Purchase on account between businesses: terms, interest, title

Buying on account means the seller finances you for a while, so a payment term is not a convenience — it is credit, with a check, an interest rate and a retention of title attached. Settle it before the basket, not at it.

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What is possible here today

Not a payment option in the cart — an arrangement made beforehand

Purchase on account is not enabled in our checkout, and neither is SEPA direct debit. Both are announced, and until they are switched on we say so at the top rather than at the bottom. Available today: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Klarna, Bitcoin and Ethereum.

shukchok is an open marketplace for industrial goods, and for larger values there is a real route: on request we set up an individual payment arrangement with a manual invoice. Clause 7.3 of our terms then applies — payment without deduction within ten days of the invoice date, with advance payment reserved for first orders, custom manufacture and deliveries abroad.

The practical consequence is worth acting on: the first purchase is the wrong moment to need a payment term. Setting it up without time pressure is far easier than setting it up with a machine standing still.

Ask before you fill the basket, not at the payment step
Your purchase order number and cost centre travel with the order to the invoice
Prices are shown net throughout, so the figures match your own system

The framework in figures

Between businesses the consequences are sharper

These are the provisions that decide the amounts once a payment date passes.

The base rate figure carries a date because it moves twice a year. At 1.52 % the resulting default interest is 10.52 % — check the current Bundesbank figure rather than quoting this page in a reminder.
Point	What applies between businesses	Provision
Default interest	Nine percentage points above the base rate	§ 288(2) German Civil Code
Base rate	1.52 % since 1 July 2026, published by the Bundesbank and adjusted every 1 January and 1 July	§ 247 German Civil Code
Flat charge on default	40 euros, in addition to interest and further damages	§ 288(5) German Civil Code
Excluding default interest in advance	Ineffective — it cannot be contracted away beforehand	§ 288(6) German Civil Code
Payment terms beyond 60 days	Only where expressly agreed and not grossly unfair to the creditor	§ 271a German Civil Code
Terms towards public contracting authorities	Beyond 30 days only where expressly agreed and objectively justified; beyond 60 days ineffective	§ 271a German Civil Code
Our term where an invoice route is arranged	Ten days from the invoice date, without deduction	Clause 7.3 of our terms

Make it one round

Eight details that get an invoice arrangement decided quickly

With these in the first message the answer usually comes back in one round. Without them it becomes a sequence of follow-up questions.

Company name including legal form, exactly as it appears in the register
Register court and registration number where the entity is registered
VAT identification number, and whether the delivery is intra-Community
Invoice address, and the delivery address where the two differ
Expected order value now and the anticipated annual volume
A named contact in accounts payable, with a direct address
Your purchase order number and cost centre, so they reach the invoice
Whether an existing purchasing framework or approval process has to be reflected

What each side owes the other

Retention of title protects the seller. Inspection protects you.

Where payment follows delivery, retention of title is the only real security the seller holds. The simple form is § 449(1) of the Civil Code: title passes on full payment. The seller cannot simply demand the goods back either; that requires rescission first (§ 449(2)), and a group-wide retention is void (§ 449(3)).

The extended form is not codified but constructed. Because § 950 lets ownership of the secured goods lapse as soon as they are processed into something new, an extended clause combines an advance assignment of the resale claim with a processing clause.

Your own duty starts at delivery, and it is the sharpest difference from a consumer purchase: examine without undue delay, notify without undue delay, or the goods count as approved (§ 377(1) and (2) of the Commercial Code).

For hidden defects the period runs from discovery (§ 377(3))
Dispatching the notice in time is enough to preserve the right (§ 377(4))
§ 377 presupposes a commercial transaction for both sides

From accounts payable

Six questions before the first invoice

Can I order on account here?

Not through the checkout — invoice and SEPA are announced but not enabled. For larger order values we set up an individual payment arrangement with a manual invoice on request. Ask before you place the order rather than at the payment step.

What payment term applies?

Where an invoice route has been arranged, clause 7.3 of our terms applies: payment without deduction within ten days of the invoice date. Advance payment is reserved for first orders, custom manufacture and deliveries abroad.

What happens if payment is late?

Default interest of nine percentage points above the base rate under § 288(2) of the Civil Code, plus a flat 40 euros under § 288(5), and any further loss remains claimable. The base rate has stood at 1.52 % since 1 July 2026, so the current interest rate is 10.52 %. It changes twice a year.

When does title to the goods pass to us?

For goods we supply as seller: on full payment of all claims arising from the business relationship — clause 9 of our terms, following § 449(1) of the Civil Code. Where a position is brokered for a supplier, that supplier is the seller and its own terms govern the transfer. Which of the two applies is shown at the position before you commit.

Do we have to inspect the delivery immediately?

Yes, where the transaction is commercial for both sides. The goods must be examined without undue delay and defects notified without undue delay, otherwise they count as approved (§ 377 of the Commercial Code). Dispatching the notice in time is sufficient. The statute sets no fixed number of days — "without undue delay" depends on the case.

Can you issue a structured electronic invoice?

Not at present. Our invoice is a PDF, and neither XRechnung nor ZUGFeRD nor Peppol is connected. For domestic B2B transactions the obligation to receive structured invoices under EN 16931 already applies; the transitional rule in § 27(38) of the VAT Act privileges only the issuing side — generally until 31 December 2026, until 31 December 2027 for businesses with a prior-year turnover of at most 800,000 euros, and until 31 December 2027 for EDI invoices. For an intra-Community supply the obligation does not apply at all, because § 14(2) sentence 2 no. 1 of the VAT Act requires both parties to be established domestically.

Around the invoice

What else decides the figure on it

Two ways in

Settle the payment route in the quotation, not at the cart

A quotation with its own number, date and validity is the natural place to agree terms for a larger purchase. And if you sell rather than buy: the checkout, the payment handling and the collection stay with us, so listing here costs you no fee and no monthly charge.

Request a quotation Sell through this platform

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