New rules in 2014 for online stores

As of Jan. 1, 2014, new consumer laws go into effect. This has some implications for online stores. The most important is that the 7 business day return period will be increased to 14 days. However, this is not the only thing. In this blog, we explain what this means for you. UPDATE: We now have a more complete explanation available.

7 working days becomes 14 days The currently legal 7 working days trial period will legally become 14 days after receipt as of 2014. This was already included in our model conditions and we have been advising online stores to apply this period for some time. From next year, however, this is also required by law. Note the difference between working days and days! The consumer has 14 days after receipt of the entire order (!) to indicate that one wants to return a product or the entire order. If the entire order is returned, then the shipping costs for the return shipment must also be credited. However, this has always been mandatory. The only thing this also changes is that if you work with partial deliveries, the period only starts after receipt of the last partial delivery. 14 days + 14 days to return! Also, the ambiguity from the previous law has been removed about the period that one must actually return the product. As of 2014, consumers have 14 days after receipt to indicate that they want to return. Then the consumer has another 14 days to actually return the product. So in the extreme case, you will lose your product for 28 days. Sealing hygienic products Will it all get stricter then? Not everything. The old law did not include hygienic products. So products such as earrings and erotic items simply had to be returned. In practice, however, these were exempted under the heading "personal items." However, this was not as the law intended. Starting next year, this will also be clearly regulated. Products that cannot be returned for hygienic reasons must now be sealed. If the seal is broken, the product cannot be returned. Of course you have to communicate this clearly to the customer. Think this removes a lot of ambiguity in this area. Return form You are obliged to inform the consumer of his rights to return. So far nothing new. However, you must also provide the consumer with a standard form for this. An example of this is attached to the law. We don't want you to go through the law book, so we have already created a model form for online stores. You can attach it to the confirmation e-mail and/or attach it to the order on paper. That way, you can easily comply with the information obligations of your web store. Refund The term for refunds is also regulated by law. As a webshop you have 14 days after receipt of the model withdrawal form to credit the amount already paid. The condition is that you have received the item back. As before, you must also reimburse any shipping costs for the return shipment (when the entire order is returned). When do the new rules take effect? The law will apply January 1, 2014. However, after this there is a transition period of 6 months in which webshop owners have time to comply with all the rules. No later than July 2014 your website must comply with the new rules. From 2014, however, we will already start monitoring compliance with the new rules. More changes Starting in 2014, more things will also change. For example, auction websites will also fall under the right of withdrawal and services will also be revocable to a large extent. However, these cases will not apply to the vast majority of online stores. UPDATE: We now have a more complete explanation available.