TERMS & CONDITIONS
Last updated: September 2026
These Terms & Conditions apply to purchases made from BALETA Handmade through www.baletahandmade.com and to orders otherwise accepted by BALETA Handmade.
BALETA Handmade is operated by Paul Baleta as an Austrian sole trader. Full business and contact details are available in the Impressum on this website.
By placing an order, you agree to these Terms & Conditions.
Nothing in these Terms & Conditions limits any statutory rights that cannot legally be excluded or restricted.
1. Customers and Age Restrictions
You must be at least 18 years old to purchase knives, edged tools or other age-restricted products from BALETA Handmade.
We reserve the right to request reasonable proof of age before accepting or dispatching an order. If satisfactory proof cannot be provided, the order may be refused or cancelled and any payment already received will be refunded.
You are responsible for ensuring that the purchase, importation, possession and use of a product is lawful in your country, state, province or region.
We may refuse or cancel an order where we reasonably believe that supplying the product would be unlawful.
2. Products
BALETA Handmade products are individually made or finished by hand. Many products also incorporate natural materials.
As a result, minor variations in dimensions, colour, grain, pattern, texture, finish and appearance are normal and form part of the handmade character of the product.
Product photographs are intended to represent products as accurately as reasonably possible. Colours and appearance may nevertheless vary depending on lighting, photography and the device or screen on which they are viewed.
Where the item offered is the actual individual knife or product shown in the photographs, we will endeavour to make this clear in the product description.
Minor handmade variations or naturally occurring characteristics are not defects merely because they differ slightly from photographs, samples or another example of the same model.
This does not affect your statutory rights where a product is defective, damaged, incorrectly supplied or does not conform to the contract.
3. Product Specifications
We endeavour to ensure that descriptions, specifications, prices and other information on the website are accurate.
Because BALETA Handmade products are handmade, dimensions and weights may be approximate unless expressly stated otherwise.
We may correct obvious typographical, technical or pricing errors on the website.
If an error affects an order that you have already placed, we will contact you before proceeding where reasonably necessary. You will not be required to purchase a product at a price that was clearly and obviously displayed in error.
4. Orders and Formation of Contract
Products displayed on the website constitute an invitation to place an order.
By completing the checkout process and submitting an order, you make an offer to purchase the products shown in your order.
Receipt of an automated order acknowledgement does not necessarily mean that your order has been accepted.
A contract is formed when BALETA Handmade expressly accepts your order, confirms acceptance by email, or dispatches the goods, whichever occurs first.
For commissioned, customised or made-to-order products, the contract may instead be formed when the specifications and price have been agreed and BALETA Handmade confirms acceptance of the commission.
We reserve the right to decline an order before a contract has been formed, including because of stock availability, legal restrictions, suspected fraud, inability to verify age, obvious pricing errors or inability to deliver to the requested destination.
5. Prices
Prices are displayed in euros unless otherwise stated.
The applicable price is the price shown when the order is placed, subject to correction of an obvious error.
BALETA Handmade currently applies the Austrian small-business VAT exemption (Kleinunternehmerregelung). Austrian VAT is therefore not charged or separately shown on applicable sales.
For deliveries to customers in other European Union member states, any VAT treatment required by applicable EU or destination-country rules will be reflected in the final price shown before the customer submits the order.
Any applicable delivery charges will also be shown before the order is submitted.
For deliveries outside the European Union, customs duties, import VAT, handling fees or other charges imposed by the destination country are normally the responsibility of the recipient and are not included in the purchase price unless expressly stated otherwise.
6. Payment
Available payment methods are displayed during checkout or agreed directly with the customer.
Stock items must normally be paid for in full before dispatch.
For commissioned or made-to-order products, BALETA Handmade may require a deposit before work begins. Unless otherwise agreed, the standard deposit is 50% of the agreed price, with the remaining balance payable before dispatch.
Where a product is personalised in a way that materially limits its resale — including personalised engraving, inscriptions, initials or other customer-specific permanent modifications — payment in full may be required before personalisation or production begins.
Any different payment schedule will be agreed with the customer before the commission is accepted.
Ownership of goods remains with BALETA Handmade until the purchase price has been paid in full, to the extent permitted by applicable law.
7. Commissioned, Customised and Made-to-Order Products
A commissioned product may involve specifications chosen specifically by the customer, including dimensions, blade configuration, materials, handle materials, engraving, inscriptions, fittings, finishes or other individual design features.
Once specifications have been agreed, changes requested by the customer may affect the price and estimated completion date and may not always be possible once work has commenced.
Where goods are made to the consumer's specifications or are clearly personalised, the statutory right of withdrawal may not apply.
Whether the statutory exception applies depends on the nature of the individual order. Further information is provided in our Withdrawal & Returns Policy.
Where no statutory withdrawal right exists and a customer nevertheless asks to cancel a custom commission, BALETA Handmade may agree to cancellation at its discretion. In that event, reasonable costs and losses already incurred in connection with the commission may be deducted from amounts already paid.
This does not affect any statutory rights concerning defective or non-conforming goods.
8. Lead Times
Estimated production and delivery times are provided in good faith.
Because our products are handmade, quoted completion dates for commissioned or made-to-order products are normally estimates unless a particular completion date has expressly been agreed as binding.
Delays may occasionally arise due to material availability, supplier delays, equipment failure, illness or other circumstances affecting a small workshop.
If a significant delay occurs, we will inform the customer as soon as reasonably possible.
Nothing in this section limits rights available to consumers under mandatory consumer law.
9. Delivery
Available delivery methods, destinations and delivery charges will be shown during checkout or agreed directly with the customer.
Orders are dispatched to the delivery address supplied by the customer. Customers should therefore ensure that the address provided is complete and accurate.
Where tracking is available, tracking information will normally be supplied after dispatch.
For consumer purchases, responsibility for accidental loss or damage during delivery passes to the consumer in accordance with applicable law.
International customers are responsible for complying with applicable import, possession and transport laws in the destination country.
BALETA Handmade may decline to ship particular products to jurisdictions where legal or practical restrictions make delivery inappropriate.
Further information is contained in our Shipping & Returns page.
10. Right of Withdrawal
Consumers purchasing at a distance generally have a statutory right to withdraw from an eligible contract within 14 days, without giving a reason.
There are statutory exceptions. In particular, the withdrawal right may not apply to goods made to the consumer's specifications or goods that are clearly personalised.
Full information concerning the statutory right of withdrawal, applicable exceptions, return procedure and model withdrawal form is provided in our Withdrawal & Returns Policy.
Nothing in these Terms & Conditions restricts a statutory right of withdrawal where that right applies.
11. Defective or Incorrect Goods — Statutory Warranty Rights
Consumers have statutory rights where goods are defective, incorrectly supplied or otherwise fail to conform to the contract.
These statutory rights are separate from the right to withdraw from an online purchase and are not restricted by our voluntary returns arrangements.
If you believe that a product is defective or has been supplied incorrectly, please contact BALETA Handmade with details of the problem and, where useful, photographs showing the issue.
Normal handmade variations and characteristics of natural materials are not in themselves defects.
12. Knife Care and Use
Knives and edged tools are inherently sharp products and must be handled, used, transported and stored responsibly.
The customer is responsible for using each product for an appropriate purpose and following any care or safety information supplied with it.
Improper use, abuse, neglect, inappropriate sharpening, corrosion caused by inadequate care, unauthorised modification or use of a knife for purposes for which it was not designed may cause damage and may not constitute a product defect.
Nothing in these Terms & Conditions excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including liability arising under mandatory consumer or product-safety law.
13. Intellectual Property
Unless otherwise stated, the content of this website — including BALETA Handmade designs, photographs, graphics, written material, logos and branding — is owned by or licensed to BALETA Handmade and is protected by applicable intellectual-property law.
Website content may be viewed and used for normal personal browsing and purchasing purposes.
It may not be reproduced, commercially exploited or distributed without permission except where permitted by law.
14. Website Availability and Third-Party Links
We endeavour to keep the website accurate and available but cannot guarantee that the website will operate continuously or without temporary interruption.
The website may contain links to third-party websites or services. BALETA Handmade is not responsible for the content, availability or privacy practices of independent third-party websites.
15. Personal Data
Personal information is processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Information necessary for processing an order may be supplied to service providers such as payment processors, website providers, delivery companies and professional advisers where appropriate and lawful.
Further information concerning the collection and processing of personal information is provided in our Privacy Policy.
16. Liability
BALETA Handmade is responsible for loss or damage in accordance with applicable law.
Nothing in these Terms & Conditions excludes or restricts liability where exclusion or restriction is prohibited by law.
In particular, nothing in these Terms & Conditions limits mandatory consumer rights, statutory product liability, or liability for personal injury or other liability that cannot legally be excluded.
For customers acting in the course of a trade or business, liability may be limited to the extent permitted by applicable law.
17. Applicable Law
These Terms & Conditions and contracts concluded with BALETA Handmade are governed by Austrian law, excluding the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), to the extent that such a choice of law is legally permitted.
Where the customer is a consumer, this choice of law does not deprive the consumer of mandatory protections granted by the law of the country in which the consumer has their habitual residence where those protections are applicable.
Mandatory rules concerning consumer jurisdiction remain unaffected.
18. Complaints and Contact
If you have a question or complaint concerning an order, please contact BALETA Handmade using the contact details given in the Impressum.
We will endeavour to resolve complaints directly and reasonably.
Information concerning any applicable alternative dispute-resolution procedure will be provided on the website where legally required.
19. Changes to These Terms
The Terms & Conditions applicable to an order are those made available to the customer when the order is placed.
We may update these Terms & Conditions for future transactions where necessary because of changes to the business, website or applicable law.
Changes do not retrospectively alter an existing contract unless both parties agree or the law requires otherwise.
20. Severability
If any provision of these Terms & Conditions is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain unaffected to the extent permitted by law.
21. Contract Language
The contractual language is the language in which the relevant version of the website, product offer and ordering process is presented to the customer.
At present, the online shop is operated in English and contracts concluded through the English-language version of the shop are concluded in English.
If BALETA Handmade subsequently provides another language version of the online shop, including a German-language version, contracts concluded through that version may be concluded in the corresponding language.
BALETA Handmade
Operated by Paul Baleta
Austria
Full statutory business information and contact details: Impressum