When you sell products or services online, it’s very important to clearly and properly inform your customers about their right to cancel or withdraw from a purchase. This is called the right of withdrawal or cancellation policy. Including this information helps you follow consumer protection laws and increase customers confidence.
In this guide, we’ll show you why it’s necessary to make this info easy to find and walk you through the simple steps to create a direct link that takes customers straight to the withdrawal section in your Terms & Conditions Document. That way, your customers can easily see their rights before completing a purchase.
Many countries have laws requiring sellers to inform customers about their right to cancel orders and get refunds. Simply hiding this info inside long T&Cs is not enough. For example, a German court ruled in 2015 that the key requirement is that consumers must be clearly informed about their right of withdrawal in a manner appropriate to the means of communication used, such as an explicit and well-labeled link during the ordering process. It’s not enough to just say “see our T&Cs” — customers need an obvious, easy-to-find link.
According to the German court, this requirement is based on Article 246a, Section 4, Paragraph 1 of the EGBGB, a German legal provision that says:
“The business operator must provide the consumer with the information required under Sections 1 to 3 clearly and understandably before the consumer submits their contractual declaration.”
This means that customers should not have to search through long documents or guess where the withdrawal policy is. The right of withdrawal exists to inform customers that they even have this right. So, the information must stand out clearly during the buying process.
In other words, although incorporating a cancellation policy into the T&Cs is allowed, you must also present information about the right of withdrawal in a clear and easy-to-understand way before the customer completes their order. This can be implemented, for example, with a direct link to the relevant section within the T&Cs.
You can easily add a link to your withdrawal or cancellation policy section inside your Terms and Conditions document. Here’s how:
Before creating your withdrawal policy link, select the relevant clauses under “User rights — required by law or offered voluntarily by you” in the iubenda Terms and Conditions Generator. This ensures your Terms & Conditions document include the correct withdrawal information for the link to point to.
Get the URL where your full T&Cs are published. It usually looks like this:
At the end of your T&Cs URL, add #user-rights so the link points directly to the withdrawal section. Your link should look like this:
https://www.iubenda.com/terms-and-conditions/123456#user-rightsDecide what you want the clickable text to say. It can be “Returns and refunds,” “Withdrawal Policy,” or anything clear for your customers.
Use this format to create the clickable link on your website or checkout page:
<a href="https://www.iubenda.com/terms-and-conditions/123456#user-rights">Withdrawal Policy</a>Replace the URL and link text with your own details.
Add this link somewhere easy to find, such as on your checkout page or near the order confirmation button. This makes sure customers see it before completing their purchase.
If your site uses the old version of iubenda’s T&C design the section tag changes depending on the language:
| Language | Section Tag |
|---|---|
| English | #user-rights |
| Czech | #prava-uzivatele |
| Danish | #brugerrettigheder |
| Dutch | #rechten-van-de-gebruiker |
| French | #droits-d-utilisateur |
| German | #nutzerrechte |
| Italian | #diritti-dell-utente |
| Polish | #prawa-uzytkownika |
| Portuguese | #direitos-do-utilizador |
| Portuguese (BR) | #direitos-do-usuario |
| Spanish | #derechos-de-los-usuarios |
| Swedish | #anvandarens-rattigheter |
For example, an Italian “Returns and Refunds” link would be:
<a href="https://www.iubenda.com/termini-e-condizioni/123456#diritti-dell-utente">Resi e rimborsi</a>
Making sure your withdrawal policy is easy to find isn’t just a good idea — it’s often required. The rules say you must show this information clearly and in a way that customers can understand before they finish their purchase. When you add a direct link to the withdrawal section and put it somewhere customers can easily see, like on your checkout page, you make things easier and clearer for everyone.