Pre-Contractual Information: An EU Checklist

The most expensive compliance gaps happen before the sale, not after. EU distance-selling rules require you to give consumers a defined set of information *before* they are bound by the contract. Skip the wrong item and the consequences are concrete: the right-of-withdrawal window can extend from 14 days to as long as 12 months and 14 days if you fail to inform the customer about that right properly.

That single extension is why the pre-contractual checklist is worth getting right. Here is what you need to disclose, and where.

Identity and contact

Customers must be able to find out who they are buying from and how to reach you:

• Your trading name and the identity of the business
• Your geographical address
• A phone number, email, or other means of contact that allows quick, effective communication
• Where relevant, the address of the trader on whose behalf you act

Burying this in a hard-to-find footer is a common failing. It should be genuinely accessible.

The product and the price

• The main characteristics of the goods or service, to the extent appropriate to the medium
• The total price including taxes, or the manner in which the price is calculated if it cannot be reasonably worked out in advance
• All additional freight, delivery, or postal charges, or a statement that these may be payable
• For open-ended or subscription contracts, the total cost per billing period and, where charges are fixed, the total monthly cost

The rule on additional charges has teeth: if you do not disclose extra fees before purchase, the consumer does not have to bear them.

Delivery and performance

• The arrangements for payment, delivery, and performance
• The time by which you undertake to deliver the goods
• Your complaint-handling policy, where applicable

The right of withdrawal, disclosed correctly

This is the highest-stakes item on the list, because getting it wrong extends your liability window dramatically. You must provide:

• The conditions, time limit, and procedures for exercising the right of withdrawal
• The model withdrawal form, so customers have a ready template
• A clear statement that the customer bears the cost of returning goods, if that is the case, and, for items that cannot normally be returned by post, the cost of return
• Notice that, on exercising the right after requesting early performance of a service, the customer may have to pay reasonable costs for what was already provided
• Where the right of withdrawal does not apply, or the circumstances under which the consumer loses it, that information

Every one of those sub-points is easy to omit. The return-cost disclosure in particular is the one that later determines whether you or the customer pays return postage.

Guarantees and support

• A reminder of the legal guarantee of conformity for goods
• Where applicable, the existence and conditions of after-sales service and commercial guarantees
• Any relevant codes of conduct you subscribe to

Digital content and technical detail

If you sell digital products, add:

• The functionality, including applicable technical protection measures
• Any relevant interoperability with hardware and software that you are aware of

Contract duration and termination

• The duration of the contract, or, if open-ended or auto-renewing, the conditions for terminating it
• Where applicable, the minimum duration of the consumer's obligations
• Any deposits or financial guarantees the consumer must pay

Dispute resolution

• The possibility of recourse to an out-of-court complaint and redress mechanism, and how to access it, where applicable

Why the withdrawal notice deserves special attention

Read the checklist again and notice how much of it clusters around the right of withdrawal: the conditions, the time limit, the procedure, the model form, who pays return costs, and the exceptions. That density is not accidental. The withdrawal disclosure is the section regulators and consumers scrutinize most, and the one with the sharpest penalty for getting it wrong.

Presenting it correctly and consistently across every product page and checkout is genuinely fiddly to do by hand. Blockly — Right of Withdrawal surfaces a persistent withdrawal button and the associated information to shoppers, sends automated legal confirmation emails after a request, and keeps a dashboard and PDF audit reports so you can demonstrate that the right was communicated and honored. That turns the highest-risk item on this checklist into something you configure once rather than police manually.

How to actually deliver this information

Disclosure is not just about content, it is about form. The information must be:

• Given before the consumer is bound by the contract
• Provided in a clear and comprehensible manner
• Legible if in writing, not hidden in dense terms nobody reads
• Confirmed on a durable medium after the contract is concluded, so the customer can store and reproduce it

The pre-purchase page and the post-purchase confirmation email are your two main surfaces. Both need to carry the required elements.

A quick self-audit

Walk your own store as a customer and tick these off:

• Can I find who I am buying from and how to contact them?
• Do I see the full price with taxes and all delivery charges before paying?
• Is the delivery timeframe stated?
• Are the withdrawal conditions, deadline, procedure, and model form present?
• Is it clear who pays return shipping?
• Are the withdrawal exceptions listed?
• Do I get all of this again in a confirmation I can save?

If any answer is no, that is a gap worth closing this week. The pre-contractual stage is cheap to fix and expensive to ignore.

*This article is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the exact requirements for your market with a qualified professional.*

Getting the withdrawal disclosure consistent and confirmed on a durable medium is exactly the part worth automating rather than hand-editing across dozens of pages.