Terms and conditions

Scope

The association identified in the legal notice operates LuxCharity. These terms cover the information website and public catalogue of new and pre-owned luxury items. Purchases are not concluded on this website.

Accounts and approval

Registration takes place in the app. Buyers and sellers need complete registration. Sellers undergo manual review before listings are published; organisations require certification before receiving donations.

Listings and amounts

Condition, rights, price, delivery and proceeds allocation must be accurate. Fee examples are calculations. An auction result is not a payment; payment completion, donation transfers and payouts are not currently implemented.

Minimum donation on every sale

Every sale of a new or pre-owned item, whether fixed-price, auction or live sale, must allocate at least 10% of the item sale price before fees in total to certified charitable organisations. Auctions use the final achieved price. Shipping is included in the sale price; free collection is an alternative.

The minimum donation is part of the proceeds allocation, not an additional fee. The organisation’s percentage of the remainder after fees must be set high enough to meet it. If the seller has not selected an organisation, the buyer must select a certified organisation. The optional 5% buyer split distributes the organisation fund between two recipients and must not reduce its total. An auction result or calculation is not proof of payment or a donation transfer.

Shipping included in the price or collection in person

Listings must offer insured shipping at no extra charge or free collection in person; both options may be offered. For shipped orders, packaging, transport and insurance are included in the displayed sale price. Additional shipping charges may not be requested. The minimum 10% for certified organizations is calculated from this entire sale price before fees, without deducting the included shipping costs.

The seller, as the sender, is responsible for suitable packaging, shipment tracking and transport insurance appropriate to the type of item and its full sale value. The seller documents dispatch and handover and handles loss or damage claims with the carrier or insurer. For collection in person, both parties document the actual handover. Mandatory rules on transport risk remain unaffected; in consumer purchases, the business seller generally bears the risk until actual handover. An insurance investigation must not delay statutory claims.

Report non-receipt within 14 days

The recipient may report an item that has not been received through the platform within 14 calendar days after documented dispatch. The dispatch date and tracking number must be provided; in the event of delays, the report should be made no later than the last day of this period. The amount concerned remains blocked until the matter is resolved. While the platform reporting channel is not yet available or has a technical failure, reports may be sent with the order reference to aifae.org@gmail.com; claims must also be made against the seller.

This reporting period serves the platform’s processing procedures and does not shorten any statutory delivery, refund or defect-related rights. Silence does not constitute confirmation of receipt. Neither the return period nor the payout period linked to it begins without proven receipt or documented collection. In dealings with business sellers, statutory rights to set an additional delivery deadline and terminate the contract in the event of non-delivery, in particular, remain in place.

14-day right of withdrawal, including for used goods

For distance purchases from a business seller, consumers in the EU generally have 14 days to withdraw without giving a reason, for both new and used goods. The period begins on the day after actual receipt by the buyer or a designated third party who is not the carrier; where an order is delivered in separate parts, it begins after receipt of the last item. An order concluded as a binding contract online remains a distance purchase even if it is later collected in person.

For genuine private sales, this statutory EU right of withdrawal does not apply automatically. LuxCharity also requires private sellers making sales through the platform to grant a contractual right of return for 14 days from receipt, under the notification, return shipping and refund conditions described here. More extensive statutory rights remain in place. The seller must clearly state whether they are acting privately or as a business before the contract is concluded.

Purely online auctions and live sales are not exempt from withdrawal solely because of their designation. Statutory exceptions may cover, for example, individually made goods or unsealed goods that are unsuitable for return for health or hygiene reasons; the mere condition “used” is not an exception. Any exception must be specifically disclosed before the contract is concluded. Statutory extensions of time limits, particularly where the required information was not provided and in relation to weekends or public holidays, remain in place.

Give notice of withdrawal and return the goods

Withdrawal must be clearly communicated to the seller before the deadline, for example by email; sending the notice in time is sufficient. A reason, the original packaging or the seller’s prior approval is not a prerequisite for statutory withdrawal. Simply returning the goods does not replace the notice. The goods must then be dispatched to the return address specified by the seller within a further 14 days of the notice at the latest, unless the seller offers to collect them.

For a return unrelated to a defect, the buyer bears the direct return shipping costs only if properly informed of this before purchase and the seller does not cover them. Returned goods must be suitably packaged; proof of dispatch should be retained. The consumer is liable for diminished value only under the statutory conditions, in particular where handling goes beyond what is necessary to establish the goods’ nature, characteristics and functioning and the required withdrawal information has been properly provided. The business seller bears the necessary costs of justified remedies for defects.

Refund following withdrawal or return

Following a valid withdrawal, payments received, including standard outbound delivery costs, must be refunded without delay and no later than 14 days after receipt of the withdrawal notice, using the same payment method unless an alternative has been expressly agreed at no cost. Where shipping is included in the total price, the total price is refunded; included outbound shipping costs, platform fees or an intended donation share are not deducted as a general rule. Any compensation for diminished value permitted by law remains reserved.

The seller may withhold the refund until the goods have been received back or proof of their return has been provided, whichever happens first; this does not apply if the seller has offered to collect them. The internal payout period does not extend any statutory refund deadline. When a transaction is reversed, the planned distribution of the amount concerned to the seller and organizations is cancelled or must be adjusted accordingly.

Used goods and statutory rights for defects in the EU

The right of withdrawal must be distinguished from statutory rights for defective goods. For consumer purchases from a business seller, EU rules generally provide at least two years of statutory protection from delivery, including for used goods. Where the applicable national law permits, a shorter period of at least one year may be validly agreed for used goods. Under Austrian law, such a reduction must be individually negotiated; these terms do not impose a general reduction of the period.

The agreed condition, age and normal wear of used goods must be taken into account. Sellers must clearly disclose known defects; the label “used” alone does not exclude claims for the absence of agreed characteristics. In private sales, rights relating to defects and possible agreements on liability are governed by the applicable national law. Fraud and mandatory liability cannot be excluded by these rules.

Payout only after the return period has expired

The seller’s and organizations’ shares remain blocked at least until the full 14-day return period following proven receipt or documented collection has expired. Payment or a dispatch notification alone does not trigger a payout. Longer statutory or agreed periods must be taken into account. In addition, the 14-day reporting period from dispatch must have expired; this shipping-related period does not apply to collection in person.

The agreed distribution to the seller and the selected certified organizations is released for transfer only once these periods have expired, payment has been confirmed and funds are available, and there is no timely return, unresolved non-receipt report, complaint or other legal restriction on payout. Open cases block the amount concerned until their resolution is documented. A return notified in time remains open even if the goods arrive back after the original 14 days have ended. Bank and payment provider processing times apply in addition to the release period.

After the deadline and payout

After the applicable statutory withdrawal or contractual return period has expired, there is no additional right to return goods merely because they are not liked, unless a more extensive right has been agreed. Thereafter, complaints relating to the product and purchase contract must be addressed directly to the seller as the contractual partner. The seller’s contact details must be accessible to the buyer.

Statutory rights for defects, claims for non-delivery, fraud or other breaches of duty, and returns already notified within the deadline remain in place even after a payout. Mandatory obligations of the platform operator and, where applicable, rights against payment providers likewise remain unaffected. A payout does not mean that the buyer waives these rights.

Responsibility and contact

Misuse, false information and rights violations are prohibited. Unlawful content may be restricted; affected people may request review by email. Mandatory consumer rights and statutory liability remain unaffected. Changes apply prospectively and are published here.