Right of Withdrawal: Getting the Model Form and Return Shipping Costs Right

1. What are the right of withdrawal, the model form and the return shipping cost rule?

The right of withdrawal gives consumers in Germany and across the European Union the right to cancel a contract concluded at a distance, in practice almost every purchase in an online shop, within 14 days without giving a reason. This is based on Sections 355 and following of the German Civil Code (BGB), which implement the EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU. For you as a shop owner this means, first of all, one thing: you must clearly and completely inform your customers about this right before the contract is concluded.

So that this information does not look different in every shop, the legislator provides a binding set of model withdrawal instructions along with a separate model withdrawal form, set out in Annex 2 to Article 246a Section 1 of the Introductory Act to the Civil Code (EGBGB). The form is meant to make it easier for customers to clearly state that they are withdrawing. Legally, the customer is not required to use this exact form, any clear statement of withdrawal is generally sufficient. You as the trader, however, are required to make this form available, for example on your website or together with the order confirmation, and to enter your own correct contact details in it.

Alongside the withdrawal period and the form, there is a third building block to this topic: the question of who bears the cost of returning the goods when a customer withdraws. This too is regulated by law and depends heavily on whether, and how clearly, you informed your customers about it in advance. For some categories of goods the right of withdrawal also does not apply at all, or only in a limited way, for example custom-made goods produced to the customer's specifications, sealed hygiene items such as cosmetics or underwear once unsealed, goods that spoil quickly, or sealed audio, video or software products once unsealed. These three topics, the deadline, the form and the return shipping costs, are therefore more closely connected than they might seem at first glance.

2. Since when does the rule apply?

The current basic structure of the right of withdrawal, with the 14 day period, the mandatory model withdrawal instructions and the model withdrawal form, has already applied since June 2014, when the EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU was transposed into German law. Since then, this has not been a new topic, it is a fixed part of every legally compliant online shop. What keeps changing is not the underlying text of the form, but the duty to keep the company details entered in that form up to date.

This is exactly where the real trap lies for many shop owners in 2026: anyone who set up a correct withdrawal form years ago often assumes they are permanently on the safe side. But if the shop moves to new business premises, changes its legal form, or starts using a new phone number or email address for customer contact, the form must be updated accordingly. A model withdrawal form with an outdated address or an incorrect phone number is no longer considered complete and correct information under the law, even if the original wording remains unchanged and would otherwise still be accurate.

For practical planning this means: the rule itself is not new, but the duty to regularly update it is underestimated by many shops. Anyone who has not looked at their own withdrawal form since the last office move, a change of company name, or a change of contact details should catch up on this soon.

3. Who is affected, does this apply to small shops too?

Yes, explicitly also to small and side-business shops. The right of withdrawal is part of basic consumer protection and applies to every trader who sells goods at a distance to consumers, regardless of turnover, number of employees or legal form. There is no minor-business threshold and no exemption for small businesses under the German small-business VAT rule (Section 19 UStG). Even the very first sale through a brand new online shop is fully subject to these rules.

Smaller and growing shops in particular tend to underestimate this topic, because they set up the withdrawal form correctly once at the start, often taken from a template or sample, and then never touch it again. Yet it is precisely during a shop's growth phase that the details which must appear in the form often change: the business address, the legal form once a limited company is founded, or the contact channels used for customer service.

4. What you specifically need to do

The most important step is a one-time, thorough look at your current withdrawal instructions and your model withdrawal form: do the name, address, phone number and email address match your actual, current business details? Is it clearly regulated, and visible to customers before the contract is concluded, who bears the cost of returning goods in the event of a withdrawal? These two questions can usually be checked within a few minutes, but they save considerable trouble in a dispute.

It is also important that the information about return shipping costs does not only appear during the return process itself, or buried deep in the terms and conditions, but is clearly visible to customers before they buy, for example directly alongside the withdrawal instructions at checkout or on an easy to find page. Anyone wanting to rely on an exception to the right of withdrawal for certain products, for example personalised items or unsealed hygiene products, should additionally check whether that exception genuinely applies in the specific case and is clearly communicated in the shop, rather than applying it broadly to an entire product category.

It also makes sense to establish a fixed routine: whenever the business address, legal form, phone number or email address changes, the withdrawal form is automatically updated too, just as the legal notice page and invoice templates are adjusted. Anyone who builds this routine firmly into their process barely needs to actively think about this topic afterwards.

6. Risks of non-compliance: the extended withdrawal period

Unlike some other consumer protection rules, there is no classic official fine here. The real risk is all the more concrete, and often catches shop owners by surprise: if you do not inform your customers completely and correctly about the right of withdrawal, for example because the form contains outdated contact details or the instructions are flawed, the regular 14 day period never even starts to run. Under Section 356(3) BGB, the withdrawal period is in that case extended to up to 12 months and 14 days from receipt of the goods.

In concrete terms this means: a customer could in theory still return an item after eleven months, one they have long since used, simply because the withdrawal information was not fully correct at the time of purchase. For you as a shop owner, this is not only a financial risk through later reversed sales, it is also a significant organisational problem, because stock, inventory and accounting can retroactively be affected over such a long period. On top of that, you must refund a payment received within 14 days of receiving the withdrawal notice, although you may make the refund conditional on receiving the goods back, or proof of return. What must be refunded is, as a rule, the standard shipping cost originally paid, not necessarily a more expensive express or premium shipping option the customer chose.

There is a separate risk lurking in the return shipping cost rule itself: if you have not clearly informed your customers before the contract was concluded that they will bear the return shipping costs, those costs automatically remain with you as the trader under Section 357(6) BGB, no matter what your terms and conditions say afterwards. Anyone who simply assumes "the customer pays for the return anyway", without ever having communicated this clearly beforehand, often ends up bearing those costs themselves.

7. Common misconceptions

A widespread misconception is: "the customer always has to pay for the return themselves anyway." That is only true if you clearly informed them of this beforehand. If that prior information is missing, the return shipping costs automatically remain with you as the trader under the law. A second, equally common misconception is the assumption that an opened package automatically ends the right of withdrawal. In fact, customers are allowed to test and inspect goods just as they could in a physical shop. Only use that goes beyond normal testing, for example visible signs of wear or missing tags, can lead to a justified reduction in the refund, it does not automatically end the right of withdrawal itself.

A third misconception concerns checkout processes: some shop owners believe that a "cancel order" button in the customer account replaces the legal duty to provide a model withdrawal form together with complete withdrawal instructions. Both elements must still be present in addition, regardless of how convenient the shop's own order management otherwise is. A fourth misconception is the blanket assumption that the 14 day period always applies, no matter what the withdrawal instructions look like. As described in the previous section, this period can be substantially extended in the case of incomplete or incorrect information, a point that is regularly underestimated in practice.

8. What Mironsoft can take care of for you

We know that hardly any shop owner wants to spend their morning wondering whether their own withdrawal form is still correct since the last office move. That is exactly why we take care of the organisational and technical side of this topic for you: we check whether your current withdrawal instructions and your model form are complete, contain your actual company details, and are placed at the right point in the ordering process.

We also look at whether the return shipping cost rule is clearly visible to your customers before they buy, and whether any exceptions to the right of withdrawal claimed for individual product groups are actually legally justified and clearly communicated. For specific legal questions, we work closely with your legal advisor or, if needed, put you in touch with a suitable contact, rather than positioning ourselves as a substitute for individual legal advice.

This becomes especially helpful for shop owners whose business is changing, whether through an office move, a new legal form, or a growing product range: we keep track of when your withdrawal form should be reviewed again, so that the extended withdrawal period from section 6 never becomes an issue in the first place. This way you can focus on your actual business, while we make sure this part of your shop keeps working reliably in the background.

9. Summary

The right of withdrawal, the model withdrawal form and the return shipping cost rules have been a fixed part of the legal framework for every online shop in Germany and the EU for many years. What is rarely new is the wording of these requirements, it is the duty to permanently keep your own details in the form up to date and to clearly communicate the return shipping cost rule before purchase.

Every shop is explicitly affected, regardless of size, turnover or legal form. Anyone who regularly reviews their withdrawal form and updates it whenever company details change avoids the biggest risk in this area, the automatic extension of the withdrawal period to up to 12 months and 14 days. This article offers a general overview and does not replace individual legal advice for your specific case.

10. FAQ: Right of Withdrawal, Model Form and Return Shipping Costs

This article offers a general overview of the right of withdrawal, the model withdrawal form and return shipping costs and does not replace individual legal advice for your specific case.