1 Scope of Application and Contracting Party
1.1 These Terms of Use govern exclusively the use of the HORSE24.com platform and the use of the subsidiary platforms (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “online auction platform”). The Terms of Use do not govern the content of the contracts concluded via the online auction platform. Such content is determined solely by the respectively applicable auction terms.
1.2 The contracting party of the user for the use of the online auction platform is HORSEMEDIA GmbH, Lütke Venn 1, D-49536 Lienen (hereinafter “HORSEMEDIA”). HORSEMEDIA merely provides the operators of the subsidiary platforms with the technical infrastructure. HORSEMEDIA does not itself become a contracting party to the contracts concluded within the scope of the auctions.
2 Subject Matter of the Services
2.1 The online auction platform is a platform on which natural and legal persons as well as partnerships (hereinafter “auction organisers”) may auction horses by way of an online auction. Users may participate in this online auction as bidders.
2.2 HORSEMEDIA makes the online auction platform available to users free of charge. HORSEMEDIA shall therefore be liable for damage arising from defects or errors of the online auction platform, including its unavailability, only if HORSEMEDIA has fraudulently concealed from the user the defect / error causing the damage (§ 600 BGB).
2.3 Auctions published on the online auction platform and the offers posted in connection therewith are not reviewed by HORSEMEDIA for legality, accuracy or completeness. This applies in particular to the accuracy and completeness of the information provided regarding the horses offered; HORSEMEDIA assumes no warranty whatsoever in this respect. Questions concerning the auctions and the horses offered must be addressed directly to the respective auction organiser.
2.4 HORSEMEDIA may make the use of the online auction platform or individual functions of the online auction platform, or the extent to which individual functions may be used, dependent on certain requirements. This may include, for example, verification of access data or the account type (private/business).
2.5 HORSEMEDIA may restrict or temporarily suspend the operation of the online auction platform if this is necessary with regard to capacity limits, the security or integrity of the servers or the implementation of technical measures, in particular maintenance work. HORSEMEDIA is not obliged to extend auctions that end during such a period, even if bidding is not possible. HORSEMEDIA assumes no liability for damage or lost profits arising from technical disruptions, maintenance work or system failures. Users have no claim to renegotiations or reimbursement if they were unable to participate in an auction due to technical problems.
2.6 Clause 2.5 sentence 2 applies accordingly to periods during which the online auction platform is wholly or partly unavailable for reasons outside HORSEMEDIA’s sphere of influence, in particular due to a cyberattack or an overload of the online auction platform caused by too many users.
2.7 HORSEMEDIA may commission third parties (subcontractors) to perform the services owed by it or involve them in the provision of the services.
3 Registration
3.1 Participation in an auction as a bidder requires registration as a user of the online auction platform. Registration takes place exclusively via the registration form provided by HORSEMEDIA on the online auction platform. These Terms of Use are accepted upon confirmation of the registration by HORSEMEDIA. Upon registration, a contract between HORSEMEDIA and the user concerning the use of the online auction platform (hereinafter “usage agreement”) is concluded. There is no claim against HORSEMEDIA to confirmation of registration and thus to conclusion of the usage agreement.
3.2 The data requested during the registration process must be provided completely and correctly where mandatory fields are concerned. In particular, it is prohibited to use a false identity. During registration, the user must truthfully state whether he or she uses the online auction platform in the exercise of his or her commercial or independent professional activity. In this case, the user must provide his or her VAT identification number.
3.3 Natural persons must be of legal age at the time of registration. When registering natural persons, only individual persons may be specified as users.
3.4 The registration of a legal person or partnership may be carried out only by a natural person authorised to represent it, who must be named.
3.5 If the data provided during registration changes after registration, the user is obliged to update the information in his or her user account without undue delay.
3.6 Each natural person, each legal person and each partnership may register with the online auction platform only once. The user account is not transferable and may be used only by the person who registered. In particular, bids may be submitted only by the person who registered as the user.
3.7 HORSEMEDIA reserves the right to subject user accounts to an identity check. This may include the submission of valid proof of identity (e.g. identity card, proof of business registration) or video verification. Users providing false or incomplete information may be blocked or excluded from the platform.
3.8 HORSEMEDIA may delete users who have not completed the registration process after a reasonable period of time. If a user has not been active on the online auction platform for a period of at least 180 days although online auctions have taken place during that period, HORSEMEDIA may deactivate or delete the user’s access. HORSEMEDIA shall notify the user before deactivation or deletion.
3.9 HORSEMEDIA stores personal data only for as long as this is necessary for the fulfilment of contractual obligations. After termination or deletion of a user account, the data will be deleted within 90 days unless statutory provisions require longer storage.
4 Use of the online auction platform
4.1 It is prohibited to manipulate auctions conducted on the online auction platform by using multiple user accounts or acting in concert with other users. In particular, it is prohibited to manipulate the price of a horse offered by submitting bids without any intention to purchase.
4.2 Consumers may not submit a bid in an online auction if either the entire online auction or individual offers called up therein are marked as an offer directed exclusively at traders.
4.3 The online auction platform may not be used for racist, discriminatory, pornographic, youth-protection-endangering, politically extremist or otherwise unlawful purposes, or for purposes that violate official regulations or requirements, and corresponding data may not be stored on the server of the online auction platform. In the event of violations, HORSEMEDIA is entitled to delete the affected data and, after prior warning, to deactivate or delete the user’s access.
4.4 The user shall keep his or her access data, in particular the password, confidential, protect it from knowledge and access by third parties and not disclose it to unauthorised persons. A secure password with at least eight characters, containing at least one uppercase letter, one digit and one special character, must be chosen.
4.5 It is expressly prohibited to extract, store or further process content of the HORSE24.com online auction platform by automated means (including, but not limited to, web scrapers, bots, spiders or crawlers). Any form of automated access to data is prohibited without the express written approval of HORSEMEDIA. HORSEMEDIA reserves the right to deploy technical protection measures (e.g. IP blocking, rate limiting, captchas) and to take legal action in the event of violations.
4.6 It is expressly prohibited to embed the HORSE24.com online auction platform or individual pages thereof in other websites or applications by means of iFrame, inline linking or similar techniques. HORSEMEDIA reserves the right to implement technical protection measures against unauthorised embedding and to take legal action in the event of violations.
4.7 The user shall inform HORSEMEDIA without undue delay if there is any suspicion that his or her access data, in particular the password, may have become known to unauthorised persons.
5 Blocking and Restriction of Access
5.1 HORSEMEDIA may temporarily restrict or block the user’s access to the online auction platform, in particular to the bidding function, for the purpose of preventing damage if and to the extent that there is a sufficient probability that (i) the user is violating or has violated the usage agreement, these Terms of Use and/or applicable law, the user has disclosed the access data to third parties, or third-party use or other misuse of the access data exists, and (ii) further such contractual misuse of the online auction platform adversely affects the online auction platform, HORSEMEDIA, auction organisers, other users of the online auction platform or the rights of third parties, such that immediate action to prevent damage is required. HORSEMEDIA shall limit the blocking to the period necessary to prevent damage and shall notify the user before an intended restriction or blocking of his or her access if this does not frustrate the prevention of damage. Termination rights remain unaffected by this provision.
5.2 In the event of repeated non-compliance by the user within the meaning of Clause 5.1 sentence 1 despite a warning by HORSEMEDIA, HORSEMEDIA reserves the right to permanently block the user’s access and permanently exclude the user from future use of the online auction platform. In the event of only temporary blocking, the access authorisation will be reactivated after expiry of the blocking period or the final cessation of the reason for blocking, and the user will be notified thereof by HORSEMEDIA by e-mail. A permanently blocked access authorisation cannot be restored; the associated user account will be deleted. In any event, HORSEMEDIA shall notify the user without undue delay after blocking. Termination rights remain unaffected by this provision.
5.3 A user whose access has been permanently blocked may not register again with the online auction platform.
5.4 HORSEMEDIA may, at its own discretion, block or permanently delete user accounts in the event of violations of these Terms of Use. In serious cases (e.g. fraud, manipulation, identity theft), HORSEMEDIA reserves the right to take legal action.
6 Termination
6.1 The user may terminate the usage agreement at any time.
6.2 HORSEMEDIA may terminate the contract at any time with a notice period of 14 days to the end of the month. The rights to block and restrict access in accordance with Clause 5 remain unaffected by this provision.
6.3 If a usage agreement existing with a user is terminated by HORSEMEDIA, the user concerned may not register again with the online auction platform.
6.4 The right of both contracting parties to terminate the contract for good cause remains unaffected.
6.5 Fees may be incurred for certain auctions or services and will be shown in the respective offer description before participation in the auction. Users are obliged to pay any fees due on time. In the event of default in payment, HORSEMEDIA may demand default interest at the statutory rate.
7 Conclusion of Contracts within the Scope of Auctions
7.1 Each auction on the online auction platform has a specific offer period.
7.2 When an auction organiser posts a horse for auction on the online auction platform, it thereby makes an offer to conclude a contract. The offer may be subject to further conditions stated in the offer terms. The user accepts this offer by submitting a bid. Acceptance is subject to the condition precedent that the user is the highest bidder after expiry of the offer period. A bid lapses if another buyer submits a higher bid during the offer period.
7.3 The auction organiser and HORSEMEDIA are entitled to cancel the auction before expiry of the offer period. In this case, no contract is concluded with the users who have submitted bids up to that point.
7.4 Users may withdraw bids only if there is a reason entitling them to do so. A material change in the description of the horse offered after submission of the bid entitles the user to withdraw a bid. Further reasons entitling withdrawal may be regulated in the auction terms of the auction organiser. If a bid is withdrawn due to the accidental entry of an incorrect bid amount, the user is obliged to pay damages under § 122 BGB.
7.5 The content and contracting parties of the contracts concluded via the online auction platform are determined by the auction terms of the respective auction organiser.
7.6 An auction organiser may cancel an auction only if an unforeseeable, extraordinary circumstance occurs (e.g. sudden injury to the horse). An auction may not be cancelled in order to avoid the highest bid. Disputes between buyers and sellers must be resolved directly between the parties. HORSEMEDIA assumes no liability for services not delivered or defective services of sellers, but will provide contact options upon request.
8 Liability
8.1 Without prejudice to HORSEMEDIA’s liability for defects and errors of the online auction platform pursuant to Clause 2.2, HORSEMEDIA shall in any case be liable only in accordance with the following provisions in Clauses 8.2 to 8.6:
8.2 HORSEMEDIA shall be liable without limitation for intent or gross negligence for all damage caused by it as well as by its legal representatives or vicarious agents.
8.3 In the event of slight negligence, HORSEMEDIA shall be liable without limitation in the case of injury to life, limb or health.
8.4 In all other respects, HORSEMEDIA shall be liable only insofar as it has breached a material contractual obligation (cardinal obligation). Material contractual obligations are all obligations whose fulfilment is essential for the proper performance of the contract, compliance with which the user regularly relies on and may rely on, and whose breach jeopardises the achievement of the contractual purpose. In these cases, liability is limited to compensation for the foreseeable damage typical for the contract.
8.5 HORSEMEDIA shall be liable for the loss of data only up to the amount that would have been incurred for its restoration if the data had been properly and regularly backed up.
8.6 Liability under the Produkthaftungsgesetz remains unaffected.
9 Final Provisions
9.1 HORSEMEDIA may propose an amendment to these Terms of Use to the user at any time. Amendments to these Terms of Use shall be offered to the user in text form (e.g. by e-mail) no later than 30 days before the proposed date on which they take effect. The user’s consent shall be deemed granted if the rejection is not notified to HORSEMEDIA in text form before the proposed date on which the amendments take effect. If the user does not agree with the amendments, the user shall have the right to terminate without notice and free of charge until the proposed date on which the amendments take effect. In the message in which the amendments are offered, HORSEMEDIA shall once again draw the user’s particular attention to the right of rejection, the deadline for doing so and the possibility of termination. The amended Terms of Use shall also be published on the online auction platform.
9.2 All declarations made by the user to HORSEMEDIA within the scope of the usage agreement must be made in text form (e.g. by e-mail). This also applies to termination of the usage agreement or a waiver of this text-form requirement.
9.3 German substantive law shall apply to the usage agreement to the exclusion of the UN-Kaufrecht. For consumers resident in the European Union, the mandatory provisions of consumer protection law of the Member State in which they have their residence shall additionally apply.
9.4 There are no ancillary provisions outside this contract and any annexes thereto.
9.5 Any invalidity of individual provisions of these Terms of Use shall not affect the validity of the remaining content of the Terms of Use.
9.6 If gaps arise in the practical application of the usage agreement which the parties did not foresee, or if the invalidity of a provision of these Terms of Use is finally determined by a court or mutually determined by both parties, the parties undertake to fill or replace such gap or invalid provision in an appropriate manner in substance and oriented toward the economic purpose of the contract.
9.7 HORSEMEDIA is neither willing nor obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.
9.8 In the event of contradictions or discrepancies between the German and English language versions of these Terms of Use, the German language version shall prevail.
9.9 For users who are merchants within the meaning of the Handelsgesetzbuch, a special fund under public law or a legal person under public law, the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from and in connection with this usage agreement shall be Münster, unless a mandatory statutory provision prescribes another place of jurisdiction.
9.10 All content of the online auction platform, including texts, images, videos, databases, designs and software, is protected by copyright and is the property of HORSEMEDIA or the respective rights holders. Any use, reproduction or disclosure of the content without prior written consent is prohibited.
The following withdrawal instruction applies exclusively to the usage agreement with HORSEMEDIA and not to auctions.
Withdrawal Instruction You have the right to withdraw from this contract within fourteen days without giving any reason. The withdrawal period shall be fourteen days from the day on which the contract is concluded. To exercise your right of withdrawal, you must inform us,
HORSEMEDIA GmbH Lütke Venn 1 D-49536 Lienen Telefon: +49 5484 9994925 E-Mail: info@horsemedia.com by post, telephone or e-mail, by means of a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post, fax or e-mail) of your decision to withdraw from this contract. You may use the attached model withdrawal form for this purpose, but this is not mandatory. To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send the notification of your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired. Effects of withdrawal If you withdraw from this contract, we shall reimburse to you all payments received from you, including delivery costs (with the exception of additional costs resulting from your choice of a type of delivery other than the least expensive standard delivery offered by us), without undue delay and no later than fourteen days from the day on which we receive the notification of your withdrawal from this contract. For this reimbursement, we shall use the same means of payment that you used for the original transaction, unless expressly agreed otherwise with you; in no event will you be charged any fees as a result of this reimbursement. If you requested that the services begin during the withdrawal period, you shall pay us a reasonable amount corresponding to the proportion of the services already provided up to the point at which you inform us of the exercise of the right of withdrawal with regard to this contract compared with the total scope of the services provided for in the contract. Model Withdrawal Form (If you wish to withdraw from the contract, please complete this form and return it.) – To HORSEMEDIA GmbH, Lütke Venn 1, D-49536 Lienen, Telefon: +49 5484 9994925, E-Mail: info@horsemedia.com – I/We (*) hereby withdraw from the contract concluded by me/us (*) for the provision of the following service (*) – Ordered on (*) – Name of the consumer(s) – Address of the consumer(s) – Signature of the consumer(s) (only if notification is made on paper) – Date ____________________________________________ (*) Delete as appropriate. |