Auction Terms and Conditions

General – Scope

The State of Baden-Württemberg, represented by Marbach State Stud (Haupt- und Landgestüt Marbach), Gestütshof 1, 72532 Gomadingen – hereinafter also referred to as “the organiser” – hosts an online-auction for the sale of horses. The organiser sells the horses listed in the catalogue under their own name, the horses owned by others are sold on behalf of and for account of the respective owner specified in the catalogue (brokerage transaction). The purchase contract with the buyer and the legal relationship with the bidder – hereinafter also referred to as “participant and buyer” – and the exhibitor are based on these online auction terms and conditions – hereinafter also referred to as “GTC (general terms and conditions)”.

The exhibitor/owner has already accepted these conditions of the “online auction” when registering the horse. By participating in the bidding process, the bidder accepts the conditions of the “online auction”. In the case of a successful bidding process, a purchase contract is only concluded between the exhibitor and the buyer with the highest bid.

These GTC apply exclusively; conflicting conditions or conditions deviating from these GTC will not be recognized unless their validity will be explicitly agreed in writing. These GTC also apply if the purchase contract is executed without reservation in the knowledge of conflicting or deviating GTC of the buyer.

All agreements made between the organiser and the purchaser for the purpose of executing a concluded contract are stipulated in these GTC.

Ownership and copyrights are reserved for illustrations, videos, drawings, descriptions, and other documents used by the organiser for the auction. Before passing them on to third parties, the bidder, the buyer and every third party require the explicit consent of the organiser in written form.

These GTC apply in the same way to entrepreneurs (§ 14 BGB) and to consumers (§ 13 BGB) unless their validity is explicitly restricted with regard to individual clauses in their area of application.

1. Arrangement and execution of the online auction

1.1 Login (registration) and user account

Participation in an internet auction is only permitted for those natural or legal persons who have registered with the organiser. Participants can only be assigned one account. There is no right to participate. When the registration is opened, all questions asked by the organiser in the registration form must be answered truthfully and completely and any copies requested must be attached. Likewise, each participant must state whether they are a consumer within the meaning of § 13 BGB (German Civil Code) or an entrepreneur within the meaning of § 14 BGB.
If a participant provides incorrect information, the participation contract can be terminated by the organiser without notice. The organiser and the vicarious agents commissioned by the organiser to carry out the online auction are also entitled to save the IP address of the participant.

Representation and legal capacity

(a) Natural persons can only register for use if they are of legal age and have unlimited legal capacity.
(b) Natural persons authorised to represent a legal entity must be named.
(c) Registered users receive a password. Every user is obliged to keep the password
secret. The participant can terminate the participation contract at any time. The participant’s access and password will then be deactivated after the end of the auction. An “online auction” that has not yet been completed at this point in time and in which the cancelling participant has submitted a bid will nevertheless be closed in accordance with the contract.

The organiser is entitled to terminate the participation contract for good reason without notice.
This applies in particular if the participant refuses to fulfil the contract concluded by way of the auction without reason or never had the intention of fulfilling it.
The organiser is entitled to exclude the participant from further events.

1.2 Procedure of the internet auction

(a) The respective internet auction begins with an offer placed on the internet by the organiser on the platform. This is a declaration of intent by the exhibitor aimed at concluding a sales contract. The bidding time is also specified in the offer by stating “auction end”.
This offer cannot be accepted with a simple "yes", but it is a matter of a previously declared acceptance of the highest bid. The exhibitor will only accept the highest bid that is effectively submitted by a bidder within the specified bidding time in accordance with the conditions of these GTC.

(b) Bids can only be submitted via the screen installed on the platform for registered bidders and only online. Bids submitted in any other way will not be considered, even if they are received by the organiser during the bidding period. Bids for which the bidder has not declared that they agree with the validity of these GTC for the specific auction and that they have taken note of the cancellation policy will also not be accepted. Bids submitted by the end of the auction, which are submitted for the registered user under "Bid" in accordance with these GTC,
only take part in the auction if they have been received by the organiser by the end of the bidding. The transmission takes place at the risk of the bidder.

(c) Each bid by each bidder is subject to the condition subsequent that a higher bid is submitted. The respective bidder is bound to the bid he has submitted until the end of the bidding time. Bids that are below the minimum bid do not take part in the auction, even if the organiser does not receive a higher bid by the end of the auction. The purchase contract for the auctioned horse is concluded without separate award through the effective submission of the highest bid by the registered bidder (at the end of the bidding period).
(d) An effective bid must correspond to the minimum bid and be at least one bid increment higher than the previous bidder's bid.

(e) The contract for the purchase of the horse between the exhibitor and the highest bidder comes into effect at the end of the auction time (also referred to as "hammer price"). The organiser is not responsible for technical delays – even if the transmission paths are overloaded.

(f) If the highest bid at the end of the auction turns out to be invalid, the next lower bid does not win the auction either. In this case, the organiser can resume the "auction" and determine a new end of the auction. In this case, the highest valid bid submitted up to that point is to be set as the starting price.

1.3 Bidding Stages

1. The horses are offered in Euros. Only bid increments of at least €100.00 will be
accepted. The highest bidder is awarded the contract and is bound by their bid.

2. The hammer prices are net prices. Stabling fees, a 3% commission fee and the VAT specified for the respective horse are to be paid by the buyer. In addition, the insurance premium is added to the purchase price.
The invoice amount/purchase price is calculated as follows:

hammer price

+ stabling fee €26.00

+ VAT as indicated (0%, 9.5% or 19%)

+ 3% auction fee (on the hammer price net plus 19% VAT)

= purchase price

+ 1.1% insurance premium (from the hammer price, possibly including VAT plus 19% insurance tax)

= total purchase price/ invoice amount

The offer when the bid is accepted (hammer price) is considered the net price.

3. Incoming bids are prioritized strictly according to when they were received. If there are two or more identical highest bids at the end of the bidding, the bid that came in first wins the auction. All times are based on the system time of the server.

4. Notification of the conclusion of the contract: The bidder who has submitted the highest effective bid at the end of the auction will be notified of this by e-mail or in some other way on a durable data carrier in text form. The receipt of the notification is the confirmation of the purchase contract that has already been concluded and is not an additional requirement for its conclusion. Bidders who have not submitted the winning bid will not receive a notification. The highest bid will only be announced anonymously on the platform immediately after the end of
the bidding time.

5. The organiser is entitled, according to their best judgement, to block registered bidders for individual auctions of individual horses or for a certain period of time or in general, and thus to exclude them from the right to participate in auctions with or without restrictions. This is only permissible if there is an important reason that shows that the continued existence of a legal relationship with the blocked person is no longer reasonable for us.

6. The organizer can cancel an auction at any time before the end of the bidding period if they decide to do so at their reasonable discretion on the basis of a factual reason. In the event of system failures due to technical circumstances, the organiser is also entitled to stop the auction. In this respect, the revocation of the respective offer made on the Internet for the individual horses is explicitly reserved. The decision to break off the auction will be communicated on the Internet platform, with a brief statement of the reason. The bids already submitted expire with the notification without replacement. This reservation to revoke the offer to sell to the highest bidder expires at the end of the auction in the event of an auction carried out in accordance with the announcement and ended at the end of the bidding period, without the need for a separate declaration from the organiser. Claims for damages by bidders in the event of technical problems with the processing of the internet auction, in particular in the event of system failures, non-access to bids or their rejection for technical reasons, are excluded.

2. Information about the auction item

a) External characteristics
The horses offered for auction on the organiser's platform are offered with the following information:
Gender, age, colour, competition successes, pedigree.

This information only represents a description of the auction item and is not the subject of an agreement on the legal and factual nature with regard to a future purchase contract. The pictorial representation of the horse as well as a comment or other verbal explanations about the assignment of the animal with regard to its talent as a riding, sport and breeding horse, the description of the external appearance and performance as well as information on the pedigree also do not represent an agreement on the legal and factual nature but are declarations of knowledge and are based on subjective impressions of the seller, organiser or persons commissioned by him/her.
A condition with regard to special sporting or breeding abilities and performance of the horse is not associated with this, neither now nor in the future.

b) State of health

(1) The horses placed in the internet auction have been clinically and radiologically
examined in advance of the internet auction.

(2) A veterinary examination report has been drawn up for the clinical examinations that
have been carried out, which registered customers can view via a link on the horse entered in the auction. The bidders can have the veterinary purchase examination report assessed by a veterinarian of their choice at their own expense. The respective bidder is strongly advised to make use of this option. By participating in the bidding process, the bidder confirms that they have taken note of the information about the option of reviewing the prepared examination documents.

In addition, the bidder is aware that a viewing of the horse before participating in the bidding process and concluding the purchase contract was possible after prior appointment with the seller and/or organiser.

(3) The veterinary examination report available for inspection is not part of this contract as an agreement on the health of the horse, because neither the organiser nor the seller can make binding statements about the horse's state of health. The veterinarian's assessments and statements have no legal effect on the parties.

3. Intended Use / Guarantee

Neither the seller nor the organiser explicitly assumes any guarantee. This applies in particular to certain characteristics of the horse or purposes.
The parties agree that the further development and further abilities of the horse are not foreseeable. Any verbal statements by the seller or the organiser about the assignment of the horse as a riding, driving, sport and breeding horse and with regard to its predominant long- term suitability do not represent any characteristics or guarantee promises, but are based on subjective impressions of the seller/organiser or the persons assigned to him/her. A condition or guarantee with regard to special sporting or breeding abilities and performance of the horse
is not associated with this, neither now nor in the future.

4. Prices and terms of payment

(a) All stated prices and bids are exclusive of applicable sales tax. Depending on the
assessment of the exhibitor (seller), the sales tax is 0% (private sale), 9.5% (flat-rate farmer) or 19% (commercial, etc.). The corresponding VAT rate is shown on the auction page in the offer for the respective horse/pony after the name of the exhibitor. The value added tax is stated by notification of the exhibitor. The organiser assumes no liability for this information.

5. The hammer prices are net prices. The buyer has to pay Stabling fees, a 3% commission fee and the VAT specified for the respective horse are to be paid by the buyer. In addition, the insurance premium is added to the purchase price.
The invoice amount/purchase price is calculated as follows:

hammer price

+ stabling fee €26.00

+ VAT as indicated (0%, 9.5% or 19%)

+ 3% auction fee (on the hammer price net plus 19% VAT)

= purchase price

+ 1.1% insurance premium (from the hammer price, possibly including VAT plus 19% insurance tax)

= total purchase price/ invoice amount

The offer when the bid is accepted (hammer price) is considered the net price.

With the confirmation of the conclusion of the purchase contract, the bidder receives the invoices stating the price and the sales tax. The deduction of cash discount is not permitted.

(b) The purchase price is due immediately and without deduction. The statutory rules regarding the consequences of default in payment apply. The auctioned horse will only be handed over to the buyer or to the carrier after full payment of the purchase price and the fees. In principle, the invoice amounts are to be paid immediately by bank transfer to the account
specified in the invoice.

(c) The buyer is only entitled to set-off rights if their counterclaims have been legally
established, are undisputed or have been recognised by the organiser. The purchaser is only authorized to exercise a right of retention insofar as their counterclaim is based on the same contractual relationship.

(d) The exhibitor retains ownership of the respective horse in accordance with § 449 BGB until the invoice amount has been paid in full to the organiser. In the case of payment by cheque or bank transfer, the transfer of ownership takes place at the time the settlement amount is unconditionally credited to the organiser's account.

(e) In the event that several people on the buyer's side have bought a horse, they are jointly and severally liable to the exhibitor for claims arising from the auction purchase (purchase price, acceptance, etc.). Furthermore, the buyers are entitled to their own claims from the auction business as joint creditors, so that the seller/exhibitor is entitled to make payments to any of the buyers.

(f) The VAT charged to buyers based abroad cannot be reimbursed by flat-rate farmers (9.5%), as this does not have to be paid to the tax authorities by the exhibitor. The VAT exemption for the auction fee can take place after submission of the necessary documents. If the exhibitor is commercial or an opting farmer (19%), the VAT exemption does not change.
Furthermore, export information and transport decisions are to be made by the buyer promptly after purchase.

5. Collection of the horse / Place of fulfilment / Transfer of risk

(a) The buyer or their representatives are obliged to take over the horse immediately after
the conclusion of the purchase contract. The buyer must collect the horse from the seller by
Thursday, May 5th, 2022, at the latest.
The costs associated with the care of the horse up to April 30, 2022, after the conclusion of the purchase contract, including blacksmith and veterinary costs, are borne by the seller.
Necessary veterinary costs due to illnesses / injuries to the horse occurring after the transfer of risk are excluded. Subject to an effective revocation of the purchase contract, these are to be borne by the buyer.

A later handover of the horse can be agreed between the exhibitor and buyer, whereby the time of handover or receipt of the horse is determined by the conclusion of the relevant agreement. From this point in time, the buyer must also bear all costs associated with the care of the horse, which, unless otherwise agreed, are set at €27.50 plus the applicable statutory VAT per day plus any farrier/veterinary costs incurred.

(b) After the unsuccessful expiration of the above-mentioned time period (05/05/2022) after the conclusion of the purchase contract, the buyer is in default with his obligation to collect the horse without the need for a reminder from the seller / organiser. At the same time, the point in time at which the horse is handed over or received is set at the end of the above-mentioned period (05/05/2022) after the conclusion of the purchase contract. In addition, from this point on, the buyer has to pay daily costs of €27.50 plus the applicable statutory VAT plus any farrier/veterinary costs depending on the horse’s location to the seller or organiser until the horse is actually collected. The same applies if the horse cannot be handed over because the buyer has not fulfilled his obligation to pay in full.

(c) With the conclusion of the purchase contract, the risk of accidental loss and / or
deterioration passes to the buyer, even if the horse initially remains in the custody of the seller or the organiser.

The horse is handed over with headcollar and lead rope. The seller or the organiser is only liable for any kind of damage to the stabled horse in the event of intent or gross negligence.
This does not apply if the seller is liable for personal injury resulting from injury to life, limb or health, which is based on their at least negligent breach of duty or intentional or negligent breach of duty by the legal representative or vicarious agent of the seller. The exclusion of liability for other damages based on at least a grossly negligent breach of duty by the seller, their legal representative or vicarious agent does not apply either.

6. Title Retention

Ownership of the horses is only transferred to the buyer after full payment of the purchase price
plus sales fee and VAT as well as all ancillary costs. The transfer of ownership is reserved until
all due claims from the business relationship have been paid. Before the transfer of ownership,
pledging, transfer of ownership, processing or transformation is not permitted without the
consent of the organiser or seller.

7. Liability

(a) Seller's Liability
1. If the seller is a consumer (§ 13 BGB) or both parties are entrepreneurs (§ 14 BGB), any warranty rights and any liability for material defects are excluded.
2. The exclusion of liability agreed in Section 1 above does not apply if the seller is liable for personal injury resulting from injury to life, limb or health, which is based on their at least negligent breach of duty or intentional or negligent breach of duty by the legal representative or vicarious agent of the seller. The exclusion of liability for other damages based on at least a grossly negligent breach of duty by the seller, his legal representative or vicarious agent does not apply either.

3. In the event of a defect, the exhibitor is entitled to supplementary performance. The buyer has the right to choose between rectification and subsequent delivery. If the rectification is unreasonable or impossible, the seller is entitled to subsequent delivery. If the buyer effectively declares his withdrawal from the purchase contract, the seller owes the repayment of the purchase price versus the surrender and retransfer of the horse. In addition, they owe the reimbursement of necessary dispositions in the form of necessary feeding and stabling costs, necessary farrier costs and necessary veterinary care. Costs of renting a livery place are necessary up to the amount of €7.00 per day. The seller reimburses the costs of return
transport within Germany. In this respect, transport costs of €0.40 per kilometre driven are reimbursable. If the buyer takes his horse abroad, they pay the cost of transporting it back to the German border.

In principle, the seller is not liable for damage, in particular in the form of expenses for riding the horse, procurement of replacements or other financial losses. The liability of the seller for personal injury resulting from injury to life, limb or health, which is based on at least a negligent breach of duty by the seller or an intentional or negligent breach of duty by their legal representative or vicarious agent, is excluded from this exclusion. Liability for other damages based on a grossly negligent breach of duty by the seller or on an intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty by their legal representative or vicarious agent is also excluded.
The exhibitor's right to return benefits and/or compensation for benefits, consumption, sale, encumbrance, processing, transformation, deterioration or loss of the horse remain unaffected by the above provisions.

(b) Organiser’s Liability
1. Any liability of the State of Baden-Württemberg, represented by Marbach State Stud (Haupt- und Landgestüt Marbach), from the mediated purchase contract is excluded.
2. The above exclusion of liability does not apply if the organiser is liable for personal injury
due to injury to life, limb or health, which is based on an at least negligent breach of duty by the organiser or an intentional or negligent breach of duty by their legal representative or vicarious agent. The exclusion of liability for other damages based on at least a grossly negligent breach of duty by the organiser, their legal representative or vicarious agent does not apply either.

8. Notification of Complaints or Material Defects

The buyer must notify/explain defects or other complaints as well as a possible revocation to the organiser in written form. The contracting parties undertake to inform the organiser accordingly in written form.

9. Statute of Limitations

(a) In the case of a sale by an entrepreneur to a consumer, any claims for liability for material defects by the buyer against the seller fall under the statute of limitations within one year of the horse being handed over. For all other sellers (sale of an entrepreneur to another entrepreneur; a consumer to an entrepreneur; a consumer to a consumer), any claims fall under the statute of limitations within three months of the transfer of risk.

All claims for personal injury based on at least a negligent breach of duty by the seller, their legal representative or vicarious agent are excluded from the easing of the statute of limitations.
Likewise excluded from the easing of the statute of limitations are claims for other damages that are based on at least a grossly negligent breach of duty by the seller, his legal representative or vicarious agent.

(b) Any claims for damages against the organiser expire within three months after the conclusion of the mediated purchase contract. All claims for personal injury based on at least a negligent breach of duty by the organizer, their legal representative or vicarious agent are excluded from the relief of the statute of limitations. Likewise, the exemption from the statute of limitations does not apply to claims for other damages that are based on at least a grossly negligent breach of duty by the organiser, their legal representative or vicarious agent.
(c) If the seller and buyer are entrepreneurs in the legal sense, the buyer's claims for defects presuppose that he/she has properly fulfilled their obligations to examine and give notice of defects according to § 377 HGB (German Commercial Code).

10. Loss of Rights

The buyer loses the rights to which they are entitled due to a defect if he/she does not notify
the exhibitor/previous owner as the responsible seller of the defect in written form or send the
notification to them no later than eight weeks from the time the purchase contract is concluded.
A loss of rights does not occur if the seller has fraudulently concealed the defect.

11. German Law - Place of Jurisdiction - Data Protection

The non-uniform German law applies to all rights and obligations arising from and in connection with the contractual relationship, namely the law of the BGB/HGB. The validity of the UN Sales Convention (CISG: United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods dated April 11, 1980) is excluded.

12. Data protection

The necessary data of the participants in the auction are collected and stored for the transaction. The legal provisions are observed when processing personal data. Further details are available in the data protection declaration that can be found in our online offer. Upon request, the participant will receive information about the data stored about his/her person at any time.

13. Final Provisions

(a) These General Terms and Conditions are only available in the German version. In the event of contradictions in the presence of multilingual versions, the German version applies alone; in the case of interpretations, the German version shall primarily be used and be authoritative, also for the interpretation of the foreign-language version.

(b) The organiser reserves the right to change or supplement these internet auction
conditions for the future. Admitted bidders will be informed separately by e-mail of any changes or additions to these conditions during ongoing auctions. The changed or supplemented conditions only apply if the bidder submits a bid again after receiving the notice.

(c) The EU Commission has provided a platform for online dispute resolution (so-called "OS platform"). The OS platform is intended to be used for out-of-court dispute resolution in the context of disputes arising from online contracts. The OS platform can be reached via the following link: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.

According to § 36 VSBG, we inform you that we are neither willing nor obliged to participate in a dispute settlement procedure before a consumer arbitration board.
(d) Should individual provisions of these GTC be or become invalid or nenforceable, the validity of the remainder of the contract shall remain unaffected. The statutory provisions shall take the place of the ineffective or unenforceable provision. The same applies accordingly in the event that the contract proves to be incomplete.

14. Right of Withdrawal

RIGHT OF WITHDRAWAL:
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within fourteen days without giving any reason. The withdrawal period is fourteen days from the day on which you or a third party named by you who is not the carrier took possession of the goods or, in the case of partial deliveries, the last delivery.
In order to exercise your right of withdrawal, you must inform the exhibitor specified in the purchase contract, who must be an entrepreneur, of your decision to withdraw from this contract by means of a clear statement (e.g., a letter sent by post, fax or e-mail). You can use the attached sample revocation form for this. However, this is not mandatory.
To meet the right of withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send the communication regarding your exercise of the right of cancellation before the cancellation period has expired.
Consequences of revocation
If you revoke this contract, the respective exhibitor must reimburse you for all payments that they have received from you immediately and at the latest within fourteen days from the day on which they received notification of your revocation of this contract. For this repayment, they use the same means of payment that you used in the original transaction, unless something else was explicitly agreed with you. Under no circumstances will you be charged any fees for this repayment. The exhibitor can refuse the repayment until they have received the goods back or until you have provided proof that you have sent back the goods, whichever is earlier.
You must send back the goods or hand them over to the exhibitor immediately and in any case no later than fourteen days from the day on which you inform the exhibitor about the revocation of this contract.
The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of fourteen days has expired.
The exhibitor bears the cost of returning the goods.

You only have to pay for any loss in value of the goods if this loss in value is due to the handling
of the goods that is not necessary to establish the nature, properties and functioning of the
goods.

Sample withdrawal form

(If you want to revoke the contract, please fill out this form and send it back to the respective
exhibitor)
I/we (*) hereby revoke the contract concluded by me/us (*) for the purchase of the following
goods (*)/
— Bought on (*)/received on (*)
— Name of consumer(s)
— address of the consumer(s)
— Date
(*) Delete where not applicable
End of information on the right of withdrawal