The right of withdrawal: 14 days and the model withdrawal form

Module 5: Obligations and terms · Reading time: 11 minutes

Learning objective: After this lesson you can explain how the 14-day right of withdrawal works, when the period starts and ends, what you must refund and when, which exceptions exist, and how to put the information and the model withdrawal form in your shop.

Key concepts: right of withdrawal (in the Netherlands: right of rescission, cooling-off period), 14 days, receipt, partial deliveries, model instructions, model withdrawal form, exceptions, refunding within 14 days, standard delivery, return costs, diminished value, extension of up to a year

This lesson explains the rules as they apply on 9 November 2026. It is not legal or tax advice. If you are unsure about your situation, ask a lawyer, your trade association or your accountant.

Why there is a cooling-off period

Online you cannot hold, try on or test a product. That is why the EU gives consumers who buy at a distance the right to cancel the purchase without giving a reason. This is called the right of withdrawal. Dutch law calls it the "recht van ontbinding" (right of rescission), and in everyday Dutch it is the bedenktijd (cooling-off period). Germany calls it "Widerrufsrecht", Belgium "herroepingsrecht". It is not a favour from your shop: the ACM (Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets) warns that you must not give the impression that it is a special service.

Country	Rule	Where
EU	14-day right of withdrawal for distance sales	Articles 9 to 16 of Directive 2011/83/EU
Netherlands	Rescission within 14 days	Article 6:230o of the Dutch Civil Code (BW) (exceptions 6:230p, refunds 6:230r, returning goods 6:230s)
Belgium	Withdrawal within 14 days	Article VI.47 of the Code of Economic Law (WER) (exceptions VI.53)
Germany	"Widerrufsfrist" of 14 days	§ 312g and § 355 BGB, start in § 356, consequences in § 357

When the 14 days start and end

When you sell products, the period starts on the day after the consumer (or someone they designate, not the carrier) has received the product. A few variants from the law (NL art. 6:230o, DE § 356 Abs. 2):

Several products in one order that are delivered separately: from receipt of the last product.
One product that arrives in several shipments: from the last shipment.
A subscription for regular delivery: from the first delivery.
For services and digital content not on a tangible medium (a download): from the day the contract is concluded.

The consumer may also withdraw before delivery. An example from the ACM: a jumper is delivered on 1 March, so the cooling-off period runs until and including 15 March. If the last day falls on a weekend or a public holiday, the ACM says the next working day applies.

Theehuis Example ships an order with a teapot and a packet of tea. The tea arrives on Monday 2 November, the teapot (back-ordered) on Friday 6 November. The 14 days count from 6 November, for the whole order.

What happens after the withdrawal

The consumer tells you that they are withdrawing: with the model withdrawal form, with the withdrawal button (lesson 5.3), by email or in any other clear way. No reason is needed. They then send the product back within 14 days, unless you offer to collect it (NL 6:230s, DE § 355 Abs. 3).

You refund everything the consumer paid within 14 days of receiving the withdrawal, including the outbound shipping costs (NL 6:230r, DE § 357, BE and EU the same). Three nuances apply:

If the customer chose a more expensive shipping option than your cheapest standard delivery (evening delivery, for example), you only need to refund the cost of standard delivery.
You refund using the same means of payment, unless the customer expressly agrees to something else and it costs them nothing. So you may not give a voucher instead of money without their agreement.
You may hold back the refund until you have the product back, or until the customer shows that they have sent it, whichever comes first.

The return costs (the cost of sending the product back) are for the consumer, but only if you said so in advance. If you say nothing, you pay them.

Diminished value: the customer may examine and try out the product as they would in a shop. If they go further (using a teapot and sending it back with limescale), you may charge for the diminished value. An opened package alone is not a reason: the ACM says the right of withdrawal also applies if the package had to be opened to assess the product.

Exceptions

There is no right of withdrawal for a fixed list of cases (NL 6:230p, DE § 312g Abs. 2, BE VI.53). For web shops, the most important are:

custom-made products: products made to the customer's specifications, such as a teapot with a name on it;
products that deteriorate quickly or expire quickly;
sealed products that cannot be returned for health or hygiene reasons once the seal has been broken;
sealed audio, video or software once the seal has been broken;
newspapers and magazines (not subscriptions);
digital content not on a tangible medium (a download), if delivery started with the customer's express consent, the customer declared that they thereby waive their right of withdrawal, and you confirmed this (lesson 3.3).

Note: loose tea in sealed packaging does not automatically count as "deteriorating quickly". Only use an exception if it really applies, and then state clearly in advance that there is no right of withdrawal (this is part of the information obligation, lesson 5.1).

The model withdrawal form and the model instructions

The directive has two annexes that every country adopts: Annex I part A, the model instructions (a sample text explaining the right of withdrawal), and Annex I part B, the model withdrawal form. In the Netherlands, article 6:230m paragraph 1 sub h of the Dutch Civil Code (BW) refers to that form; in Belgium it is in Annex 2 to Book VI WER; in Germany in Anlage 2 to Art. 246a EGBGB ("Muster-Widerrufsformular"). The ACM has both as a PDF.

You must give the customer the model withdrawal form as part of the pre-contractual information. The customer does not have to use it; an email is fine too. The form is short: to whom (your name, address, email), which products, ordered on or received on, the consumer's name and address, signature (only on paper), date.

What happens if you forget

If you do not give the information about the right of withdrawal, or do not give it correctly, the cooling-off period is extended by twelve months (EU article 10; NL 6:230o paragraph 2 BW). According to ConsuWijzer, this also happens if you forget the model withdrawal form. A customer could then still return a teapot after ten months. If you provide the information later within that year, the normal 14-day period starts from that moment. That makes the model withdrawal form one of the cheapest insurance policies in your shop.

In practice: how it looks in WooCommerce

WooCommerce does not create a withdrawal page. At Theehuis Example:

Create a Right of withdrawal page with the model instructions (adapted to your shop: your name, address, email, who pays the return costs, your return address) and the model withdrawal form, in your customers' language.
Link to it in the footer, on the cart or checkout page and in your terms and conditions.
Also put the information in the confirmation email (WooCommerce > Settings > Emails, email "Processing", additional content), so the customer has it on a durable medium (lesson 5.4).
Decide who reads the withdrawal emails and how you keep track of the 14-day refund period (lesson 6.5).

There are plugins that help you create these pages and emails; assess them as you would any plugin (WordPress course, lesson 5.3). Other shop systems work in a similar way.

Summary

Consumers may withdraw from a distance purchase within 14 days without giving a reason; for products, counted from receipt (with several shipments: the last one).
You refund everything within 14 days of the withdrawal, including the standard outbound shipping costs, using the same means of payment; you may wait until the product is back or has been sent.
Return costs are for the customer if you said so in advance; diminished value only if the customer went further than trying the product out.
Only use exceptions if they really apply, and then state them in advance.
Give the model instructions and the model withdrawal form before the purchase; without them the cooling-off period becomes up to a year longer.

Quiz

Exercise

Exercise A5.2: Your withdrawal information. Enter the address of your shop and the address of the page with your withdrawal information (a separate page or your terms and conditions). The program requests the homepage and reads the links, then requests that page. It checks: does the page return 200 over https on your own address; is there a link to the page from the homepage (orange if not); does the text mention 14 days and does it contain the model withdrawal form (red if either is missing); does the text mention refunding and returning (orange if missing). It recognises Dutch, German, English and French words ("modelformulier", "Muster-Widerrufsformular", "model withdrawal form", "formulaire de rétractation"). If all your products fall under an exception, tick that box and explain why; those two lines then turn orange with a question instead of red.

A question for yourself (not checked): how long does it currently take you, from a withdrawal email until the money is refunded? Who keeps track of those 14 days?

Cookies at WebOké

Cookie settings

Necessary

Marketing