My store sells digital products which are automatically fulfilled and downloaded.
It’s my understanding that digital products that are delivered right away have an exemption for this withdrawal button that can be implemented by
Checkbox
having customers check a box at checkout certifying that they accept the instant fulfillment and that they waive their right to the 14-day returns.
Email
We would then have to include information about this checkbox waiver in their order email
Button functionality
I believe we’d still have to DISPLAY the button (is this correct?) but that we can reject the request for refund if the customer presses it and they’re matched up with their purchase and pre-existing checkbox confirmation…
I cannot tell from Shopify’s email today (June 11th), if their customer flow that’s coming next week will include some solutions for such digital products stores. The email seemed focused on stores with physical products. This is what they say:
“We’re introducing cancellation rules and a self-serve flow - coming on June 17 - which you can enable to allow your buyers to request cancellations for items before they are fulfilled”
Anyone have any intel? What are other digital-products stores with no returns doing?
Hi @linia . Hope you are doing well!
Digital products with an instant delivery system are exempt; add a mandatory checkbox at checkout and a waiver in the order email, so in this case, no button is needed.
Shopify’s June 17 update is only for physical products; ignore it.
I’ve elected to remove all ability for EU to buy. It’s becoming unsustainable with tariffs, shipping, customs and now this opt out junk. I’m done with the EU.
The plan I’m on doesn’t allow any modifications at checkout, so I can’t do the checkbox yet without third party tools, and I’d love to avoid them. Luckily, I can modify the email myself!
To understand you correctly - will the button indeed be unnecessary as long as the two other items are in place? And is it possible that Shopify will allow all stores to modify the checkout process soon or in the future, given that this is such an important piece for EU compliance?
If your products are digital downloads and customers expressly consent to immediate delivery while acknowledging the loss of their withdrawal right before download, different rules may apply compared to physical goods. However, because this involves EU consumer law, it’s worth confirming the specific requirements for your jurisdiction and store setup. Are you currently collecting explicit consent before the download is delivered?
@ayox, I’m not currently getting express consent. I’m not on the Pro Shopify plan, and Shopify does not allow any native customizations/checkboxes at checkout with my plan. It seems this new EU rule should encourage them to allow everyone to place custom checkboxes at checkout, so we can stay compliant.
I’m now looking for apps that will allow me to get this express consent, and then I intend to update the order delivery emails to have that consent stated in a medium that is stored (email).
Once those two things are done, I’ve been searching online to understand if the button will then stop being required and it’s hard to be sure. AI overviews are confusing - one tells me I’d still need the button, but can then reject refund requests, another tells me the button will not be required. I’ve been reading through the sources cited and am still not sure.
You may add a checkobx before checkout, say in cart or even on the product page.
On a product page you can add a checkox to be a line item property, meaning it will persist in cart, through checkout and into order page/notigication e-mails.
Add a “Custom liquid” block to your Product Info section and paste code like this:
{% # for Horizon family themes %}
{% assign form_id = "BuyButtons-ProductForm-" | append: section.id %}
{% # for Dawn family theme %}
{% assign form_id = "product-form-" | append: section.id %}
<input
type=checkbox
required
form={{ form_id | json }}
value="accepted"
name="properties[Withdrawal right loss]"
>I agree to no withdrawal</input>
Thanks for clarifying. It sounds like the main challenge is collecting and storing explicit consent before delivery. Have you found any apps that can reliably capture consent and attach it to the order record yet? I’d be interested to know what solution you end up using since many merchants selling digital products may face the same issue.
Hi @linia
For the EU digital downloads, the boiling point is that a customer must be aware that they are waiving their right of withdrawal prior to completing the purchase and this waiver applies only if the performance has begun; the customer must consent to immediate performance. At checkout just have the customer check a box, not an email after purchase.
Typically you still show withdrawal info, but it is deemed waived if you have captured consent at checkout. A “reject refund after download” flow alone is not enough without that pre-consent stage.
For Shopify, expect most digital stores to move this way: capture checkout consent, provide clear product policy, then rely on app-based fulfillment logs as proof of waiver. The new cancellation flow appears to be focussed on physical products, so for digital retailers it’s likely you will still need to enforce compliance logic using checkout setting or apps.
The code should implement line item property for the item being added to cart.
It should stay with line item through entire ordering process.
For the code to work it needs to attach checkbox input to the cart form – it does so with the form attribute on the input – this must match your form id and mismatch here may be the reason why you’re not seeing the LIP in the cart…
In your case though – Dawn does not force form validation (unlike the Horizon which does) so people may add to cart without checking the checkbox.
I’d try removing this line in Dawn code:
See how I was able to add to cart with checkbox checked and unchecked:
included the required checkbox at checkout through that app and
modified the fulfillment email to state something to the effect of: “With your order, you have expressly consented to the immediate delivery of your digital products, and thereby acknowledged the loss of your statutory right to withdraw from this contract and receive a refund.”
For those saying that the email portion is not required - let us know where you are seeing this source-wise, so we can verify.
At this point, I think one of the confusions right now is not only how to implement changes, but which changes are truly required.
I’ve implemented these two, but not the third (the button) suggestions from my original question.
Looking forward to any thoughts if folks believe that part is still required.
