Shipping
1.1 Countries Supplied
Delivery of goods is made to the following countries: the EU countries Belgium, Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, Austria as well as the non-EU countries Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Ukraine, San Marino, Iceland, Serbia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Greenland, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Your country is not listed? You can find the reason here!
1.2 Shipping Costs
All prices are inclusive of statutory value added tax (except net buyers and customers with billing and delivery addresses in a non-EU country; these are shown net prices).
1.2.1 Domestic Deliveries (Germany)
Private customers: €3.90 flat rate, free shipping from €48.
Business customers (customer group dealers/therapists): €4 flat rate,
free shipping from €150.
1.2.2 Deliveries Abroad
We charge the following flat shipping rates for deliveries abroad:
For shipping to the European Union:
DHL Premium
Private customers: €12 flat rate, free shipping from €140.
Business customers (customer group dealers/therapists): €16 flat rate,
free shipping from €300.
For shipping to non-EU countries (e.g. Switzerland, Norway etc):
DHL Economy
Private customers: €16 flat rate, free shipping from €160.
Business customers (customer group dealers/therapists): €15 flat rate,
free shipping from €400.
DHL Premium
Private customers: €20 flat rate, free shipping from €200.
Business customers (customer group dealers/therapists): €20 flat rate,
free shipping from €450.
Officially the customs and duty situations for DHL Economy
and Premium parcels are the same. Delivery speed is somewhat
faster.
More important is the following advantage: Customers report to us that
in some regions the regulations for customs and duties are handled
much more leniently for Premium parcels than for
Economy parcels. However, Premium parcels cost us about €5
more.
Worldwide we also use Warenpost International
For parcels that are thinner than 10 cm and lighter than 1 kg,
a cheaper shipping option can be chosen, which
is carried out by Deutsche Post and is usually not slower
than DHL, often even faster!
Whether we choose this shipping method is decided based on the
value of the goods. As a seller this shipping method is only lightly
insured for us. For buyers nothing changes as a result; full
liability always rests with us as the seller.
1.2.3 Important Note on Customs and Duties, Especially for Swiss Customers:
Any customs duties and import VAT must be borne by the buyer.
Here are the possible additional costs for our Swiss customers (99%
of non-EU orderers): approx. 3-8% VAT, regardless of
the parcel value. Customs charges are only applied from a goods value of €150, CHF 11.50 plus generally €1 / kg.
1.3 Delivery Times
Unless a different period is stated in the respective offer,
delivery of the goods within Germany will be made within
1 - 3 working days; for deliveries abroad within 5 - 10
working days after conclusion of the contract (in case of agreed advance payment
after the time of your payment instruction).
Please note that there are no deliveries on Sundays and public holidays.
A common dispute in online retail is whether
Saturday is a working day or not. The legislator is clear here: 1. Yes, in general Saturday is considered
a working day, but 2. In the case of specifying the shipping period it is not
counted.
See German Civil Code (BGB) § 193 Sunday and public holiday:
Saturday: If a declaration of intent is to be made on a specific day or within a period
or a performance is to be effected and the specific day or the last day of the period falls on a
Sunday, a public holiday officially recognised at the place of declaration or performance, or a Saturday, the next working day shall take the place of such day.
It follows that: For online retail only Monday to Friday count as working days!
There is also the question of when this working day begins. Our logical answer is: If a customer orders before the time at which dispatch by us is still possible, the period starts immediately; otherwise it begins at the start of the next working day.
Examples:
- If a customer orders on Friday morning at 10 a.m., we can still take the goods to DHL in the evening. Normally we still process all orders received by 3 p.m. He should therefore receive the parcel by Tuesday at the latest. (Friday 1st working day, Monday 2nd working day, Tuesday 3rd working day).
- If a customer orders on Friday evening at 7 p.m., that day cannot possibly still count as processing time. In that case he may expect his parcel on Wednesday.
Apart from such legal niceties: We always endeavour to deliver as quickly and reliably as possible; usually our parcels are in the DHL depot within 24 hours of order receipt!
If you have ordered items with different delivery times,
we will ship the goods in one combined shipment, unless we
have made other arrangements with you. The
delivery time in this case is determined by the item with the
longest delivery time that you have ordered.
If you want to avoid this: Simply place 2
orders, one with goods in stock and a second with the
out-of-stock goods. In our shop we state under
"Stock level:" exactly how many units of each product are in stock!
1.4 Appointed Carriers
In principle we work with the full range that DHL /
Deutsche Post offers (parcels, small parcels, Warenpost national and
international).
Unfortunately there is now an increasing strike culture in Germany.
Especially in the years 2023/2024 it happened that
DHL parcels were often delayed by up to a week in reaching customers.
This happens when DHL uses the German railway to transport their
parcels, sends them internationally by air freight - and
then in alternating weeks DHL, the railway and airports each
go on strike in turn!
Of course we have full understanding for this, especially when it
affects the railway again, where salaries are now normal
that people in Dresden, our headquarters, can only dream
of...
On such extreme days, when DHL shipping is almost impossible,
we switch to Hermes!
1.5 Measures for Your and Our Safety
We generally recommend that customers refrain from selecting "Leave in a
safe place" or "Leave with neighbour". If a customer
selects these options himself when filling in the DHL options,
he thereby loses both liability for parcel loss through
DHL and through us!
Since 2021 fraud cases have increased sharply, in which e.g.
fake customers using a false identity choose the option
"leave in a safe place" themselves in order to fraudulently take parcels
from there. We therefore decide on a case-by-case basis whether to comply
with this request ourselves or whether for higher-value parcels we select the options "Personal handover" or "IdentCheck". Parcels worth over €400 will only be sent if the buyer provides the date of birth, otherwise an "Ident Check" is not possible. Whether an Ident Check is necessary is decided by us independently
based on the risk profile, for example whether it is a regular customer
with whom there have never been problems or an unknown new customer.
We ask for your understanding for these measures; they serve
primarily to protect our customers. Identity theft is
unfortunately now a widespread phenomenon on the Internet.
You cannot avoid it by choosing a different online shop;
on the contrary, we ourselves know of no other shop that deals with it
so critically and for the benefit of customers as we do.
Any additional costs at DHL for these services will of course
be borne by us.
2. Procedure in Case of Delivery Problems
2.1 Returns due to "Address Not Found"
Unfortunately it repeatedly happens that parcels are returned to us, e.g. because customers write their address incorrectly or their name is missing at the address or DHL for some reason is unable to find these details.
Each return costs us €5.50 gross! This is automatically
charged to us by DHL.
The legislator unfortunately prohibits passing these costs on to customers,
so this is usually our loss.
Experience has shown that it is usually pointless to resend parcels that are returned to the same address. The time-consuming communication with customers to resolve such problems already costs so much time and money that we ultimately lose out.
Therefore we handle it from now on as large mail-order houses like Amazon have long done:
- Returned parcels or the related orders are immediately cancelled without time- and cost-consuming queries and the purchase price refunded.
- In the case of a proper withdrawal the statutory conditions apply, the entire purchase price will be refunded.
- If parcels are returned due to customer errors (e.g. wrong
address, failure to collect from the branch, unjustified
refusal of acceptance) we deduct from the refund
our incurred expenses, i.e. the €5.50 that
DHL charges us for the return).
- If you still require the goods, please place a new order. Please ensure that a new correct address is used.
2.2 Notes on Withdrawal
Our terms and conditions describe the statutory procedure in
the event of a desired withdrawal.
Please note that a refusal to accept a parcel
or an entirely unsolicited return without
a withdrawal form, etc. are not valid withdrawals.
In such cases DHL charges us €5.50 return costs, which we
will invoice to the customer or deduct from the refund
if the withdrawal is not valid.
For this reason we ask that the legally and also humanly required procedure
be followed; in the best case we will gladly send a return label on goodwill at our expense, e.g. if the customer has good
reasons for not wanting to keep the goods. Unarranged
returns or deliberate causing of costs (ordering on suspicion and then refusing acceptance) exclude goodwill.
2.3 Note on Passing on Email Address and Telephone Number to DHL
Whether your email address is passed on to DHL or not
is decided by you at checkout (corresponding checkbox to
tick). For data protection reasons we may not pass the email address
to DHL without your consent.
If this is not confirmed, DHL cannot keep you informed about
the progress of your parcel.
However, it would also be the customers' duty, who have items delivered to
a Packstation or to a branch, to occasionally check their
app whether parcels are there or not.
As a gesture of goodwill we have usually borne the costs anyway (each
return costs us €5!).
With the introduction of the option to consent to
the forwarding of the email to DHL, customers now have it in their own hands to
decide whether they want to be informed promptly by DHL about parcels
or not.
Therefore we will only cover the costs for "return due to non-collection"
if "permission to forward the email" is ticked.
If this is not the case, customers bear the costs for
self-inflicted returns. Return due to non-collection
or refusal of acceptance is not a withdrawal!
Current information from the Händlerbund on this!
2.4 Further Notes for a Secure Parcel Receipt
As described above, we strongly advise against leaving-authorisations
on the terrace or similar; trouble and the risk of parcel theft
are then pre-programmed.
In principle the loss then becomes the customer's problem, but a
parcel loss always also places a strain on the trust
between seller and customer.
As a rule customers do not return after such problems,
which is why it is also in our interest to avoid them.
Of course there are customers for whom the DHL Packstation is not a solution, because the nearest one is miles away, e.g. in rural areas.
Here is a solution where at least the home contents insurance
would step in if a parcel is stolen:
You can screw your "private Packstation solution" to the house in the form of an oversized letterbox. Since these are fitted with
a lock that a thief would have to visibly break open, in the event of theft
the home contents insurance would probably cover it.
Here is an overview of the general offering:
https://www.amazon.de/paketkasten-Baumarkt/s?k=paketkasten&rh=n%3A80084031
For our standard parcel "Box 215 x 155 x 115 mm, 1.02 b
(single wall), with automatic bottom" this product would be suitable, for example:
https://www.amazon.de/Paketbriefkasten-Barcodescannung-Smart-Parcel-Box/dp/B01MXVMTPU
For our largest parcels (305 x 215 x 155 mm) the following
is suitable. Very large parcels could also be split into 2 deliveries on
2 days if the buyer requests this in advance.
https://www.amazon.de/Profirst-Paketbriefkasten-Briefkasten-Paketfach-Paketbox/dp/B01H5C6LDU
If you are expecting very large parcels and/or already have a nice letterbox that you want to keep, this product is suitable, which is attached as an add-on under the letterbox or elsewhere:
Of course not only our parcels fit in there, but also those from Hermes, DPD etc., and even things someone wants to drop off who has, for example, borrowed a drill - so a really sensible purchase for the future!
(These links are our personal tips, we receive no commission for them, which is why labelling them as "advertising" is unnecessary!)
Here is a current statement from our own home contents insurer at ARAG:
Hello Mr Müller,
our home contents insurance covers such cases.
"Theft from locked containers outside buildings:
We provide cover under ARAG Household Protection “Comfort” and “Premium”
for insured items against theft if a thief breaks open a locker or a locker
outside buildings or uses false keys or other tools not intended for
proper opening. Items listed in No. 18.1* as valuables as well as
electronic devices and photo/film equipment including
accessories are not insured. Compensation per insured event is a) under ARAG
Household Protection “Comfort” limited to €5,000 and b) under ARAG
Household Protection “Premium” limited to the sum insured."
How this is handled by competitors I do not know,
as each company offers different variants with their own
terms and conditions.
Kind regards
ARAG
*Accordingly not insured in a parcel box:
aa) Cash and amounts loaded onto cash cards (for example
chip cards); bb) documents including passbooks and other
securities; cc) jewellery, gemstones, pearls, stamps,
coins and medals as well as all items made of gold and platinum; dd)
furs, hand-knotted carpets and tapestries as well as works of art
(for example paintings, collages, drawings, prints and
sculptures) and items made of silver not listed in cc)
This would provide all-round protection, i.e. parcel delivery even when no one is at home, without the cumbersome Packstation, with full insurance cover when using one of the parcel box solutions we recommend!