1. Introduction
This website(s) a-s-s.shop / a-s-s.world (the “Site”) is owned and operated by aSS – a Swiss String, Maria Wagner, Butzenstrasse 60, 8038 Zürich, Switzerland (“aSS”, “we”, “us”). The following Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern:
- access to and use of the Site, including any pages or content linked to it;
- purchase of products through our online shop; and
- participation in the community features of the Site, including image uploads, public member profiles, and contacting other members.
By accessing or using the Site, you agree to be bound by these Terms. Please read them carefully before using the Site.
1.1 Eligibility
You must be at least 18 years of age to create an account, make a purchase, submit content, or use the community features of this Site. By using the Site, you confirm that you are at least 18 years old and have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement. We do not knowingly collect data from or target persons under 18. If we become aware that a minor has created an account, we will terminate it immediately.
1.2 Changes to These Terms
aSS reserves the right to amend these Terms at any time. Changes will be notified by posting an updated version on the Site with a revised “Last updated” date. Where changes are material, we will additionally notify registered members by email. Continued use of the Site after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.
2. Privacy
Our Privacy Policy forms an integral part of these Terms and explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal data. By using the Site you also agree to the Privacy Policy, available at a-s-s.ch/privacy-policy.
3. Copyright and Intellectual Property
The Site, its design, and all content included on it – such as text, graphics, logos, images, product photographs, and software (“the Works”) – are the exclusive property of aSS or its content suppliers and are protected by Swiss and international copyright law (Swiss Copyright Act, URG).
aSS grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to access and use the Site for personal, non-commercial purposes only. Any reproduction, modification, distribution, or commercial use of the Works without the prior written consent of aSS is strictly prohibited.
The name and mark “aSS – a Swiss String” and associated logos are the property of aSS. They may not be used without prior written permission.
4. Shop – Prices, Payment and Shipping
4.1 Prices
All prices are listed in CHF (Swiss Francs) and, where shown, in EUR and USD for guidance. Prices are exclusive of shipping costs. Swiss VAT is included in the displayed price where applicable. aSS reserves the right to change prices at any time; the price at the time of your order confirmation is binding.
4.2 Payment
aSS accepts the following payment methods:
- Bank transfer (prepayment) – your order will be processed upon receipt of payment
- Credit card: VISA and Mastercard (via Saferpay)
- Paypal
Credit and debit card payments are processed by Saferpay (Worldline), a PCI-DSS certified payment provider based in Switzerland. Card data is transmitted directly to Saferpay via 256-bit SSL encryption and is never stored on our servers.
For bank transfer orders, payment must be received within 14 days of the order date, after which the order may be cancelled.
4.3 Customs and Import Duties
For deliveries outside Switzerland, any applicable customs duties, import taxes, or other fees levied by the destination country are the sole responsibility of the customer. aSS has no control over and cannot predict these charges.
4.4 Shipping
All aSS products are handmade to order. Items are usually dispatched within two weeks of order confirmation. During periods of high demand, short delays may occur. You will be notified by email once your order has been dispatched.
Shipping costs depend on the delivery destination and are calculated automatically based on your delivery address. The exact cost is shown in full before you complete payment, at checkout.
4.5 No Returns or Exchanges
Due to the nature of our products – all items are handmade specifically to order – and for hygiene reasons, aSS products cannot be returned or exchanged once the order is in progress. This does not affect your statutory rights in the event of defective goods under Swiss law (OR Art. 197 et seq.).
4.6 aSS Bucks and Sponsorship
aSS Bucks is an internal store credit that can be purchased, credited through competitions and events, or received from another visitor sponsoring a gallery you appear in. aSS Bucks has no cash value, is non-transferable except through the sponsorship mechanism described below, is non-refundable, and can only be redeemed on a-s-s.shop.
Sponsorship is anonymous by default: the recipient sees only the amount sponsored and, if you choose to add one, a short note. You may opt in, separately for each sponsorship, to show your name and a link to your public member profile. Site administrators can always see who sponsored whom, regardless of this choice. Your email address is never shown to the recipient.
Any unspent aSS Bucks are forfeited if you delete your account, whether by the self-service option described in Section 6 or by request. The amount that will be forfeited is shown to you before you confirm deletion.
5. Liability
aSS accepts no liability for damage caused by shipping (e.g. loss or damage in transit) or by washing or care that was not carried out in accordance with the care instructions supplied with the product.
To the fullest extent permitted by Swiss law, aSS’s total liability for any claim arising out of or in connection with these Terms or the use of the Site shall not exceed the amount paid by you for the relevant order.
aSS is not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential loss or damage, including loss of profits, data, or opportunity, to the extent such exclusion is permissible under Swiss law.
aSS reserves the right to modify or adapt any part of the Site or its content at any time without prior notice. The Site and all content are provided “as is” without warranty of any kind.
6. Accounts and Membership
To access certain features of the Site (including the community gallery, public member profiles, and contacting other members), you must create an account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activity under your account.
aSS reserves the right to suspend or terminate any account at its sole discretion in the event of a breach of these Terms, without refund of any fees paid.
Account Deletion. You may delete your own account at any time from your member profile on a-s-s.world. This removes your account on both a-s-s.shop and a-s-s.world, any images you have uploaded there, and any unspent aSS Bucks credited to you. Past orders are retained even after deletion, as Swiss law (Art. 958f OR) requires us to keep business records for ten years. Gallery pages featuring you are not removed automatically, as they may involve a photographer who holds rights in the images – contact us at info@a-s-s.ch to request their removal or review. You may also request account deletion by contacting us directly instead of using the self-service option. Deletion of your account does not automatically result in removal of content you have previously uploaded through other means (for takedown and deletion of specific Material, see Section 7.5).
Public Member Profile. If you set a pseudonym in your profile settings on a-s-s.world, a public profile page is created for you at a web address derived from that pseudonym. This page may show your pseudonym, a thumbnail from your gallery, your clothing sizes, your country and language, a short description, and any links you choose to add – you decide which of these to fill in, and none is required. Once created, your profile address stays the same even if you later change your pseudonym, so links already shared with others keep working. The page also includes a form allowing visitors to send you a message by email without seeing your own email address (see Section 8). You can remove your public profile at any time by clearing your pseudonym in your profile settings.
7. Submission of Material to the Site
7.1 Invitation to Submit
aSS may invite registered members to submit material, including photographs, images, and videos (“Material”), to the Site – in particular to the community gallery and for potential use as product images. Submission of Material is subject to the identity verification and consent process described in Section 7.2.
7.2 Identity Verification and Consent Video (Required Once)
Before uploading any Material to the Site for the first time, you are required to submit a short verification video (“Consent Video”). This requirement applies once per account and unlocks upload permissions permanently.
The Consent Video must:
- show you holding a valid, government-issued photo ID (passport, national identity card, or driving licence) clearly visible to the camera;
- include a spoken or written on-screen declaration that you are the account holder, that you are 18 years of age or older, and that you consent to uploading Material to a-s-s.ch under these Terms; and
- be recorded by you personally and submitted securely through the designated upload channel provided by aSS.
Storage and handling of Consent Videos:
- Consent Videos are stored exclusively on an encrypted physical storage device held by aSS and are never uploaded to any server, cloud service, or third-party system.
- Consent Videos are not shared with any third party under any circumstances, except where aSS is compelled to do so by a valid legal order from a Swiss authority.
- Your Consent Video is permanently and irreversibly deleted when you request the takedown of all your uploaded Material (see Section 7.5) or when your account is permanently closed, whichever is earlier.
- The Consent Video is used solely to verify your age and consent. It is not published, displayed, or accessible to other members of the Site.
The purpose of this process is to protect all parties against non-consensual content (including so-called “revenge porn”), to verify that all persons depicted in uploaded Material have consented, and to ensure legal compliance. aSS takes this obligation seriously.
7.3 Content Standards
By submitting Material, you confirm that it:
- is accurate and not misleading;
- is not defamatory, obscene, threatening, offensive, or illegal;
- does not violate any applicable law (including Swiss law and the laws of the recipient’s country);
- does not infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party;
- does not violate any person’s right to privacy or publicity;
- does not depict any person without that person’s explicit prior consent (see Section 7.6);
- does not contain malware, spam, chain letters, or unsolicited commercial communications; and
- does not contain political campaigning, incitement to violence, hate speech, or racial commentary.
7.4 Licence Grant
By submitting Material to the Site, you grant aSS a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable licence to use, reproduce, display, adapt, and distribute the Material in connection with the Site and aSS’s products and marketing, for as long as the Material remains on the Site.
You retain ownership of the copyright in your Material. aSS will not sell your Material to third parties.
7.5 Takedown and Deletion
You may request the removal of any or all of your uploaded Material at any time by contacting info@a-s-s.ch. aSS will process takedown requests within a reasonable time (ordinarily within 14 days).
Upon confirmed removal of all your uploaded Material, your Consent Video will be permanently deleted from aSS’s encrypted storage. You will receive written confirmation (by email) once both the Material and the Consent Video have been deleted.
Note that removal of Material does not retroactively affect any use already made under the licence prior to the takedown request.
7.6 Your Warranties
By submitting Material, you warrant and represent that:
- the Material is original and does not infringe any third party’s copyright, trademark, privacy, or other rights;
- you own all rights in the Material, or have obtained all necessary consents and releases from any third parties whose work or likeness appears in it;
- every identifiable living person depicted in the Material has given you their explicit written consent to the upload and to the uses described in Section 7.4, and you can provide evidence of such consent to aSS upon request;
- the Material does not depict any person who was, at the time of recording or photography, under the age of 18;
- you have not assigned, licensed, or otherwise encumbered the Material in any way that would prevent aSS from exercising the licence granted in Section 7.4; and
- the Material complies with these Terms and all applicable laws, including Swiss law.
7.7 Moderation
aSS is not obliged to monitor all Material submitted to the Site, but reserves the right to review, edit, or remove any Material that, in its sole discretion, violates these Terms or is otherwise inappropriate. aSS reserves the right to cancel any membership without refund in the event of a material breach of this Section 7.
8. Contacting Members
A member with a public profile (see Section 6) can be sent a message through a form on that profile page. This is not a private inbox or a two-way messaging system: anyone viewing the profile, including visitors without an account, can use the form.
Unlike a message exchanged directly between two people, the recipient’s email address is never shown to the sender – the message is relayed by aSS on their behalf. The sender’s own email address, which they provide when sending the message, IS shown to the recipient, so that the recipient can reply directly if they choose to. Messages are forwarded and not stored by aSS. Do not use this form to send information you would not want the recipient to have, and be aware that the person you are messaging may reply to the address you provide.
This form must not be used for spam, commercial solicitation, harassment, or any unlawful purpose. aSS reserves the right to suspend a member’s public profile, or a sender’s access to this form, in the event of misuse.
9. Third-Party Links
The Site may contain links to third-party websites. aSS makes no representations about such sites and is not responsible for their content or practices. Links are provided for convenience only and do not imply endorsement.
10. Electronic Communications
By creating an account or making a purchase, you consent to receiving communications from aSS electronically, including by email and notices posted on the Site. You agree that electronic communications satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing, to the extent permitted by Swiss law.
11. Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold aSS, its owner, and representatives harmless from any claims, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal costs) arising from your use of the Site or any breach of these Terms by you, including any breach of your warranties regarding submitted Material.
12. Severability
If any provision of these Terms is found to be unlawful, invalid, or unenforceable under applicable law, that provision shall be read down or severed to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.
13. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with Swiss law. Any disputes arising out of or in connection with these Terms or the use of the Site shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Zürich, Switzerland, unless mandatory consumer protection law in your country of residence provides otherwise.
14. Dispute Resolution
Before initiating any formal legal proceedings, you agree to contact aSS in writing at info@a-s-s.ch and make a genuine attempt to resolve the dispute amicably. This does not affect your right to seek urgent injunctive relief.
For consumers resident in the European Union, the EU Online Dispute Resolution platform is available at: ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr
15. Contact
aSS – a Swiss String
Maria Wagner
Butzenstrasse 60
8038 Zürich
Switzerland
Email: info@a-s-s.ch
Version August 2026