Terms of sale
1. Scope
These Terms of Sale apply to sales made by French Soap Wholesale to business and professional customers.
French Soap Wholesale operates as a trade-only supplier. Orders placed through the website are intended for customers purchasing goods for use in their business or for commercial resale.
The legal identity of the business operating French Soap Wholesale is set out in our Legal Notice.
By placing an order, the customer accepts these Terms of Sale together with our Shipping Policy and Returns & Refunds Policy.
Unless expressly agreed by us in writing, these Terms take precedence over any purchasing terms supplied by the customer.
2. Trade accounts
Trade prices may be restricted to approved trade-account holders.
We may request reasonable information to verify that an applicant is operating a genuine business.
Approval of a trade account does not oblige us to accept every subsequent order.
We reserve the right to suspend or withdraw trade access where reasonably necessary.
3. Minimum order
The minimum order value is:
€175
The minimum relates to the value of goods ordered and excludes delivery charges and any taxes or charges applied separately.
We may agree different minimum quantities or conditions for certain products or special orders.
4. Prices
Our current trade prices are displayed on the website to approved trade customers.
Prices are stated in euros unless otherwise indicated.
Delivery charges are additional unless expressly included.
VAT and other applicable taxes will be dealt with according to the law applicable to the transaction and will be shown on the order documentation or invoice where required.
Prices may change from time to time. The price applicable to an accepted order will normally be the price shown when the order was placed.
Obvious pricing or technical errors do not bind us. If we discover such an error after an order has been placed, we will contact the customer before processing the affected goods.
Any discounts, rebates or special prices apply only where expressly stated on the website, quotation, order confirmation or other written agreement.
Unless expressly agreed otherwise, no discount is granted for early payment.
5. Orders
Placing an order constitutes an offer to purchase.
An order is accepted when we confirm acceptance or begin processing it.
We may refuse or cancel an order where reasonably necessary, including where:
- goods are unavailable;
- payment has not been received;
- there is an obvious pricing or description error;
- delivery to the requested destination is not reasonably possible;
- the order does not comply with our trade-account requirements; or
- we reasonably suspect fraudulent or improper use of an account.
If we cannot supply part of an order, we will contact the customer and agree whether to substitute, delay, credit or refund the unavailable goods as appropriate.
6. Payment
All orders must be paid in full before dispatch.
Payment may be made using the methods offered during checkout or otherwise agreed with us.
For payment by bank transfer, goods will not normally be dispatched until cleared funds have been received.
We do not normally provide credit terms unless expressly agreed in writing.
7. Late payment
Where any amount becomes payable to us and is not paid by its due date, late-payment penalties are payable from the day following the payment date shown on the invoice, without the need for a reminder.
The late-payment interest rate will be the rate applied by the European Central Bank to its most recent main refinancing operation, increased by 10 percentage points, unless a different lawful rate has been expressly agreed.
In accordance with French law, a professional customer who pays late is also liable for a fixed €40 indemnity for recovery costs.
If the actual recovery costs exceed €40, we reserve the right to seek reasonable additional compensation on production of supporting evidence where permitted by law.
8. Products
We take reasonable care to describe our products accurately.
Because some soaps are traditionally produced, minor variations may occur in colour, embossing, fragrance, appearance, packaging or finish.
Such minor variations do not necessarily constitute a defect.
Product ranges, fragrances, packaging and availability may change.
Where a manufacturer alters packaging or presentation without changing the essential product, we may supply the updated version.
9. Delivery
Orders are dispatched from France or, where appropriate, directly from one of our suppliers.
Dispatch and delivery information is set out in our Shipping Policy.
Delivery dates and transit times are estimates unless we have expressly agreed otherwise in writing.
We are not responsible for delays caused by carriers, customs authorities or circumstances reasonably outside our control, although we will assist the customer where reasonably possible.
Where a particular Incoterm or delivery condition is expressly stated on a quotation, order confirmation or invoice, that delivery condition will apply to the relevant shipment.
10. International orders
Customers ordering goods for delivery outside the European Union are responsible for complying with applicable import and resale requirements in their destination country.
Import VAT, customs duties, local taxes, carrier clearance charges and similar costs are dealt with as described in our Shipping Policy, unless otherwise expressly agreed.
For UK orders, import VAT is normally collected by the courier where applicable.
11. Inspection, damage and shortages
Customers should inspect goods promptly after delivery.
Damage, incorrect products or shortages should be reported to us as soon as reasonably possible, preferably within 7 days of delivery.
Photographs or other evidence may be requested to help us resolve a claim.
Minor cosmetic surface marks, rubs or light scratches on unpackaged soaps are not considered defects or transit damage where they do not affect the quality, fragrance or performance of the product.
Products that arrive genuinely broken, badly chipped or otherwise unsuitable for resale should be reported to us in accordance with the damaged-goods procedure above.
Nothing in this section excludes rights relating to defects that could not reasonably have been identified during an initial inspection.
12. Returns and refunds
Returns must be authorised in advance.
Our conditions for returns, damaged goods, incorrect goods and refunds are set out in our Returns & Refunds Policy.
As transactions are business-to-business, statutory consumer cooling-off rights do not apply to trade purchases.
13. Retention of title
Goods remain our property until we have received full payment of all sums due in respect of those goods.
Until ownership has passed, the customer must take reasonable care of the goods and must not deliberately impair our rights in them.
This provision does not prevent the customer from reselling goods in the ordinary course of its business where the goods have been paid for in accordance with these Terms.
14. Resale and local requirements
Customers are responsible for ensuring that their resale, advertising and distribution of products complies with laws and regulations applicable to their own business and destination market.
This is particularly relevant where products are imported or resold outside France or outside the European Union.
Nothing in this provision removes any legal responsibility that properly belongs to us as the supplier.
15. Force majeure and events outside our control
We will not be liable for delay or failure caused by circumstances reasonably beyond our control, including significant transport disruption, natural disaster, industrial action, war, government action, customs disruption, serious supply interruption, telecommunications failure or comparable events.
We will take reasonable steps to minimise the impact and communicate with affected customers where appropriate.
16. Liability
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability where exclusion or limitation would be prohibited by law.
Subject to applicable law, we will not be liable for indirect or consequential commercial loss, loss of anticipated profit, loss of opportunity or similar losses that were not reasonably foreseeable when the order was accepted.
The customer remains responsible for determining whether products are suitable for their intended commercial use and market.
17. Intellectual property
French Soap Wholesale branding, original text, graphics, photography and other original material remain our property or that of the relevant rights holder.
Purchase of products does not transfer intellectual-property rights to the customer.
Product photographs or marketing materials supplied specifically for authorised retailer use may be used for that purpose subject to any conditions communicated with them.
18. Personal information
Personal information relating to customers, account holders and contacts is processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Information may be shared with payment processors, Shopify, carriers and other service providers where reasonably necessary to process and fulfil an order.
19. Governing law and disputes
These Terms of Sale are governed by French law.
The parties should first attempt to resolve any dispute amicably.
If an amicable resolution cannot be reached, disputes will be submitted to the competent French courts, subject to any mandatory legal rules or expressly agreed valid jurisdiction clause.
20. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms of Sale from time to time.
The version applicable to an order is normally the version in force when that order is accepted.
21. Contact
Questions concerning orders or these Terms of Sale may be sent to:
French Soap Wholesale
orders@frenchsoapwholesale.com
Full legal identification and business address information is available in our Legal Notice.