Terms of Service

1. Who we are

Onshore is operated by Onshore (“Onshore”, “we”, “us”). Full company details are on our legal notice. You can contact us at support@onshoredelivery.com.

In these terms, a shipper is anyone who books space to send goods (suppliers, yacht crew, yacht owners and managers); a carrier is a transport business or professional driver offering space; you means the user reading these terms. A business user is someone using Onshore for their trade, business or profession; a consumer is an individual acting for purposes outside their trade.

2. What Onshore does — and doesn’t do

Onshore is an online marketplace. We let carriers publish spare capacity and let shippers book it or ask for quotes. We provide the booking tools, messaging, tracking and payment handling.

• The contract for carriage is between the shipper and the carrier. When a booking is confirmed, the carrier agrees with the shipper to carry the goods. Onshore is not a party to that contract of carriage.
• We act as the carrier’s commercial agent to conclude bookings and to collect payment on the carrier’s behalf. When you pay Onshore for a booking, you have paid the carrier.
• We are not a carrier, freight forwarder, customs agent or insurer. We do not take possession of goods, we do not sell insurance, and we do not handle customs formalities.
• Carriers are independent businesses. They are not our employees or subcontractors, and they decide which jobs to accept, their prices and how to perform the carriage, within these terms and the law.

3. Accounts and eligibility

• You must be at least 18 and able to enter into contracts. If you register for a business, you confirm you are authorised to bind it.
• Give accurate information and keep it up to date — including whether you act as a business or a consumer, your country and, for businesses, your VAT number.
• Keep your login details secure. You are responsible for activity on your account. Tell us straight away at support@onshoredelivery.com if you think your account has been misused.
• Carriers must pass our checks before they can accept paid work: identity, driving licence, vehicle documents, insurance, and — where required — transport licences. We may ask for more information at any time. Passing our checks does not mean we guarantee a carrier’s performance.
• One person or business, one account, unless we agree otherwise.

4. Bookings, offers and quotes

1. Request. A shipper books space on a listing, or accepts a carrier’s quote or bid. The shipper must describe the goods accurately (see section 9).
2. Carrier response. For a booking request, the carrier has until the earlier of 24 hours or the scheduled departure to accept or decline. If they don’t respond in time, the request lapses and nothing is charged.
3. Payment deadline. Once the carrier accepts (or once a quote or bid is accepted), the shipper must pay by the deadline shown — normally within 48 hours, never later than 2 hours before departure, and never less than 2 hours from acceptance. Unpaid bookings lapse at the deadline, the space is released and both sides are told.
4. Confirmation. A booking is confirmed — and the contract of carriage binding — when payment succeeds. We send both parties a confirmation.

If a payment arrives for a booking that can no longer be performed (for example it has already lapsed), we refund it automatically.

5. Prices, fees, VAT, payment and payouts

• Prices are set by carriers (per kilo, per cubic metre, flat rate or by quote) and shown in euros or pounds sterling.
• VAT, where it applies, is calculated on the booking price according to where you and the carrier are established and where the transport starts, and is shown separately before you pay. If you are a VAT-registered business in another EU country and give a valid VAT number, the reverse charge may apply. Consumers always see the total price, including VAT, before paying.
• Our fee. Shippers do not pay a separate booking fee. Carriers pay Onshore a platform fee (currently 10% of the booking price) which is deducted from their payout and shown before they accept each job.
• Payment is taken by card through our payment processor, Stripe. We never see or store full card details.
• Payment hold. We hold the payment and release it to the carrier 48 hours after the carrier records delivery (with proof of delivery), or earlier if the shipper confirms receipt. If a dispute is open, the payout is held until it is resolved.
• Invoices and receipts are available from the booking page.

6. Cancellations and refunds

Cancellation timing is measured against the booking’s collection time — or the listing’s departure time if no specific collection time was agreed.

• Unpaid bookings can be cancelled by either party at any time; no money moves.
• The admin fee (5% of the net, pre-VAT price) on cancellations more than 48 hours ahead is kept by Onshore to cover payment and processing costs.
• For cancellations 24–48 hours ahead, 50% of the amount paid is refunded, including VAT pro rata. Of the amount kept, the carrier receives their proportionate share of their payout and Onshore keeps the rest.
• For cancellations less than 24 hours ahead, or if the shipper is not there or the goods are not ready at collection (no-show), there is no refund and the carrier receives their full payout.
• If the carrier cancels before collection, or we cancel a booking (for example for safety, suspected fraud or a breach of these terms), the shipper receives a full refund.
• Carriers cannot cancel after collecting the goods; only Onshore can, for example to resolve a dispute.
• Refunds are made to the original payment method. Banks can take 5–10 working days to show them.
• Nothing in this section limits your statutory rights as a consumer, or your rights if the carrier fails to perform.

7. Changing a booking

• Either the shipper or the carrier can propose a change to a confirmed booking — for example the date, the collection or delivery address, or the berth when a yacht moves.
• The other party can accept or decline. If accepted, the booking is updated. If the price changes, the difference is charged to, or refunded to, the shipper.
• If a change is declined, the original booking stands. A shipper who then cancels does so under section 6.
• Carriers must not make changes the shipper has not agreed to, except where needed for safety or to comply with the law — and must tell the shipper straight away.

8. Carrier obligations

If you are a carrier, you must:

• Be properly licensed. Hold every licence and registration needed for the transport you do — for example registration in the French Registre électronique national des entreprises de transport par route for road haulage in France (including light vehicles), a UK operator’s licence (O-licence) where required, and an EU Community licence for international carriage with vehicles over 2.5 tonnes where required.
• Be insured. Hold valid motor insurance and goods-in-transit insurance adequate for the goods you accept (we recommend at least €50,000 per vehicle), and show proof when asked.
• Use roadworthy vehicles that are taxed, tested and suitable for the load, and comply with driving-time, cabotage and posting-of-workers rules where they apply.
• Carry dangerous goods only if qualified — with ADR training, equipment and documents — and only if the shipper has declared them and you have agreed.
• Perform the job yourself or with your own employees, with reasonable care and skill, at the agreed time. Do not subcontract without the shipper’s agreement.
• Record delivery in the app with a photo or signature and the recipient’s name.
• Handle your own taxes, social contributions and VAT on your services. See the Carrier Agreement for tax reporting (DAC7).

9. Shipper obligations

If you are a shipper, you must:

• Describe the goods accurately — what they are, quantity, weight, dimensions, and any special handling or temperature needs.
• Declare the value of the goods when booking, particularly if they are valuable. See section 12 and our cargo protection page.
• Package the goods properly for road transport, and label them with the yacht name and a contact.
• Only send lawful goods and comply with section 10. You must declare dangerous goods.
• Make sure excise goods are duty-paid (for example wine, spirits and tobacco), unless they are moving under a valid ships’-stores or duty-suspension procedure for which you or your agent are responsible and whose documents travel with the goods.
• Handle customs for goods crossing a customs border (for example between the UK and the EU), and give the carrier the documents in advance.
• Be ready at collection and delivery, and give accurate addresses, berth details, access arrangements and a contact who can be reached.

10. Prohibited and restricted items

You must not book or carry:

• illegal goods, controlled drugs, counterfeit or stolen goods;
• firearms, ammunition, weapons and their parts;
• explosives and other Class 1 dangerous goods, including marine distress flares and other pyrotechnics;
• lithium batteries beyond the quantity and packaging limits that apply to road transport, and damaged or defective lithium batteries;
• other dangerous goods (for example fuel, gas cylinders, paints, solvents, corrosives) unless declared in advance and accepted by a carrier qualified to carry them under ADR;
• cash, bearer instruments, precious metals, jewellery, watches or other valuables worth more than €5,000 in total, unless the carrier has agreed in writing in advance;
• excise goods (alcohol, tobacco) that are not duty-paid, unless moving under a valid ships’-stores or duty-suspension procedure (see section 9);
• live animals;
• perishable goods needing temperature control, unless the vehicle is refrigerated and the carrier has agreed;
• human remains, and waste that needs a licence to carry;
• anything prohibited by the law of the countries of collection, transit or delivery.

A carrier may refuse, or stop carrying, goods that appear to break this section. If goods are refused for this reason at collection, the booking counts as a shipper no-show under section 6.

11. Collection, delivery and proof of delivery

• Carriers deliver to the agreed point — normally the quay, marina gate, yard or the foot of the passerelle. Carrying goods on board is up to the crew unless agreed otherwise.
• For yachts at anchor, the handover takes place on shore at the agreed landing point.
• Delivery is recorded with a photo or signature and the recipient’s name. The shipper can see the proof of delivery on the booking.
• Live location is shared while the job is in progress so both sides can see progress. See our Privacy Policy.

12. Liability

Carriers’ liability for goods

The carrier is responsible to the shipper for loss of, or damage to, the goods from collection until delivery, and for delay, under the law that applies to the carriage. For international road transport this is normally the CMR Convention, which limits compensation to 8.33 Special Drawing Rights (roughly €10) per kilogram of gross weight unless a higher value has been declared and agreed. For domestic transport, national rules apply — for example, in France the standard contract terms for road haulage (contrats types) set per-kilogram and per-package limits, and in the UK carriers commonly trade on conditions (such as the RHA conditions) that limit liability per tonne. These limits can be far below the value of the goods — so declare the value and arrange your own cargo insurance for valuable goods.

Onshore’s liability

• We are responsible for providing the platform with reasonable care and skill, for handling payments and refunds as these terms describe, and for our own acts and omissions.
• We are not responsible for the carriage itself, for the goods, or for what carriers or shippers do or fail to do — but we will help resolve disputes (section 13).
• For business users, our total liability arising out of or in connection with the platform in any 12-month period is limited to the greater of (a) the platform fees paid or deducted in respect of your bookings in that period and (b) €500. We are not liable to business users for loss of profit, business, revenue, goodwill or indirect or consequential loss.
• Nothing in these terms limits or excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for gross negligence or wilful misconduct, or any other liability that cannot be limited by law.
• If you are a consumer, nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights, and the business-user limits above do not apply to you.

13. Problems, disputes and complaints

1. Report problems within 48 hours of delivery from the booking (Disputes), with a description and evidence such as photos, packaging, and the proof of delivery. Report non-delivery as soon as possible. Late reports may make it harder to establish what happened; for claims against the carrier, the legal time limits for carriage claims also apply.
2. Payout hold. While a dispute is open, the carrier’s payout is held.
3. Review. We ask both sides for their account and evidence and aim to propose a resolution within 14 days. We may refund the shipper in full or in part from the held payment, release it to the carrier, or split it. Our decision on the held payment doesn’t stop either party from pursuing their legal rights against the other.
4. Complaints about us. See our complaints process or email support@onshoredelivery.com. We acknowledge complaints within 2 working days.
5. Consumer mediation. If you are a consumer and we cannot resolve your complaint, you can refer it free of charge to our consumer mediator (médiateur de la consommation). Our mediator is being appointed and will be named here; until then, write to legal@onshoredelivery.com and we will give you the mediator’s details. You must first have made a written complaint to us. The European Commission’s online dispute resolution (ODR) platform closed in July 2025.

14. Messaging and staying on the platform

• Use the platform’s messaging for bookings. Contact details you receive through Onshore may only be used to coordinate that booking. We may hide contact details until a booking is paid.
• Don’t use Onshore to meet a counterparty and then arrange or pay for the same kind of delivery off the platform to avoid our fees (“circumvention”).
• If a business user circumvents the platform within 12 months of being introduced to the counterparty through Onshore, the business user must pay us the platform fee that would have been due on that transaction. We may also suspend the account (section 17).
• For consumers, the only consequence of circumvention is that the off-platform arrangement is not covered by these terms (no payment hold, tracking or dispute handling) and we may suspend the account.
• We use automated tools, including AI, to detect fraud, circumvention and prohibited content in listings and messages. A member of our team reviews anything flagged before we take action against an account.

15. Reviews and your content

• After a completed booking, both sides may leave a review. Reviews must be honest, based on the actual booking, and must not be defamatory, abusive or include personal data of others. We do not pay for reviews or edit their content; we may remove reviews that break these rules or the community guidelines.
• You keep ownership of what you post (listings, photos, messages, community posts). You give us a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, display and use it to run and promote the platform while it is on Onshore.

16. Business users (EU Platform-to-Business Regulation)

This section applies to business users, including carriers, under Regulation (EU) 2019/1150.

• Ranking. Search results only include listings that match the search (route and ports, distance from the requested location, dates, capacity and vehicle features). By default, listings that Onshore has marked as featured are shown first, then listings are ordered by earliest departure. Users can instead sort by price, capacity, newest or departure date. Featuring is decided by Onshore — for example to highlight routes serving major events — and cannot be bought. If we ever introduce paid placement, it will be labelled and this section updated first.
• Differentiated treatment. We do not give our own services preferential treatment in ranking.
• Data. We have access to booking, listing, message and performance data generated on the platform, and use it to run, secure and improve the service, as set out in our Privacy Policy. Business users can access their own booking and payout data from their account.
• Restriction or suspension. If we restrict or suspend your account, we will give you a statement of reasons at the time it takes effect, and you can reply through our complaints process.
• Termination. We will give at least 30 days’ notice, with reasons, before terminating a business user’s account, unless the law requires otherwise, or you have repeatedly or seriously broken these terms (including fraud, safety risks or illegal content).
• Changes. We will give business users at least 15 days’ notice of changes to these terms (longer where the change requires significant technical or commercial adjustments).
• Complaints and mediation. Business users can complain free of charge via our complaints process. Where a complaint is not resolved, we are willing to engage in mediation in good faith; the mediators we will use will be listed here.

17. Suspension and termination

• We may restrict, suspend or close an account, remove listings or cancel bookings where reasonably necessary: suspected fraud or payment abuse, risks to safety, illegal content, serious or repeated breaches of these terms, carrier documents that have expired or can’t be verified, or where the law requires it. We will tell you why (see section 16 for business users).
• If we cancel a paid booking, the shipper receives a full refund (section 6).
• You can close your account at any time from your profile or by emailing support@onshoredelivery.com. Open bookings, payouts and disputes will be completed first. We keep some records after closure as described in our Privacy Policy.

18. Reporting illegal content

Anyone can report content on Onshore (a listing, message, review, profile or community post) that they believe is illegal, by emailing legal@onshoredelivery.com, which is also our single point of contact for authorities under the EU Digital Services Act. Please include the link or location, why you think it is illegal, your name and email (unless the report concerns child sexual abuse material), and a statement that the report is accurate and made in good faith. We will confirm receipt, act on it diligently, and tell you what we decided. If we remove or restrict your content, we will tell you why and how you can challenge the decision.

19. Consumers: right of withdrawal

Consumers usually have 14 days to withdraw from contracts made online. This right does not apply to bookings on Onshore, because they are transport-of-goods services to be provided on a specific date or within a specific period (article L221-28 12° of the French Consumer Code; Article 16(l) of Directive 2011/83/EU; regulation 28(1)(b) of the UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013). You can still cancel under section 6.

20. Intellectual property

The Onshore name, logo, website and software belong to us or our licensors. You may use them only to use the platform as intended. Don’t copy, scrape or reverse-engineer the platform.

21. Governing law and courts

These terms and any dispute about them are governed by French law. Business users agree that the French courts with jurisdiction for our registered office have exclusive jurisdiction. If you are a consumer, you also keep the protection of the mandatory rules of the country where you live, and you may bring proceedings in the courts of your home country.

22. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms, for example when we change our services or the law changes. We will tell you by email or in the app before changes take effect (at least 15 days before for business users). If you don’t agree, you can close your account before the change takes effect. Bookings already confirmed stay under the terms that applied when they were made.

23. Contact

Questions about these terms: legal@onshoredelivery.com. Everything else: support@onshoredelivery.com or our contact page.