General Terms and Conditions

1.1. These General Terms and Conditions govern the rules for using the digital marketplace Digital Market – an online platform and information society intermediary service administered by “BEYOND SOFT” EOOD, which provides a virtual space connecting persons seeking digital services (as individuals – consumers, or legal entities – business clients) with persons offering such services (as individuals – freelancers, or legal entities – companies). Persons seeking services may publish project listings and receive proposals.

1.2. Details of the intermediary service provider:

• Name: “BEYOND SOFT” EOOD (BEYOND SOFT LTD)
• Company ID (EIK): 201055706
• Registered office and address of management: Republic of Bulgaria, Pleven, postal code 5800, 6 “Grenadirska” St.
• General contact and support email: support@digitalmarket.bg
• Telephone for direct contact (Art. 4 Electronic Commerce Act / Art. 47 Consumer Protection Act): +359 883 684 370.
• Single point of contact for national authorities and institutions (Art. 11 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 – DSA): support@digitalmarket.bg (languages of communication: Bulgarian and English).
• Single point of contact for recipients of the service and users (Art. 12 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 – DSA): support@digitalmarket.bg

1.3. Competent supervisory authorities:

• Commission for Consumer Protection (KZP): Sofia, 4A “Slaveykov” Sq., website: kzp.bg
• Commission for Personal Data Protection (KZLD): Sofia, 2 “Prof. Tsvetan Lazarov” Blvd., website: cpdp.bg
• Communications Regulation Commission (KRS) – Digital Services Coordinator under the DSA: Sofia, 6 “Gurko” St., website: crc.bg

2.1. “Platform” / “Digital Market” – the entire software environment, databases, source code and web interface available at digitalmarket.bg, operated by “BEYOND SOFT” EOOD as a provider of intermediary online services and an online marketplace.

2.2. “User” – any natural person or any validly established and registered legal entity (commercial company, sole trader, non-profit legal entity, state or municipal body) that accesses the Platform, browses content, registers a profile or uses the functionalities of the website.

2.3. “Consumer” (within the meaning of § 13, item 1 of the Additional Provisions of the Consumer Protection Act and Art. 2, item 1 of Directive 2011/83/EU) – any natural person who uses the Platform, registers a client account, commissions projects or purchases paid services from the Platform for purposes that fall entirely outside the scope of their trade, business, craft or liberal profession. Legal entities and persons acting by occupation as traders cannot hold the status of “Consumer” within the meaning of consumer protection legislation.

2.4. “Business User” (under Art. 2, item 1 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 – the P2B Regulation) – any natural person (freelancer, independent professional, self-employed person) or legal entity (commercial company, agency, studio) that acts in the course of its commercial or professional activity and uses the intermediary services of the Platform to offer digital services or to conclude contracts with clients.

2.5. “Client” (Project Commissioner) – a User who has registered a “Client” profile on the Platform in order to publish Listings seeking a provider and/or to send inquiries for quotes. According to their substantive legal status, Clients are:

• (a) “Client – Consumer (natural person)”: a natural person commissioning a digital task for personal needs, who benefits from the mandatory protective rules of consumer law when purchasing services from the Platform;
• (b) “Client – Business Client”: a Client acting as a legal entity (sole-member limited liability company, limited liability company, joint-stock company, etc.), a sole trader or an organization, who seeks providers for company/business purposes or purchases paid services (Digital Coins, VIP/TOP promotional positioning) for their professional or commercial needs. Relations with Business Clients are governed by the rules of commercial transactions (B2B) under the Commerce Act, and the rules on consumer protection (including the 14-day right of withdrawal and protection against unfair terms) do NOT apply to them.

2.6. “Provider” (Digital Service Provider) – a registered Business User of the Platform who maintains a “Freelancer” or “Company” profile, publishes Listings for offered services, describes a portfolio and/or sends Proposals to published Listings seeking services. According to their legal form, Providers are defined as:

• (a) “Freelancer”: a natural person practising a liberal profession, craft or independent business/professional activity in the fields of information technology, design, marketing and digital services;
• (b) “Company”: a legal entity or commercial company carrying out commercial activity by occupation and offering services through a professional team or employed staff.

2.7. “Trader” (under the Commerce Act and § 13, item 2 of the Additional Provisions of the Consumer Protection Act) – any natural person or legal entity that, when concluding contracts, acts in the course of its commercial, business or professional activity.

2.8. “Listing” – any individual publication uploaded by a User and approved by the Administrator for display in the catalogue:

• “Service Listing” – a public commercial presentation of a Provider (Freelancer or Company) describing the nature of the offered digital services, portfolio, scope, indicative prices and timeframes;
• “Request Listing” – a project request by a Client (natural person or legal entity) describing the technical requirements, indicative budget in euro and desired timeframe for the realization of a digital project.

2.9. “Inquiry” – an electronic message sent by a registered User or by a visitor without registration to a specific Provider through the “Request a quote” form for the purpose of establishing pre-contractual contact.

2.10. “Proposal” – an electronic message sent by a registered User or by a visitor without registration to the author of a Request Listing through the proposal form, which may contain an indicative price in euro, an approximate timeframe and project conditions, and which has the legal nature of an invitation to negotiate.

2.11. “Digital Coins” – an internal virtual unit of account (functional auxiliary token) of the Digital Market Platform, used for prepayment and activation of promotional services for listings. Digital Coins do not constitute electronic money under the Payment Services and Payment Systems Act, have no monetary exchange rate outside the website and are not a financial instrument or a crypto-asset under Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA).

2.12. “Promotional Services” (VIP / TOP positioning) – paid additional digital services provided by the Platform in exchange for the use of Digital Coins, ensuring preferential positioning and visual emphasis of selected Listings for a certain period of time.

3.1. Registration on the Platform is required in order to publish listings. The user interface offers a choice between three functional types of profile: “Client”, “Freelancer” or “Company”. The choice of profile type has functional significance for access to the technical modules of the website. The actual substantive legal status of the parties (consumer, trader or business client) is determined according to the objective purpose of the activity carried out and the applicable statutory criteria, and not solely by the technical name of the account.

3.2. Upon registration the User is obliged to provide accurate, complete and truthful data and to keep it up to date. The User bears full responsibility for keeping their login credentials (username and password) secret and for all actions performed through their account.

3.3. Registration and login of natural persons may also be carried out through integration with a Google profile.

3.4. Account conversion: A registered “Client” profile may be converted into a functional “Freelancer” or “Company” profile at the User’s request through the control panel. Before the conversion is finalized, the User is notified on screen that the conversion is irreversible. When offering digital services by occupation, they acquire the status of a Business User within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 (P2B), and their relations with the Platform and counterparties are subject to the respective commercial regime.

3.5. Restriction, suspension and termination of access to a profile:

• (a) Towards Business Users (Freelancers and Companies): In accordance with Art. 3 and Art. 4 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 (P2B) and Art. 17 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (DSA), the Platform may terminate the provision of its intermediary services in full only on objective and lawful grounds, with an exhaustive statement of reasons sent on a durable medium (email). In case of temporary suspension or restriction of functions of a Business User, the Platform provides a statement of reasons without undue delay before or simultaneously with the entry into force of the measure. The Business User has the right to clarify the facts and to appeal the measure under the procedure in clause 14.3(b) of these General Terms;
• (b) Towards Clients (Consumers and Business Clients): Temporary suspension or deactivation of a client account is carried out upon establishing unlawful conduct, infringement of copyright, unauthorized spam or unpaid obligations, and the account holder is sent a statement of reasons pursuant to Art. 17 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (DSA).

4.1. Every newly created Listing (for services or request) is subject to prior review and approval by a Platform moderator before its public display in the catalogue, in order to prevent fraud, illegal content or violations of the rules.

4.2. Upon rejection of a Listing by a moderator, a message stating the reason for the refusal is sent to the author. Upon removal of already published content, the Administrator notifies the author of the decision taken, of its grounds and of the available options for internal appeal and out-of-court settlement, pursuant to Art. 17 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (DSA).

4.3. The categories and subcategories of a Listing are selected at its creation and cannot be unilaterally changed by the User after approval.

4.4. Every subsequent edit of the title, description or essential parameters of an approved Listing automatically returns it to “Under review” status until re-approved by a moderator.

4.5. A Listing may be marked as “Completed” upon successful completion of the project. A Completed Listing remains accessible via a direct link until the author deletes it or the Administrator deactivates it. After deletion or deactivation, the Listing is removed from the public part of the Platform, and the data from it is retained only for the period necessary for the purposes of its processing, in accordance with the storage limitation principle under Art. 5(1)(e) GDPR and the Privacy Policy, unless a longer period is required by law or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

4.6. Protection of personal data in public content: The publication of contact personal data of third parties, home addresses or bank accounts is not permitted in the text fields of Listings. The public part of profiles and Listings (including Request Listings) displays the name (for Companies – the company name), the locality and the contact details of the author (email address and telephone number) as indicated in their profile. The telephone number is visible by default and may be hidden from publicly accessible pages through a checkbox at registration or later from the profile; the email address is always displayed. For Companies, the number of employees and an indication that the profile belongs to a company are also displayed. Inquiries and proposals to authors may also be sent through the Platform’s built-in web forms.

5.1. Distinction between contractual relationships: Use of the Platform gives rise to two separate and independent legal relationships:

• (a) Information society intermediary service agreement: concluded between “BEYOND SOFT” EOOD and the respective registered User (Consumer, Business Client or Business User) upon acceptance of these General Terms and Conditions, and governing technical access, profile maintenance and the purchase of promotional services;
• (b) Agreement for the commissioning/performance of a digital service: concluded directly and solely between the respective Client and the respective Provider, mutually selected through the functionalities of the website. “BEYOND SOFT” EOOD is not a party to this agreement, does not act as a commission agent, commercial representative, guarantor or attorney of either party and bears no responsibility for the performance, deadlines, quality, copyright or payments under the final contracts between Clients and Providers.

5.2. The Platform does not charge or withhold a percentage commission on the remuneration agreed between Clients and Providers under the final service contracts.

5.3. Mandatory pre-contractual information pursuant to Art. 47a of the Consumer Protection Act and Art. 6a of Directive 2011/83/EU:

• (a) Status of the service provider: The profiles and Listings of Providers contain an indication of whether the profile belongs to a “Company” or a “Freelancer”, according to what the person declared at registration;
• (b) Inapplicability of consumer law to contracts with natural persons (non-traders): Where a Client – Consumer (natural person) concludes a service contract with a Provider who is a natural person (non-trader), the statutory rights of consumers under the Consumer Protection Act (including the 14-day right to withdraw from a distance contract without giving a reason and the statutory consumer guarantees) do NOT apply to that contract, since it constitutes a civil-law transaction between natural persons on equal footing under the Obligations and Contracts Act;
• (c) Trader status of natural persons: A natural person who provides digital services regularly, in an organized manner and by occupation for profit may by law hold the status of a trader under Art. 1(3) of the Commerce Act and the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (judgment in Case C-105/17 Kamenova). The Platform reflects the status declared by the person, without replacing the statutory assessment of the competent authorities and courts.

6.1. Any registered person or visitor may send a preliminary inquiry to a specific Provider through the interactive “Request a quote” form. The inquiry serves to clarify the technical parameters of the task and does not bind the parties to the final conclusion of a contract.

6.2. Proposals to Request Listings may be sent by registered Users (with any type of profile) and by visitors without registration through the proposal form. A Proposal may contain an indicative price in euro (EUR) and an approximate timeframe, and these fields are not mandatory. Sending a proposal has the nature of an invitation to negotiate. The final contract between the Client and the Provider is deemed concluded only after full agreement on all essential terms outside the functionalities of the Platform.

6.3. It is prohibited to use the communication modules of the Platform for distributing unsolicited commercial messages (spam), offensive, discriminatory, defamatory or unlawful content, as well as for automated extraction of client data (scraping).

7.1. All prices of paid services, Digital Coins packages and promotional tariffs of the Platform are stated in euro (EUR), inclusive of all applicable taxes and fees.

7.2. Payments by bank card and by bank transfer are processed directly through the licensed payment service provider Stripe (Stripe Payments Europe, Ltd.), which ensures full compliance with the PCI DSS international security standard. “BEYOND SOFT” EOOD does not collect, see or store the Users’ bank card data.

7.3. When paying by bank transfer through Stripe, the ordered Digital Coins are credited to the account balance after Stripe confirms the payment, usually within 3 (three) business days. If the Digital Coins have not been credited after this period expires, the User should contact support at: support@digitalmarket.bg.

7.4. Invoicing: When Digital Coins are purchased by all types of clients, “BEYOND SOFT” EOOD issues an electronic tax invoice based on the details provided at the time of payment (name, company ID, VAT number, representative and registered office/address).

7.5. Overpaid amounts, erroneous money transfers or amounts from duplicated transactions are refunded under Art. 55(1) of the Obligations and Contracts Act, by the same payment method through which they were paid, within up to 7 (seven) business days after a written request by the payer.

8.1. Legal nature of Digital Coins: Digital Coins is an internal digital unit of account (functional utility auxiliary instrument) existing solely within the software environment of Digital Market to facilitate prepayment and flexible activation of promotional services for listings (VIP / TOP). Loaded Digital Coins have no monetary value outside the Platform, are not transferable between different user profiles, cannot serve as a means of payment for external goods and services and do not constitute a financial instrument, investment or crypto-asset under Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA).

8.2. Right of withdrawal for Consumers (natural persons):

• (a) 14-day statutory period: Every User who holds the status of a Consumer within the meaning of § 13, item 1 of the Additional Provisions of the Consumer Protection Act (a natural person acting outside professional activity) has the right, under Art. 47 and Art. 50 of the Consumer Protection Act and Art. 9 of Directive 2011/83/EU, to withdraw from the contract for the purchase of unused Digital Coins within 14 days from the date of payment, without giving a reason and without owing compensation or a penalty;
• (b) Procedure for exercising withdrawal: To exercise the right of withdrawal, the Consumer sends an unambiguous statement by email: support@digitalmarket.bg. Upon valid withdrawal, the Administrator refunds the amount paid for the unused balance by the same payment method within 14 days;
• (c) Loss of the right of withdrawal upon activation of a service: Where the Consumer expressly requests and uses Digital Coins for immediate activation of VIP/TOP positioning of their Listing before the 14-day period expires, they consent to the immediate start of performance pursuant to Art. 49(8) of the Consumer Protection Act, Art. 16(m) of Directive 2011/83/EU and Art. 19 of Directive (EU) 2019/770, and confirm that they lose the right of withdrawal with respect to the value used for the activated promotional service;
• (d) Exclusion of the right of withdrawal for Business Clients and Business Users: The purchase of Digital Coins packages by legal entities (Business Clients), sole traders or professional Providers constitutes a final commercial transaction (B2B) concluded for business/professional needs. The 14-day consumer right of withdrawal under the Consumer Protection Act does NOT apply to them.

8.3. Refund in case of technical malfunctions: Sums for unused or wrongly deducted Digital Coins are subject to full refund for all categories of Users where it is duly proven that the non-performance or delay of the paid promotional service is due to a proven system failure or software error in the infrastructure of the Platform.

9.1. Users may activate additional paid promotions for their Listings in exchange for Digital Coins according to the Platform’s current tariffs:

• (a) “VIP listing” – provides priority positioning above standard listings on the catalogue listing pages, after TOP listings, and a visual “VIP” label;
• (b) “TOP listing” – provides the foremost positioning on the catalogue listing pages – above VIP and standard listings, and a visual “TOP” label.

9.2. In implementation of Art. 68e(5) of the Consumer Protection Act, Art. 25 of Directive 2005/29/EC and Art. 26 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (DSA), every paid Listing is displayed with a clear and unambiguous visual label “VIP” or “TOP”, ensuring full transparency for visitors about the commercial nature of the ranking.

9.3. Transparency of ranking parameters (Art. 5 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 – P2B, Art. 47a of the Consumer Protection Act and Art. 27 of the DSA):

• (a) Main ordering parameters: Listings in the catalogue are ordered consecutively by the following criteria: (1) paid promotion – first TOP listings, then VIP listings; (2) stated price or budget – listings with a stated price or budget come before “To be negotiated” listings; (3) the sorting selected by the User (newest, oldest, price ascending or descending). The Platform does not apply ranking based on rating or text relevance;
• (b) Influence of payment: Activating a paid service (VIP or TOP) through Digital Coins has a directly determining influence on visibility, positioning the respective Listing above standard listings for the duration of the paid promotion.

10.1. All copyrights, trademarks, logos, database, designs, source code and graphic elements that make up the Digital Market Platform are the exclusive intellectual property of “BEYOND SOFT” EOOD or are used on a valid contractual basis.

10.2. By uploading texts, images, project descriptions, logos, video materials or a portfolio to the Platform, the respective User (natural person, commercial company or its legal representative/employee) grants “BEYOND SOFT” EOOD a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, transferable licence for the entire period of maintaining the Listing/profile to store, reproduce, display, technically format and publicly distribute the materials for the purposes of the normal functioning, indexing and promotion of the Platform.

10.3. Every User expressly warrants that they hold the copyright or valid licences for all materials and trademarks they upload. Upon receipt of a substantiated notice of infringed intellectual property rights under Art. 16 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (DSA), the Administrator has the right to immediately remove the disputed content and to notify the author with a statement of reasons.

11.1. “BEYOND SOFT” EOOD processes the personal data of natural persons in strict compliance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), the Personal Data Protection Act and the Privacy Policy published on the website, which is an integral part of these terms.

11.2. Cookie management: The use of analytics, advertising or statistical tracking tools (including PostHog and the session recording and heatmaps associated with it) is carried out solely after the express, free and informed prior consent (opt-in) of the User, given through the interactive cookie banner pursuant to Directive 2002/58/EC (e-Privacy) and Art. 261a of the Electronic Communications Act. The User may withdraw their consent at any time through the cookie settings at the bottom of the website.

12.1. Mandatory limits of liability: The liability of “BEYOND SOFT” EOOD for damages suffered is not excluded or limited in case of intent or gross negligence under Art. 94 of the Obligations and Contracts Act.

12.2. Protection of Consumers: With respect to Users having the status of Consumers within the meaning of § 13, item 1 of the Additional Provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, the Administrator’s liability is subject to the mandatory provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, Directive 93/13/EEC and Directive (EU) 2019/770. Nothing in these terms limits the consumer’s rights in case of non-conformity or non-provision of a paid digital service.

12.3. Limitation of liability in commercial relations (B2B): In relations with Business Clients (legal entities) and Business Users (Freelancers and Companies), “BEYOND SOFT” EOOD is not liable for lost profits, failed commercial deals, loss of business opportunities or indirect damages. The company’s total financial liability for proven direct property damages arising from paid promotional services is limited to the total amount of fees actually paid by the respective Business Client/User for the last 3 (three) calendar months preceding the event giving rise to the damage.

13.1. Notification of Business Users under Art. 3 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 (P2B):

• (a) Mandatory 15-day notice period: All proposed amendments and supplements to these General Terms are communicated to registered Business Users (Freelancers and Companies) on a durable medium (by electronic message to the email address provided) with at least 15 days’ prior notice before the date of their entry into force;
• (b) Longer period: Where the changes require substantial technical or commercial adaptations by Business Users, the notice period is extended proportionally to the reasonably necessary adaptation period;
• (c) Right of termination: The Business User has the right to terminate the contract with the Platform before the notice period expires without financial penalties;
• (d) Legal consequence: Any amendment to the General Terms introduced in breach of the mandatory 15-day notice period on a durable medium is null and void pursuant to Art. 3(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1150.

13.2. Notification of Consumers (B2C) and Business Clients: Changes to the General Terms are communicated to Consumers in a clear and comprehensible manner, and the consumer is given the opportunity to withdraw from the contract without penalty, in line with the case-law of the CJEU (judgment in Case C-472/10 Invitel). With respect to Business Clients (legal entities), the amendments enter into force in accordance with the rules of Art. 298 of the Commerce Act.

14.1. Applicable substantive law: For all matters not regulated in these General Terms, the substantive and procedural law of the Republic of Bulgaria applies. The choice of Bulgarian law does not deprive Users who are Consumers (natural persons) habitually resident in another EU Member State of the mandatory protection afforded to them by the mandatory rules of the legislation of their place of residence under Art. 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 (Rome I) and the CJEU case-law in Case C-191/15 (VKI v Amazon).

14.2. Official language: The Bulgarian language is authoritative for the interpretation and application of these General Terms.

14.3. Differentiated dispute resolution mechanisms:

• (a) Out-of-court resolution of consumer disputes (ADR): In the event of a legal dispute, the User – Consumer has the right to refer the dispute to the General or Special Conciliation Committees of the Commission for Consumer Protection (KZP) (website: kzp.bg);
• (b) Internal complaints procedure and mediation for Business Users (Art. 11 and 12 of the P2B Regulation): Business Users have the right to lodge free-of-charge complaints against technological measures, non-performance or suspension of profiles by email: support@digitalmarket.bg. Where no agreement is reached, disputes with Business Users may be referred for voluntary out-of-court settlement to mediators entered in the Unified Register of Mediators at the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Bulgaria;
• (c) Court jurisdiction for commercial disputes (B2B): All disputes with Business Clients (legal entities) and traders that are not resolved through negotiations fall within the jurisdiction of the competent court in the Republic of Bulgaria under the rules of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Platform Administrator: “BEYOND SOFT” EOOD (BEYOND SOFT LTD) Company ID (EIK): 201055706 Registered office and address of management: Republic of Bulgaria, Pleven, postal code 5800, 6 “Grenadirska” St. Official email for general support: support@digitalmarket.bg Telephone for direct contact (Electronic Commerce Act / Consumer Protection Act): +359 883 684 370 Single point of contact under the DSA (Art. 11 and 12): support@digitalmarket.bg Website: digitalmarket.bg