General Terms & Conditions of Sale

1. Scope of application

These general conditions of sale apply to all sales concluded on the quae.com website, subject to special conditions indicated in the presentation of the products.

These Terms are subject to change at any time without notice by the Site Administrator.


2. Description of items

The website quae.com offers intellectual works for sale in both physical formats (including printed books, CDs, DVDs, cards, etc.) and digital formats (such as PDF, ePub, and audiobooks). 

Digital books (or e-books) sold on quae.com are digital files containing intellectual works intended to be downloaded for reading or listening on electronic devices. These files are optimized to be read on free software such as Adobe Reader or Adobe Digital Editions. They are not intended for printing.  

Both printed and digital books are protected by French and international copyright laws. In the absence of a license specifying other conditions of use, the downloaded files are intended for the exclusive use of the purchaser. They may not be resold, rented or distributed free of charge outside the purchaser’s immediate family circle or beyond the legitimate scope of private use. Any reproduction or representation of these files, in whole or in part, except as expressly permitted under Article L122-5 of the French Intellectual Property Code, is strictly prohibited and may expose the offender to legal proceedings. 

To protect the authors’ rights without unduly restricting the use of the files by legitimate purchasers, all digital products purchased on this site are personalized with customer data (surname, first name, email address), via a digital watermark applied dynamically on each page or embedded within the file. 

Libraries, bookstores, local authorities, and similar institutions wishing to make collective purchases of digital books are invited to consult the professional space of the website.


3. Orders

All orders are made exclusively via the quae.com website. Payment is made upon ordering for credit card payments and is deferred for money order payments. For payments made via administrative mandate, payment is deferred in accordance with applicable procedures. For payments by check, PayPal, or bank transfer, the order will be processed and dispatched only upon receipt of full payment.

The customer must be at least 18 years old and have legal capacity, or hold parental authorization, in order to place an order on quae.com. 

Clicking on the « pay » button on the order summary screen after accepting the general conditions of sales constitutes an electronic signature. This electronic signature confirms the customer's full and unreserved acceptance of these Terms as well as the specific terms and conditions applicable to each product purchased (in particular the unit price). The customer waives any right to rely on any conflicting document, including their own terms and conditions of purchase.  

For security reasons, each order is subject to a maximum limit of €1,000 including VAT, and customers are limited to a maximum of 20 orders per rolling 7-day period. These limits can be adjusted by contacting the customer service. 

Orders identified as having a risk of fraud may be blocked at the payment stage by the site administrator. 

Outside the quae.com, orders can be sent: 

  • By phone: +33 6 33 35 48 40
  • By post: Editions Quae - INRAE - RD 10 - 78026 Versailles Cedex - France
  • By email: serviceclients@quae.fr
  • On site, by contacting customer care service in advance using the contact details indicated above


4. Availability of items

Products offered for sale on quae.com are normally accessible to customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, throughout the year. However, the site administrator reserves the right to temporarily suspend access to the site or to certain services at any time and without prior notice. 

The administrator shall not be held liable for technical issues beyond its control, such as interruptions of internet service due to the customer’s Internet Service Provider, or malfunctions caused by the customer’s own hardware or software. 

In the event an item is unavailable, the customer will be informed as soon as possible by email or post. In the event of a temporary stock shortage, the customer will have the option to cancel the order by contacting customer service.

In the case of pre-orders for forthcoming publications (with a fixed sale price), whether ordered via one of our catalogues or directly through quae.com, the products will be shipped from the official release date. 


5. Prices

The prices of the products displayed on quae.com are net in euros including all taxes (including VAT) and excluding shipping costs for printed books. They can be modified at any time without notice, knowing that the items will be invoiced on the basis in force at the time of registration of the order. The price is payable in its entirety in single installment upon ordering. All orders are charged in Euros and payable in Euros. 

Digital books are subject to the VAT rate of the country in which they are purchased. In the event that the domiciliation of the customer is unknown, the French VAT of 5.5% is applied.  

The printed materials are sold in compliance with the applicable provisions and more particularly the Lang law on the Fixed Book Price, the latter, excluding shipping costs, being set by the publisher. For any delivery outside Metropolitan France, any customs fees or local taxes remain the responsibility of the recipient and are his responsibility. 

For European Union customers subject to French VAT, orders will be invoiced excluding taxes (excl. VAT) subject to the communication, during the transaction on the site, of a VAT identification number. 


6. Shipping costs

Shipping costs of physical products (such as paperbacks, hardcovers, maps, etc.) depend on the delivery address and vary according to the geographical zone. 

Metropolitan France: 

Oders are Shipped via colissimo with tracking. 

  • For orders up to €50(inclusive of VAT): shipping costs are €5 for the first item, plus €1 per additional item.
  • For order over €50 : shipping costs are 3€, regardless of the number of items.
  • For pre-sale (i.e. orders placed before the release date) : shipping costs are €3 per order.

Special zone (Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, etc.) :  

Sending in international with colissimo, €10 for a work. Add €1 per additional copy.  

DOM-TOM1 and other countries:

Dispatch in colissimo Overseas and colissimo international. Variable price depending on the weight of the package. To consult the rate associated with your geographical area, visit the Colissimo website: 

> International Colissimo rates (Zones A, B, C)
> Overseas Colissimo rates (OM 1, OM 2)

  • OM 1 : Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana, Reunion, Mayotte, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthélemy
  • OM 2 : New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, T.A.A.F2
  • Zone A : European Union (excluding Special Zone) and Switzerland
  • Zone B : Eastern Europe (non-EU), Maghreb and Norway
  • Zone C : Africa (excluding Maghreb), Canada, United States, Russia, Near and Middle East

7. Payment

The total price of the order is payable in full, in a single installment, at the time of ordering.

Payment may be made using one of the following methods: 

  • Online credit card (cards bearing the CB logo: Visa, Eurocard, Mastercard). Customers will be required to provide their card number, the expiration date, and security code. Transactions are processed by E-transaction, a secure remote payment collection and management solution.
  • Offline credit card (bearing the CB logo: Visa, Eurocard, Mastercard). The customer must follow the instructions provided during the order process : print the order confirmation, manually complete it with their credit card details and send it by Post to : Editions Quae- INRAE - RD 10 - 78026 Versailles Cedex - France or contact us directly at +33 6 33 35 48 40). The amount will be charged only when the items are shipped from our facilities. If an item is permanently unavailable, the credit card will not be charged.
  • Par PayPal - Once payment is validated by PayPal, the order is confirmed and can no longer be cancelled or refunded.
  • Check - In euros, payable through a French bank only, and made out to Editions Quae. The customer must send the check, along with the order confirmation to : Editions Quae - INRAE - RD 10 - 78026 Versailles Cedex - France. The order will be processed upon receipt and clearance of the check.
  • Bank transfer - All related bank charges are the responsibility of the customer. The order will be processed upon receipt of the corresponding funds.
  • Administrative mandate - Reserved for French public administrations only. An official purchase order is required.

Customer will follow the indications of the order process (print the order confirmation and attach it to the official order form; send these two documents by post to : Editions Quae - INRAE - RD 10 - 78026 Versailles Cedex – France, by fax at +33 1 30 83 34 49 or by email at serviceclients@quae.fr). The order will be processed upon receipt of the official purchase order. 


8. Delivery

Regardless of the destination of country, physical products are delivered to the shipping address provided by the customer at the time of ordering. Delivery is made to the customer’s address, whether in France or abroad. All deliveries are carried out by La Poste.

Shipments are made via Colissimo with tracking within metropolitan France by priority shipments for other destinations. 

Your order will be delivered within 3 to 5 business days for Metropolitan France.

For print-on-demand books, delivery is made in a separate package within approximately 3 weeks. Pre-orders are shipped upon publication of the book.

Please take note that in the case of payment by cheque or bank transfer, the order will only be processed upon receipt of payment, and delivery times will run from that date.

In the case of payment by administrative order (purchase order), the order will only be processed upon receipt of an official purchase order, and delivery times will run from that date.

Digital books purchased on quae.com are delivered by download. Within a few minutes after the order payment is confirmed, the customer will receive an email containing one or more unique download links, enabling the download of the purchased files onto their computer. These download links are valid for 48 hours. If the customer does not download the files within this time period, they may request a new download link via their personal account on the website.  


9. Garantie, retour et remboursement


Product Warranty 

New items provided on this website are warranted against any defects. If an item is found to be defective or non-compliant, Editions Quae undertakes to exchange the item or issue a refund, provided that the item is returned in its original packaging, along with the corresponding invoice, within 15 days of receipt of the order to:

Editions Quae - Customer Service - INRAE - RD 10 - 78026 Versailles Cedex - France.

The return costs will then also be fully refunded (within the limit of the cost of a standard mode shipment) and the exchange implemented immediately. 


Right of return 

In accordance with applicable law, the customer has a right of withdrawal. For any reason, and upon notifying the reason for return, the customer may return an item within 15 days of receipt of the order, provided that the item is returned in its original packaging and accompanied by the corresponding invoice, to the following address : 
Editions Quae - Customer Service - INRAE - RD 10 - 78026 Versailles Cedex – France.  If the above conditions are met, a refund will be issued upon receipt of the returned item. Please note that both the original shipping costs and the return shipping costs shall remain the responsibility of the customer. 
Purchases of digital products (e-books, audiobooks, etc.) are considered firm and final. They cannot be exchanged, refunded, or subject to the right of withdrawal. 


Returns procedure

In the event of a refund, Editions Quae guarantees that the refund will be processed within 15 days of receiving the returned package. Refunds will be made by check, bank transfer, or credit card, depending on the original method of payment. Cash-on-delivery returns will not be accepted under any circumstances, regardless of the reason for return.


10. Protection of Your Personal Data - GDPR

Certain information requested from customers is necessary for the proper processing of orders, while other help us better know our customers in order to improve the services offered on this website. 

Customer records and the processing of personal data are carried out in compliance with the French Data Protection Act of 6 January 1978 (Loi Informatique et Libertés), as well as with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) No. 2016/679 of 27 April 2016, effective as of 25 May 2018.  

If you are registered on the site, you have the possibility at any time to exercise the following rights: 

  • Right of access to personal data
  • Right to rectification of personal data.
  • Right to erasure (right to be forgotten) of personal data.
  • Right to restrict processing
  • Right to personal data portability.
  • Right to object & profiling of your personal data.

To exercise these rights, simply write to us by completing the dedicated form available on our “Protection of Your Personal Data – GDPR” page.

Visitors to the site are also informed that ‘’cookies’’ record certain information that is stored in the memory of their hard drive. This information is used to generate site audience staatistics and to offer products and services based on previous visits. Visitors  may receive an alert message requesting consent to the use of cookies, which they are free to accept or decline. It is also possible to configure the web browser at any time to accept or reject cookies from the site. These cookies do not contain any confidential or personally identifiable information about the visitor. 

11. Liability

quae.com shall not be held liable for any failure to perform the contract due to a force majeure event (strike, flood, fire, etc.).

quae.com shall not be held responsible for the content of websites on which its products are listed.

The products offered comply with current French legislation. quae.com shall not be held liable in the event of non-compliance with the legislation of the country where the product is shipped or downloaded. It is the buyer’s responsibility to check with the relevant local authorities regarding the permitted use of the ordered products.


12. Applicable Law and Dispute Resolution

By placing an order, the customer expressly agrees to these Terms and acknowledges having fully understood them.

The customer further waives the right to invoke any conflicting document, including their own general terms and conditions of purchase. The act of purchasing implies full acceptance of these General Terms and Conditions of Sale. 

These Terms may be modified at any time without prior notice by quae.com. 

In the event of a dispute, the customer agrees to first contact the publisher in an effort to reach an amicable resolution. To do so, several contact options are available: 

  • By phone: +33 6 33 35 48 40
  • By email: serviceclients@quae.fr
  • Post: Éditions Quae - c/o INRAE RD 10 -78026 Versailles Cedex

In the accordance with the French Consumer Code, the publisher adheres to a consumer mediation service. In the absence of an amicable resolution, the customer may contact the following mediator free of charge : 

  • By internet: By filling in the form provided for this purpose: https://www.cm2c.net/ 
  • By email at: cm2c@cm2c.net
  • By post, at the following address: 49 Rue de Ponthieu, 75008 Paris

The European Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform is also available: ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr

In the event of unsuccessful mediation, any dispute shall be brought before the competent courts of the geographical area in which the registered office of the website administrator is located.