Purchase agreement

If you conclude a purchase agreement as a businessperson in the Netherlands, you must abide by the rules for agreements from Books 6 and 7 of the Dutch Civil Code. A (purchasing) agreement is involved when you sell a product or deliver a service to a buyer or consumer. You can conclude the agreement in writing or verbally.

General rules

One important rule is that the agreement must include the delivery details, the price, the payment deadline and the guarantee. You must also inform the customer about any additional costs, such as forwarding costs or call-out charges. Once the agreement has been concluded, you are obliged to deliver the product or service.

Additional rules

In addition to these basic rules, there are for example rules in relation to:

• general terms and conditions;
• guarantees;
• advertising;
• unfair trading practices;
• long-distance sales and purchases.

Business-to-business (B2B)

Businesses purchasing products or receiving services have to observe the same statutory rules. You must take the fact that a number of rules have been created especially for the protection of consumers into account within this context. These rules do not apply if a business purchases products or services from another business.