2) The Seller is obliged to comply with all applicable export control, sanctions and embargo regulations. The Seller warrants that the machinery offered by them is not subject to any restrictions prohibiting sale to the respective potential buyers or to the respective countries of destination.

(3) Insofar as the seller requires licences, end-user declarations or comparable documents in respect of certain buyer groups, countries of destination or machinery, the seller shall be solely responsible for obtaining them.

§ 9 Data Protection

(1) The operator shall process the Seller’s personal data (in particular master data, registration and usage data, and billing data) in accordance with the platform’s privacy policy.

(2) Where the seller receives personal data from buyers or prospective buyers in the course of using the platform, the seller is responsible, as a data controller within the meaning of Article 4(7) of the GDPR, for processing this data in compliance with data protection regulations. In particular, the seller is obliged to use this data exclusively for the purposes of initiating or carrying out transactions with the respective buyer.

§ 10 Liability and Indemnity

(1) With regard to the operator’s liability, § 10 of the Platform Terms and Conditions applies mutatis mutandis.

(2) The seller shall indemnify the operator against all claims by third parties (including reasonable legal defence costs) which they may assert against the Operator in connection with the content posted by the Seller, the machinery offered by the Seller, or any other breach of these Seller’s Terms and Conditions or statutory provisions.

(3) In the event that the Operator is held liable as a result of a breach by the Seller (e.g. through formal warnings, interim injunctions or claims for damages by third parties), the Operator shall be entitled to compensation for any losses and expenses incurred.

§ 11 Final Provisions

(1) The contractual relationship between the Operator and the Seller shall be governed exclusively by the law of the Federal Republic of Germany, to the exclusion of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).

(2) The exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising out of or in connection with the Seller’s contract shall be the Operator’s registered office, provided that the Seller is a trader, a legal person under public law or a special fund under public law. The Operator is also entitled to bring proceedings against the Seller at the Seller’s general place of jurisdiction.

(3) In all other respects, the final provisions of the Platform Terms and Conditions (in particular Sections 13 and 14) shall apply mutatis mutandis.

§ Direct contact channels (WhatsApp, Telegram, email)

(1) The seller may voluntarily provide additional direct contact channels in their vendor profile under ‘Contact details’:

• WhatsApp telephone number
• Telegram username
• Enquiry email address (in addition to the primary account email)

Once entered, this information will be publicly displayed on all of the seller’s product pages and can be clicked directly.

(2) Obligations of the seller:

a) The seller may only enter their own business contact details or those they are legally authorised to use. The inclusion of third parties’ private telephone numbers or external email addresses is prohibited.

b) The seller is solely responsible for processing purchase enquiries received via these channels in accordance with the GDPR and telecommunications legislation. In particular, upon initial contact, the seller must verify whether the enquirer has given, or whether consent is required for, the further processing of the enquiry.

c) The seller bears sole responsibility for being contactable via the specified channels during reasonable business hours and for responding to enquiries in a timely manner.

d) Should the authorisation to use a channel cease to apply (e.g. change of telephone number, closure of the Telegram account), the seller must immediately clear or update the relevant fields in the vendor profile.

(3) Indemnification: The seller shall indemnify the operator (GSK – TechTrade) against all claims by third parties arising from contact information entered or used by the seller in breach of the law.

(4) Click tracking: For statistical purposes, the platform operator records the vendor ID, product ID, channel, timestamp and an anonymised IP hash each time a direct contact button is clicked. The seller may obtain these aggregated click figures on request.

(5) Deactivation: The seller may deactivate any individual direct contact channel at any time by clearing the relevant field in their vendor profile. The direct contact buttons will then no longer be displayed on any of this seller’s product pages.

§ Rights of use to content and advertising use

(1) The Seller grants the Operator (GSK – TechTrade) a simple (non-exclusive), royalty-free and territorially unrestricted right of use in all content that the Seller posts or has imported or synchronised from its website – in particular images, videos, listing texts, technical data, company name, logo and profile description. The right is limited to the term of the seller contract; paragraph 4 remains unaffected.

(2) The right of use covers:

• display on machinery-market.eu, including translation into the languages of the platform;
• advertising for the platform and for the Seller’s listings, in particular in search engines and product search services (e.g. Google Shopping via Google Merchant Center, Google Ads), in social networks (e.g. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube including Shorts and Reels, LinkedIn), in the blog and in newsletters of the platform;
• the editing required for this, e.g. cropping and format adjustment, combining into image sequences or short videos, subtitles, text overlays, background music, translation and marking with the platform logo – without distorting the meaning of the content;
• the right to grant the operators of the services mentioned (e.g. Google, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn) the rights required for publication under their terms.

(3) Advertising usually names or links to the listing or the Seller. There is no entitlement to advertising, to a particular presentation or to being named as the source.

(4) After the end of the contract or deletion of a listing, the Operator no longer uses the content concerned for new advertising; product feeds and ads are cleaned up with the next update. Posts already published (e.g. social media posts, videos, blog articles, newsletters already sent) may remain available for a run-out period of no more than 12 months.

(5) The Seller may object at any time, without giving reasons, to the use of its content in social networks – in full or for individual listings – informally by e-mail to info@machinery-market.eu. The Operator will then create no new posts and, on request, remove existing posts within a reasonable period. Display on the platform and in search engines and product search services is part of the platform service.

(6) The Seller warrants that it holds all rights required for the use under paragraphs 1 and 2 – including advertising use and the consent of any persons depicted. For third-party rights and indemnification, the following section “Image rights, texts and content of the Seller” applies.

§ Image rights, texts and content of the Seller — Guarantee, indemnity and right of blocking

(1) Guarantee of ownership and rights of use. The Seller guarantees that, in respect of all images, videos, graphics, technical data sheets, descriptive texts and other content, or holds all necessary rights of use, exploitation and editing, including the right to make them publicly available on the internet, to distribute them worldwide, to translate them automatically, and to pass them on to partner and distribution portals. The use of manufacturers’ catalogue images, press photographs, photographs of competitors, stock photographs without the appropriate licence, and images from the internet is expressly prohibited; such use is only permitted with the written authorisation of the respective rights holder, which the Seller must provide upon the Operator’s first request.

(2) Notice regarding the risk of a cease-and-desist letter. The seller is expressly advised that the unauthorised uploading of copyright-protected images regularly triggers claims for damages, injunctions and costs of a cease-and-desist letter per image amounting to four- to five-figure sums (the amount in dispute is generally EUR 6,000 per photograph, according to established case law of the highest courts). Images from manufacturers and professional photographers are particularly problematic, as courts apply the MFM fee scale in such cases.

(3) Full indemnity. The seller shall indemnify the operator against all claims by third parties — of whatever nature and on whatever legal grounds (in particular under Sections 97, 97a of the German Copyright Act (UrhG), Sections 14, 15 of the German Trade Marks Act (MarkenG), Sections 823 et seq. of the German Civil Code (BGB), the Unfair Competition Act (UWG), KUG/GDPR image rights) — arising from the unlawfulness, falsity or infringing nature of their content. The indemnity covers all costs incurred by the operator as a result, in particular:

1. the opposing party’s costs of formal notices and legal fees;
2. the operator’s own legal defence costs at the statutory rate, but at least 1.3 times the standard fee based on the value of the matter in dispute as determined in each case;
3. compensation payable to rights holders;
4. court, expert and enforcement costs;
5. a lump-sum compensation of EUR 250.00 per piece of content subject to a warning notice to cover the operator’s internal processing and communication costs; the seller reserves the right to prove that no damage was incurred or that the amount of damage was significantly lower.

Any further claims for damages by the operator remain unaffected.

(4) Immediate removal and blocking. The Operator is entitled to remove or block content that has been complained about or is suspicious without undue delay as soon as it becomes aware of specific indications of a possible infringement. Prior consultation with the Seller is not required; the Operator communicates the reasons in accordance with § 6 (4). In this case there is no entitlement to a refund of fees paid.

(5) Right of extraordinary termination. The operator is entitled to terminate the contractual relationship with the seller without notice for good cause, in particular if (a) the seller repeatedly posts content that infringes rights despite having been notified, (b) a justified warning notice is issued against the Operator due to content published by the Seller on the platform, or (c) the Seller fails to fulfil, or fails to fulfil in a timely manner, their indemnification obligations under paragraph (3). This does not affect the right to claim damages; no refund will be made of subscription fees already paid.

§ Order of listings (ranking)

(1) Listings in categories and search results are sorted by default by “Newest first”. The decisive factor is the date of posting or – after a bump (paragraph 3) – the time of the last bump. Buyers can sort by popularity instead; the basis is then how often a listing has been viewed. Filters (e.g. category, manufacturer, condition) narrow down the results but do not change the order. Within the selected sorting, only the respective sorting criterion counts.

(2) TOP ads (influence against payment): Sellers can book a TOP ad for individual listings against payment or within the quota of their package. It runs for 7 days and is marked “TOP”. At the top of every results page of its category, the parent categories and matching search results, two slots are currently reserved for TOP ads, regardless of the sorting. If more TOP ads are active than slots are available, the slots are filled at random with equal chance on every page view; the visibility of an individual TOP ad therefore decreases with the number of TOP ads active at the same time. At most one TOP ad per Seller appears in these slots per page. The TOP ad also appears, marked, at its regular position, but not twice on the same page.

(3) Bumping: Sellers can bump a listing – individually or automatically once a day for 7 days, at most once every 24 hours. The listing is then placed under “Newest first” as if it had been posted at that time; the displayed posting date does not change. Bumping has no effect on sorting by popularity.

(4) How many TOP ads and bumps a package includes and what additional bookings cost is shown in the price overview in the seller area. There are no other ways to influence the order against payment.

§ Display of Google reviews

(1) The Operator may display the Google reviews of selected Sellers (overall rating, number and individual reviews from the Google Business Profile) collectively on the platform – e.g. in a review display on all pages – and output them as structured data for search engines. The data comes from Google; selection, filters and sorting are explained in the display. The Operator does not alter the reviews and gives no guarantee for their accuracy.

(2) The Operator decides which seller profiles are included; there is no entitlement to inclusion.

(3) The Seller may at any time, without giving reasons, request that the reviews of its company are not or no longer displayed – informally by e-mail to info@machinery-market.eu. The Operator then hides them without undue delay, at the latest within 7 days.

§ Amendments to these Seller T&Cs

(1) The Operator notifies the Seller of amendments to these Seller T&Cs and to the Platform Terms and Conditions applicable to Sellers by e-mail to the address stored in the account. The notification states the amended provisions and the date of entry into force. The Operator may additionally display material amendments in the seller area for confirmation.

(2) Amendments enter into force no earlier than 15 days after receipt of the notification. If they require extensive technical or commercial adjustments by the Seller, a longer, reasonable period applies. Amendments do not have retroactive effect.

(3) The Seller may terminate the seller contract until the amendments enter into force. The termination takes effect within 15 days of receipt of the notification unless a shorter period has been agreed. If the Seller does not terminate, the amendments apply from their entry into force; the notification points this out.

(4) The Seller may waive the period under paragraph 2 – by an express declaration in text form or by a clear affirmative action, such as posting new listings during the period. This does not apply where a longer period applies because of extensive adjustments.

(5) Amendments may enter into force without notice if the Operator is obliged to make them by law or by an authority, or if they are necessary to address an unforeseen and imminent danger (e.g. fraud, malware, spam, security or data protection breaches).

§ Complaints, mediation and access to data

(1) The Seller may submit complaints – in particular about technical problems, about measures under § 6 or about any other conduct of the Operator – free of charge by e-mail to info@machinery-market.eu. The Operator examines every complaint swiftly and in line with its importance and informs the Seller of the outcome in text form.

(2) For the out-of-court settlement of disputes, the Operator is prepared to agree on a mediator with the Seller in individual cases. Participation is voluntary; the right to go to court remains unaffected.

(3) In the seller area the Seller sees its listing and account data, the enquiries and messages addressed to it and the view and click figures of its listings (as totals). It receives personal data of buyers only insofar as they contact it. The Operator has access to all data stored on the platform and uses it to operate, secure and improve the platform. It does not pass on a Seller’s data to other Sellers, and to third parties only in accordance with the privacy policy and for advertising under the section “Rights of use to content and advertising use”. The Operator does not provide aggregated data about all Sellers.

(4) Access to the seller area ends when the contract ends. The Seller should back up any data it wishes to keep beforehand; on request made within 30 days of the end of the contract, the Operator will send an overview of its listings, where still available.

Date: 12 August 2026