Buying And Selling Over The Internet Through Website or Web Store

 What requirements must a web store website meet?

Any website on which products or services are sold must make clear when making a real purchase. How long can I click through without getting stuck? If the website above offers no clear roadmap, you can buy any weather undo.

There is also much information that the online retailer is obliged to state on his website:

• the company name
• the address details of the company
• the phone number
• the email address
• a VAT number
• the registration number of the Chamber of Commerce

During the purchase process, the seller must also provide you with the following information:

• the total price, including any surcharges, costs, and taxes
• the delivery time of the product
• the way and time of payment
• if you take out a subscription: the minimum duration

You should be able to store this information on your computer.

 Can I exchange a purchase over the internet?

There is no general right to exchange, even when purchasing over the internet. Nevertheless, as a consumer, you can almost always exchange internet purchases. With purchases over the internet, you have the right to reverse the purchase up to seven days after receipt of the product. You have a cancellation right, as it were.

Because you have the right to cancel the purchase up to seven days after receipt of the product, you will be able to exchange it. You may decide to return the product. The seller will then have to return your money.

Pay attention! There are many products or services for which you have no cancellation options. This concerns:

• booked trips or vacations
• newspapers and magazines
• CDs, DVDs, and software that you have already opened their packaging
• products that have been specially made for you, such as tailor-made clothing
• products that can spoil or age quickly
• a service or subscription that started immediately, such as a new subscription for your mobile phone

In those cases, you can often not exchange.

 Your rights as a consumer when purchasing via the internet.

If you make purchases via the internet, you as a consumer generally have a reflection period of seven days and may cancel the purchase within that period.

Purchasing via the internet is also referred to as remote purchasing in jargon. You do not go to a real store, but you buy through a web store. Purchases by telephone, fax, or via an order form from a magazine or catalog also fall under the concept of distance selling. Special rules apply that are intended to protect you as a consumer.

 1. Preliminary information about the seller and the product

Before you make a purchase, the seller is required to provide you with certain information. This concerns:

• details of the seller himself, such as name, (email) address, telephone number.
• the main features of the product you are about to buy
• the price of the product, including any surcharges and additional costs
• the method of payment
• the (in) possibility to cancel the purchase within a particular time
• the period of validity of the offer or the price
• for periodic delivery of products or services: the minimum duration

 2. Written confirmation

The seller is obliged to give you a written confirmation (or by email) at the latest when the product is delivered to you, stating how you can exercise your right of dissolution (cancellation), how to make a complaint submission, and what about warranty and service.

 3. Right to reflection period (dissolution)

You can cancel the purchase up to seven days after you have received the product. It is also referred to as the right to dissolve or cancel the purchase agreement. In that case, it is best to notify us by registered letter that you wish to exercise this right.

Pay attention! If you have made your purchase from a webshop affiliated with Thuiswinkel.org, your reflection period is not seven but fourteen days.

If the seller has not given you information about your right to cancel, the address to contact with complaints, or the warranty, the period within which you can cancel the purchase will extend up to three months.

Pay attention! There are also products or services for which no cooling-off period applies. In those cases, you cannot only cancel the purchase agreement. This concerns:

• booked trips or vacations
• newspapers and magazines
• CDs, DVDs, and software that you have already opened their packaging
• products that have been specially made for you, such as tailor-made clothing
• products that can spoil or age quickly
• a service or subscription that started immediately, such as a new subscription for your mobile phone

If you exercise your rights to cancel, the seller may not charge you for this. However, the seller may require you to return the product at your own expense. Any delivery charges you have been assigned to deliver the product to your home, the seller will have to refund you.

The seller must have refunded all amounts to you within thirty days of you cancel the purchase agreement.

 4. Delivery of the product within thirty days

In principle, the seller is obliged to deliver the product you have purchased within thirty days at the latest. Furthermore, the seller is obliged to inform you if the product cannot be provided (anymore). The seller must then refund any amounts you may have already paid.

The seller may only supply you with another product of the same quality and value as indicated in advance.

 When is it a question of distance selling?

If you do not buy a product in a real store, via the internet, telephone, fax, order from a magazine or catalog, this is usually referred to as remote buying. Then there are special rules designed to protect you as a consumer.

The most important rule is that you generally have a cooling-off period of seven days to cancel the purchase. So you have a cancellation right, as it were.

 Not every purchase via the internet or telephone is remote purchasing.

In the first place, it must be a consumer purchase. It means that you, as a buyer, buy a product from a company. Someone who offers garden furniture for sale via a website will not easily be regarded as a business. A purchase of a product between two consumers does not, therefore, fall under the rules of distance buying.

There are also many specific cases where there is no question of distance selling:

• buying real estate (think of a home)
• travel and vacations

.What warranty do I have when I buy a product?

If you buy a product as a consumer, you are entitled to the right product. It means that you can expect a product to function correctly for a certain period. So you should be able to use the product generally for some time.

There are two types of warranty: the legal guarantee and the additional warranty (sometimes referred to as a seller's or manufacturer's warranty).

Legal guarantee

By law, you as a consumer have the right to a product of good quality. If the product you bought is not right (in jargon: the product is faulty), you may require the product's seller to repair the product or give you a new product for free.

What you can consider from a product depends on many circumstances:

• What was the price of the product? For example, you can expect more from an expensive refrigerator then from a cheap model.
• What did the seller say about the product? And what, if any, has been reported about the product in an advertisement?
• Is it a brand product? If so, is it an A-brand or a brand of inferior quality?
• Have you bought a new or used product?

An example.

You buy an expensive watch. After a few months, some scratches appear on the leather wristband and the edge of the dial. It does not mean that the wristwatch is defective and that you can rely on the warranty. However, if it turns out that the watch is not running correctly, it is not very accurate. You can expect the seller to repair the wristwatch for you free of charge or get you a new wristwatch.

How long should a product last?

It considers the kind of product you have bought. A refrigerator will generally have to last longer than, for example, headphones for your MP3 player. It is impossible to precisely how long you should be able to use a product without problems.

Nevertheless, as a consumer, you have many starting points:

• If a product breaks during the first six months, the law assumes that the product was already faulty when you bought it. The seller may have to prove that you have misused the product. Does the product break after six months? If necessary, you must be able to prove that this was not your fault.
• According to a European directive, the minimum legal warranty period is two years. It means that you can assume that a product should be appropriately used for a minimum of 2 years with regular use.
• No explicit warranty period is mentioned in Dutch law. You have a legal right to a reliable product. In practice, this means that you are usually entitled to a properly functioning product for more than two years. The exact duration will depend on the different types of products.

What can I demand if I want to make use of the (legal guarantee)?

If there is a faulty product, you can expect the seller to repair the product for you free of charge. If this is not possible, the seller must give you a new product. The seller has to do without it bothering you much and without it taking too long.

An example.

You buy an expensive computer from an A-brand in a computer shop. After ten months, the computer breaks down, and you go back to the store. The retailer says he should return the laptop to the manufacturer abroad. It will take a minimum of 3 months before you hear what is wrong with your computer.

You do not have to accept this. The seller cannot hide behind the manufacturer. He will only have to give you a loan for a computer temporarily or provide you a new one. The seller will then have to solve the problem with the manufacturer himself.

Am I still entitled to something when the warranty period has expired?

Yes, usually. Many people think that they no longer have any rights when the (factory) warranty has expired. That is not true. You are always entitled to a properly functioning product.

However, the seller may sometimes require you to bear part of the repair costs or a new product. It is the case, for example, if you have been able to use the product in a standard way for a long time.

An example.

Your vacuum cleaner will break down after four years. You go back to the store. The vacuum cleaner appears to be beyond repair. The seller offers you a new vacuum cleaner for half the price. The seller must again assume the legal guarantee because the consumer also pays for a compliant product. After all, you have been able to use the vacuum cleaner for four years without any problems.

Factory warranty or seller warranty

If the seller or manufacturer gives you an express warranty, it is a warranty on top of the legal warranty that every consumer is entitled to consider, for example, the manufacturer of a laptop that provides a two-year manufacturer's warranty. If the computer breaks within this period, you do not have to prove that it was not your fault. Without a manufacturer's warranty, this only applies for the first six months.

Additional warranty

Sometimes the seller offers that you can purchase an additional warranty. Always read the conditions carefully. You may then have the same rights that you already have based on the legal guarantee.

An example.

Joris de Jager buys an expensive mobile phone that breaks after a year and a half of regular use. When Joris reports to the seller, he informs him that there is nothing he can do for Joris. According to the seller, Joris should have made use of the offer to purchase an additional warranty. It does not seem right. Joris can count on being able to use his phone generally for many years. The seller must therefore arrange for a free repair or give Joris a new phone.