Warning letter protection: How to protect your store from warning letters

They are commonplace in online trading and are a real nuisance for many Internet traders: Warnings. Whether a carelessness in the legal notice, incorrect GTC or an incomplete privacy policy - even small errors in the legal texts of an online store can have far-reaching consequences. Warning letter protection helps to avoid legal disputes. How exactly store operators can protect themselves, what needs to be considered when creating legal texts and what consequences a Warning can have, is explained in this article.

Warning letters in e-commerce: What is a warning letter and what purpose does it serve?

A so-called warning letter is a written request to refrain from anti-competitive behavior. A warning letter contains:

• the accusation of a violation of the law
• a legal assessment of the infringement
• a request to cease and desist or to issue a declaration to cease and desist

A warning letter is a "shot across the bow". It is a pre-trial means of avoiding legal proceedings.

What legal texts do I need as an online store operator?

Online trading is booming! For some lawyers, the ever-increasing number of online retailers represents a lucrative business. They search the Internet specifically for infringements on websites and online stores and issue warnings to their operators. All the more reason for you to pay particular attention to the legal texts of your website or store. This applies in particular to:

The imprint

According to Section 5 T of the German Telemedia Act (TMG), every online store must include an imprint. An imprint informs visitors to your online store who is responsible for the content provided. It must essentially contain the following information:

• the first and last name of the store operator or the company name (for legal entities)
• a loadable address (a PO box is not sufficient)
• a contact where the store operator or the company can be reached electronically (e-mail, telephone number)
• the VAT or business tax identification number (if available)
• if available: the commercial, association, partnership or cooperative register with register number

Important: The legal notice must be integrated into the online store in such a way that it can be reached from any subpage with a maximum of 2 clicks.

The privacy policy

Collecting and processing customer-related data is common practice when operating an online store. You must provide your customers with sufficient information about the data collected:

• What personal data is collected?
• To what extent is this data processed?
• What data protection measures are taken?
• What rights does the site visitor have?

You fulfill this information obligation with a privacy policy. It must be formulated in an understandable and transparent manner. In addition, every user must be able to access the privacy policy at any time from any subpage of your store.nullAlso interesting in this context: What you need to bear in mind when using cookies.

The General Terms and Conditions

The General Terms and Conditions ( GTC for short) are pre-formulated contractual terms and conditions that you specify as the store operator. The legal basis is formed by §§ 305 ff. BGB (GERMAN CIVIL CODE). Although you are not obliged to use GTC , this is common practice. When integrating GTC into your online store, it is important to ensure that they only become part of the contract if they have been effectively included in the contract. This means that customers must be aware that the GTC will become part of the contract before the contract is concluded. This is the case if:

• explicit reference is made to the GTC when the contract is concluded (e.g. in the form of a checkbox) and
• the customer can take note of the GTC in a reasonable manner (clearly visible link, sufficient font size, comprehensible wording).

Make sure that your GTC reflect the actual status of your online store at all times. This applies in particular to the possible payment methods and delivery conditions.

The right of withdrawal

Consumers have a right of withdrawal for contracts concluded outside of business premises (Section 312g BGB and Section 355 BGB). As an online store operator, you must inform your customers about this right of withdrawal (Article 246a EGBGB).

What is the legal basis for warnings?

In Germany, there are numerous legal bases that justify various warnings. For example, if the legal notice is missing or incomplete, a warning may be issued due to a breach of provider identification in accordance with the German Telemedia Act (TMG). Misleading advertising, on the other hand, is a violation of the Unfair Competition Act (UWG). The Act to Improve the Civil Law Enforcement of Consumer Protection Provisions of Data Protection Law has also been in force since 2016. It enables warnings to be issued if the privacy policy is missing or incomplete. There is also a threat of a warning if photos and texts are used unlawfully. The legal basis is the Copyright Act (UrhG)

Warned: What legal consequences can be expected?

Received a warning letter? This is initially no reason to panic, as the actual costs of the warning letter are comparatively low. The follow-up costs are often problematic. If the warning is justified, you will have to pay the warning letter's legal fees. Their amount depends on the value in dispute of the proceedings. If the amount in dispute is 2,000 euros, the lawyer's fees are around 250 euros; if the amount in dispute is over 25,000 euros, the fees amount to up to 1,300 euros. There is also the threat of high consequential costs if a cease-and-desist declaration with a penalty clause is submitted. The reason: you pay a contractual penalty for every future infringement. Depending on the agreement, this can amount to several thousand euros.

When do I need warning letter protection?

As you can see, there is a lot to consider as an online store operator. Even a small error in the GTC or the withdrawal policy can lead to a warning and high follow-up costs. To avoid legal disputes, you should carefully check the legal texts of your online store for legal certainty. Whether GTC, legal notice or privacy policy: our lawyers check your legal texts for correctness. On request, we can create individual legal texts tailored to your business model. And to ensure that your online store is always up to date, we continuously adapt the legal texts to the latest case law - at a fair fixed price of 19.90 euros per month.

Legal texts & warnings: The most important facts in brief

• Missing & incomplete legal texts are among the most common reasons for warnings
• Some lawyers search eBay, Amazon and the like specifically for faulty websites or online stores
• No commercial online store should be without an imprint, withdrawal policy and privacy policy
• Competition law, copyright law and IT law provide the legal basis for warning letters
• Online store operators should have all legal texts checked by lawyers to ensure that they are legally correct.
• Reliable warning protection helps to avoid warnings and subsequent costs.

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