Terms & conditions.

Scope and parties

These terms govern every account on the smoasters platform and every order, contract and service placed through it, unless a signed individual agreement says otherwise. The platform is operated by Social Ecosystems AG, Hönggerstrasse 40, 8037 Zürich, Switzerland, commercial register CHE-142.396.589 (“smoasters”, “we”).

smoasters is a business-to-business platform. Accounts are for companies, cooperatives, estates and sole traders acting in the course of business. Consumer law does not apply between you and us.

Roles

You run your own shop under your own brand and are the sole seller towards your customers. The sales contract for goods is concluded between you and your customer only. smoasters stores, picks, packs and ships and, for dropshipping items, supplies the goods to you. smoasters does not appear as the seller towards your customers.

We do not use your customer data for other brands, for third parties or for our own marketing. We invoice you only for the services you use and for the goods you buy from the smoasters range.

Accounts and verification

You are responsible for the information you provide, for the users you add and the roles you give them, and for keeping login details secure. Tell us promptly about any unauthorised use.

Producer and roaster accounts on GREEN. are verified once before the first lot goes live or the first order is placed. We may refuse or suspend an account where verification fails or where providing the service would breach applicable law.

DROP: storage, fulfilment and dropshipping

We store the own-brand goods you deliver to us (for example roasted coffee) and manage the stock on a first-expired-first-out basis. We pick, pack and ship your orders and dispatch items from the smoasters range directly to your customers so that you do not stock them yourself.

You make sure delivered goods are correctly labelled and marketable, batch and best-before tracked, accompanied by the organic and food-law documents required, and delivered in a storable, shippable condition. You provide and maintain the product, labelling and safety information your shop needs.

Orders reach us through the agreed integration (Shopify, WooCommerce, Billbee, weclapp or our REST API). You set up the connection and grant the access rights needed; the data transferred is limited to what the service requires. Orders received on a working day before the agreed cut-off are usually processed within 24 hours. This is a target, not a guarantee for the individual case.

Title and transport risk

Dropshipping items from the smoasters range are sold to you at the moment your customer’s order comes in. Title passes from smoasters to you, not to your customer. Title to goods you deliver to us stays with you at all times.

Transport risk passes on hand-over to the carrier. Shipments are insured within the carrier’s standard liability unless additional cover is agreed in writing. Please check deliveries when they arrive. Visible transport damage must be reported to us within 2 working days of delivery so that we can claim against the carrier.

Prices, fees and invoicing

Plan fees, per-order fulfilment charges, per-kilo fees, storage, commissions and ticket prices are shown before you commit and on the pricing page. Prices exclude VAT unless stated otherwise; taxes are added where required.

Invoices are issued every two weeks for services and storage and per order for goods, and are payable within 7 days of the invoice date unless the invoice says otherwise. Late payment entitles us to statutory interest and to suspend services after written notice. We may change fees with 30 days’ written notice; changes never apply to orders already placed.

Shipping and packaging

Shipments leave neutrally packed under your name, with your inserts where agreed. We choose the carrier and service level per destination unless you specify one at your cost. Delivery times depend on destination, carrier and the warehouse handling the order and are not guaranteed.

Packaging we use complies with the rules at the shipping warehouse. Extended producer responsibility for packaging, electrical equipment and batteries in each market you sell to (for example VerpackG and LUCID in Germany, Afvalfonds Verpakkingen in the Netherlands, WEEE registration, and the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation applicable from 12 August 2026) remains your responsibility as the seller, unless we have agreed in writing to take it over for a specific market. We may suspend affected services where providing them would breach applicable law.

Returns, refunds and warranty

Returns from your customers. Where a smoasters warehouse is the agreed return address, we receive returns, check their condition and restock or set aside as agreed. You decide on and pay refunds to your customers. Dropshipping items returned in resalable condition are credited according to the fee schedule. Returns caused by our error (wrong item, damaged in packing) are handled at our cost.

Manufacturer warranty. Gear from the smoasters range comes with the warranty of its manufacturer, and we are glad to help you use it. We check that a claim is complete, submit it to the manufacturer, follow up and pass the manufacturer’s decision on to you. The manufacturer decides on every claim, and we follow that decision: if a manufacturer accepts a claim, we pass on the repair, replacement or credit it grants; if a manufacturer rejects a claim, smoasters does not provide a repair, replacement or credit of its own. We cannot guarantee the outcome or the timing of a manufacturer’s decision.

No further warranty. Beyond the manufacturer warranty, and to the extent permitted by law, any further warranty or guarantee by smoasters for defects of gear is excluded. This does not affect our liability for fraudulently concealed defects, for intent and gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health, or under product liability law.

Your customers. You are the seller towards your customers and their first point of contact. Your obligations towards your customers under the law that applies to your sales remain yours.

Submitting a claim. Before you submit a claim, please check the basics with your customer: power supply and socket, restart, cleaning and descaling, and correct use as described in the manual. Then send one email per case to [email protected] with the subject “Warranty | [your company name]”, including:

• product name, article number (SKU), EAN and serial number
• our invoice number and your customer’s purchase date
• a description of the fault and when it started
• confirmation that there was no misuse or external impact (for example a drop, heat or moisture)
• photos or a short video that clearly show the fault
• the steps already tried and their results

We can only submit complete claims. If the manufacturer needs further information, for example a delivery address for a replacement, we will ask you for it.

Deadlines. Defects must be reported to us in writing without delay after they are discovered. Visible transport damage must be reported within 2 working days of delivery (see “Title and transport risk”).

Sending products back. Products may only be sent to us after we have confirmed the return in writing. Shipping to our warehouse is arranged and paid by you and travels at your risk. If the manufacturer rejects a claim, the product is returned to you at your cost or, at your written request, disposed of.

Product safety and compliance

Under the General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 you are the seller towards your customers and responsible for the product information in your shop. For gear from the smoasters range we make the manufacturer’s or importer’s safety information, CE documentation and responsible-person details available to you and keep them on file. For goods you deliver to us, you remain responsible for compliance with product, food, labelling, organic and sanctions law at origin, at the warehouse and in the markets you sell to.

GREEN: green coffee marketplace

Producers list lots themselves with photos, cupping form, descriptors, harvest window, bags available and their own FOB price. A lot goes live after our review. Producers warrant that the lot exists, matches the description and that they hold the right to sell it.

Every lot shows the FOB price, the smoasters service fee per kilo and freight, import and outhousing per kilo as separate lines. A green coffee order is binding once confirmed by us, with lot, quantity, quality specification, Incoterm and release window stated in the contract. We consolidate lots into shared containers, import and store them in our EU organic certified warehouses with separated storage and documented intake.

Storage is free for the first month on contract lots and billed per kilo and month thereafter. You release coffee as you roast, in a single release or spread over 6 or 12 months. We retain a sealed sample of every lot shipped; quality claims are assessed against that sample and must be raised in writing within 14 days of release. Samples of 200 g are shipped at cost.

Producers are paid on the terms stated in the contract, independent of whether the buyer pays at order or finances the lot.

CAPITAL: financing

Financing is arranged with financing partners and is always subject to their assessment and approval. Every offer names the financing party, the amount, tenor, cost and security in a written term sheet before you commit. Financed orders are paid per release from the warehouse. Nothing on the platform is an offer of credit or financial advice by smoasters.

DISCOVER: listings and commission

We list your coffees on siip.coffee and mycoffeeplan.com without a listing fee and charge the commission shown on the pricing page on sales made through those channels. You grant us a non-exclusive licence to use your product names, descriptions, images and brand for those listings for the duration of the listing. Fulfilment of channel orders runs through DROP under these terms.

TIX: customer care

TIX is available to DROP customers. Every reply is drafted with data from your shop, accounting and inventory systems and approved by a person before it is sent from your domain. You authorise us to send messages in your name within the guidelines you set and to escalate to you what belongs to you. Billing is per ticket type at the prices on the pricing page; filtered spam, newsletters and duplicates are not billed.

Data protection

For your customers’ data we act as processor and you as controller within the meaning of the GDPR and the Swiss FADP. We process names, addresses, contact details and order and delivery data only to provide the services, on your documented instructions, with appropriate technical and organisational measures, and we notify you without undue delay of a personal data breach. A data processing agreement with the list of sub-processors is part of the contract and available on request. Our own processing is described in the privacy policy.

Confidentiality

Both parties keep the other’s prices, volumes, customers, suppliers and technical details confidential during the contract and for three years after it ends, unless disclosure is required by law. Reference use of your name and logo requires your written consent.

Liability

We provide the platform and the services with reasonable care. We are liable without limit for intent, gross negligence and injury to life, body or health. Otherwise our liability per contract year is limited to the fees you paid us in the twelve months before the event, and we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, lost profit or loss of data that is not caused by us. For goods in our custody, liability for loss or damage is limited to the documented purchase value of the affected goods. Warranty for gear is governed exclusively by the section “Returns, refunds and warranty”. Storage and transport of coffee and gear are insured; ask us for the current cover.

Term and termination

There is no minimum term unless your plan says so. Either party may terminate with 30 days’ written notice to the end of a month. Open orders are completed, invoices remain payable, and you collect or instruct the shipment of your goods within 30 days of the end date; after that we may store them at your cost or, after a further written notice, dispose of them. We may retain goods until undisputed invoices are paid. We may terminate without notice for material breach, insolvency or unlawful use of the platform.

Force majeure and changes

Neither party is liable for delays caused by events outside its reasonable control, such as carrier strikes, port closures, extreme weather or official orders. We may update these terms and the services; we give you 30 days’ notice of material changes, and continued use after that date means you accept them.

Governing law and jurisdiction

These terms are governed by Swiss law, excluding its conflict of law rules and the CISG. This applies regardless of the warehouse from which goods are shipped. Place of jurisdiction is Zürich, Switzerland, subject to mandatory provisions that say otherwise. Warehouse services performed in the Netherlands may additionally be subject to the Dutch Logistics Services Conditions 2014 where a signed fulfilment agreement says so. The English version prevails over translations.

Scope

These terms of sale apply to every green coffee lot offered, sampled, contracted, stored and released on the smoasters platform (GREEN.). They supplement the general terms and conditions; where they differ, these terms prevail for green coffee.

Seller of every lot is Social Ecosystems AG (smoasters). The producer is the supplier of the lot to smoasters and is named on the lot page. Buyers are verified roasteries; producers are verified cooperatives, washing stations or estates.

Lot description

The producer lists the lot with photos, SCA cupping form (whole numbers 6 to 10 per attribute), at least three flavour descriptors from the SCA wheel, variety, process, grade, screen, harvest window, bags available, bag size, packaging and its own FOB price. The producer warrants that the lot exists, matches the description and that they hold the right to sell it. A lot goes live after review by the smoasters green team.

Price lines

Every lot shows three lines per kilo: the FOB price set by the producer, the smoasters service fee (sourcing, quality control, import paperwork, warehousing) and freight, import and outhousing (consolidated container to Antwerp and on to the warehouse). Optional lines are the EU organic surcharge set by the producer and, for financed orders, the financing fee. Prices are in the lot currency, excluding VAT.

Samples

Verified roasters may request a 200 g or 500 g sample per lot with a delivery address. Samples ship within two working days from the nearest warehouse when the lot is in Europe, otherwise from origin, at cost. The sample represents the lot at the time of shipping; the retained reference sample at the warehouse is decisive for quality claims.

Offer and contract

A lot page is an invitation to order. The buyer configures bags, certification, release plan and payment terms and signs the contract online. The contract is concluded when smoasters confirms the order; the lot is then reserved in the buyer’s name. The contract PDF is emailed to both parties and stays available in the dashboard. Minimum quantity is the minimum bags stated on the lot.

Incoterm and transfer of risk

Lots are sold FCA smoasters warehouse (Aachen, Heerlen or Spreitenbach, as stated on the lot). Risk passes on release from the warehouse to the buyer or the buyer’s carrier. For lots still at origin or afloat, the contract states the expected arrival window; delays in shipping, port handling or customs extend the release window accordingly and do not entitle the buyer to cancel unless the delay exceeds 60 days beyond the stated window.

Quality and claims

Quality is defined by the cupping form, descriptors, moisture and screen stated on the lot page and in the contract. smoasters retains a sealed sample of every lot shipped. Claims must be raised in writing within 14 days of release, with lot code, release number and description; they are assessed against the retained sample. Tolerances: moisture plus or minus 0.5 percentage points, screen size as stated, cup score minus 1.0 point. A justified claim leads to a price adjustment, replacement or cancellation of the affected release at smoasters’ choice.

Storage and release

Contract lots are stored in an EU organic certified smoasters warehouse with separated organic storage, documented intake, FIFO rotation and batch records. The first month of storage is free; thereafter storage is billed every two weeks per kilo still in the warehouse at the rate shown on the pricing page. Buyers release coffee as they roast: in a single release or spread over 6 or 12 months as stated in the contract. Each release is charged at 0.10 EUR per kilo released. Releases are requested in the dashboard and handed over within two working days; road transport to the roastery on the Rhenus Logistics network is optional and quoted per release.

Payment

Pay-now orders are invoiced at order and payable within 10 days. Financed orders (CAPITAL.) are paid per release on the terms of the term sheet issued by the financing partner. Late payment entitles smoasters to withhold releases and to charge statutory interest. Title to the coffee passes to the buyer on full payment of the respective release.

Producer payout

The producer is paid the FOB price for the contracted quantity on the terms stated in the producer contract, independent of whether the buyer pays at order or finances the lot. Payouts are shown in the producer dashboard. Deductions apply only for justified quality claims attributable to the lot description.

Organic and certification

A lot is offered as EU organic only when the producer has uploaded a valid certificate and the warehouse holds the lot in separated storage with a reconciled mass balance. Certification claims on the buyer’s side are the buyer’s responsibility.

Cancellation

Confirmed contracts are binding. A buyer may cancel a forward contract up to 30 days before the stated arrival window against a cancellation fee of 10 % of the contract value; spot contracts cannot be cancelled once the lot is reserved. smoasters may cancel a contract where the producer cannot deliver the described lot, in which case payments already made are refunded in full.

Liability and law

Liability follows the general terms and conditions. These terms are governed by Swiss law; place of jurisdiction is Zürich. The English version prevails.