German legal texts
Impressum, withdrawal notice, terms and the order button, German style.
Germany enforces consumer law through private warning letters, so the legal texts are checked by competitors rather than authorities. The platforms generate English-language policy pages; German texts need either a legal-text service such as eRecht24, IT-Recht Kanzlei or Händlerbund, or a plugin that carries them.
- Legal basis
- Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz §5 (Impressum) · BGB §312g and EGBGB Art. 246a (withdrawal) · BGB §312j (order button) · BGB §305 ff. (terms)
- Who it binds
- Any shop selling to consumers in Germany, whatever its own location. Impressum with legal identity and contact, a correct withdrawal notice with the model form, terms in German, and an order button that says exactly 'zahlungspflichtig bestellen' or an equivalent.
- Who is exempt
- None. Sellers outside Germany are still targetable through Abmahnung once they sell into the market.
- Penalty
- Abmahnung by competitors or associations: typically €500 to €1,500 in costs per letter plus a cease-and-desist undertaking with a contractual penalty for repeat offences.
Does the platform cover it?
| Platform | Native coverage | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify | Partial | Shopify generates English policy templates and lets you edit them; the order button label is theme-controlled. German texts come from a legal-text service and are pasted in. |
| WooCommerce | App needed | Germanized for WooCommerce carries the German button, notices and text placeholders; texts themselves still come from a legal-text service. |
| Wix | Partial | Policy pages are free text; the checkout button label can be changed in settings. Texts come from a legal-text service. |
Apps on Shopify
Apps on WooCommerce
| App | Price | Rating | Adoption | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germanized for WooCommerce | Free; Pro from €85/year | 4.8 | 70,000 |
Apps on Wix
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