ContractProof · Shopify
Distance selling to EU/UK consumers means a 14-day right of withdrawal, mandatory pre-contractual information, the model withdrawal form, and order confirmation on a durable medium. Miss the withdrawal disclosure and the cooling-off period stretches to 12 months. Check yours in 60 seconds.
Shopify gives you the storefront and checkout, but legal compliance is on you, the merchant — Shopify's own terms make that explicit. The platform ships some tools (a cookie-banner and customer-privacy API, a hosted PCI-compliant checkout), but switching them on and configuring them correctly is your job, not Shopify's.
📦 On Shopify: Selling into the EU from a Shopify store triggers EU rules no matter where you're based — the test is your customer's location, not yours.
This rule applies to Shopify sellers who sell goods or services online to consumers in the EU or UK. Sell online to EU consumers? You owe a 14-day right of withdrawal, pre-contract info, the model withdrawal form, and order confirmation on a durable medium. Not sure? The free checker tells you in about a minute — no signup.
Whatever the platform handles, you still need to be able to answer "yes" to each of these — these are the points Shopify sellers most often get caught on:
⚠️ Exposure: 12-month extended withdrawal period for missing disclosures + fines up to 4% of annual turnover (Omnibus Dir. 2019/2161) · Status: In force. On Shopify, that's on top of any account suspension for breaking platform policy.
Compare the penalty for every rule →
Shopify gives you the storefront, but eU consumer rights (distance selling) compliance is the seller's responsibility — the platform doesn't do it for you. The free checker shows exactly where you stand in about a minute.
Under the EU Consumer Rights Directive, consumers buying online (at a distance) can withdraw from the contract within 14 days without giving any reason. For goods, the period runs from the day they receive them; for services, from when the contract is concluded.
If you fail to inform the consumer of the right of withdrawal before they're bound, the withdrawal period is extended by up to 12 months on top of the original 14 days (Art. 10). Disclose it up front.
The main characteristics, the total price including all taxes and delivery, your identity and geographical address, delivery/performance arrangements, the right of withdrawal plus the model form, and how to complain — clearly, before the order is placed.
RuleGoose checks this against the EU Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU (as amended by Dir. (EU) 2019/2161). Read it yourself: EUR-Lex — Directive 2011/83/EU →
or get one RuleGoose Score across every rule your Shopify store has to meet.
EU consumer rights (distance selling) is one of several rules a Shopify store has to meet. See the full Shopify compliance checklist →, or read the platform-neutral EU consumer rights (distance selling) guide.
Informational only, not legal advice, and not affiliated with the EU or Shopify. Last reviewed 2026-06-30.