Terms of Service

Draft for lawyer review. Version 0.2, 2026-11-11. Square brackets are placeholders.

These Terms govern your use of the U-Packed website, apps and services (the "Platform"), operated by COMPANY LEGAL NAME, LEGAL FORM, ADDRESS, COUNTRY ("U-Packed", "we", "us"). Contact: SUPPORT EMAIL.

By creating an account you agree to these Terms and confirm that you have read the Privacy Policy and the Prohibited Items list.

1. What U-Packed is, and what it is not

1.1 U-Packed is an online marketplace. It lets people who already travel with spare space (a Carrier: a traveller with luggage allowance on a flight, or a driver with space in a car trunk) offer that space, and lets other people (Senders) request to send a package with them. A Receiver is the person at the destination who collects the package. A Receiver need not have an account.

1.2 U-Packed is not a courier, airline, forwarder or carrier, and is not a party to the contract of carriage. That contract is made directly between the Sender and the Carrier when the Carrier accepts a request. The Carrier alone is responsible for carrying the package. U-Packed provides the Platform, collects the price on the Carrier's behalf, holds it until delivery and pays it out as described in section 6.

1.3 Who is a trader. A Carrier may act as a trader (a person acting for professional or commercial purposes) or as a private person. The Carrier's profile or the booking page states which applies where the law requires it. If the Carrier is not a trader, EU consumer protection law does not apply to the contract between Sender and Carrier. It still applies to your contract with U-Packed.

2. Your account

2.1 You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into contracts. One person may hold one account.

2.2 You must give correct information, keep your sign-in details secret and tell us at once if you suspect misuse. You are responsible for what happens under your account.

2.3 One account can be used as Sender, Carrier or both. A Carrier must complete identity and bank details with our payment provider (section 6.5) before accepting bookings.

2.4 You can delete your account in the app at any time. Deletion is refused while a booking is still open. See the Privacy Policy for what is erased and what is kept.

3. Publishing trips

3.1 A Carrier publishes a trip with route, departure (and for flights, arrival) time, available weight (between 0.5 kg and 50 kg) and, for a car trunk trip, a photo of the empty trunk. Luggage trips cross a border. Car trunk trips stay inside one country.

3.2 The price is calculated by the Platform from the route and weight and is shown before you publish or book. Currently luggage space costs EUR 8 per kg, and a car trunk trip costs a flat price per booking based on the distance. Prices are in euro including any taxes the law requires. We may change prices for future trips. A booking keeps the price shown when it was requested.

3.3 The Carrier must really make the trip as published. A Carrier who cancels late (within 24 hours of departure) receives a strike. Repeated strikes may lead to suspension.

4. Booking a trip

4.1 A Sender requests space by stating what is sent, its weight, a declared value (currently up to EUR 500), delivery address and the Receiver's name and phone number. The Sender must confirm the Prohibited Items list. A request does not reserve space. The booking exists when the Carrier accepts and space is reserved for it.

4.2 You may only give us a Receiver's details if you are allowed to, and you must tell the Receiver that we process their name and phone number to deliver the package (see the Privacy Policy).

4.3 Search ranking. Trips are listed by the filters you choose, and by default by departure date, then price. The Journey Loop feature lists matching car trunk trips from an airport by earliest departure, then price. U-Packed does not accept payment to rank a trip higher.

5. Handover, delivery and inspection

5.1 The Carrier meets the Sender, inspects the package in person and may refuse it or accept a lower weight. A refused package cancels the booking with a full refund. A lower accepted weight lowers the price and the difference is refunded.

5.2 After handover the Carrier carries the package and marks the booking as in transit and arrived. When the package is in transit the Sender sees a six-digit delivery code in the app and gives it to the Receiver. The Carrier enters the code the Receiver gives at delivery. After five wrong attempts the booking is locked and a dispute must be opened.

5.3 If the Carrier marks the package as arrived and the Sender neither confirms nor opens a dispute within 72 hours, the delivery counts as completed.

5.4 Carriers and Senders must follow the law on carrying goods, including airline rules, security checks and customs. Duties, taxes and customs declarations are the responsibility of the persons the law makes responsible (usually the Carrier as the person carrying the goods and the Sender or Receiver as the owner or importer). U-Packed does not file declarations.

6. Payment

6.1 The Sender pays by card or another method offered in the app, through our payment service provider Stripe Payments Europe, Ltd. Payment is requested after the Carrier accepts. A booking that is not paid within 24 hours expires and the space is released.

6.2 U-Packed collects the price on behalf of the Carrier and holds it until delivery is confirmed or the 72-hour period in section 5.3 has passed. It is then transferred to the Carrier, minus our commission (currently 10% of the price), which is shown before the Carrier accepts. The Sender never pays more than the price shown.

6.3 Refunds follow section 5.1 (inspection), section 7 (cancellation) and section 9 (disputes). Refunds go back to the original payment method.

6.4 U-Packed does not hold funds as a bank. LAWYER: confirm how funds are held and paid out under PSD2 with the Stripe Connect setup, see lawyer notes.

6.5 Carriers receive earnings through Stripe Connect and must accept Stripe's terms and complete its checks. Stripe may refuse or close a Carrier's payout account. Then we cannot pay out and the Carrier cannot accept bookings.

6.6 Carriers are responsible for their own taxes on earnings. We report Carrier earnings to tax authorities where the law requires it (for example the EU rules on platform operators, DAC7).

7. Cancellation

7.1 A Sender or Carrier may cancel a booking until the package is handed over. A Sender who has paid receives a full refund.

7.2 Cancellations by a Carrier within 24 hours of departure count as late and receive a strike (section 3.3). We may reflect late cancellations in the Carrier's profile.

7.3 After handover a booking can only be ended by delivery or through a dispute.

7.4 Right of withdrawal. LAWYER: confirm wording. If you are a consumer and the law gives you a 14-day right to withdraw from a contract made online, it can be exercised against the party you contracted with by telling them clearly. When a service has been fully performed the right ends if you asked it to start early. In the app you can cancel free of charge before handover, which is more favourable than the law in most cases.

8. Rules of conduct

8.1 You must not: send or carry prohibited items; give false information; use the Platform for anything unlawful; harass others; bypass the Platform to avoid commission for bookings made through it; use bots or scrape data; or interfere with the Platform's security.

8.2 Chat is for arranging a booking. Messages must be lawful and respectful.

8.3 Reviews must reflect real experience of a completed booking. You can review within 14 days after completion with 1 to 5 stars and an optional comment. U-Packed does not sell or pay for reviews. We may remove reviews that break these Terms.

9. Disputes between users

9.1 If something goes wrong after handover (damage, loss, delay, non-delivery) either party can open a dispute in the app. Our team reviews what both sides say and the booking record and decides who receives the held money: refund to the Sender, or payment to the Carrier. Our decision on the held money does not take away either person's legal claims against the other.

9.2 U-Packed does not insure packages. A Carrier is liable to the Sender under the law that applies to their contract. We recommend not sending items whose loss you cannot bear. BUSINESS DECISION: optional insurance partner.

10. Reports, moderation and our decisions

10.1 Anyone can report a user, trip, booking or message from within the app. We review reports and may remove content, restrict features, suspend or close accounts, particularly for breaches of these Terms, unlawful content, fraud or safety risks. We act on our own investigations too. Our team makes these decisions. We do not use fully automated decisions to close accounts.

10.2 When we restrict your account or content we tell you by email why, which rules apply and how to object, unless the law forbids it. You can object by writing to SUPPORT EMAIL. We review objections without undue delay and by a person who was not involved in the first decision.

10.3 You can block users. Blocked users cannot book your trips or message you, and you cannot see each other's trips.

10.4 Point of contact for authorities and users under the EU Digital Services Act: SUPPORT EMAIL. Messages in English or German.

11. Business users (Carriers who are traders)

11.1 If you offer carriage as a business, you must tell us and give the details we need to identify you (name, address, contact, trade register number and VAT number where they exist, and your business's sector or any authorisation needed). We may show part of this to Senders. We verify your identity through our payment provider.

11.2 We give at least 30 days' notice before changing these Terms in a way that affects business users, unless the law allows shorter notice or the change is needed to meet a legal duty or to stop a serious risk. We give at least 30 days' notice and a statement of reasons before suspending or ending a business user's account, except for serious or repeated breaches or where the law forbids it.

11.3 Business users may get access to data about their own trips and bookings in the app, and may export it. We do not treat business users differently from other users in search ranking, except as described in section 4.3.

12. Our liability

12.1 We are liable without limit for intent and gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health and where the law makes liability mandatory.

12.2 For ordinary negligence we are only liable for breach of an essential contractual duty (a duty whose fulfilment makes the use of the Platform possible and on which you can rely), and then only for the typical foreseeable damage. LAWYER: adapt to the governing law.

12.3 We are not liable for loss, damage or delay of packages, for acts of Carriers, Senders or Receivers, or for events outside our control, except as in 12.1 and 12.2. This does not limit your claims against the Carrier.

12.4 We make reasonable efforts to keep the Platform available but do not promise it will always work, and may take it down for maintenance.

13. Changes, termination and other terms

13.1 We may change these Terms for valid reasons such as changes in law, security, or new features. We will tell you by email or in the app at least 30 days before the change takes effect. If you do not agree you can delete your account before then. Continued use after that date means you accept the change.

13.2 You may end your account at any time (section 2.4). We may end or suspend it as described in section 10 or 11.

13.3 Intellectual property. The Platform and its design belong to us. You keep the rights to your content (photos, text) and grant us a licence to host and display it for operating the Platform.

13.4 Governing law. These Terms are governed by the law of COUNTRY OF COMPANY SEAT, excluding the UN Sales Convention. If you are a consumer you also keep the protection of the mandatory rules of the country where you live.

13.5 Courts. If you are a consumer, disputes may be brought in the courts of your country of residence. Otherwise, the courts at CITY have exclusive jurisdiction where the law allows.

13.6 Dispute resolution. The EU online dispute resolution platform has been closed. LAWYER/BUSINESS DECISION: state whether U-Packed takes part in consumer dispute resolution before a consumer arbitration board, as German law requires information on.

13.7 If a clause of these Terms is invalid, the rest stays in force.

13.8 Language: the English version applies. German version required before launching in Germany: see lawyer notes.