Terms of Sale

These Terms of Sale govern the relationship between Vins Vivus, operator of the vinsvivus.com platform, the wine domaines that offer subscriptions and allocations on it (the “domaines”), and the individuals who subscribe (the “subscribers”). Placing an order on the site means accepting these Terms of Sale in full. These Terms of Sale are drafted in French; this English version is provided for convenience only, and the French version prevails in the event of any discrepancy.

Article 1 — Scope

These Terms of Sale apply to every subscription and every allocation order placed on vinsvivus.com. They complement our Terms of Use, which govern use of the platform independent of any purchase.

Article 2 — Definitions

• Vins Vivus — the publisher of the vinsvivus.com platform, technical and commercial intermediary between domaines and subscribers.
• Domaine — the wine estate that offers its subscription tiers and allocations on the platform, and sells the wine in its own name.
• Subscriber — the adult individual who has created an account and subscribed to a domaine.
• Subscription — the tier defined by the domaine (price, duration, contents, number of places), which gives access to that domaine's allocations.
• Allocation — the limited quantity of wine a domaine makes available, reserved and then purchased separately by subscribers on a first-come, first-served basis.

Article 3 — Role of Vins Vivus and the domaine

Vins Vivus is not a wine merchant, reseller, or custodian. Each domaine remains the sole seller of the wine it offers, solely responsible for its compliance and the regulatory information attached to it, and solely liable for the taxes due on its sale (Article 6).

Vins Vivus provides the technical platform, processes payments through Stripe Connect as an intermediary, collects the commission described in Article 7, and has no role in setting prices or selecting subscribers beyond the first-come, first-served rule in Article 5.

Article 4 — The subscription

A subscription gives access to the allocations offered by the relevant domaine for as long as it remains valid. It is not a purchase of wine: a subscription buys access; each bottle is purchased separately, at the time it is ordered, during an allocation.

The domaine freely sets the contents, price and duration of its tiers, and, where it chooses, a maximum number of subscribers. Vins Vivus plays no part at any point in defining those tiers or setting their price, and proposes no price scale. A subscription is purchased on the platform and may be cancelled at any time under the conditions in Article 12.

Article 5 — Allocations and orders

Each allocation opens for a window of time set by the domaine, for a fixed quantity of wine. Depending on the subscription tier, this window can open earlier for some subscribers: each tier has its own early-access window, whose length is set by the domaine — higher tiers may in this way reach the allocation before others. Within an open window, wine is allocated strictly on a first-come, first-served basis until stock runs out — Vins Vivus runs no draw and no artificial queue.

An order is final only once payment is taken, at the moment of reservation. The price, available quantity, and terms of each allocation are shown before the order is confirmed.

The domaine remains solely responsible for preparing and shipping the order.

Article 6 — Price

Prices shown on the platform are set freely by each domaine and quoted in euros, all taxes included, including VAT and excise duty (droits de circulation on alcoholic beverages). The domaine, as seller, is solely responsible for determining these taxes and filing them with the relevant tax and customs authorities. Vins Vivus receives no share of these taxes and plays no part in calculating them.

Article 7 — Vins Vivus commission

Vins Vivus takes an 8% commission on every transaction, paid by the domaine. This commission is never charged to the subscriber, whose payment matches exactly the price shown by the domaine. Payment is taken as a direct charge on the domaine's Stripe Connect account, which remains the legal seller of the transaction; the subscriber's bank statement shows the domaine's name.

Article 8 — Payment

Payment is made online, by card, through our payment provider Stripe. Vins Vivus never stores card details. The order is passed to the domaine as soon as payment is confirmed.

Article 9 — Delivery

The domaine ships the order to the address given by the subscriber. Delivery times and terms, set by the domaine, depend on the allocation. As of these Terms of Sale, delivery is offered within mainland France only.

Article 10 — Provenance Guarantee

Vins Vivus offers a Provenance Guarantee to every buyer who has received an order. It covers incidents occurring in transit and errors in preparing the order, under the following terms and window. Ending a subscription does not extinguish the rights attached to orders already delivered: they remain open for the full length of the applicable reporting window, whether or not the subscription is still active.

Reporting window

• 14 days from delivery — a bottle broken or damaged in transit, an item missing, or the wrong item received.

Evidence we ask for

• In every case, at least one photo of the bottle or package concerned (up to six).
• A bottle damaged in transit (damaged label or capsule, bottle intact): the painted code on the label, typed into the report form, is required.
• Wrong item received: the painted code is optional, given as a diagnostic aid — a code matching your own order in fact shows the correct bottle was shipped.
• A bottle broken in transit or a missing item: no code is required, since there is no bottle to transcribe; a missing item must be accompanied by a photo of the opened package and a description of the incident.

How it is handled

Once the domaine has reviewed the report, an approved case is resolved by a replacement from the domaine's own cellar, or by a partial refund covering the bottles concerned.

Who pays

Breakage and transit damage are covered by a guarantee reserve that Vins Vivus funds at roughly 2% of revenue. An error caused by the domaine (wrong item, missing item) is the domaine's own cost.

What is not covered

The Provenance Guarantee does not cover corked or oxidised wine, nor, more generally, how a wine evolves in bottle: a cork fault only appears on opening, outside any verifiable window, and cannot be established by the photographic evidence the guarantee rests on. This exclusion is specific to the Provenance Guarantee, which is a commercial undertaking by Vins Vivus. It in no way restricts the legal warranties owed by the domaine in its capacity as seller — in particular the legal warranty of conformity (articles L. 217-3 et seq. of the French Consumer Code) and the warranty against hidden defects (articles 1641 et seq. of the French Civil Code) — which the buyer may assert directly against the domaine.

Article 11 — Right of withdrawal

Under Article L. 221-18 of the French Consumer Code, consumers generally have a fourteen (14) day right to withdraw from a purchase made at a distance. Because wine is a good that can deteriorate quickly, and is reserved by name in limited quantity during an allocation, it may fall under an exception set out in Article L. 221-28 of the same Code.

This point is pending confirmation from our legal counsel and will be clarified before commercial launch. In the meantime, any subscriber with a problem on their order can rely on the Provenance Guarantee (Article 10).

Article 12 — Cancelling a subscription

A subscriber may cancel their subscription at any time from their account. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current period; it does not entitle the subscriber to a prorated refund and does not affect allocation orders already placed.

Article 13 — Liability

Vins Vivus takes reasonable steps to keep the platform running well, without guaranteeing it will never be interrupted. The domaine remains solely responsible for the quality, compliance and storage of the wine it sells, and for complying with the regulations that apply to selling it.

Article 14 — Complaints and mediation

Any complaint about an order can be sent to the contact address given in our Legal Notice. Under Articles L. 616-1 et seq. of the French Consumer Code, a consumer subscriber may refer an unresolved dispute to a consumer mediator free of charge.

Article 15 — Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms of Sale are governed by French law. In the event of a dispute that cannot be resolved amicably, the competent French courts will have sole jurisdiction, subject to the mandatory provisions protecting consumers.