Withdrawal

The right of withdrawal itself is not new: consumers have long been able to withdraw from online purchases within 14 days without giving reasons (sec. 355 of the German Civil Code). The withdrawal notice has been mandatory since 2014.

What is new is the button. Directive (EU) 2023/2673 adds an electronic withdrawal function for online shops to the Consumer Rights Directive (art. 11a) and sets 19 June 2026 as the EU-wide application date. The idea: withdrawing should be as easy as buying.

The obligation becomes binding through each country's national implementation law. In Germany that has happened: the new sec. 356a of the German Civil Code enters into force on 19 June 2026. In other EU countries, implementation had progressed to different degrees at last check; if your institution sells outside Germany, clarify the status for your country with your legal counsel.

The division of labour: go~mus provides the technology, the legal text (your withdrawal notice) comes from you. This page explains the framework and the feature; it is not legal advice. What applies bindingly to your institution is something to clarify with your lawyer or data protection officer.

Whether your shop needs the button depends on your product range. Leisure services with a fixed date are exempt from the right of withdrawal by law (sec. 312g (2) no. 9 of the German Civil Code); this is tied to the product type and is not a switch you can flip.

Usually no right of withdrawal: day tickets with a fixed date, time-slot tickets, guided tours with a date.

Usually with a right of withdrawal: annual passes, flex tickets without a fixed date, value vouchers, voucher tickets, physical merchandise.

The mixed-range rule matters: as soon as your shop carries a single product with a right of withdrawal, the button must be there for the entire shop, even if almost everything else is dated tickets. Common triggers are value vouchers and annual passes. The final assessment of your product range is one for your legal counsel; we are happy to help with the groundwork.

In the online shop delivered by go~mus, the withdrawal button is included automatically; there is nothing for you to build. The feature meets the legal requirements: a visible, clearly labelled button instead of a hidden link, a deliberately two-step flow (fill in the form, then confirm the withdrawal), and all of it without login or account, just like the purchase itself.

The fields are deliberately lean: only first name, last name, email and order number are required. No reason needs to be given. An optional note field takes anything extra, for example when only part of an order is to be withdrawn.

After submitting, the customer immediately and automatically receives a confirmation of receipt by email, with order number and timestamp. Nothing for you to do there either.

Incoming withdrawals appear in the back office under orders, with receipt date, name, email, linked order, note and status. You filter by period, name, order number and status, and export to Excel, for example for accounting and record-keeping. The oldest case sits on top, because that one has the ticking deadline. Access is a dedicated permission in the rights management and can be granted specifically, for example to accounting.

On the order itself, a clear indicator shows that a withdrawal exists. For each withdrawal you track the state: received, then completed or rejected. Every change is logged.

The system takes care of what must happen automatically: confirmation of receipt, a complete log on the order, order-number validation and spam protection. The substantive decision stays with you: not every incoming withdrawal is justified (for example with dated tickets), and you trigger refunds or cancellations deliberately, never automatically. Edge cases like a partially used annual pass need a human.

A tip from practice: you can customise the email template of the confirmation of receipt in the back office. Add a BCC mailbox there, for example widerruf@your-museum.org, and your team sees immediately when a withdrawal comes in, without checking the back office.

Some institutions run their own shop against the go~mus API instead of the built-in one. The obligation applies there too, and we deliver there too: an open, documented interface lets the external shop send the withdrawal data to go~mus with a single call. Everything else, from the confirmation email to back-office management, happens automatically just like with the built-in shop. If you use our web components, you get the finished form as a ready-made element.

Your agency or our team handles the integration in little time. The technical details, fields, error codes and how it differs from cancellation are covered in the developer documentation on the withdrawal button.

Honestly: three things no software can take off your plate.

1. Update your withdrawal notice. Including a reference to the new withdrawal function. It must appear in the checkout before the purchase (together with the model withdrawal form) and be repeated in the order confirmation email. Burying it in the terms and conditions is not enough.

2. Extend your privacy policy. A paragraph on which data is processed for a withdrawal: name, email, order number, optional note.

3. Take one look at your product range. Do you need the button? Shops selling only dated tickets usually do not; as soon as annual passes, vouchers or merchandise are involved, yes. We help with the assessment.

Best align the legal texts with your lawyer or data protection officer. We provide the technology and the groundwork; binding legal advice is something we may not give.

Is it enough to put the withdrawal notice in the terms and conditions?

No. The notice must be visible in the checkout before the purchase and repeated in the order confirmation email.

Does the withdrawal button also apply to our go~mus contract?

No. The right of withdrawal only applies to consumers (B2C). The contract between your institution and go~mus is B2B.

Does the obligation also apply outside Germany?

The EU directive sets 19 June 2026 as the application date for all member states. However, the button only becomes binding through each country's national implementation law, and the status differs: Germany has enacted its implementation (sec. 356a of the German Civil Code), while in several other EU countries it was not yet complete at last check. Clarify the binding status for your country with local legal counsel.

Do we have to accept every incoming withdrawal?

No. Not every withdrawal is justified; for dated tickets the right of withdrawal usually does not apply. You review each case and set the status to completed or rejected; go~mus logs the process.