Why am I asked to prove that I am of legal age?
Some items in our catalogue are Category D weapons under the French Internal Security Code (Code de la sécurité intérieure): automatic knives, butterfly knives and shuriken, among others. French law prohibits their sale to minors. When your order contains one of these items, we therefore verify that you are of legal age, once only, before your first dispatch.
Will I need to do this for every order?
No. Verification only takes place once. The result is attached to your customer account, so all your subsequent orders are prepared without any further formalities. This is also why creating an account is necessary to order these items.
How can I prove that I am of legal age? The three possible methods
1. France Identité — the solution we recommend
The official France Identité app generates a single-use proof of identity, in PDF format, electronically signed by the French Ministry of the Interior. It contains your surname, forenames, nationality, sex, and date and place of birth: exactly what is needed to establish that you are of legal age, and nothing more. It does not disclose your card number, your address or your photograph.
When creating the document, enter MAXKNIVES as the recipient, "age verification, order no. …" as the reason, and choose the shortest validity period available.
Requirements: the new-format (credit-card-sized) national identity card and an NFC-compatible phone.
2. A copy protected by a watermark
If you cannot use France Identité, please send us a copy of your identity document (national identity card, passport or driving licence) protected by a watermark. The free government service filigrane.beta.gouv.fr adds one in a few seconds and keeps no copy of your file — your document is deleted from their servers immediately after download.
Suggested wording: "Document provided exclusively to MAXKNIVES for the age verification relating to order no. …". Your date of birth must remain legible; you may hide your photograph, address and document number.
3. As a last resort: a plain copy
If neither of the two solutions above is available to you — an old-format card and no means of adding a watermark — a plain, legible copy of your identity document is accepted. We never ask for the original, and you may hide anything that is not relevant to your identity and date of birth.
What happens to my document?
It is used solely to verify that you are of legal age. It is only accessible to authorised members of our team, is never passed on to any third party, and is deleted as soon as verification is complete, and within thirty days at the latest. We then retain only the note "age verified on …", attached to your customer account. You may exercise your rights of access, rectification and erasure at the address given in our privacy policy.
How can I be sure that the request really comes from MAXKNIVES?
We only ever request proof of identity in one situation: by email, after an order containing a Category D item, from our official address. We never ask for an identity document by phone, by text message or on social media, nor for any commercial or advertising purpose. If in doubt, contact us via the form on our website before sending anything.
What if I do not wish to provide proof of identity?
That is entirely your choice. Simply let us know in reply to the verification email: your order will be cancelled and refunded in full, at no cost to you and with no explanation required.
Is my order delayed?
Your order has been placed and your payment accepted; it is simply put on hold pending verification. As soon as we receive valid proof, it re-enters the normal preparation process — usually the same day or the following business day. The dispatch times stated in our general terms and conditions run from the date of verification.