Terms of Service
Welcome to Avelyn! We operate a marketplace for direct buying of wines from thousands of wineries across the world. Compliantly and shipped directly from the Wineries and to you.
1. Introduction
1.1 Welcome to the Avelyn platform (the 'Site'). We'll refer to our website and other Services as our "Services", and Avelyn will be addressed individually or collectively as "Avelyn", "we", "us", or "our". Do read through the following Terms of Service carefully before using the Site or any of our Services. By accessing the Avelyn website, you are agreeing to be bound by these terms of service, all applicable laws, and regulations, and agree that you are responsible for compliance with any applicable local laws. If you do not agree with any of these terms, you are prohibited from using or accessing the aforementioned website. The materials contained on that website are protected by applicable copyright and trademark law. The Terms are here for you, so that you are aware of your legal rights when using our Services.
1.2 This document and any documents referred to within it will collectively make up the 'Terms of Service'.
1.3 Our "Services" include (a) the Site, (b) the Services provided by the Site, (c) all information, linked pages, features, data, text, images, photographs, graphics, music, sounds, video, messages, tags, content, programming, software, application Services. Any new features added to or augmenting the Services are also subject to these Terms of Service. Content that is posted by Users using our Services will be "Your Content". Your Content includes your usernames, estate names, profile pictures, listing photos, listing description, reviews, comments, videos etc.
1.4 Our Services include an online platform service that provides a place and opportunity for the sale of wine between the Buyer ("Buyer") and the Seller ("Seller"), collectively known as "Users" or "Parties". The actual contracts for a sale are directly between Avelyn and the respective parties. Towards the Buyer, Avelyn assumes the responsibility for the sales contract in accordance with the listing of goods, warranty of purchase and the like. Avelyn holds the Seller responsible for the fulfillment of its obligations towards Avelyn. We do not pre-screen Users nor any of their Content. Therefore, if the Buyer has any concerns regarding quality, pricing of the goods or other we encourage the Buyer to Contact the Seller directly.
1.5 We reserve the right to change, modify, suspend or discontinue all or any part of this Site or Services at any time. We may release certain Services or their features while they are still considered to be a beta version, which may not work correctly or in the same way as how the final version may work and cannot be held liable in such instances. We may also impose limit on certain features or restrict your access to parts of, or the entire Site or Service at its sole discretion without notice or liability.
1.6 We reserve the right to refuse to provide you access to the Site or Service or to allow you to open an Account for any reason.
2. Privacy
2.1 We know your personal information is important to you, so it's important to us. Our Privacy policy details how your information is used when you use our Services. When using our Services or providing information on the Site, you consent to Our collection, use, disclosure, and processing of Your Content and personal data as described in the Privacy Policy.
2.2 Users in possession of another User's personal data obtained through the use of the Services hereby agree that, they will (a) comply with all applicable personal data protection laws, (b) allow User (owner of personal data) the right to remove their collected data from User (receiver of personal data) from the database upon request.
3. Your Account
3.1 You'll need to create an account with Us to use some of our Services. Here are a few rules about accounts with Us:
3.1.1 You must be 18 years or older to use our Service. If you are in Sweden you must be 25 years or older to use our Service.
3.1.2 Be honest with us and provide accurate information about yourself. It's not acceptable to use false information or impersonate another person or company through your account.
3.1.3 You are responsible for your account. You're solely responsible for any activity on your account. If you're sharing an account with other people, then the person's name on the account will ultimately be responsible for all activity. If you're registering as a business entity such as an estate, restaurant or other, you personally guarantee that you have the authority to agree to the Terms on behalf of the business. Also, your accounts are not transferable.
3.1.4 As we've mentioned above, you're solely responsible for any activity on your account, so remember to keep your login and password secure.
4. Limited License
4.1 We grant you a limited and revocable license to access and use our Services, subject to our Terms of Service. All proprietary content, trademarks, service marks, brand names, logos and other intellectual property displayed in the Site are the property of Avelyn and where applicable, third parties proprietors identified in the Site. You agree not to copy, distribute, republish, mirror, frame or create derivative works without our prior written consent.
5. Your Content
5.1 Content that you post using our Services is your content. This includes usernames, estate names, profile pictures, listing photos, listing descriptions, reviews, comments, video, etc.
5.1.1 You are solely responsible for Your Content. You represent that you have all necessary rights to Your Content and you're not infringing or violating any third party's rights by posting it.
5.1.2 Posting Your Content through our Services, you grant us a license to use it. This license allows us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, sub-licensable, perpetual license to use, display, edit, modify, reproduce, distribute, store and prepare derivative works of Your Content to promote the Services or our Site. We do not claim ownership to Your Content, but we have your permission to use it to help us function and grow.
5.1.3 If content that you own or have rights to has been posted to the Services without your permission and you want it removed, please contact us on [email protected]. If your Content infringes another person's intellectual property, we will remove it if we receive proper notice.
5.1.4 You agree to not post any content that is abusive, threatening, defamatory, obscene, vulgar or otherwise offensive or in violation of our Prohibited Items section. You also agree not to post any content that is false, misleading or uses the Services in a manner that is fraudulent or deceptive.
6. Your Use of Our Services
6.1 We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable license to use our Services. You agree that you will not violate any laws in connection with your use of the Services. This includes any local, state, federal and international laws that may apply to you.
6.2 As a “Seller” you are responsible for paying all fees that you owe to us. You are also solely responsible for collection and paying any applicable taxes and duties in your country for sales you make through our Services.
6.3 You agree not to attempt to obtain source code of the Services. You agree to not interfere with or disrupt/harm our Services.
6.4 Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions, including any or all of the following: listing deletion, account suspension or legal action; if necessary.
6.5 If you believe a User on our Site is violating these terms, please contact us on [email protected].
6.6 The Services are currently only provided to buyers in the specified countries in continental Europe. Any oversea territories as well as offshore islands not serviced by Avelyn's courier partners are excluded.
6.7 Avelyn reserves the right to cancel, revoke or reverse orders due to Sellers or Buyers mishandling, erroneous utilization by the user or any technical errors on the site.
6.8 As a “Buyer” you are responsible for ensuring receipt of goods when delivered to a home address or for collection within the holding period when nominating a UPS Access Point. Parcels that are not collected within the prescribed time frame will be returned to the country of origin. Buyers will hereafter receive a refund equal to the order amount minus (re-)shipping costs and fees (EUR 90 per box of wine shipped).
7. Purchase and Payment
7.1 Currently we support Credit Card payments and Link, Apple and Google Pay. These payments are processed through third-party payment channels and may vary depending on the jurisdiction you are in.
7.2 All sales on the platform are binding. The Seller is obligated to complete the transaction with the Buyer in a prompt manner unless an exceptional circumstance arises.
8. Seller Commission
8.1 The Seller of any item will pay us a commission per item sold (excluding taxes). For any transactions made with our Software, Avelyn computes shipping costs, taxes at destination and excise duties at destination and includes these in the selling price displayed on our Frontends. This varies depending on Seller's location as well as Buyer's location.
8.2 Avelyn commission and applicable shipping costs, taxes at destination and duties at destination will be held and paid by Avelyn before settling payment into Seller account.
8.3 All third-party payment channels will charge you an additional fee for payment processing. This fee will be dependent on your location as well as your Buyer's location. All payment processing fees will not be included in the Seller commission that we charge.
9. Seller's Responsibilities
9.1 Sellers will properly manage their offering and ensure that relevant information such as the inventory, price and details of items are accurate and available and will not post inaccurate or misleading information.
9.2 The pricing of items for sale is determined by the Seller at his/her own discretion. The price displayed on the Site varies depending on your location as well as your Buyer's location and includes shipping, taxes at destination and excise duties at destination of an item sold. Sellers will not charge Buyers such amounts additionally and separately. Sellers are responsible to declare and add applicable local taxes at origin.
9.3 Sellers are obligated to make available for collection the items as described in a prompt manner (meaning within 48 from time of order on weekdays mon-fri), unless there is an exceptional circumstance. If there are any exceptional circumstances, the Seller is obliged to contact the Buyer through [email protected] to inform them of any delays or inability to complete the transaction.
9.4 PACKAGING: To ensure that no breakage can occur under normal circumstances of transportation wines MUST be packed in boxes that are certified for long-distance transportation by road by a reputable courier company. In event of breakage the Seller (i.e. the winery) packing the wines is liable in accordance with the rules set out by the courier service. In addition in the event of breakage caused by inferior box quality, the winery is obliged to a) reship the order without further compensation and b) pay a fee in the amount of EUR 100 to cover Avelyn's administrative and re-shipping costs. If the consumer has asked for a refund due to breakage, the winery must also reimburse Avelyn for any payout already received related to the order.
9.5 Avelyn works with UPS and all shipments must meet UPS packaging requirements for wine. UPS will accept inner packaging of molded Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam, a folded corrugated tray or a molded fiber tray. Each packaging component secures the bottles into the center of the shipping container away from the side walls of the shipper. Sturdy outer corrugated containers are required. You may contact a UPS Sales person for UPS certified wine packaging. Shipments must be prepared by the Seller in a way that “disruption or bursting” during transportation will be avoided + keeping smell and liquids inside the box for min. 5 days.
9.6 The maximum permitted alcohol content of wines and sparkling wines offered on the website must not exceed 15% vol.
9.7 The Seller must ensure that any local excise duties are paid and the wine or sparkling wine is released for consumption at origin before initiating the shipment.
9.8 Sellers will issue additional receipts, credit card slips or tax invoices to Avelyn on request.
10. Disputes with Other Users
10.1 If you find yourself in a dispute with another User of our Services or a third party, we encourage you to contact the other party and try to resolve the dispute amicably.
10.2 Should you be unable to resolve the dispute between you and another User, we may step in to help resolve the dispute. If you would like us to get involved, please contact us on [email protected] and provide the details of the transaction and nature of the dispute. We will help in good faith based on our policies. However, we will not make judgments regarding legal issues or claims.
10.3 Whether you are a Buyer or a Seller of an item, you must cooperate with us throughout the dispute resolution process. We ask that you provide all information relating to the dispute that we request for. Such requests will be directed to your designated email address. If we are unable to get a response from you, we may close the investigation or determine that the investigation has been resolved in favor of the other party.
10.4 Disputes as a Buyer
10.4.1 You may raise a dispute where the ‘item is not delivered’ or where the delivered ‘item is significantly not as described’ and the Seller is not responding to any of your attempts to communicate.
10.4.2 You may pursue a report about a transaction or contact your credit card provider to pursue any chargeback options that may be available to you from your credit card provider. However, you may not pursue both options at the same time or seek double recovery in respect of the same transaction. If you raise a dispute with us and subsequently file a chargeback with your card provider, we will close your report.
10.4.3 If you have received a refund/exchange from the Seller, you may not report that transaction.
10.4.4 If the ‘item is not delivered’ we will ask the Seller to provide proof of shipping and delivery that can be tracked online. If the Seller fails to do so, we will resolve the dispute in your favor.
10.4.5 If the ‘item is significantly not as described’ and both parties cannot agree as to the difference between the item that was sold and what was described, we will make a fair decision based on all the information we hold about the item. We will exercise our decision-making authority based on numerous factors, which include the description of the item at the point of purchase, communications between you and the Seller as well as any documentation provided. All decisions made by us are final. As part of our terms and conditions, Avelyn grants up to two years of right to claim under the Danish Consumer Protection Law. It is emphasized that the right of complaint is limited to the natural durability of the goods and that this requires that the goods have been stored and otherwise properly processed. Products that are “corked” or otherwise “off” in bad taste or scent inevitably appear and must be expected of the customer to some extent. If more than one bottle of wine among twelve bottles of the same wine purchased under the same order is off, this will be accepted by Avelyn as a rightful complaint, and Avelyn will see to it that the wine is replaced, but not necessarily to the same vintage. The said right of complaint regarding wines that are “corked” or “off” must be claimed as soon as possible, and such wines must be sent to Avelyn without undue delay, should the customer wish to exchange. The customer's right of complaint expires two years after delivery. If bottles are damaged during delivery, this must be stated on the shipping note. Immediately after delivery, the Buyer must check that the delivery is correct both in terms of quantity and whether the wines comply with the order. If the Buyer believes that this is not the case, the Buyer must immediately notify Avelyn in writing. In case of errors, defects or any If no deliveries have been made, please contact:
Avelyn Europe ApS
Hindegade 6, 1303 Copenhagen K
10.5 Disputes as a Seller
10.5.1 As a Seller, we encourage you to communicate actively with your Buyer especially if there are any exceptional circumstances. We encourage you to be prompt in responding to your Buyers in order to avoid any unnecessary disputes. As a Seller you accept that we share your contact information with your Buyers to facilitate responding to direct inquiries and/or disputes.
10.5.2 For ‘items not delivered’ disputes we will contact you to request for proof of shipping. The documentation must clearly show that you have shipped the item to the Buyer's address as reflected on the sales receipt. The documentation must be able to be tracked online showing the date the item was sent and the official acceptance of the item by the shipping company and the status update that the item was delivered (Buyer's acceptance). This is the only evidence that we will accept as proof of delivery. If proof of delivery cannot be provided, then we may resolve the dispute in favour of the Buyer.
10.5.3 For ‘items not as described’ disputes, we will be reviewing the item description and images that were provided at the time of purchase. If both parties cannot agree as to the difference between the item that was sold and what was described, we will make a fair decision based on all the information we hold about the item. We will exercise our decision-making authority based on numerous factors, which include the description of the item at the point of purchase, communications between you and the Buyer as well as any documentation provided. All decisions made by us are final.
10.5.4 If the Buyer attempts to pursue any chargeback options, we will close the dispute in order to prevent double recovery.
11. Disputes with Us
11.1 If you are upset with us, please let us know on [email protected] and hopefully we can resolve your issue. If we are unable to resolve the issue, these rules will govern any legal dispute involving our Services:
11.1.1 Governing Law. Avelyn's local laws govern the Terms of Service. The local laws are the laws for Denmark as the location of Avelyn's Incorporation, as well as the laws of Seller and Buyer countries. These laws apply no matter where in the world you live.
11.1.2 You agree that any dispute or claim arising from the Terms will be settled by arbitration where possible. Judgment on the arbitration award may be entered in any court that has jurisdiction. Any arbitration under the Terms will take place on an individual basis: class arbitrations and class actions are not permitted. Any decisions made by the arbitrator will be deemed final.
12. Changes to the Terms
12.1 We are constantly updating and improving the Service to try and find ways to provide you with new and innovative features and Services. Improvements and updates are also made to reflect changing technologies, tastes, behaviors and the way people use the Internet and our Service.
12.2 We may revise the Terms of Service, but the most current version will always be at this link.
12.3 We will try, where possible and reasonable, to contact you to let you know about significant changes to any of the documents referred to in these Terms of Service. We may make contact through the system or via a separate email.
12.4 The current version of the Terms of Service contains the only terms that apply to our relationship with you. Older versions of the Terms of Service will no longer apply to our relationship and will be completely replaced by the current version.
13. Prohibited Items / Services
Avelyn is not a curated marketplace and for a variety of reasons we prohibit certain types of items from our marketplace. The Avelyn marketplace only permits the sale of wines in the locations where the Service is available.
It is the Seller's responsibility to ensure that their proposed item complies with all laws and is allowed to be listed for sale in accordance to local laws of the marketplace's availability or incorporation.
If an item is found to be in violation of this policy, we may subject the Seller to a range of adverse actions, including listing deletion, account suspension, account termination and legal action.
If you see a listing that violates our policies, please contact us on [email protected].
14. Contact, feedback and complaints
If you need to contact us, please click on contact us for our contact details or use any of the above emails. We value hearing from our Users, and are always interested in learning about ways we can improve the Service. By providing your feedback you agree that you are giving up any rights you have in your feedback so that we may use and allow others to use it without any restriction and without any payment to you.
15. Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Avelyn and its licensee and licensors, and their employees, contractors, agents, officers and directors, from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs or debt, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney’s fees) arising from your use of and access to the Service, or from or in connection with any Content uploaded to the Service through your account by a third party using your account with your knowledge or consent.
16. No Warranty
The service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis without any warranty of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. Avelyn is not responsible for any third-party content that you download, purchase or otherwise obtain through the use of the service or for any damage or loss of data that may result. We do not warrant, endorse, guarantee, or assume responsibility for any third-party application or service that provides access to our service.
The Service is controlled, operated and hosted from within the European Union. We make no representations that the Service is appropriate or available for use in other locations. Those who access or use the Service from other jurisdictions do so at their own risk and are responsible for compliance with all applicable European and local laws and regulations, including but not limited to export and import regulations.
17. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event shall Avelyn, its affiliates, agents, directors, employees or suppliers be liable for any direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary damages, including without limitation damages for loss of profits, goodwill, data or other intangible losses that result from the use of, or inability to use, the service, whether or not Avelyn has been warned of the possibility of such damages and even if a remedy fails of its essential purpose.
18. Entire Agreement; Severability; Waiver
These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and Avelyn concerning the Service and replace any prior or contemporaneous agreements, terms or conditions applicable to your use of the Service. If a provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions of these Terms will remain in full force and effect and an enforceable term will be substituted reflecting as closely as possible our original intent. Avelyn's Failure to enforce any provision of these Terms shall not be deemed a waiver of its right to do so later.
19. Assignment
These Terms and any rights and licenses granted hereunder, may not be transferred or assigned by you, but may be assigned by us without restriction. Any attempted transfer or assignment by you will be null and void.
20. Acceptable Use of the Service
You may not: access, tamper with, or use non-public areas of the Service, Avelyn's Computer systems, or the technical delivery systems of Avelyn's Providers; probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of any system or network or breach or circumvent any security or authentication measure; access or search the Service by any means other than Avelyn's Publicly supported interfaces (for example, “scraping”); attempt to disrupt or overwhelm our infrastructure by intentionally imposing unreasonable requests or burdens on our resources (e.g. using “bots” or other automated systems to send requests to our servers at a rate beyond what could be sent by a human User during the same period of time); interfere with or disrupt the access of any User, host or network, including, without limitation, by sending a virus, overloading, flooding, spamming, mail-bombing the Service, or by scripting the creation of Content in such a manner as to interfere with or create an undue burden on the Service.
Return Policy
Returns and Refund Policy
1. Application for Returns/Refunds
1.1 Subject to the terms and conditions in this Refund and Return Policy and the Terms of Service, the Buyer may apply for return of the purchased items (“Item”) and/or refund for an item purchased on Avelyn.
1.2 Before you apply for a return/refund with us, we encourage you to contact the other party and try to resolve the dispute amicably.
1.3 As a Buyer, you may apply for a refund/return where the item is not delivered or where the item is significantly not as described.
1.3.1 Item is not delivered when the Buyer has not received the item within a reasonable timeframe.
1.3.3 If the item has been damaged during shipping, please contact us on [email protected] to raise this issue with our support team.
1.4 The Buyer may not apply for the return of the Item and/or refund due to a change of mind.
2. Disputes
2.1 As a Buyer
2.1.1 You may pursue a report about a transaction or contact your card provider to pursue any chargeback options that may be available to you from your card provider. However, you may not pursue both options at the same time or seek double recovery in respect of the same transaction. If you raise a dispute with us and subsequently file a chargeback with your card provider, we will close your report.
2.1.2 If you have received a refund/exchange from the Seller, you may not report that transaction.
2.1.3 If the 'item is not delivered' we will ask the Seller to provide proof of shipping and delivery that can be tracked online. If the Seller fails to do so, we will resolve the dispute in your favor.
2.1.4 If the 'item is significantly not as described', and both parties cannot agree as to the difference between the item that was sold and what was described, we will make a fair decision based on all the information we hold about the item. We will exercise our decision-making authority based on numerous factors, which include the description of the item at the point of purchase, communications between you and the Seller as well as any documentation provided. All decisions made by us are final.
2.2 Disputes as a Seller
2.2.1 As a Seller, we encourage you to communicate actively with your Buyer especially if there are any exceptional circumstances. We encourage you to be prompt in responding to your Buyers in order to avoid any unnecessary disputes.
2.2.2 For 'items that are not delivered' we will contact you to request for proof of shipping. The documentation must clearly show that you have shipped the item to the Buyer's address as reflected on the sales receipt. The documentation must be able to be tracked online showing the date the item was sent and the official acceptance of the item by the shipping company and the status update that the item was delivered (Buyer's acceptance). This is the only evidence that we will accept as proof of delivery. If proof of delivery cannot be provided, then we may resolve the dispute in favor of the Buyer.
2.2.3 For 'items not as described' disputes, we will be reviewing the item description and images that were provided at the time of purchase. If both parties cannot agree as to the difference between the item that was sold and what was described, we will make a fair decision based on all the information we hold about the item. We will exercise our decision-making authority based on numerous factors, which include the description of the item at the point of purchase, communications between you and the Buyer as well as any documentation provided. All decisions made by us are final.
2.2.4 If the Buyer attempts to pursue any chargeback options, we will close the dispute in order to prevent double recovery.
3. Returns
3.1 When returning the Item, the Buyer should ensure that the Item, including any complimentary items such as accessories that come with the Item, must be returned to Seller in the condition received by Buyer on delivery. We will recommend that the Buyer takes a photo of the Item upon receipt.
3.2 The cost of returning the item will be mutually agreed on between the Buyer and Seller.
4. Refunds
4.1 We will do our best to facilitate the refund from the Seller. If the Seller refuses to comply or has taken an unreasonable amount of time (more than 2 weeks) to do the refund, we encourage our Buyers to employ the chargeback option. If you need help with this, please contact us on [email protected].