EU right of withdrawal for online stores: the 14-day rules

A customer in the EU who buys from your online store can withdraw within 14 days of receiving the goods, without giving a reason. You refund everything they paid, including standard delivery, within 14 days of being told, and they pay to send the goods back only if you told them so before the sale.

That is Article 9 of the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU), applied in each EU country through national law. Below: the rules support needs, the model form, and five replies. Words in double braces, like {{order_number}}, are blanks: fill each one from the order, never from memory.

Who has the right, and for how long

The right belongs to a "consumer": in the directive's words, a natural person acting "for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession". A business buying for its business has no right of withdrawal under the directive, and Your Europe notes that goods bought from a private individual aren't covered either.

The 14 days run from different days depending on the order (Article 9(2)):

The order	The 14 days start on the day…
One item, or one delivery	the customer, or someone they named other than the carrier, acquires physical possession
Several items, delivered separately	the last item arrives
One item in several lots or pieces	the last lot or piece arrives
Regular deliveries over a set period	the first delivery arrives
A service	the contract is concluded

Your Europe adds that if the period ends on a non-working day, the deadline moves to the next working day.

Two rules make the period longer or easier to meet:

• If you didn't give the withdrawal information required by Article 6(1)(h) before the sale, the period runs 12 months longer (Article 10). If you give the information within those 12 months, the customer has 14 days from receiving it.
• The customer only has to send their withdrawal before the period ends (Article 11(2)). It counts as on time even if it reaches you later.

How a customer withdraws

The customer must tell you, before the period ends, that they are withdrawing. Article 11(1) gives two ways: the model withdrawal form, or "any other unequivocal statement setting out his decision to withdraw from the contract". An email saying "I want to return this and get my money back" is enough; they don't have to use your form or your returns portal.

Since 19 June 2026, if you sell through a website or app, Member States must also require a withdrawal function on it, labelled "withdraw from contract here". What it must do is in the EU withdrawal button.

Article 11(4) puts the burden of proof on the customer: if there's a dispute, they have to show they withdrew.

The model withdrawal form

Annex I(B) of the directive sets out the form you must give customers before the sale (Article 6(1)(h)). With your details filled in, it reads:

To {{store_legal_name}}, {{store_geographical_address}}, {{store_email}}:

I/We hereby give notice that I/We withdraw from my/our contract of sale of the following goods/for the provision of the following service,

Ordered on/received on,

Name of consumer(s),

Address of consumer(s),

Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper),

Date

The directive marks "I/We", "my/our", "goods/service" and "ordered on/received on" as "Delete as appropriate". Annex I(A) holds model withdrawal instructions for your returns policy; under Article 6(4), supplying them "correctly filled in" meets the information duties in Article 6(1)(h), (i) and (j).

The exceptions

Article 16 lists the contracts with no right of withdrawal. The ones an online store meets most:

• goods "made to the consumer's specifications or clearly personalised"
• goods "which are liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly"
• "sealed goods which are not suitable for return due to health protection or hygiene reasons and were unsealed after delivery"
• goods which are, after delivery, "inseparably mixed with other items"
• "sealed audio or sealed video recordings or sealed computer software which were unsealed after delivery"
• a newspaper, periodical or magazine, except subscriptions
• digital content not on a tangible medium, once performance has begun with the customer's prior express consent and acknowledgement that they lose the right, and you have confirmed it

Article 6(1)(k) requires you to tell the customer before the sale when there is no right of withdrawal, or when they lose it. A standard size or colour the customer didn't like is not an exception.

Return costs and handling

The customer "shall only bear the direct cost of returning the goods unless the trader has agreed to bear them or the trader failed to inform the consumer that the consumer has to bear them" (Article 14(1)). So the line in your policy decides who pays for the return label.

They must send the goods back within 14 days of telling you they are withdrawing, unless you offered to collect them.

They may handle the goods as far as needed "to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods". Beyond that, they are liable for any loss in value, but not at all if you failed to give the withdrawal notice under Article 6(1)(h) (Article 14(2)). This is a claim for lost value, not a reason to refuse the withdrawal.

Article 9(1) says the customer withdraws without incurring costs other than those in Articles 13(2) and 14. A restocking fee is not one of them.

Faulty goods are a different matter: Your Europe says the cost of returning a defective product is the trader's. For those emails, see the damaged and wrong item templates.

The refund

Article 13 sets the refund:

• What: "all payments received from the consumer, including, if applicable, the costs of delivery". If the customer chose a delivery option dearer than your cheapest standard delivery, you don't refund the difference.
• When: "without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which he is informed of the consumer's decision to withdraw".
• How: by the same means of payment the customer used, unless they expressly agreed otherwise, and without fees to them.
• Waiting for the goods: unless you offered to collect them, you may hold the refund until you have the goods back or the customer has supplied evidence of having sent them, "whichever is the earliest".

Templates for withdrawal emails

The customer…	Reply
withdraws by email, goods delivered	Template 1
has sent the goods back	Template 2
wants to return a personalised or unsealed hygiene item	Template 3
returned goods that were used beyond trying out	Template 4
asks why the express delivery wasn't refunded	Template 5

Template 1: withdrawal received, here's how to return

Hi {{first_name}},

Thanks for letting us know. We've received your withdrawal from order {{order_number}} on {{withdrawal_received_date}}.

Please send the items back to {{return_address}} by {{return_deadline}}. {{return_cost_sentence}}

We'll refund {{refund_amount}}, including delivery, to your {{payment_method}} as soon as the items reach us or you send us proof of postage, and by {{refund_deadline}} at the latest.

{{your_name}}

{{return_cost_sentence}} must say what your policy told the customer before they bought: that you pay for the return, or that they bear the direct cost. {{return_deadline}} is 14 days after the day they told you.

Template 2: refund sent

Hi {{first_name}},

Your return for order {{order_number}} has arrived, and we've refunded {{refund_amount}} to the {{payment_method}} you paid with. Depending on your bank, it can take {{bank_processing_days}} to show.

{{your_name}}

Template 3: the item has no right of withdrawal

Before sending, check that the item really falls under Article 16, and that your product page or policy said so before the sale.

Hi {{first_name}},

Thanks for your message about order {{order_number}}. {{item_name}} was {{exception_reason}}, so it can't be returned under the 14-day right of withdrawal; our {{policy_page_name}} says this at {{policy_link}}.

If something is wrong with it, that's different: reply with a photo and I'll sort it out.

{{your_name}}

Template 4: the item came back used

Hi {{first_name}},

Your return for order {{order_number}} has arrived. {{what_we_found}}, which goes beyond what's needed to try it out, so its value has dropped by {{value_reduction}}.

We've refunded {{refund_amount}}: the {{amount_paid}} you paid, less that amount. If you think we've got this wrong, reply and tell me.

{{your_name}}

Only send this if the handling clearly went beyond trying the item and your pre-sale information included the withdrawal notice. The directive makes the customer liable for the loss but doesn't say how you recover it, so check your national law before deducting it from the refund.

Template 5: the express delivery charge

Hi {{first_name}},

We've refunded {{refund_amount}} for order {{order_number}}. That includes {{standard_delivery_cost}}, the cost of our standard delivery. You chose {{delivery_option}}, which cost {{extra_delivery_cost}} more, and that extra part isn't refunded on a withdrawal.

{{your_name}}

For other refund replies, see the refund request templates. UK customers have their own rules: UK refund rules for online orders.

Setting the return window in Shopify

Shopify's Help Center advises, for EU customers, a return window "of at least 14 days" with Starting from set to Delivery of last item in order. Go to Settings > Policies, open the rule in Return and cancellation rules, and set the window; if other markets get a different window, add a market-specific rule for the EU. Mark products as Final sale only if they fall under an Article 16 exception.

Answering withdrawals with Corresso

Corresso drafts a reply to every withdrawal email from the documents your store approved, such as your returns policy with its withdrawal instructions, and each fact in the draft cites the document it came from. The order number, dates and refund amounts stay blank; with Shopify connected (read-only), the order sits beside the email and one click fills the order details into the draft.

A rule written in code holds any draft that promises a refund without citing a document allowed to offer one, and it checks the text again after a person edits it. A person always reads the draft and presses Send. Refunds stay in your Shopify admin. How a reply goes from arrival to Send.

This is a summary, not legal advice. Sources read on 20 October 2026.