Right of withdrawal
for
Gold bars.
Right of withdrawal
for
Gold bars.
from
Consumers are entitled to a right of withdrawal when making purchases on the Internet. However, there are exceptions to this law. One such exception is goods whose prices depend on fluctuations on the financial market. The Borken Local Court now had to decide whether this exception applies to the sale of gold bars.
What is it all about?
An entrepreneur offered 51
Gold bar 24 carat 1 grain 999.9 fine gold Gold bar New Aurum Au
at a price of EUR 8.39 plus EUR 1.00 shipping costs. Several bars had already been sold at this price over a period of more than one month. The offer included a withdrawal policy with reference to the exception that there is no right of withdrawal for goods whose prices are subject to fluctuations on the financial market.
A consumer ordered 11 of the bars. The consumer declared withdrawal within the withdrawal period. The seller rejected the withdrawal, referring to what it considered to be the relevant exception, according to which there was no right of withdrawal.
Decision by the court
The Borken District Court(judgment of 26.02.2014 – Ref. 15 C 290/13) has now determined that the consumer is indeed entitled to a right of withdrawal.
In the present case, it is not a transaction whose price depends on the fluctuations on the financial market. The price set by the seller not only far exceeded the gold price, but was also demanded constantly over a longer period of time, regardless of the fluctuations in the gold price. The price therefore did not depend on the gold price, but was set unilaterally by the seller. Accordingly, the consumer had a right of withdrawal.
Conclusion
The right of withdrawal does not apply without exception.
However, it is sometimes difficult to determine whether an exception applies and, if so, which one. Affected retailers should therefore check in advance whether and how a right of withdrawal can be excluded.
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