ROUTE
Withdrawal: fourteen days and what follows
The right covers online and doorstep orders, not shop purchases. The clock runs from receipt β and without instructions, for over a year.
β Checked: 02/08/2026
Almost everyone knows the right to withdraw from a purchase within fourteen days; almost nobody knows its limits. The law ties the right not to the purchase as such but to how the contract was concluded: it exists for orders online, by telephone and by catalogue, and for deals struck at the door or in the street. In a shop, returns are goodwill and the retailer sets the terms.
COSTS AND DEADLINES
Deadlines you cannot miss
- The withdrawal period is 14 days and, for goods, begins on receiptFourteen days: when they start and what applies without instructionshard deadline
- What each side received must be returned within 14 days at the latestUnwinding the deal: who returns what, and by whenhard deadline
Amounts follow official fees as of each stepβs verification date. Your city may charge a different rate β check the step itself.
βΊ More about this route
After that, two things decide everything: the date and the wording. For goods, the fourteen days run not from the order but from receipt, and where the trader never gave proper instructions the period does not start at all β the right then lives for up to twelve months and fourteen days. Sending the statement in time is enough to meet the deadline, and the law demands no reason.
This five-step route covers the whole path: when the right exists and which goods are excluded, when the clock starts and what applies without instructions, how to declare withdrawal so it works, who returns money and postage and by when, and what applies to continuing contracts, for which the law requires a cancellation facility on the website.
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
All possible documents for this route
- Order confirmation
- The trader withdrawal instructions
- Proof of delivery
- Text of the withdrawal instructions
- Withdrawal statement
- Proof of sending
- Return postage receipt
- Proof of payment for the order
- Cancellation confirmation
- Screenshot of the cancellation page
WHERE PEOPLE MOST OFTEN LOSE MONEY AND TIME
- Counting the fourteen days from the order date. For goods the period runs from receipt, and for split deliveries from the last part.
- Telling support the item did not suit you and treating that as withdrawal. The decision must follow unambiguously from the statement.
- Sending the parcel back without any statement. Proving you withdrew in time then becomes considerably harder.
- Accepting a refund as a voucher. As a rule the refund uses the same means of payment you used.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ROUTE
Where do I start once a purchase is no longer wanted?βΎ
With two checks: how the contract was concluded and when the goods arrived. Those two facts determine whether a right exists and how much of it is left.
How long does the whole process take?βΎ
The statement takes a day; the unwinding takes up to fourteen days on each side. In practice the money is back two to three weeks after the goods are sent.
Is it different when buying from a private seller?βΎ
Yes, fundamentally. The right of withdrawal applies to contracts between a consumer and a trader. A purchase from a private individual on a classifieds platform falls outside it.
What if the trader is based abroad?βΎ
Within the European Union the withdrawal rules are harmonised, so the mechanism stays the same. The difficulty is enforcement rather than the right, which makes proof of the statement and the return doubly important.