Trade Account Terms

These Trade Account Terms apply in full to business purchases made through an approved ToolBuyer trade account (“trade orders”). Sections 6, 7 and 9 also apply to other business purchases on our website, as our general Terms and our Returns and refunds page explain.

Our general Terms and Conditions also apply. For trade orders, the rules below on when the contract is made, delivery, risk and ownership, returns, faulty goods, liability and courts replace the matching rules in the general Terms. If anything else conflicts, these Trade Account Terms win. Nothing in either document removes rights that the law says can’t be removed.

1. Who these terms are for

1.1 Trade accounts are for businesses (sole traders, partnerships and companies) buying for their business or to resell. Please don’t use a trade account for personal purchases.

1.2 You must tell us who is buying: the person or the business. If you order for a business, you confirm you have authority to commit it. A sole trader buys personally. Someone ordering for a company doesn’t become the buyer just by placing the order.

1.3 Rights that only consumers have, such as the legal 14-day right to cancel, don’t apply to genuine business purchases. But using a trade account, or saying you’re a business, doesn’t take away consumer rights if you are legally buying as a consumer.

2. Your trade account

2.1 We check every application by hand. We may ask for proof of your business, such as your VAT number, company number, trade website or invoices. You don’t need to be VAT registered. We may turn down an application.

2.2 Keep your business and contact details up to date. Keep your login safe and only let people who can order for your business use it. Tell us straight away if you think someone else has got in. You are responsible for orders you place or allow. Who is responsible for an order nobody allowed depends on the circumstances and the law.

2.3 We may suspend or close a trade account if we reasonably suspect misuse, wrong application details, someone getting in without permission, or a breach of these terms. We may also stop trade-account benefits for future purchases by giving you notice. Suspending or closing an account doesn’t, on its own, cancel an order we’ve already accepted.

3. Prices, VAT and your order

3.1 Trade prices are shown without VAT, with the price including VAT next to them. The basket and checkout show the goods total, delivery, VAT and the total to pay before you order. A trade account doesn’t make purchases VAT-free.

3.2 Prices can change before you order. Your order is an offer to buy at the prices and delivery charges shown at checkout. Once we accept your order, those prices and charges are fixed.

3.3 Price or product mistakes. If we find a mistake in a price or product description before we accept your order, we may turn down the order without asking you first. We’ll email you to explain and refund everything you paid without unnecessary delay. We may choose to offer you the right price instead, but we won’t charge more without your agreement. After we’ve accepted your order, we will only rely on a price mistake where the law lets us treat the contract as not binding, for example if you knew the price shown was a mistake. We’ll explain the mistake and refund what you paid. Otherwise the contract stands, unless we agree a change with you or have another legal right to end it.

3.4 When we accept your order. Our automatic order email or payment receipt is not acceptance. We accept your order when we email to say we accept it, hand the goods to the carrier, or tell you they’re ready to collect, whichever happens first. Acceptance covers only the goods we expressly accept in that email, hand to the carrier, or confirm are ready to collect. If your order needs an age check, we won’t accept it until the check is passed.

3.5 Out of stock. If an item turns out to be unavailable before we accept your order (including because our stock records were wrong), we may turn down the order or that item without asking you first. We’ll email you and refund what you paid for it as soon as possible, including any delivery charge you no longer owe. If we find a stock problem after we’ve accepted your order, we’ll contact you. We won’t send a different item or change an agreed delivery promise without your agreement. If we can’t supply part of your order, we’ll refund what you paid for that part as soon as possible. You keep any other rights you have because we didn’t supply it, but any claim for damages is subject to section 9.

3.6 Turning down orders and quantity limits. Before we accept an order, we may turn it down for lawful reasons, such as stock, quantity limits, delivery restrictions, or reasonable concerns about fraud or payment security. If your delivery address is different from your billing address, we may need to do extra checks. If an order is over a quantity limit, we may turn it down or offer you a different quantity to agree. We won’t change the quantity or charge you more without your agreement. If we turn down all or part of an order, we’ll email you and refund what you paid for it as soon as possible. This doesn’t give us a free hand to cancel orders we’ve already accepted.

4. Payment and invoices

4.1 You pay for trade orders in full when you order, by card or PayPal. We don’t offer credit accounts.

4.2 Every order has a VAT invoice. We’ll email you a copy if you ask, even after your account is closed.

5. Delivery, risk and ownership

5.1 You see the delivery charge and any free delivery threshold before you pay. Trade delivery is free when the goods total of items that carry a trade delivery charge is £50 or more, after discounts and before VAT and delivery. Products whose price already includes delivery (large and courier items) are marked, and don’t count towards the £50. Other items in the same order may still have a delivery charge. We won’t add a delivery charge after accepting your order without your agreement.

5.2 Delivery dates and carrier delivery times are estimates, unless we firmly agree a delivery date in writing (email counts). Time for delivery is not “of the essence” (meaning it isn’t an essential term) unless we agree that in writing. An order note, or a deadline you’ve agreed with someone else, doesn’t mean we’ve agreed a firm or essential date. We will deliver within any agreed time or, if none was agreed, within a reasonable time. A missed estimate on its own doesn’t entitle you to cancel, reject the goods, claim compensation or get a delivery refund. This doesn’t remove your right to end the contract for a serious breach, or any liability that can’t legally be excluded. Claims about late or missing deliveries are subject to section 9. If goods are late or look lost, email sales@toolbuyer.co.uk with your order number so we can look into it. Any replacement, refund or other remedy depends on the contract and the law.

5.3 The goods become your responsibility (“risk”) when you, or someone you’ve allowed, physically receive them at the agreed address or on collection. Handing them to our carrier doesn’t make them your responsibility. The rules for 18+ products come first.

5.4 Please check deliveries promptly. Where you reasonably can, tell us about visible damage, missing items or wrong items within 3 working days of delivery, with your order number and photos if you can. This helps us look into it and claim from the carrier. Telling us later doesn’t automatically end your claim or your legal rights. Tell us about hidden damage or faults as soon as you find them.

5.5 You own the goods once we’ve received full payment and the goods have been delivered or collected.

5.6 The rules on address changes and failed deliveries in section 6 of our Delivery page also apply to trade orders. Clauses 5.3, 9 and 13.7 of these terms still cover risk, liability and set-off.

6. Change-of-mind returns

6.1 Business customers don’t have a legal right to cancel for a change of mind. We still offer this 30-day returns policy as part of our contract with you. It doesn’t limit your rights if goods are faulty, wrong, not as described or otherwise don’t meet the contract.

6.2 Ask in writing: email sales@toolbuyer.co.uk, write to First Point Midlands Ltd, 52a Lichfield Road, Brownhills WS8 6HT, or use our online returns page. Send your request within 30 calendar days after the day you receive the goods, identifying the order and items. As long as you send your request before that deadline, you are in time.

Send the goods back within 14 calendar days after the day you send your request. If we ask you to wait for our instructions first, the 14 days start the day after we send those instructions. We use the date you first requested the return to check whether you met the 30-day deadline.

6.3 Goods must be unused, not fitted, undamaged and complete, in their original packaging with all accessories and instructions, so we can sell them as new. If a product can’t be returned under this policy, we will have told you before you ordered.

6.4 Pack the goods securely and send them to First Point Midlands Ltd, 52a Lichfield Road, Brownhills WS8 6HT. You pay the return postage. Use a tracked service, unless you bring them to us or we agree another way. We recommend enough compensation cover. If you arrange the return, the goods are your responsibility until we receive them, unless any loss or damage is our fault. If we arrange collection, they become our responsibility once our carrier collects them.

6.5 We refund once we have received and checked the goods. Proof of sending on its own isn’t enough. If there’s a dispute about whether we received them, we may check the delivery evidence, but a missing tracking update won’t stop your refund once we know we have the goods.

6.6 For goods that meet this policy, we refund the price you paid, minus any restocking charge that was clearly agreed (amount or how it’s worked out) before you ordered. If none was agreed, none applies. We don’t refund the original delivery charge or return postage under this policy.

6.7 We check the goods and pay any refund due within 14 days of receiving them, to the payment method you used unless we agree otherwise.

6.8 If goods don’t meet these conditions, we’ll tell you why. You can collect them, or we’ll send them back to you at your cost. We won’t add a new restocking charge after you’ve bought.

7. Faulty goods

7.1 This section is for business purchases. Goods must meet the contract, including the rules in the Sale of Goods Act 1979 on description, quality, fitness for purpose and matching any sample. Our liability is subject to section 9, as far as the law allows. We don’t offer an extra guarantee of our own. This doesn’t remove any guarantee already included in an earlier purchase.

7.2 Check the goods as soon as you reasonably can. Tell us about any missing items, damage or other problem as soon as possible after you find it, in writing: email sales@toolbuyer.co.uk, write to our trading address or use our online returns page. Give your order details, what’s wrong and any evidence we reasonably need, and give us a fair chance to examine the goods. Telling us late doesn’t on its own end your claim, but you can’t claim for extra loss you could reasonably have avoided by telling us sooner.

7.3 We’re not responsible for normal wear and tear, or for a fault to the extent it was caused by misuse, accidental damage, incorrect installation or maintenance, use beyond the stated capacity, or failure to follow appropriate instructions. We are still responsible for faults that were there when we supplied the goods, goods that don’t last as long as they should, or faulty instructions, where the law makes us responsible.

7.4 If goods don’t meet the contract, we may offer a repair, replacement or refund. Any agreed repair or replacement will be done within a reasonable time. You don’t have to accept a repair or replacement instead of using a legal right you already have to reject the goods. Any claim for damages is subject to section 9.

7.5 Whether you have legally accepted goods, or can reject them, is decided under the Sale of Goods Act 1979. Where section 11(4) applies, accepting the goods removes a right to reject for a breach that would otherwise justify rejection, unless the contract provides otherwise. A claim for compensation may still remain.

Asking us for a repair, or agreeing to a repair arranged by us, does not by itself mean you have accepted the goods.

For a breach of the description, quality, fitness-for-purpose or sample terms implied by sections 13 to 15, section 15A prevents rejection if we show that the breach is so slight that rejecting the goods would be unreasonable. That rule applies unless the contract provides otherwise.

7.6 Contact us to arrange the return or collection. We pay the reasonable return costs we are legally responsible for when goods don’t meet the contract. Take reasonable care of the goods and pack them properly. Stop using them if using them could be unsafe or make the damage worse.

8. Using the products

8.1 It’s your responsibility to make sure products are right for what you want to use them for, and that they are used, maintained and stored safely, by competent people, with suitable protective equipment, following the manufacturer’s instructions and any rated limits. This doesn’t remove our duties about the description or quality of the goods, or their fitness for a purpose you made known to us, either by telling us or through the circumstances, where you reasonably relied on our skill or judgement.

9. Our liability

9.1 Nothing in these terms limits or removes liability for: (a) death or personal injury caused by our negligence; (b) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; (c) breach of our duties about ownership of the goods (title) under section 12 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979; (d) liability under Part I of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (unsafe products); or (e) anything else the law doesn’t allow to be limited or removed.

9.2 Clauses 9.1 and 9.3 take priority. For claims connected with your order, including late delivery or non-delivery, we are not liable for: (a) loss of profit; (b) loss of business, contracts or business opportunities; (c) loss of goodwill; (d) business interruption; (e) loss or corruption of business data; or (f) indirect or consequential loss. Items (a) to (e) are excluded whether the loss is direct or indirect. This applies to claims for breach of contract, negligence, breach of statutory duty or anything else.

9.3 Clause 9.2 doesn’t stop you from validly rejecting goods or getting their price back, claiming the reasonable direct costs of checking, returning, repairing or replacing goods that don’t meet the contract, or claiming for physical damage to property. These claims still have to meet the normal legal tests for liability and the amount you can recover.

9.4 Except for the responsibilities listed in clause 9.1, we are not responsible for loss to the extent it is caused by your misuse of the goods, use beyond their stated capacity, incorrect installation or maintenance, or failure to follow appropriate instructions. This clause does not exclude responsibility for our own breach of contract or negligence. The other provisions of section 9 still apply.

9.5 Neither of us can recover the part of any loss that we could reasonably have avoided.

9.6 Our directors and staff. When our directors, officers or staff act on our behalf in connection with this contract, they can rely on the same exclusions and limits in this section 9 for claims about what they did or didn’t do, with the same exceptions and legal limits that apply to us. This gives them no more protection than we could lawfully claim. It doesn’t limit their liability for their own fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, death or personal injury caused by their negligence, or anything else that can’t legally be limited.

9.7 Other people’s rights. Our directors, officers and staff can enforce clause 9.6 under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999. Apart from that, nobody who isn’t a party to this contract can enforce its terms under that Act. You and we can change or end this contract without their consent.

10. 18+ products

10.1 The “Age-restricted (18+) products” section of our general Terms and Conditions (clauses 1.26 to 1.31) applies in full to trade orders and takes priority over any other delivery or collection arrangement. A trade account doesn’t replace the age and ID checks. The person placing the order must do the checks for that order in their own name. If they are acting for a company or other business, doing the check doesn’t change who the buyer is.

11. Reselling and our content

11.1 You can resell goods you buy from us. You can save and print content for the uses allowed by clause 1.3 of our general Terms and Conditions. You may also pass on the instructions and safety information supplied with the goods. Other copying or commercial use of our protected website content needs our written permission, unless the law allows it.

11.2 If you resell goods, you must follow the laws that apply to your own selling, advertising and delivery, including product safety and age restrictions. This doesn’t remove any responsibility the law puts on us.

12. Changes and law

12.1 Which version applies. The version of these terms shown when you place an order applies to that order, along with any other terms we clearly agree for it. We may publish new terms for future orders. They don’t change existing contracts. An existing contract can only change if we both agree in writing (email counts), unless the law says otherwise.

12.2 These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and only the courts of England and Wales can deal with disputes. This doesn’t remove any consumer protection the law gives, or any right to go to another court, if the buyer is legally a consumer.

13. General

13.1 Events outside our control. Neither of us is responsible for a delay or failure to perform an obligation to the extent it is directly caused by something genuinely outside our reasonable control that we couldn’t reasonably have avoided or overcome. This doesn’t excuse paying money already due. Examples include extreme weather, widespread strikes or transport disruption, or unexpected government or customs restrictions. A supplier or carrier failure only counts if its cause passes this test and there is no reasonable alternative. Lack of money, normal price rises and stock shortages that could have been avoided don’t count. The affected party must tell the other as soon as possible and take reasonable steps to reduce the effect. Only the affected obligations are paused, and only for as long as reasonably needed. If the problem lasts 30 days, either of us can cancel the affected, unfulfilled part of the order in writing. We’ll then refund what you paid for those goods and their delivery as soon as possible. If we have agreed in writing that a delivery deadline is essential, that agreement takes priority over this clause. Rights from before the event, and liabilities covered by clause 9.1, aren’t affected.

13.2 The agreement for each order. Our agreement for each order is made up of these Trade Account Terms, our general Terms and Conditions where they apply, the product description, the accepted order and any other terms we clearly agreed for that order. These replace earlier discussions about the same order, but don’t override any description, specification, purpose or delivery promise we clearly agreed. Nothing in this clause limits liability for fraud or misrepresentation, or removes any legal duty.

13.3 If part of these terms can’t be enforced. If any part of these terms is unlawful or can’t be enforced, the rest still applies as far as the law allows.

13.4 Formal notices. Formal notices under the contract must be in writing. Send notices to us by email to sales@toolbuyer.co.uk or deliver them to First Point Midlands Ltd, 52a Lichfield Road, Brownhills WS8 6HT. You may also send formal notices by post or deliver them by hand to our registered office: Albany House, Temple Court, Temple Way, Coleshill B46 1HH. We may send notices to you by email to your account email address, or to your last business address you gave us. An email notice counts as received at 9am on the next working day after it’s sent, unless the sender gets a bounce-back or the receiver shows it didn’t reach their email system. It doesn’t have to have been read. Working days here are Monday to Friday, not bank holidays in England and Wales. Notices by hand or post take effect when delivered. The rules in clause 6.2 about sending a return request on time take priority over the receipt rules in this clause. This clause isn’t for serving court papers and doesn’t override any notice rules set by law.

13.5 Complaints. Please send complaints in writing to complaints@toolbuyer.co.uk (or sales@toolbuyer.co.uk) or First Point Midlands Ltd, 52a Lichfield Road, Brownhills WS8 6HT, with your order details, the problem and what you’d like us to do. We’ll look into it and explain our response. We can both agree to use mediation or another kind of dispute resolution. These terms don’t require arbitration. This doesn’t affect the courts’ powers or clause 12.2.

13.6 Claims against us caused by you. You must pay us back for reasonable losses, liabilities and outside legal costs we properly incur in dealing with a claim by someone else (including your customer), but only as far as the claim is directly caused by: (a) your negligence or deliberate misuse of the goods; (b) a modification to the goods made by you, or for you, without our permission; (c) a false or misleading statement you make about the goods; (d) you not passing on safety instructions or warnings supplied with the goods; or (e) you reselling or supplying the goods unlawfully. Normal assembly, installation or maintenance carried out correctly in line with the product instructions is not a modification for paragraph (b). This doesn’t apply as far as the claim is caused by our breach of contract or negligence, or a defect in the goods we are legally responsible for. Reselling the goods doesn’t on its own make you responsible for claims caused by us or by faulty goods. We must tell you about the claim as soon as possible, give you a fair chance to be involved in handling it, and take reasonable steps to limit losses. We must not agree a settlement we want you to pay for without your written consent, which you must not unreasonably refuse or delay. You don’t have to pay back a fine or penalty where the law doesn’t allow that, and this clause doesn’t limit any liability covered by clause 9.1.

13.7 Set-off. We may only deduct an amount you owe us from an amount we owe you if both amounts are due for payment and your debt has either been admitted by you in writing or finally decided by a court. Before doing so, we will give you the amounts and the reason in writing. This does not allow any deduction prohibited by law or affect any set-off right you have by law.

First Point Midlands Ltd, trading as ToolBuyer. Registered in England and Wales, company number 08402282. Registered office: Albany House, Temple Court, Temple Way, Coleshill, Warwickshire B46 1HH. VAT number GB 182734885. Contact: sales@toolbuyer.co.uk, 0333 5333 400. Last updated 7 November 2026.