Consumer rights
Fourteen-day cooling-off period
As a rule, you have a cooling-off period of 14-days when shopping online in Denmark.
In Denmark you have special rights when you as a consumer buy from a trader. You are a consumer if you are acting mainly for purposes which are outside your area of business. A trader is a party who is acting for purposes relating to his business.
When you as a consumer shop online in Denmark, you have as a rule a cooling-off period of 14-days. This applies both when you purchase products and when you purchase services such as, for example, fitness or mobile subscriptions.
There are a number of cases where you do not have a statutory 14-day cooling-off period. This applies, for example, to:
- Products which are specially made for your (‘made-to-order purchases’)
- Tickets for, for example, concerts, theatre, flights and hotel bookings
- Purchases for less than DKK 350 if you purchase the product away from the place where the seller normally has his business. That can be, for example, a home party or such likes. However, it is a prerequisite that you receive the product with the same
- Delivery of food, drink or other items of general household consumption
- Certain sealed goods if the seal is broken - such as sound and image recordings, computer software and goods which are sealed for hygiene reasons
When you shop in a Danish webshop, the webshop may not deduct money from your account until the product has been dispatched.
If a product has been made customised for you, the webshop may, however, require that you pay all or part of the amount in advance.
The 14-day cooling-off period does not start until you have received the product.
You have received the product when, for example, it has been placed in your letterbox, when, by agreement with you, it has been placed in a shed or such likes, or when it has been delivered to your work place. If the product has been placed in a parcel locker or a shop where you are to collect it, the cooling-off period does not start until you have collected the product in the parcel locker/shop.
If you want to cancel your purchase, you have 14 days to notify the webshop of that fact. You must send a clear and plain message to the webshop stating that you want to make use of your cancellation right.
In many cases, the webshop will have an online function or standard form which you can use. If the webshop does not have this, you can send an email or a letter. Save the email or obtain a receipt to show that you have sent the letter.
Once you have notified the webshop that you want to cancel your purchase, you have a further 14 days to return the product to the webshop. When you cancel an online purchase, you are liable if the product goes missing or breaks during transportation back to the webshop. It is therefore a good idea to follow the webshop's instructions when returning the product.
The webshop has 14 days to pay the money back to you from the time you notified it that you are cancelling the purchase. You should have all your money back – including the original delivery costs. However, you yourself must pay for the transportation of the product back to the webshop, unless you have agreed otherwise with the webshop.
When you shop in a Danish webshop, you may readily examine the product in the same way as you would when making a purchase in a physical store.
If the product is used, you still have the right to cancel your purchase, but you as a consumer have to pay the difference if the product depreciates in value. The depreciation in value is assessed by the seller.
In Denmark you do not have an automatic right to cancel your purchase when you shop in a physical store.
It is up to physical stores themselves whether to give you the option of returning or exchanging the product. Before you shop, it may therefore be a good idea to check whether the store offers a right of return or exchange.
If problems arise with your purchase and you and the seller are unable to agree on a solution to the problem, you can contact the Centre for Complaint Resolution and the Consumer Complaints Board. The Centre for Complaint Resolution and the Consumer Complaints Board handle complaints in a large number of areas where there is no approved appeal board.
If you have purchased a product or a service from a company in another EU country, and problems arise with your purchase, you can contact the European Consumer Centre Denmark for advice and guidance on your rights or for assistance with a particular complaint case. The European Consumer Centre Denmark is part of a European network (European Consumer Centres Network, ECC-Net) with offices in each EU country and in Norway, Iceland and the UK.
European Consumer Centre Denmark
You can also make a complaint about online purchases from companies in other EU countries via the European online complaints portal (ODR platform). On the complaints portal you can make a complaint and find information on your complaint options in one of the 24 official languages of the EU. If you are uncertain how to use the ODR platform, you can contact the European Consumer Centre Denmark.