The new Fair Consumer Contracts Act regulating the termination of subscriptions has been effective since 01.03.2022 and 01.07.2022. The aim of the Act is to protect private buyers from excessively long contract terms and notice periods. The new changes in the law specifically concern:

• The shortening of the notice period for subscription contracts
• The termination of subscriptions with a minimum term
• A termination button for purchase contracts

Attention
These changes in the law only apply to private customers, i.e., customers who buy your product privately and not for business purposes.

What you should know

1. Digistore24 will automatically implement the changes in the law

   You don’t need to do anything. Digistore24 will automatically implement all necessary changes at the above-mentioned times.

2. The laws only apply to the reseller Digistore24 GmbH

   If you only sell through the resellers Digistore24 Inc. and Digistore24 Ltd., the buyers of your products will not be affected.

3. Distinction between private and business customers

   Since the change in the law only affects private customers, the following distinction applies: customers who indicate they are a company when making a purchase or select the field “Company” in the “I am ordering as a company/private customer” section are considered business customers. In all other cases, customers are considered private customers.

Legal requirements

Termination button on order confirmation page becomes mandatory

From 01.07.2022, the following regulation will apply to your online purchase contracts:

• For sales via the reseller Digistore24 GmbH, an easily accessible termination button for all purchase contracts must be available for private customers.
• This change applies to new and existing online contracts.
• If the business does not meet these requirements, a customer may terminate a contract at any time without notice.

Note
 

Implementation at Digistore24 GmbH - From 01.07.2022 onwards, a termination button will automatically appear on all Digistore24 order confirmation pages.

Info
Implementation at Digistore24 Inc. and Ltd - If you only sell through the resellers Digistore24 Inc. (USA) or Digistore24 Ltd. (UK), a termination button is not mandatory. If you still want to provide one for private customers, see here.

Shortening of notice period for all subscriptions

From 01.03.2022, the notice period for all subscription types will be 1 month instead of 3 months.

Your advantage: The current cancellation period at Digistore24 for subscriptions already complies with this legal requirement. So, nothing will change for you, and you don’t need to do anything.

Monthly cancellation for subscriptions with a minimum term and automatic renewal

From 01.03.2022, the following regulations will apply to subscriptions with a minimum term and automatic renewal:

• After the minimum term has expired, the buyer may terminate their contract on a monthly basis.
• This means that a tacit contract extension will only be permitted in the future if it is for an indefinite period and termination is possible at any time with one month's notice.
• This regulation only applies to contracts concluded on or after 01.03.2022. It does not apply to contracts already in force.

Note
Implementation at Digistore24 - The settings for the notice period will be automatically adjusted from the above-mentioned time. You don’t need to do anything here.  

Further information

Display of notice period on the order form

To ensure transparency, we display the respective notice periods on the order form. In doing so, we display those of both the private and the business customer. The goal is for the customer to know the contract terms before making a purchase and to be able to view them directly. If you do not want to distinguish between private and business customers, see the next section.

1. The notice period is displayed on the order form when:
   • You sell via the reseller Digistore24 GmbH
   • Your product can be purchased by both private and business customers
   • You have set different cancellation policies for these customer groups  
2. The notice period is not displayed on the order form when:
   • You only sell through the resellers Digistore24 Inc. or Digistore24 Ltd.
   • Your products:
     1. Are sold to both private and business customers, and you have set a cancellation policy that can apply to private customers (maximum term of 24 months or less, then cancellable monthly).
     2. Or you have selected the setting in the order form that only business customers can purchase:

Display on the order form: How to remove the distinction between private and business customers

If you remove the distinction between private and business customers, a text will appear in the order form below the purchase price that applies to both customer groups.

How to remove the distinction between private and business customers:

Option 1: Offer your product only to business customers

1. Open in the vendor view Product setup > Product configuration.
2. Click on the pencil icon next to your desired product.
3. Switch to the Order form tab.
4. Scroll down to the field Ask for company.
5. Select the option Yes, company name is required.
6. Click on Save.

Option 2: Adjust the subscription cancellation policy in the payment plan

Set your subscription cancellation policy in the payment plan so that it applies to both private and business customers (maximum term of 24 months without a notice period).

1. Open in the vendor view Product setup > Product configuration.
2. Click on the pencil icon next to your desired product.
3. Switch to the Payment plans tab.
4. Select the option Subscription in the Number of payments field.
5. Select a term of a maximum of 24 months without renewal ("none thereafter") in the Minimum term field.
6. Click on Save.

Please pay attention to the note on legal advice.