Disclaimer: This is an automatic translation of the GTCs of the comparis.ch digital real estate portal. This document may contain translation errors. The legally binding version is the one in German.
1. Applicability
These General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter "GTC") of comparis.ch AG, Birmensdorferstrasse 108, 8003 Zurich, (hereinafter "Comparis"), govern the use of the Comparis online real estate portal (hereinafter "Portal") and the products and services offered via the Portal.
The GTC also apply to all contractual agreements with Comparis in connection with the Portal. Natural or legal persons who (1) use the Portal and (2) may have concluded an additional contractual agreement with Comparis are hereinafter referred to as "Customers" (for easier readability, the grammatically masculine form is used - persons of any gender identity are meant).
In addition to the GTC, the conditions in the product-specific service descriptions of the Portal (hereinafter "product-specific service descriptions") and the insertion rules of the Portal (hereinafter "insertion rules") in the respective current version apply as integral parts of the contractual relationship between Comparis and the Customer. The insertion rules are regulated in detail in Section 18 of these GTC.
The Customer confirms with each use of the Portal, the products and services and the payment of each invoice that he has taken note of and accepts these GTC, the product-specific service descriptions and the insertion rules.
General terms and conditions of the Customer do not apply, even if the Customer refers to them (e.g. in order confirmations).
2. Use of the Portal with or without a Customer Account
The Portal can be used with or without a customer account. Comparis may require the creation of a customer account for the use of certain services. The responsibility for the proper handling of user identification and password lies with the customer.
3. Entry into Force and Termination
The contractual agreement enters into force with the Customer's consent to an offer or contract submitted by Comparis. The Customer's consent may be given, depending on the product, e.g. by e-mail, digital signature of the offer or contract, online order or conclusive behaviour (e.g. payment of the invoice, use of the product, receipt of services). Start date, product term and cancellation periods may be regulated differently in the contract depending on the product.
If there is no concrete agreement between Comparis and the Customer (for example, in the offer or the product-specific service description), (i) the contractual agreement begins with the publication of the advertisement and (ii) is concluded for an indefinite period. Both parties may terminate the contractual agreement in writing at any time with effect from the end of the following month. In order for the termination to take effect at the end of the month following the month, it must be received by the other party no later than the last day of the current month.
Comparis may terminate a product or service at any time without notice for good cause, e.g. in the event of late payment of remuneration or other breaches of the Customer's contractual obligations, as well as in the event of contractual, unlawful or immoral use of the Portal. In the event of termination without notice by Comparis, Comparis may withdraw from the Agreement immediately without compensation and cease providing the service without prior notice to the Customer or deactivate the Customer's user account. In both cases, any price already paid in advance for a certain period shall be forfeited as lump-sum compensation for Comparis and the Customer shall not be entitled to a refund. All further claims of Comparis remain reserved. Further provisions in this regard are set out in the product-specific service descriptions and in the respective insertion rules.
A termination by Comparis as well as by the Customer is valid if it is made by post or e-mail. Termination does not release the Customer from paying the remuneration owed until the end of the contract. A waiver of products and services declared by the Customer has no influence on the remuneration owed by the Customer until the expiry of the contract or the effectiveness of the termination.
The discontinuation or sale of his business by the Customer does not entitle him to premature termination of products. In these cases, the Customer owes the remuneration agreed until the end of the contract.
4. Prices and terms of payment
The basic listing or publication of properties on the portal is free of charge.
Paid premium products (e.g. top placements, advertising options, additional services) are clearly marked as such on the portal and can either be purchased directly via the portal or obtained via a separate contractual agreement with Comparis.
The prices stated on the portal including during an order process or at the conclusion of the contract apply. The prices are, subject to deviating announcements on the portal, plus value added tax. Deviating contractual agreements remain reserved.
Comparis can demand advance payments. In the case of invoicing, the invoice amount is payable without deduction within a payment period of 30 days from the invoice date, subject to deviating payment periods according to separate agreement or deviating information on the invoice. If there is no contractual regulation, the remuneration will be invoiced with the publication or provision of services. Without a written, justified complaint by the customer, an invoice is considered accepted 14 days after receipt.
If the customer does not pay within the payment period, the customer automatically falls into default. In this case, Comparis can refuse to fulfill the service or block the customer's access to the user account until all outstanding amounts are paid. In this case, the customer has no right to an extension of the agreed contract period by the duration of the blocking. In addition, Comparis is entitled to terminate the agreement without notice and without compensation. The remaining part of an amount paid in advance for a certain contract period is due to Comparis as lump-sum damages, which is due immediately for payment. After expiry of the payment period, the statutory default interest is owed for the outstanding invoice amounts. Comparis charges a handling fee of up to CHF 30.00 for reminders. Comparis is entitled, after unsuccessful reminder, to hand over the outstanding invoice amounts to a debt collection company and to provide it with all information and documents necessary for collection.
The debt collection company may charge additional processing fees.
5. Performance and modalities of Comparis
Comparis is entitled to use third parties (hereinafter "partners") to fulfill its performance obligations. If the customer enters into a direct legal relationship with the partner by purchasing partner services, he will be informed in an appropriate manner of the partner's contractual provisions and the customer must accept these in order to receive the partner service. Likewise, the customer will be informed of the partner's data protection regulations.
Comparis may be dependent on the cooperation of the customer for the contractual provision of its services (e.g. provision of content, activation actions). The customer's obligations are set out in the contract or the product-specific service descriptions or are made known to the customer in another suitable way (e.g. by e-mail). The customer undertakes to fulfill these cooperation obligations on time, completely and correctly. If the customer violates his cooperation obligations, Comparis bears no responsibility for the fact that it cannot fulfill its services at all, incompletely, not in accordance with the contract or not on time. In such a case, the customer has no claim to a reduction or refund of the remuneration agreed for the service.
If the customer uses technical interfaces (hereinafter "interfaces") for the use of or connection to the portal, he is responsible for their operation as well as for any necessary adjustments to his interfaces. This also applies if technical changes by Comparis make adjustments to the customer's interfaces necessary.
Comparis is entitled, but not obliged, to monitor the behavior of users and customers as well as their content on the portal and to check their admissibility. If the customer violates the contract, Comparis is entitled to block the customer's access to products and to discontinue its services. Furthermore, Comparis is entitled to block or discontinue products and services for reasons of security or functionality until the threat has been eliminated. The customer has no claim to a reduction or refund of the remuneration for this time.
With some products, the customer has the possibility to integrate third-party services into a product or to link products with such third-party services (e.g. map services, payment systems or evaluations of the customer published on third-party platforms). Some products can also be used via app, for which the customer must download the app from an app store operated by a third party. The customer is obliged to conclude corresponding contracts with the third-party services or app store operators. The business or terms of use and data protection declarations of the third-party services or app store operators apply.
6. Changes to Contract Terms
a. Prices, Products and Services
Comparis reserves the right to adjust its prices, products and services at any time and to offer various products and services in combined forms.
Comparis will inform the customer in a timely manner of any significant changes in an appropriate form. In this case, the customer has the right to terminate the existing contractual relationship with 30 days' notice from the date of notification to the date the change takes effect. If the customer does not give notice of termination within the deadline, the contract amendment shall be deemed legally accepted by the customer.
Comparis further reserves the right to make changes that are due to legal requirements (e.g. increase in value-added tax) or official or court orders. Comparis may also adjust its prices once per calendar year to the extent of inflation. The calculation of inflation is based on the national consumer price index of the Federal Statistical Office (LIK base December 2020 = 100 points). The initial index is the LIK level on 1 January 2024. If Comparis does not make a price adjustment in a calendar year, this right does not expire for the following years.
Comparis will inform the affected customers in good time in advance of any price adjustments due to inflation. In the event of a price adjustment due to inflation, the customer shall not be entitled to terminate the service prematurely.
b. General Terms and Conditions
The current version of the GTC will be published on the Portal in a suitable place.
Comparis reserves the right to amend these GTC at any time. If the amendment results in further material obligations or restrictions on the rights of the customer, the customer may extraordinarily terminate the contract with Comparis in writing within 30 days of notification to the date on which the amendment takes effect. Otherwise, the amendment shall be deemed accepted by the customer as of this date.
7. Prohibition of Further Use of Information
The customer acknowledges that the products, services and advertisements, data, texts, videos, music, graphics and other content (hereinafter collectively referred to as "content") published by Comparis, customers and third parties on the portal are generally legally protected and that their use requires the consent of the respective rights holder.
The customers further undertake not to use the content made available on the Portal in any way or form outside the Portal. In particular, it is prohibited to systematically read out (e.g. by scraping), copy, publish or otherwise reproduce (e.g. on the Internet) in any form, or link with other data, the content accessible on the Portal.
8. Intellectual Property Rights
All rights (e.g. copyrights and trademark rights, "intellectual properties") to the content of the Portal as well as to products and the software underlying the products are the property of Comparis or third parties who have granted Comparis corresponding rights of use (hereinafter "Comparis-IP").
Insofar as the contractual use of the Portal or the products requires the granting of rights of use to the Comparis-IP, these are granted to the customer personally, non-exclusively and non-transferable for the duration and scope of the contractual agreement. The customer is prohibited from using the Comparis IP for any other purpose. If the customer agrees with Comparis to use a service of a partner (cf. clause 13), this section shall apply analogously to such services as well.
Content that the customer transmits to Comparis for publication on the Portal (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Insertion Data") shall belong to the customer if such content is protected by copyright ("Customer IP").
The customer confirms that he is entitled to dispose of the customer IP, in particular that he does not thereby violate any rights of third parties. Comparis is not obliged to check the customer's authorisation for the insertion data. However, Comparis may request proof of authorisation from the customer.
The customer grants Comparis (i) all rights of use to the Customer IP which Comparis requires to provide its services (e.g. the right to reproduce, store, adapt, translate, upload, publish and transmit; hereinafter the "Rights of Use"); (ii) all rights of use to the Customer IP for the marketing of the Comparis Portal, e.g. in the form of online, display, poster, trade fair and TV advertising during and one year after their use on the Portal; (iii) the right to use Customer IP during and beyond their use on the Portal for the purposes of analysis, further development of the platform and product development.
9. Use of Insertion Data by Comparis and Partners
By submitting insertion data to Comparis or a partner of Comparis, the customer authorizes Comparis to integrate the corresponding advertisement on the portal as well as on other online and offline channels of Comparis and its partners (e.g., within the scope of trade fairs). The customer is only entitled to publication of the advertisements via those channels that are part of the contract.
Likewise, Comparis may use the insertion data, insofar as it is not covered by Section 8, for other own purposes and those of partners, such as for the creation of statistics, or otherwise publish it and store and process it for this purpose.
10. Warranties of Comparis
The portal contains information and content from Comparis as well as from advertisers and partners of Comparis. Comparis makes every effort to ensure the correctness of this information and content, but makes no representations or warranties in this regard. This applies in particular to the truth, accuracy, completeness and timeliness of the information and content.
Comparis endeavors to offer the operation of the portal as trouble-free as possible and to keep interruptions for the elimination of faults and security risks, maintenance work, introduction of new technologies and the like short. Comparis carries out maintenance work outside business hours as far as possible. The customer has no claim to a reduction or refund of the remuneration for the duration of these interruptions.
Any warranty by Comparis in connection with the provision of services by partners and other third parties is excluded.
11. Insertion Rules for Real Estate Advertisements
The following insertion rules are an integral part of these General Terms and Conditions and govern the conditions for the publication of real estate advertisements on the Comparis portal.
a. General Rules for Insertions
Search insertions are not allowed. The search order function is available for this purpose.
Only real estate may be advertised - advertisements for furniture or services are not permitted.
Advertisements may only be published for real estate within Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Properties outside these countries are not permitted on the portal.
Each advertisement space may only be used for a single property. It is not permitted to use an advertisement for different properties at the same time or to exchange it between several properties.
Advertisements may only be published with the consent of the property owner or property management.
Advertisements must comply with applicable legal regulations.
The transfer of advertisement spaces to unaffiliated third parties or the resale of Comparis services is prohibited.
b. Requirements for Properties and Advertisements
Truthful information is mandatory, in particular regarding:
Price (gross rent or final selling price)
Location of the property (street, postal code, city, canton)
Size and location
Contact details of the responsible person
Condition and availability of the property
Pictures and plans of the property
Mandatory fields must be filled out completely and correctly.
Contact options (phone or e-mail) are mandatory.
Advertisements may not contain erotic, political, illegal, sexist, racist or otherwise discriminatory content. This includes, in particular, depictions, formulations or images that degrade or discriminate against persons on the basis of their sex, origin, religion, sexual orientation or other personal characteristics.
Abusive offer designs are prohibited, in particular:
Imprecise or false information about the property.
Use of the advertisement as advertising space for the provider or third parties (e.g. superimposed advertising on images).
Multiple placements of the same property or republication within a short time after deletion in order to circumvent contractual advertisement limits.
Referral of interested parties to paid services that go beyond customary brokerage activities.
c. Price information
The "Price" field must state the actual gross rent or final selling price of the property.
Alternatively, the indication "Price on request" is permissible.
d. Image Guidelines
Only images that show the actually advertised property may be used. Placeholders, symbolic images or generic illustrations are not allowed. The advertiser must have the image rights or a right of use to the uploaded images.
Images must show the advertised property or relevant information (e.g. surroundings, view).
Images with: are not allowed.
Addresses, telephone numbers or license plates.
Recognizable faces without the consent of the persons depicted.
Erotic, discriminatory, political or illegal content.
Company logos or advertising banners.
Symbols or lettering that give the impression that it is a Comparis additional product.
e. Review of Advertisements
Every advertisement is checked before publication.
Comparis may request changes or reject an advertisement without giving reasons.
Comparis assumes no responsibility for the content of checked advertisements.
f. Measures in the Event of Infringement
Advertisements that violate the rules can be deactivated without notice.
In case of repeated violations or misuse Comparis can:
Block a customer's ad portfolio.
Reject future ads.
Demand compensation for damages.
If the customer has gained advantages through violations that would have required paid products, Comparis can subsequently charge the corresponding costs.
12. Customer warranties
The customer warrants to use the portal and the services of partners integrated therein in accordance with the law and contract and in no way for tortious purposes. In particular, the customer assures that:
the insertion data do not violate any legal regulations or third-party rights (e.g. company, trademark, copyright or personal rights);
he delivers all insertion data transmitted to Comparis or partners in the form and quality specified by Comparis;
the insertion data comply with the insertion rules and in particular are not illegal, misleading, unfair, personally injurious or discriminatory;
the insertion data transmitted to Comparis or partners are complete and correct and are kept up to date by him at all times;
he uses his user account exclusively personally and does not grant third parties any right of use thereto or places advertisements via his user account for third parties who themselves act as agencies or brokers;
he does not use the contact options to the advertisers on the portal for the advertising of own or other products or services or similar improper purposes.
Comparis is entitled, but not obliged, at any time to reject, change or completely delete the insertion data transmitted by the customer without prior notice for legal, technical or other objectively justified reasons. In such cases, the customer has no claim to a reduction or refund of the remuneration.
If Comparis is sued in court by a partner or third party in connection with the use of the portal, an agreement with the customer, with insertion data provided by the customer or products or services offered, the customer is obliged to hold Comparis completely harmless and indemnify Comparis upon first request. At Comparis' request, the customer must also hand over all documents that Comparis deems useful to avert the lawsuit and is obliged to join the proceedings. This obligation continues beyond the duration of the contractual relationship for an unlimited period of time.
13. Liability
Comparis is only liable for intent or gross negligence and rejects any further liability for damages that may arise from the use of the portal (e.g. the retrieval, access, use or application of insertion data). Insofar as Comparis is liable, it is limited in amount to the proven damage, but at most to the annual fee owed by the customer for the product.
The customer is responsible for the products and services offered by him via the portal and for the content transmitted by him to Comparis (in particular also for the insertion data, advertisements and print orders). Comparis assumes no responsibility for the products and services offered by the customer via the portal and for any resulting contracts, such as purchase contracts between customers or with users and third parties.
Comparis does not check the content of websites linked to the portal and is not responsible for the content of such linked websites.
Under no circumstances is Comparis liable for indirect or consequential damages (including loss of use and lost profit). If Comparis is unable to meet its contractual obligations due to force majeure such as natural events, wars, strikes, unforeseen official restrictions and technical faults attributable to third parties, the customer has no claim to fulfilment of the contract for the duration of the event.
Comparis' liability is excluded for acts and omissions of involved third parties, partners and other third parties (e.g. unauthorized copying of content published on the portal).
Comparis is not liable for the misuse of the Internet, tortious advertisements and associated damage to the customer by third parties, for security deficiencies and disruptions of the telecommunication networks of third parties and the Internet, or for interruptions and disruptions of the portal and offers of third parties.
14. Legal Position of Comparis
Comparis is not a party to contracts between customers, users or other third parties regarding products and services that customers offer via the portal. Comparis is in no way responsible for the conclusion of the contract and any associated risks.
15. Offsetting, Assignment of Claims and Rights
Comparis is entitled to transfer the contractual relationship to a third party or to assign individual rights and claims arising therefrom.
The customer may not transfer the contractual relationship with Comparis to a third party without the written consent of Comparis.
Likewise, the assignment of rights and claims from the contractual relationship to third parties is only permitted with the written consent of Comparis. The customer is not entitled to offset his own claims against Comparis with claims of Comparis.
16. Data Protection and Data Processing
The data protection declarations of the portal in their current version, which are accessible via the footnote of the portal website, apply. Comparis can act in different roles: as controller or as processor within the meaning of data protection law, depending on the respective data processing.
a. Role of Comparis as Controller
Comparis is responsible for the processing of personal data collected in the context of using the portal. This includes information such as contact details of users, sensitive data (e.g. CVs, debt collection register extracts) and information on the interaction between agencies and interested parties. This data is processed to provide the services of the portal, to publish advertisements and to process enquiries.
b. Role of Comparis as Processor
In cases where Comparis processes personal data on behalf of customers (e.g. real estate agencies), Comparis acts as a processor. This applies in particular to the processing and publication of advertisements in which the agency acts as the responsible party and Comparis processes the data in accordance with the agency's instructions without making any independent decisions.
c. Disclosure of Information to Third Parties
Comparis may transfer personal data (e.g. contact information from advertisements) to partners in the context of contract processing. These partners are obliged to comply with applicable data protection law. However, Comparis cannot assume any responsibility for data processing by the partners.
d. Marketing and Communication
Comparis may provide the customer with information about other products and services (e.g. by newsletter or push notifications on mobile devices). The customer can unsubscribe from these notifications at any time via the corresponding link in the newsletter or the settings of his device.
e. Obligations of the Customer
The customer is responsible for ensuring that all personal data transmitted to Comparis has been collected lawfully and is authorised for transfer. He must ensure that he complies with applicable data protection law in the context of using the portal.
f. Cooperation with Authorities
If there is suspicion of a violation of the applicable legal order by the customer, Comparis reserves the right to forward the corresponding data to the competent authorities.
g. Communication on the Platform
To ensure the quality of the services, to prevent misuse and to improve the user experience, Comparis can systematically analyse the messages exchanged via the platform. This analysis serves exclusively the technical optimization, fraud prevention and the further development of the services. Comparis does not carry out any content-related review or moderation of the communication unless there are concrete indications of violations of the General Terms and Conditions or applicable law.
17. Severability Clause
If parts of these provisions are ineffective or unenforceable or contain a loophole, the remaining provisions shall remain valid. Ineffective parts shall be replaced by legally permissible provisions that correspond to what the parties would have intended if they had taken this point into account. If the invalidity is based on a specific service or time limit, the legally permissible service or time limit closest to the original agreement shall be substituted.
18. Applicable Law and Place of Jurisdiction
The contractual relationship between Comparis and the customer is subject exclusively to Swiss law, excluding international conflict of laws (IPRG). The exclusive place of performance and jurisdiction is at the registered office of Comparis. Comparis is also entitled to sue the customer at his registered office/domicile.
Version: 21.02.2025 - comparis.ch AG