📦 Can I return something I bought online without giving any reason?

Yes

Quick answer

Yes — with a distance purchase you may unilaterally withdraw from the contract without giving any reason at all. You have 14 days from the day you received the goods (with several items or shipments from one order, the clock starts with the last one; for services and digital content, from the day the contract was concluded). The trader must refund everything you paid, including standard delivery, within 14 days of receiving your withdrawal notice. Here is where the myth breaks: the trader may lawfully hold the refund until the goods are back or until you prove you sent them, and you pay the return postage if he told you so before the sale. If he never informed you of the right at all, your window stretches by 12 months.

📋 The rules

The clock: for goods it runs from the day the goods are handed to you (or to a third party you named, other than the carrier); for several items or shipments in one order, from the last one; for regular periodic delivery, from the first shipment; for services and digital content not on a physical medium, from the day the contract is concluded (ZZP Art. 79).
If the trader failed to inform you of the withdrawal right, it expires only 12 months after the original 14 days run out (Art. 80). The burden of proving that the pre-contract information duties were met sits squarely on the trader.
The refund: all payments, including the cost of standard delivery, must be returned without delay and at the latest within 14 days of the trader receiving your notice — but he may withhold the refund until the goods reach him or you supply proof of dispatch.
Your side of the deal: send the withdrawal statement (the standard form, or any unambiguous statement) before the deadline expires, return the goods, bear only the direct cost of return unless the trader agreed to pay it or never disclosed it, and accept liability for any diminished value if you handled the goods beyond what was needed to establish their nature, characteristics and functioning (Art. 84).
New under NN 59/26: webshops must provide an on-site withdrawal button — a clearly visible "terminate contract" element available throughout the withdrawal period, a confirmation step, and an immediate durable-medium receipt recording the date and time; a statement sent through it before the deadline is timely (new Art. 81.a). The act is in force from 17 June 2026, but the exact start date of the button obligation itself could not be confirmed in the official text — do not rely on a hard date.

🔓 Exceptions

There is no withdrawal right (Art. 86) for, among others: services fully performed with your express prior consent; goods or services whose price depends on financial-market movements; goods made to your specification or clearly personalised; perishable goods and goods with a short use-by date; sealed goods unsuitable for return on health or hygiene grounds once unsealed; accommodation, transport of goods, car rental, food and drink delivery, and leisure services booked for a specific date or period.
Digital content not on a physical medium: the right is lost once performance begins with your express consent and your acknowledgement that you thereby lose it. If the consent, the acknowledgement or the trader's information is missing, you pay nothing for whatever was supplied during the withdrawal period (Art. 84(10), as amended by NN 59/26).
Some contract types sit outside the distance-contract chapter altogether (Art. 44): package travel, passenger transport, financial services (their own chapter, with their own 14-day right), vending machines, gambling, healthcare and social services, acquisition of real estate, construction and residential lease.

⚠️ Penalties & fines

Failing to refund a consumer who validly withdrew, and failing to give the prescribed information about the withdrawal right, are misdemeanours under the ZZP penalty provisions: NN 19/22 (Art. 138) sets HRK 10,000–100,000 for a legal person (≈ EUR 1,327–13,272 at the fixed rate of 7.53450 — the statute writes these in kuna) and HRK 10,000–15,000 for the responsible person; media report NN 59/26 raised the range to EUR 1,500–50,000 per offence, unverified against the NN text. The quiet second-order hit lands on the trader: fail to inform, and you silently hand the consumer a 12-month exit window and lose the right to charge for consumed digital content or for diminished value.

📎 Official sources

Last verified: 2026-07-12

❓ Frequently asked

Who pays the postage for sending the goods back?

The direct cost of returning the goods is yours, unless the trader agreed to cover it or never told you about that cost before the contract. The original standard delivery charge, however, must be refunded to you.

The trader refuses to refund until the parcel arrives. Is that allowed?

Yes, and it is expressly permitted: the trader may withhold the refund until the goods come back or you supply proof that you dispatched them. Send the proof of dispatch and the 14-day refund clock starts running.

Can I return shoes I tried on or clothes I put on?

You can, but you are liable for any diminished value if you handled the goods more than was necessary to establish their nature, characteristics and functioning. Trying them on as you would in a shop is fine; wearing them outdoors is not.

What is the withdrawal button and does it apply yet?

It is a mandatory webshop element letting you withdraw in a few clicks, with a durable-medium confirmation showing the date and time (new Art. 81.a). The act NN 59/26 is in force from 17 June 2026, but the exact start date of the button duty is not officially confirmed.

I opened sealed headphones. Can I still send them back?

If they are sealed goods unsuitable for return on health or hygiene grounds, breaking the seal ends the withdrawal right (Art. 86 pt. 5). For goods not sealed for those reasons, the right survives opening the box.

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