Article 1. General

1.1 - These General Terms and Conditions of Sale and Delivery (hereinafter: ‘GTCS’) form part of all contracts and apply to all related (legal) operations (including proposals, quotations and offers) of N.V. Benelux Investment Group, based in Retie, which trades under the name ‘Europese Goudstandaard’ (hereinafter: ‘Europese Goudstandaard’).

1.2 - Deviations and/or additions to these GTCS are only valid if they have been confirmed in writing by Europese Goudstandaard to the Customer and the latter has accepted them.

Article 2. Offers, quotations and contract

2.1 - Every order placed with Europese Goudstandaard is deemed to imply an irrevocable, non-binding order (offer to buy) by the Customer, regardless of any notification to the contrary by the Customer.

2.2 - Any changes proposed by Europese Goudstandaard to the Customer’s order shall count as a new offer to be accepted by the Customer electronically or in writing.

2.3 - A contract is only established after Europese Goudstandaard has accepted an order in writing or via its online portal, or demonstrates the establishment of the contract by executing the order.

2.4 - In accordance with Article VI.53, 2° of the Belgian Code of Economic Law, the right of withdrawal cannot be exercised for the goods offered by Europese Goudstandaard as the purchase and sale of precious metals are subject to price fluctuations on the financial market.

Article 3. Prices and payment

3.1 - Prices are determined by Europese Goudstandaard, if applicable, on the basis of the last known prevailing precious metal prices, as well as any cost-increasing, premiums, taxes and/or duties.

3.2 - All prices quoted include VAT unless specified otherwise.

3.3 - All invoices must be paid to Europese Goudstandaard within 24 hours of the time the invoice was sent to the Customer, unless agreed otherwise between the Customer and Europese Goudstandaard. Payment deadlines apply as strict deadlines, as a result of which the Customer is legally in default if they are exceeded.

3.4 - In the case of non-payment of an invoice, late payment interest is due at the statutory rate of interest from the due date of the invoice.

3.5 - All judicial and extrajudicial costs to be incurred by Europese Goudstandaard to secure compliance with the contract shall be borne by the Customer.
The extrajudicial collection costs are 15% of the amount of the order, with a minimum of €150.

3.6 - Payment shall be made using a payment method to be specified by Europese Goudstandaard.

3.7 -  Europese Goudstandaard retains a lien on the goods at all times until the Customer has ensured full payment (including payment for any previous deliveries) or has provided adequate security for the fulfilment of all existing and future payment obligations to be determined.

Article 4. Delivery

4.1 - Goods are only delivered after payment in accordance with Article 3 of the GTCS, unless agreed otherwise in writing. When purchasing precious metals, the Customer must present a copy of a valid proof of identity to Europese GoudStandaard. Delivery can only be made upon receipt of this proof of identity.

4.2 - The time of delivery is considered to be the point at which the goods are handed over to the Customer or to a party designated by the Customer at the address of Europese GoudStandaard or another address designated by Europese GoudStandaard. Europese GoudStandaard is entitled at any time to deliver a partial order.

4.3 - The Customer may choose to have the goods shipped, insured by Europese GoudStandaard, to an address specified by the Customer. The Customer may also choose to arrange for transport of the goods himself or to collect them at a location agreed between the parties. In the latter cases, the Customer must arrange for insurance of the goods himself from the date of their effective transfer.

4.4 - If the Customer has not collected or arranged for the collection of the goods from Europese GoudStandaard or a third party within five (5) days after the date they are made available for collection, Europese GoudStandaard is entitled to charge storage costs (to the amount of 0.1% for the value of the order for gold on an annual basis and to the amount of 1% for the value of the order for silver on an annual basis).

4.5 - If, notwithstanding the above, it has been agreed that Europese GoudStandaard will arrange for transport of the goods, Europese GoudStandaard is free to determine the method of transport. In this case, the Customer must enable Europese GoudStandaard to deliver the goods to the Customer, in accordance with the shipping instructions given, failing which Europese GoudStandaard is entitled to charge (storage) costs (to the amount of 0.1% for the value of the order for gold on an annual basis and to the amount of 1% for the value of the order for silver on an annual basis).

4.6 - Each delivery period shall be extended by operation of law by the period during which force majeure applies, without Europese GoudStandaard having to invoke the extension of the period in advance.

4.7 - If the agreement relates to precious metal trading in instalments, the delivery period shall be calculated from the time the buyer has provided the security required by Europese GoudStandaard and notified it in writing.

Article 5. Retention of title

5.1 - All goods are delivered under retention of title and remain the property of Europese GoudStandaard until the Customer has fulfilled all his payment obligations - including obligations that arose previously. If payment is made in instalments, the goods shall not become the property of the Customer until the last instalment has been paid.

5.2 - The Customer may not transfer the rights and obligations arising from the contract with Europese GoudStandaard to third parties, unless Europese GoudStandaard has given its express written consent.

5.3 - Before ownership of the goods has passed to the Customer, the Customer is not entitled to rent them out or make them available for use, pledge them, or otherwise encumber them.

Article 6. Damage or missing items

6.1 - All goods delivered must be checked by the Customer immediately upon receipt for any missing or damaged items. If there are any missing and/or damaged items, the Customer must notify Europese GoudStandaard in writing within 48 hours after the goods were received by the Customer. If the Customer exceeds this deadline, or fails to carry out the inspection, all possible obligations of Europese GoudStandaard in this regard shall lapse.

6.2 - In the event that a missing or damaged item is found to be justified by Europese GoudStandaard, the latter can never be obliged to do more than replace the missing or damaged goods, or make an additional delivery of the missing quantity, or credit the invoice related to the delivery upon the Customer’s return of the goods, all of which is at the discretion of Europese GoudStandaard.

6.3 - In the case of a complaint, the goods must be kept available for inspection by Europese GoudStandaard. If possible, the inspection will take place at the Customer’s premises unless Europese GoudStandaard deems it necessary for the goods to be returned by the Customer in accordance with Europese GoudStandaard’s instructions.

6.4 - The right of a complaint lapses if the goods are no longer in the condition in which they were delivered.

6.5 - Fluctuations in gold and silver prices between the time of purchase and delivery do not affect the price. Consequently, Europese GoudStandaard is not responsible and/or liable for price fluctuations between the time the contract is concluded and the delivery of the goods.

Article 7. Liability and damages

7.1 - Europese GoudStandaard is only liable for damage if it was caused by intent and/or gross negligence by Europese GoudStandaard.

7.2 - Europese GoudStandaard’s liability is limited to the net invoice value of the goods and/or services supplied.

7.3 -  Liability for indirect or consequential damage, including loss of profit, losses suffered or missed orders, is expressly excluded.

7.4 - The limitation of liability applies equally to employees, workers and all other persons involved by Europese GoudStandaard in the performance of the contract.

7.5 - The Customer shall indemnify Europese GoudStandaard against all third-party claims.

7.6 - Despite the fact that the online catalogue and the e-commerce website are compiled with the utmost care, it is still possible that the information supplied is incomplete, contains material errors, or is not up to date. Obvious mistakes or errors in the offer are not binding for Europese GoudStandaard. Europese GoudStandaard is only bound by an obligation of means as to the correctness and completeness of the information supplied. Europese GoudStandaard is in no way liable in case of manifest material errors, misprints or printing errors.

Article 8. Force majeure

8.1 - In the event of force majeure, Europese GoudStandaard is entitled to suspend or cancel all obligations arising from any contract with the Customer.

8.2 - Force majeure refers to circumstances that the parties did not or could not reasonably take into account when concluding the contract.

8.3 - Europese GoudStandaard shall immediately notify the Customer of the force majeure situation.

Article 9. Dissolution

9.1 - The contract between the Customer and Europese GoudStandaard can be terminated prematurely and without judicial intervention at any time by one of the parties, in full or in part, by means of written notification, without prejudice to other rights to which that party is entitled, including suspension of fulfilment of the obligations arising from the contract and claiming full compensation, if one or more of the following situations occurs or risks occurring:

• The other party’s business is liquidated or discontinued
• The other party is declared bankrupt
• The other party loses the power of disposition of its assets or parts thereof due to repossession, receivership or otherwise, and has not regained such power of disposition within four (4) weeks of losing it
• The other party fails to perform its obligations under the contract within 14 days of being given notice to do so    
• It is established that the other party will no longer be able to fulfil its obligations under the contract.
   

9.2 -  In the case of dissolution of a contract, all claims which the parties have against each other become immediately due and payable.
 

Article 10. Applicable law and disputes

10.1 - All legal relationships between the Customer and Europese GoudStandaard are governed by Belgian law. Any disputes between the Customer and Europese GoudStandaard that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to the courts of the judicial district of Antwerp, Antwerp Division, insofar as the Customer is a company within the meaning of Article I.1, 1° of the Belgian Code of Economic Law, and to the courts of the Customer’s place of residence if the Customer is a consumer in the sense of Article I.1.2° of the Belgian Code of Economic Law. Consumers can also apply to (http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/).

Article 11. Final provisions

11.1 - Should one or more (parts of) provisions of these GTCS prove to be invalid or void, the other (parts of) provisions of these GTCS shall remain in full force and effect between the parties. Parties undertake to replace the invalid or void (parts of) provisions with valid provisions, which deviate as little as possible - considering the nature and scope of these GTCS - from the invalid or void (parts of) provisions.

11.2 - Europese Goudstandaard is entitled to amend the General Terms and Conditions unilaterally. Any change to these General Terms and Conditions will always be announced at least one month in advance via its website. In the period between the announcement and the actual effective date (i.e. no later than the day before the effective date) of the change(s) referred to here, the Customer is entitled to terminate the relationship with Europese GoudStandaard unilaterally and with immediate effect, without being liable for compensation.

Article 12. Data processing

Europese Goudstandaard collects and processes the personal data it receives from the customer for the purpose of performing the contractual relationship resulting from the customer’s order/purchase, customer management, purchases, accounting and direct marketing activities. The personal data processed are: first name and surname, gender, address, phone number, e-mail address, IP address, other personal data you provide. The legal grounds are the performance of the contract, fulfilment of legal and regulatory obligations and/or legitimate interest (e.g. to offer the customer new products and/or services). The data controller is Benelux Investment Group BV (BE0861.576.764 | St. Martinusstraat 22, 2470 Retie).

This personal data will only be passed on to processors, recipients and/or third parties to the extent necessary for the aforementioned processing purposes. Customers bear responsibility for the accuracy of the personal data they transfer to Europese Goudstandaard. Europese Goudstandaard will not retain your personal data for longer than is strictly necessary to fulfil the purposes for which your data is collected.

You have the right to access, correct or delete your personal data. You also have the right to withdraw your possible consent to data processing or object to the processing of your personal data and you have the right to data portability. You can exercise these rights by sending us a request to info@europesegoudstandaard.be. To ensure that the request is actually submitted by you, we ask you to send a copy of your identity document with the request.

European Gold Standard would also like to remind you that you have the possibility to file a complaint with the national regulator, the Data Protection Authority [Printing Press Street 35, 1000 Brussels | +32(0)2 274 48 00 | contact@apd-qha.be].
 

Article 13. Dispute resolution

The Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform, is an online platform established by the European Commission with the aim of resolving disputes arising from e-commerce out of court. You can use this platform to settle any disputes.