Avoid Drip Pricing: No Pre-Selected Additional Costs
Chargeable additional services at checkout may not be pre-selected. Under Section 312a (3) BGB, every paid ancillary service requires the active consent of the customer; secretly driving up the price is not permitted.
Also relevant around pre-selection ban, checkout additional costs, opt-in chargeable service, hidden costs checkout.
What Drip Pricing means
Drip pricing refers to the gradual adding of costs during the order process, for example through pre-selected insurance, express shipping, or packaging options. Section 312a (3) BGB requires an express agreement for every chargeable additional service; pre-checked boxes are prohibited. Otherwise, the customer does not owe the additional charge.
Who it applies to
All B2C shops that offer chargeable additional services or options at checkout are affected.
What must be shown in the shop
- No pre-selected chargeable options
- Active consent (opt-in) per additional service
- Transparent presentation of all additional costs
How ShopCompliance solves this automatically
ShopCompliance checks your checkout for pre-selected chargeable options and ensures that every additional service requires active consent. That way you avoid prohibited drip pricing.
Implementing Drip Pricing in your Shopify store
- 1Check the checkout
ShopCompliance checks whether chargeable options such as insurance or express shipping are pre-selected in the order process.
- 2Enforce opt-in
Pre-checked boxes are removed so that the customer must actively select each additional service.
- 3Document the confirmation
ShopCompliance documents that no chargeable option is pre-selected, as proof of compliance.
Checklist: Drip Pricing
- ✓No pre-selected chargeable options
- ✓Active consent (opt-in) per additional service
- ✓Transparent presentation of all additional costs
Risks of non-compliance
Pre-checked chargeable options violate Section 312a (3) BGB. The customer does not owe the additional charge and can reclaim it; in addition, the practice can be targeted with warning letters as unfair pre-selection under the UWG.
Meet it automatically with ShopCompliance
Activate the Drip Pricing module in a few clicks. ShopCompliance manages the mandatory information centrally and renders it automatically on your storefront, no theme code.
Open in the Shopify App StoreFrequently asked questions about Drip Pricing
What is drip pricing?+
The gradual adding of costs at checkout, for example through pre-selected additional services, which increases the final price non-transparently.
Are pre-checked boxes allowed?+
No. For chargeable additional services, active consent is required under Section 312a (3) BGB; pre-settings are not permitted.
How do I implement the pre-selection ban in Shopify?+
ShopCompliance checks the checkout and ensures that no chargeable option is pre-selected.
What happens if the customer does not actively consent?+
Without an express agreement, the customer does not owe the additional charge and can reclaim amounts already paid.
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