§5.5.2 Return of the goods

Article 14 1. Unless the trader has offered to collect the goods himself, the consumer shall send back the goods or hand them over to the trader or to a person authorised by the trader to receive the goods, without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which he has communicated his decision to withdraw from the contract to the trader in accordance with Article 11. The deadline shall be met if the consumer sends back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. The consumer 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. In the case of off-premises contracts where the goods have been delivered to the consumer’s home at the time of the conclusion of the contract, the trader shall at his own expense collect the goods if, by their nature, those goods cannot normally be returned by post. Article 14(1) requires the consumer to return the goods to the trader by sending them back within 14 days from the day after the consumer notified the trader of withdrawal from the contract. However, as the consumer is responsible for handling the goods and their diminished value during the right of withdrawal period (see also section 5.5.4), it should be in the consumer’s natural interest to return them as soon as possible, rather than wait until the deadline expires. There is an exception for off-premises contracts. If the goods have been delivered to the consumer’s home at the time of the conclusion of the contract, the trader has to collect at his own expense those goods, which ‘cannot normally be returned by post’. This requirement is, accordingly, an exception from the general rule in Article 6(1)(i) requiring traders to inform the consumer about the cost of returning goods which ‘cannot normally be returned by post’ (see section 5.2). The direct cost of returning the goods is paid by the consumer unless the trader has failed to inform the consumer of this requirement under Article 6(1)(i) or has agreed to bear the cost. These two items of information are also included in the Model instructions on withdrawal in Annex I(A), which traders can use to meet their obligation to inform the consumer. The notion of ‘direct cost’ should exclude any administrative, handling or ‘restocking’ cost borne by the trader in connection with the return of the goods. An offer by the trader to ‘collect the goods himself’ should bind the consumer only if the trader has also offered to bear the cost. If that is not the case and the consumer finds a more cost-efficient and still reliable method of return offered by a recognised service provider, the consumer should not be obliged under the Directive to accept the trader’s offer to collect the goods.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07