Whether via your own online shop, Ebay, Amazon or any other trading platform, online trading has become a significant sales channel for many companies and is extremely important. The added value of these forms of sales has many advantages but also involves risks concerning competition law.

Every commercial trader has to fulfil various legal responsibilities. Worth mentioning are the legal right of withdrawal, the order button, correct price labelling, the labelling of textiles and electrical goods. The reason for the mass of obligations for the retailer is that the consumer cannot touch the product as in a shop. He is therefore in need of more information.

If mistakes are made here, fair competition will be affected and competitors and consumer advisors will be summoned to the scene. Therefore, competition law (also called UWG) is a legal aspect in the e-commerce sector that should never be underestimated.

If there are violations, competitors and consumer advisors can take action against the seller by means of a warning letter, interim injunction or other legal action, in particular for cease and desist, removal and compensation. In such cases it becomes unpleasant and often expensive. In particular, the offers and advertising measures must be changed immediately, otherwise contractual penalties or administrative fines may be incurred.

You can avoid this additional expense in terms of time and money if you check your offers for conformity with the competition right at the beginning.

It should also not be forgotten that the legal requirements and rules regarding trademark law, design law and copyright law also play an important role on the internet – as they do in stationery trade. This is because new advertising opportunities on the internet bring further risks, such as keyword advertising using third-party trademarks or the duplication and use of third-party (product) pictures and texts for their own (advertising) purposes.