Swedish Distance Selling Rules Every Webshop Must Follow
By CodexierPublished 6 min read
Selling to consumers online in Sweden means selling under the Distance Contracts Act (distansavtalslagen), supervised by Konsumentverket. The rules are not complicated, but they are strict about timing: certain information must be visible before the order button, certain text must be in the confirmation, and the right of withdrawal runs on days you can miscount. This guide lays out what a compliant shop shows and where shops usually go wrong.
The short answer
Every shop we set up on Shopify or WooCommerce ships with these built in; see our store setup service. What follows is why each item exists.
Information before purchase
The law lists what a consumer must be told before being bound. In a webshop that means on the product page, in the cart or in the checkout, in a place the customer passes before clicking the order button. A link to terms in the footer is not enough for the items that decide the purchase.
| Information | Where it must be visible |
|---|---|
| Main characteristics of the goods | Product page |
| Total price including VAT, or how it is calculated | Product page and checkout |
| Shipping and other fees, or that they may apply | Cart at the latest, before the order button |
| Delivery time and payment options | Checkout |
| Withdrawal right: how, how long, who pays return shipping | Before the order button, linkable to terms |
| Your name, organisation number, address, email, phone | Footer and terms, accessible everywhere |
The order button itself carries a rule: its label must make clear that clicking means paying. Buy, Order and pay, or Complete purchase pass. Continue or Next do not.
The 14-day right of withdrawal
A consumer may cancel a distance purchase within 14 days of receiving the goods, or the last item of a split delivery, without giving a reason. They must tell you within the period; they then have another 14 days to return the goods. You refund the price and the original outbound shipping, using the customer's original payment method, within 14 days of being told, although you may wait until you have the goods or proof of return.
- Return shipping: the customer pays it only if you said so before purchase. Silence means you pay.
- Handling the goods: the customer may examine them as in a shop. If they use them beyond that, you may deduct for the reduction in value, but you cannot refuse the return.
- Withdrawal form: Konsumentverket's standard form must be available; the customer may also withdraw by plain email.
- Failed information duty: if you did not inform about the withdrawal right, the period becomes one year from when it would otherwise have ended.
Exceptions to the right of withdrawal
The exceptions are narrow and must be stated before purchase to apply. The ones that matter for most Swedish shops: goods made to the customer's specification or clearly personalised; perishable goods; sealed goods that cannot be returned for hygiene or health reasons once opened; sealed audio, video or software once unsealed; and digital content delivered immediately, if the customer expressly agreed to start delivery and acknowledged losing the withdrawal right. A printed T-shirt with the customer's text is exempt; a T-shirt in an unusual size is not.
Do not stretch the exceptions. Marking everything as hygiene-sealed or bespoke is a classic finding in Konsumentverket reviews, and a term that misstates the law is invalid against the consumer anyway.
Order confirmation requirements
After the order you must confirm the contract on a durable medium within a reasonable time and at the latest at delivery. Email is the normal choice. The confirmation must contain the information from before purchase, in full, not as a link that may change later, plus the withdrawal form or instructions. In practice: attach your terms as a PDF or paste them into the email, include order lines with prices, VAT, shipping, delivery time and your company details. Shopify and WooCommerce templates need editing to meet this; their defaults show the order and little else.
Common mistakes the Consumer Agency flags
Shipping revealed only in checkout
Fees must be signalled before the customer commits time. Show shipping from the cart, or state a flat rate on the product page.
Prices excluding VAT to consumers
Consumer prices are always inclusive. A B2B shop that also serves private buyers must show incl. VAT to them.
Withdrawal rules stricter than the law
Unopened packaging, original receipt, seven days: none of these are valid conditions.
Refund as store credit
Refunds go to the original payment method unless the customer agrees otherwise. Store credit cannot be the default.
When you do not need help with this: a shop on a hosted platform selling a few standard products can copy Konsumentverket's model terms, edit the confirmation email and be compliant in an afternoon. Where a professional pass pays off is a shop with bespoke goods, digital products, subscriptions or B2B and consumer pricing side by side. Shipping choices interact with these rules, which is why we treat them together in our guide to shipping integrations for Swedish webshops. If you want your checkout and confirmation reviewed against the law, book a call; a fixed-price checkout fix is listed on our pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
Does the right of withdrawal apply to business customers?
No. The Distance Contracts Act protects consumers, meaning private individuals buying mainly for private use. Sales to companies follow the Sale of Goods Act and your own terms. A shop that serves both must know which rules apply to which customer, typically by asking for an organisation number at checkout.
Can I charge a restocking fee on returns?
Not as a fee. You may deduct for a reduction in value caused by the customer handling the goods more than necessary to examine them, and you may require the customer to pay return shipping if you said so before purchase. A flat restocking fee regardless of condition is not allowed.
Do the rules apply if I sell to consumers in other EU countries?
The withdrawal right and pre-contract information come from an EU directive, so they are broadly the same across the EU. Details such as how VAT is shown and which language the information must be in follow the customer's country once you exceed the EU-wide distance selling threshold or target that market.
What happens if a customer withdraws after 14 days?
You are not obliged to accept, provided you informed correctly before purchase and in the confirmation. Many shops accept anyway as goodwill. If your information was missing or wrong, the period had not expired, and the customer's withdrawal is valid.
Want your checkout checked against the law?
Send us your shop address. In fifteen minutes we check the pre-purchase information, the order button, the withdrawal terms and the confirmation email, and list what needs changing.
Book a free 15-minute call