The EU’s member states legislation and the refurbed Quality Charter regulate, customers shall only pay for diminished value if this resulted from proven improper handling of the product, and only if the seller previously informed the customer of their right to withdrawal. Sole custody shall not be regarded as a reduction in value. While there are no legally provided calculation methods, generally, the (loss of) value shall be based on the total price, or the market value if the price is too high.
The 🇪🇺 European Union (Art 14 Number 2 Directive 2011/83/EU) regulates
“The consumer shall only be liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling of the goods other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods. The consumer shall in any event not be liable for diminished value of the goods where the trader has failed to provide notice of the right of withdrawal in accordance with point (h) of Article 6(1).”
- Customers shall only pay for diminished value, if such resulted from improper handling of the product.
The 🇦🇹 Austrian legal provisions (§ 15 Number 4 FAAG) regulates correspondingly:
- If the consumer withdraws the contract (30 days period), he shall pay the seller:
- Reduction in the market value of the goods,
- only if this loss in value is due to handling of the goods that is not necessary for checking the quality, characteristics and functioning of the goods
- and provided the Consumer was informed of this in the information to his withdrawal right.
- In case of warranty refunds (reversed transaction of purchase contract), the legal grounds and calculations are more complicated, however the supplier does have a right to claim a user fee, respectively compensation for lost value. The calculation according to the Austrian Supreme Court (OGH) in it’s 5Ob274/09v Decision (in simple terms) shall be:
- Deducting the concrete reasonable purchase price
- From the seller purchase price
- in case of resale by the buyer after use.
💡 Example: Supplier sold iPhone for € 1.000. Customer could sell the used iPhone for € 700. One would need to subtract this resale value (€ 700) from the original purchase price (€ 1.000) to calculate the amount of money the Customer should pay for the use in case of returning it. In this case, supplier has a user fee claim of € 300 because € 1,000 (seller purchase price) - € 700 (reasonable purchase price) = € 300.
The 🇩🇪 German legal provisions § 357a BGB regulates correspondingly for withdrawals:
- The customer must pay loss in value only if the item was damaged due to improper handling, and
- the seller informed the customer of their right to return.
- The amount paid is based on the total price, or the market value if the price is too high.
For warranty refunds the same implications as for Austria can be applied, mind, calculation methods stem from judicial decisions, not from statutory law and the concrete amount of the compensation for lost value must always be proven and shall be generalized.
Legal Grounds
🇪🇺 EU: Art 14 Number 2 Directive 2011/83/EU (Consumer Rights Directive)
🇦🇹 Austria: § 15 Number 4 FAAG (+ Austrian Supreme Court (OGH) 5Ob274/09v)
🇩🇪 Germany: § 357a BGB (+ Judicial Decisions)
🗒️ Quality Charter for CE Chapter 3.1