The agreement between you and Portare
Last updated: 14 June 2026
Portare ("Portare", "we", "us") is a sourcing, purchasing-agent and shipping service based in canton Aargau, Switzerland. You can reach us at hello@portare.org. These Terms govern your use of our website and services (the "Service").
On your instruction, we locate, purchase, inspect, pack and ship items from European marketplaces and sellers on your behalf, and arrange their shipment to you.
We act as your buying agent. When we purchase an item, the contract of sale for that item is concluded between you (through us, acting in your name and/or on your account) and the third-party seller. Portare is not the seller of the goods and does not own the goods except transiently for the purpose of fulfilling your order. Our service to you is the agency, handling, inspection and shipping - not the sale of the item itself.
You submit a request (typically a marketplace listing link plus your preferences). We review it and send you a quote covering the estimated item price, our service fee and shipping. A binding order arises only once you have confirmed the quote and provided payment or sufficient pre-funded balance. Quotes are estimates and valid for the period stated in them; item prices, availability and shipping costs can change until purchase is made.
For auction listings you may set a maximum bid. We will place bids up to (but not exceeding) that limit on your behalf. We cannot guarantee that an auction will be won. If an auction is won within your limit, you are bound to complete the purchase and the associated amounts become due. Auction purchases are generally final and non-refundable (see our Refund and Risk Policy). All bidding is performed manually by our staff; we do not operate automated bidding bots and act within the rules of the relevant marketplace.
Where you pre-fund a balance (for example to enable auction bidding), those funds are held to be applied to your orders and associated costs. Any unused, confirmed balance can be refunded to you on request, subject to the Refund and Risk Policy and applicable fees. Payments are made via credit card or bank transfer (including Wise/Revolut and other methods we make available). We do not store card details; card payments are handled by our payment processor.
We inspect and photograph items after purchase and before shipping, against the seller's listing. Our inspection is a reasonable visual and functional check - it is not a professional authentication, appraisal or technical certification unless separately agreed in writing. We are not responsible for latent defects, undisclosed faults, or seller misrepresentation that a reasonable inspection would not reveal.
We arrange export from Switzerland/the EU and shipment to your address. You are the importer of the goods into your country and are responsible for all import duties, taxes, VAT, customs clearance and any local restrictions. You must provide accurate recipient and address details. We are not liable for customs delays, inspections, seizures, or charges levied by authorities, nor for refusal of entry of lawful or unlawful goods.
You may not use the Service for goods that are illegal, counterfeit, stolen, hazardous, or restricted/prohibited for export or import. We do not ship to, or source on behalf of persons in, sanctioned or embargoed jurisdictions, and we comply with applicable Swiss, EU and international sanctions. You warrant that your order and its import are lawful in your jurisdiction.
Title to an item passes to you upon our purchase on your behalf. Risk in the goods passes to you on hand-over to the carrier for shipment to you, except to the extent transit insurance (where arranged and paid for) applies. We recommend insurance for high-value items.
We provide the Service with reasonable care and skill. To the maximum extent permitted by law, and except for liability that cannot be excluded (such as for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud), our total liability arising from an order is limited to the lesser of the item's purchase price or the amount you paid us for that order. We are not liable for the acts or omissions of sellers, marketplaces or carriers, for indirect or consequential loss, or for events beyond our reasonable control (force majeure).
Cancellation rights and refunds are described in our Refund and Risk Policy, which forms part of these Terms. Because our service is a bespoke agency engagement that begins as soon as we act on your instruction, certain consumer withdrawal rights may be limited once performance has started, to the extent permitted by applicable law.
We handle your personal data as described in our Privacy Policy.
We may update these Terms from time to time. The version in force is the one published here; we will note the "last updated" date. Material changes affecting active orders will be communicated to you.
These Terms are governed by Swiss law, excluding its conflict-of-law rules and the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The courts at our seat in Switzerland have jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory consumer-protection provisions that grant you rights in your place of residence.
Questions about these Terms: hello@portare.org.