Terms of service

General Terms and Conditions (GTC) and Customer Information

Contracting Partner & Provider Identification:

SeoulMate GbR

Josef-Schiffer-Straße 28

40880 Ratingen

Email address: info(at)seoul-mate.de

Phone number: +49 1522 3550314

VAT identification number according to § 27a UStG: DE354507634

1) Scope and Definitions

1.1 These General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter "GTC") apply to all contracts concluded by a consumer or entrepreneur (hereinafter "Customer") with SeoulMate GbR (hereinafter "Seller") via the online shop under the domains seoul-mate.de and seoul-mate.eu. Deviating or conflicting terms of the Customer shall not be recognized unless the Seller expressly agrees to their validity in writing.

1.2 For contracts regarding the delivery of vouchers (gift vouchers as well as promotional vouchers), these GTC apply accordingly, unless expressly regulated otherwise.

1.3 A consumer within the meaning of these GTC is any natural person who enters into a legal transaction for purposes that can predominantly be attributed neither to their commercial nor their independent professional activity (§ 13 BGB).

1.4 An entrepreneur within the meaning of these GTC is a natural or legal person or a legally capable partnership that acts in the exercise of its commercial or independent professional activity when concluding a legal transaction (§ 14 BGB).

2) Conclusion of Contract and Ordering Process

2.1 The product descriptions contained in the Seller's online shop do not constitute binding offers on the part of the Seller, but rather serve to allow the Customer to submit a binding offer (invitatio ad offerendum).

2.2 The Customer can submit the offer via the online shopping cart system integrated into the Seller's online shop. In doing so, after entering their personal data and clicking the button that concludes the ordering process ("Buy" / "Order with obligation to pay"), the Customer submits a legally binding contract offer in relation to the goods contained in the shopping cart.

2.3 The Seller can accept the Customer's offer within five days by:

  • sending the Customer a written order confirmation or an order confirmation in text form (email), whereby the receipt of the order confirmation by the Customer is decisive, or

  • delivering the ordered goods to the Customer, whereby the receipt of the goods by the Customer is decisive, or

  • requesting payment from the Customer after they have placed their order (e.g., in the case of advance bank transfer).

The contract is concluded at the point in time at which one of the aforementioned alternatives occurs first. If the Seller does not accept the offer within the time limit, this shall be deemed a rejection, with the result that the Customer is no longer bound by their declaration of intent.

2.4 If a payment method is selected where the charge or payment processing takes place immediately (such as PayPal, Klarna, Sofortüberweisung, credit card), the Seller already declares acceptance of the Customer's offer at the point in time when the Customer clicks the button concluding the ordering process.

2.5 Order processing and communication between the Seller and the Customer take place via email. The Customer must ensure that they provide the correct information regarding email, shipping, and billing addresses in the order form. Furthermore, the Customer must ensure that they are technically able to receive the Seller's emails and that, for example, they are not filtered out by a spam filter.

2.6 The contract shall be concluded exclusively in the German language.

3) Special Provisions for Pre-Orders

3.1 Items that are clearly marked as "Vorbestellung" or "Pre-Order" in the online shop are not yet in the physical warehouse of the Seller at the time of sale, but are only requested from the manufacturer or distributors (usually in South Korea) based on the orders.

3.2 By completing an order containing pre-order items, the Customer makes an advance payment. The payment method chosen by the Customer will be charged immediately after conclusion of the contract in order to secure production or the firm reservation of the limited contingents abroad.

3.3 The release and expected delivery dates stated in the online shop are based on information provided by the South Korean record labels or distributors. The Seller points out that due to international transport, freight delays, and customs clearance, deviations and delays may occur in individual cases. The Seller will inform the Customer in the event of significant delays.

4) Right of Withdrawal and Premature Expiry for Media

4.1 Consumers are generally entitled to a statutory right of withdrawal. Further information on the right of withdrawal can be found in the Seller's separate cancellation policy.

4.2 Important grounds for exclusion: The right of withdrawal expires prematurely pursuant to § 312g para. 2 no. 6 BGB in the case of contracts for the delivery of audio or video recordings (e.g., music CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, limited editions with data carriers) in a sealed package if the seal (e.g., the protective plastic wrap, the manufacturer's seal, or the shrink wrap) has been removed or damaged after delivery.

4.3 Opened albums, where the outer protective film or seal has been removed by the Customer, are therefore excluded without exception from return due to dissatisfaction.

5) Prices, Shipping Costs, and Customs Conditions

5.1 The prices stated by the Seller are total prices and include the statutory German value-added tax (VAT) of 19%, unless otherwise stated in the product description. Additional delivery and shipping costs will be indicated separately in the respective product description as well as in the ordering process.

5.2 In the case of deliveries to countries outside the European Union (e.g., Switzerland, United Kingdom), further costs may arise in individual cases for which the Seller is not responsible and which are to be borne by the Customer. These include, for example, costs for the transfer of money by credit institutions (e.g., transfer fees, exchange rate fees) or import duties or taxes (e.g., customs duties, import VAT). These costs must be paid directly to the competent customs or tax authorities.

5.3 In the case of payment via advance payment / bank transfer, payment is due immediately unless otherwise agreed.

5.4 If the Customer chooses a payment option from PayPal, the transaction will be processed via the service provider PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg (hereinafter "PayPal"). The official PayPal Terms of Use apply, which can be accessed at https://www.paypal.com/de/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full. If the Customer does not have a PayPal account and uses the payment as a guest, the conditions for payments without a PayPal account apply, viewable at https://www.paypal.com/de/webapps/mpp/ua/privacywax-full.

5.5 When using payment methods provided via the "Shopify Payments" service, payment processing is handled by Stripe Payments Europe Ltd., 1 Grand Canal Street Lower, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin, Ireland (hereinafter "Stripe"). The specific payment methods via Shopify Payments are displayed in the online shop. Stripe reserves the right to involve other financial service providers to carry out the payments, for which separate terms and conditions may apply (the Customer will be informed of this if necessary). Supplementary details on the terms of "Shopify Payments" can be viewed at https://www.shopify.com/legal/terms-payments-de.

6) Delivery and Shipping Conditions; Combined Shipping

6.1 Goods are delivered by shipping to the delivery address specified by the Customer, unless otherwise agreed. In processing the transaction, the delivery address specified in the Seller's order processing is decisive.

6.2 Regulation on combined shipping (Pre-Order-Splitting): If an order contains both items that are immediately available (stock items) and one or more pre-order items (Vorbestellungen), the entire order will generally only be shipped when all items in the order are in stock at the Seller's warehouse (complete delivery). An automatic split into multiple partial deliveries does not take place. If the Customer wishes to receive stock items immediately, they must order them in a separate, independent order.

6.3 If the transport company returns the shipped goods to the Seller because delivery to the Customer was not possible, the Customer shall bear the costs for the unsuccessful shipment. This does not apply if the Customer is not responsible for the circumstance that led to the impossibility of delivery or if they were temporarily prevented from accepting the offered service, unless the Seller had announced the service to them a reasonable time in advance.

6.4 For logistical reasons, self-collection of the goods is not possible.

6.5 If delivery is unsuccessful due to reasons for which the Customer is responsible, the Customer shall bear the costs incurred by the Seller as a result. This does not apply in the event of a valid withdrawal. In the event of a valid withdrawal, the provisions regarding return shipping specified in the cancellation policy shall apply.

6.6 Vouchers are delivered exclusively via email.

6.7 If the Customer acts as an entrepreneur, the risk of accidental loss and accidental deterioration of the goods passes to the Customer as soon as the Seller has handed over the shipment to the forwarder, the carrier, or the company otherwise charged with executing the transport. In the case of consumers, the shipping risk generally remains with the Seller and only passes to the Customer upon physical handover of the goods to the Customer or a person authorized to receive them. Deviating from this, the consumer bears the risk of accidental loss or deterioration from the time of handover to the transport company if the consumer themselves has commissioned a transport company with the delivery that was not previously proposed or named by the Seller.

6.8 The Seller reserves the right to withdraw from the contract if they are supplied incompletely, incorrectly, or not at all by their own suppliers. However, the Seller is only entitled to this right of withdrawal if they are not responsible for the lack of delivery themselves and have concluded a concrete, binding hedging transaction (Deckungsgeschäft) with the respective upstream supplier in advance with due diligence. The Seller will make all economically reasonable efforts to procure the goods. If the goods are entirely or partially unavailable, the Customer will be notified immediately, and any payments or counter-performance already rendered will be refunded without delay.

7) Retention of Title

If the Seller makes advance performance (e.g., in the case of purchase on account, if offered), the delivered goods remain the property of the Seller until full payment of the purchase price owed.

8) Liability for Defects (Warranty) and K-Pop Product Condition

8.1 Unless otherwise provided for in the following regulations, the statutory provisions on liability for defects (§§ 434 et seq. BGB) shall apply.

8.2 Specific condition agreement for K-Pop items: Due to the special manufacturing and import conditions from South Korea, the parties agree on the following product-specific characteristics, which do not constitute a material defect:

  • Outer Packaging (so-called "Outbox" / "Outer Sleeve" / "Case"): According to official statements from South Korean manufacturers and record labels, the outer shell or packaging of a K-Pop album or merchandise item serves exclusively to protect the actual, inner content (CD, photobook, inclusions) during transport. Minor cosmetic imperfections of the outbox (such as slight dents, superficial scratches, minimal pressure marks, production-related color deviations, or small creases at the corners) that do not damage the inner content do not constitute a material defect in accordance with industry standards and do not entitle the Customer to complaints, a price reduction, or withdrawal from the contract.

  • Inclusions (e.g., Photocards): Minimal, production-related marks on photocards or postcards (such as fine print lines, slight indentations due to storage inside the album, or minimal scratches on the matte/glossy back) that do not significantly deface the main motif on the front are considered standard and accepted commercial conditions and do not justify defect claims.

8.3 If the Customer acts as an entrepreneur within the meaning of § 14 BGB, the limitation period for defect claims for new goods is one year from delivery of the goods. For used goods, rights and claims due to defects are excluded for entrepreneurs. The statutory duty to inspect and notify defects pursuant to § 377 HGB for merchants remains unaffected.

8.4 If a consumer transaction is involved, the Customer is requested to complain about delivered packages and goods with obvious transport damage directly to the responsible transport company and to briefly notify the Seller of this. Should the Customer fail to comply with this request, this failure shall have no limiting effect on their statutory or contractual warranty and defect claims.

9) Conditions for Vouchers (Promotional and Gift Vouchers)

9.1 Promotional Vouchers: Vouchers issued by the Seller free of charge as part of promotional campaigns (e.g., discount codes via social media or newsletters) can only be redeemed within the specified period and only by consumers. Individual products may be excluded. Only one promotional voucher can be redeemed per order; a cash payout or subsequent offsetting is excluded. The value of the goods must correspond to at least the amount of the promotional voucher.

9.2 Gift Vouchers: Purchased vouchers (e.g., voucher cards from the online shop) can be redeemed for the purchase of all items. They can be redeemed until the end of the third year following the year of the voucher purchase (statutory limitation period). Remaining balances will be credited until the expiration date. If the value is not sufficient, the difference can be settled using regular payment methods. Multiple gift vouchers can be combined.

10) Storage of the Contract Text

The contract text is stored by the Seller after conclusion of the contract and transmitted to the Customer in text form (e.g., via email) after their order has been sent. The contract text will not be made accessible beyond this on the Seller's website. If the Customer has set up a customer account before sending their order, the order data will be archived in the password-protected customer account and can be viewed there free of charge.

11) Applicable Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution

11.1 The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply to all legal relationships between the parties, excluding the laws on the international sale of movable goods. For consumers, this choice of law applies only to the extent that the protection granted is not withdrawn by mandatory provisions of the law of the state in which the consumer has their habitual residence.

11.2 The European Commission provides a platform for online dispute resolution (ODR), which can be accessed at the following internet address: https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. This platform serves as a point of contact for the out-of-court settlement of disputes arising from online purchase or service contracts involving a consumer.

11.3 The Seller is neither obliged nor willing to participate in a dispute resolution procedure before a consumer arbitration board.