Legal pitfalls in online trade

For online retailers, warnings lurk around every corner. How these can best be avoided is explained in the article on legal certainty in online shops.

Always keep product availability and deliverability up to date

In a ruling on August 11, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm confirmed that retailers must always indicate the current product availability and the correct delivery time. This repeatedly poses problems, especially for retailers who offer their goods both in their online shop, on various marketplaces, and in brick-and-mortar retail.

Customers who bought a product through one channel while it was in the meantime sold elsewhere, i.e. sold twice, naturally still want the goods delivered at the stated time. If the product is marked with the note "immediately available", this means that the goods are actually in stock and can be shipped on the next working day.

Immediately available means immediately available

Even if orders have overlapped within a very short time, product availability must always be kept up to date. According to the OLG Hamm, due to the constantly possible updatability of offers on the internet, it is inadmissible to leave an offer for products that are no longer available on the internet. Even if the orders were placed shortly one after another.

According to the OLG Hamm, the note "only a few items left in stock" does not suggest to the customer that the stock is lacking, but rather that the retailer actually still has enough goods to deliver immediately.

If the information about product availability and delivery time does not match the actual circumstances, this incidentally threatens not only trouble with the customer, but also warnings. Retailers should therefore keep stock and deliverability up to date and also display this to the customer.

Designing the ordering process and checkout in a legally compliant way

published on 25.09.2015

In online trade, it is essential to comply with all legal foundations, otherwise warnings quickly threaten or a customer order is not legally binding. The laws are repeatedly adjusted and modernized. Staying up to date is becoming increasingly difficult. Especially the ordering process and checkout require thorough examination in order not to fall into any trap.

The Händlerbund has created an interesting infographic on this, which we would like to reproduce for you here in brief bullet points.

From shopping cart to checkout – this is how you are on the safe side

Stage 1: In the shopping cart

• prices must generally be stated including the statutory value added tax. For this, either the value added tax is shown as a concrete sum in addition to the final price, or the reference "incl. VAT" is additionally displayed at the final price. Additionally, it is advisable to already state the applicable standard shipping costs here

Stage 2: During registration

• in the interest of data protection and data minimization, only the following data may be collected within the scope of an order: name, address, and email address. Attention: It is not permitted to make the date of birth a mandatory field of a registration (for items that are subject to an age restriction, a mere age statement would also not be sufficient).
  
  
• often during registration the country is queried; if this country contradicts the payment and shipping conditions because no delivery is made to the corresponding country, this contradiction should be resolved
  
  
• "ticking off" the data protection provisions with the note "accepted", "agree" is (when sending newsletters) problematic. A reference such as "I have taken note of the data protection provisions" should be provided with a checkbox.

Stage 3: Selection of shipping and payment

• here the customer should be able to select the payment and shipping method suitable for them. This should of course match the corresponding templates and the information under "Payment and shipping conditions".
  
  Attention: Contradictions are inadmissible

Stage 4: In the checkout – the order overview

• before the customer finally orders the goods, the following points must be listed in detail in the order overview: important properties of the products, total price including all taxes and charges, freight, delivery and shipping costs, as well as all further costs
  
  
• products, the customer's addresses, shipping method and payment method should still be correctable here
  
  
• terms and conditions and cancellation policy (including the sample cancellation form) must be accessible and printable via clearly visible links
  
  
• at the end of the order overview, the order button should appear only once

The consumer must recognize that with this click on the order button they are entering into a contract subject to payment!

The order button may have the following labels: order with obligation to pay, order subject to payment, conclude a contract subject to payment, buy, and (on auction platforms) place bid or confirm bid.

The order button may not have the following labels: registration, continue, order, place order, confirm order, submit order

Navigating around warning waves – correct delivery time information is mandatory

published on 17.08.2015

As a shop operator, you sometimes feel like a captain who has to navigate his cutter around dangerous currents and rocky cliffs. Many skippers are then hit by shattering warning waves that make it hard to hoist the sails again.

The dangers of the sea naturally stand symbolically for legal pitfalls regarding delivery time information, shipping and payment modalities, or the cancellation policy. What should, what can, what must? Case law often lacks clarity. The e-commerce legal experts of "Trusted Shops" have put together some important tips on the topic of "delivery times", which we summarize briefly and concisely for you.

This is what you should pay attention to with delivery time information

Concrete delivery date

• the shop operator must inform (before the order is placed) when they deliver the goods or provide the service
• delivery time information must be given in any case
• but: a concrete date in the form of a delivery date is not necessary, it is sufficient to state a period, for example in days

Pitfalls of delivery time information

• relativization of the wording is better avoided or expressly inadmissible
• examples: information on when the goods are available/ready for dispatch; delivery time on request; delivery times are non-binding/guide value/as a rule/expected
• the postal transit time may not be excluded, so it counts within the delivery period, which is only completed upon receipt of the goods by the customer
• possible relativizations: approx. statements; time span

TIP: It is best to refrain from any relativizations, as the risk of legal disputes is simply too great. Furthermore, shop operators should refer in their statements to days, not working days.