Terms & Conditions
of Use

Registration is free and open to any Swiss winemaker holding a legal authorisation to produce and sell wine.

The Winemaker undertakes to provide accurate, complete and up-to-date information at registration and throughout their use of the Platform. Identity and banking details are verified via Stripe Connect Express, in accordance with KYC (Know Your Customer) regulations.

Each cellar may hold only one winemaker account. Transferring or sharing an account is prohibited.

Real cellar prices: The prices displayed on the Platform must match the actual selling prices charged by the Winemaker. Any artificial markup intended to offset the commission is strictly prohibited. The Winemaker is solely responsible for the accuracy of the published prices.

Eligible wines: Only Swiss wines holding a Controlled Designation of Origin (AOC) and produced by the Winemaker themselves may be listed on the Platform. Foreign wines, table wines without an AOC and wines bought for resale are strictly prohibited. Any non-compliant wine will be removed without notice.

Minimum price: The minimum selling price per bottle is set at CHF 12.00. Any wine listed below this threshold will be automatically rejected or removed from the Platform.

Permitted bottle sizes: Only the standard bottle sizes of 50 cl, 70 cl, 75 cl are accepted on the Platform.

VAT: The prices displayed are inclusive of all taxes at the applicable Swiss VAT rate (8.1%).

Helvitic is remunerated by a deduction on every sale made through the Platform. What the Winemaker receives is expressed as a net margin: the minimum guaranteed margin is set out below, and the exact amount they receive is shown for each order in their dashboard.

Guaranteed margin: Whatever the selling price of the wines, Helvitic guarantees the Winemaker a minimum net margin of 70% of the selling price excluding VAT, per order. Depending on the delivery method chosen by the customer, the effective margin may be higher (in particular for cellar pickup). This margin is net of commission and transport costs. Card payment processing fees, signature-on-delivery and transport insurance are covered by Helvitic.

VAT (art. 20a VAT Act): From its entry in the register of VAT-liable persons, Helvitic is deemed to be the supplier to buyers for sales concluded through the Platform, in accordance with art. 20a of the Federal VAT Act. Helvitic then accounts for VAT on the price paid by the buyer, and the Winemaker’s supply to Helvitic is exempt (art. 23 para. 2 no. 13 VAT Act): the Winemaker no longer has VAT to pay on these sales and retains the right to deduct input tax. Until that registration, the Winemaker accounts for VAT on their sales according to their own status. The Winemaker informs Helvitic whether they are VAT-registered (UID VAT number) and notifies it of any change without delay.

Bank payout fees: The fees charged for paying out funds to the Winemaker’s bank account (transfer/payout) remain the Winemaker’s responsibility and are deducted from their net margin.

Changes to conditions: Helvitic reserves the right to revise its remuneration as well as the minimum guaranteed net margin, with 30 days’ notice. The minimum margin indicated above applies as long as no notice of change has been given and may therefore evolve over time. In the event of disagreement, the Winemaker may terminate their account free of charge.

Triggered by the Winemaker: The proceeds of a sale are only credited to the Winemaker once they have confirmed dispatch of the order (carrier delivery) or validated the code presented by the Customer (cellar pickup, or in-person handover when they deliver it themselves), from their dashboard. Until this confirmation is made, the order amount remains held and is not attributed to the Winemaker.

Bank payout: The amounts thus credited are paid out to the bank account registered via Stripe Connect Express as a grouped monthly payout, bundling all sales confirmed during the period. This grouping allows the bank payout fees to be pooled. Helvitic does not hold Winemakers’ funds beyond the time necessary for this processing.

Automatic release (cellar pickup): if the code has not been validated 30 days after the confirmed pickup date, the amount is paid to the Winemaker automatically. For carrier delivery, there is no payout without confirmation of dispatch: failing that, Helvitic reminds the Winemaker and may refund the Customer if the order is not shipped.

In the event of a customer refund, the corresponding amount is deducted from the next payout.

The Winemaker undertakes to hand over the parcels no later than the second drop-off day following the order notification. Drop-off days are the working days of the seasonal window shown in their winemaker dashboard: Monday to Wednesday from April to September, Monday to Friday from October to March. The Winemaker drops the parcels off personally, with the prepaid label supplied by Helvitic, at a post office or Swiss Post access point.

If it is impossible to fulfil an order (out of stock, absence), the Winemaker undertakes to inform Helvitic within 24 hours. Costs related to order cancellation remain the Winemaker’s responsibility.

Delivery by the Winemaker: A Winemaker who enables this option in their dashboard may, order by order, agree to hand a delivery order over to the Customer personally, on a date agreed with them. The Winemaker then bears the transport risk until handover (in case of breakage, they replace or refund the bottles) and checks that the Customer is of legal age. The handover is validated by entering the Customer’s 6-digit code, which is proof of delivery and a condition of the payout: the automatic release mechanism set out in section 6 does not apply to this method. If the Customer prefers shipment by Swiss Post, if no date is agreed within 48 hours or if the Winemaker gives up, the order is shipped by Swiss Post on the terms of a carrier delivery.

The Winemaker retains the intellectual property of their photos, descriptions and content published on the Platform. They grant Helvitic a non-exclusive licence to use them for the purpose of promoting the Platform.

The Winemaker warrants that the published content does not infringe any third-party rights and complies with the Swiss law in force.

Accuracy of information: The Winemaker is solely responsible for the information displayed on the Platform about their winery and wines (texts, translations, images, prices, stock, legal information such as appellation, vintage and alcohol content). It is up to the Winemaker to check it before publication and regularly afterwards, and to correct any error without delay. Helvitic is under no obligation to verify this information.

The Winemaker may terminate their account at any time, without notice or charge, from their account settings. Orders in progress remain subject to these Terms of Use until they are completed.

Helvitic reserves the right to suspend or terminate an account in the event of a breach of the Terms of Use, prices that do not match the real cellar rates, or conduct harmful to the Platform or to customers.