Since 24.09.2026 the law (Art. 52a of the Bulgarian Consumer Protection Act) requires every online shop to offer a permanent online withdrawal function. Your shop has it automatically - there is nothing to set up.
A withdrawal and a return are different things. The withdrawal is the customer's statement that they cancel the purchase - the law says how you must accept it. The return is what may follow: the goods travel back and the money is refunded. A withdrawal can happen without a return (the order has not shipped yet), and a return without a withdrawal (a goodwill return after the legal period, see Returns).
What the customer sees
- The "Withdraw from contract here" link in the footer of every page, next to "Legal guarantee", on every order page in the customer's account, and in the order emails - the confirmation, "We received your order request" and the tracking-number email - as the line "Changed your mind? Withdraw from contract here". In the account and the emails it replaces the cancellation request and the return link - two "cancel" options side by side would only confuse. Cancellation requests customers already sent stay in Orders → Cancellations («Анулирания» in Bulgarian) and are handled as before, and the links in older emails keep working.
- Step 1 - the order number and the email or phone from the order. If the order does not come up (a typo in the number, say), the customer can still send the withdrawal without a found order, describing it in their own words.
- Step 2 - the statement: the whole order or selected items only, a name, an email for the confirmation and an optional note. Nothing else - no reason, IBAN or office is asked, because the law lets nothing stand between the customer and the button.
- The "Confirm withdrawal" button («Потвърждавам отказа» in Bulgarian), then the "Withdrawal received" page and the confirmation email.
- If the order was delivered, the withdrawal is in time by our records and the self-service return form in Returns → Policy is on, the "Withdrawal received" page also shows "Request the return of the goods". The items are the withdrawal's own - the customer adds only an IBAN (cash on delivery or bank transfer) and a courier office (if returns go through an office). That creates a return linked to the withdrawal.
The function works for every order - fast and imported orders too - before shipping, in transit and after delivery, whether or not the self-service return form is on.
The confirmation to the customer
The "Withdrawal received (acknowledgement)" email leaves immediately, with the withdrawal number (e.g. № 0042), the date and time it was sent and the whole statement. It is the durable-medium confirmation the law requires, so it is mandatory: it cannot be switched off, and in Settings → Email notifications you can change its intro text only (see Email notifications).
If the email does not leave, the system retries every 10 minutes for an hour. If it still fails, or the customer's address is blocked for email, you get an alert and the row in the list turns red - contact the customer another way. From the expanded row you can send the confirmation again with "Send the confirmation again". If the resent confirmation bounces too, the row turns red again and you get a new alert. This includes a temporary bounce (a full mailbox, for example): the mail service has stopped retrying, so the confirmation did not arrive.
The alert to you
At your shop's contact email you get "New withdrawal from the contract" with the whole statement, the order's state when it was sent (not shipped yet, in transit or delivered), whether it is inside the 14-day period by our records and whether the confirmation reached the customer. The "Open the withdrawal in the BackOffice" link opens its row in Orders → Contract withdrawals.
The "Contract withdrawals" list
Orders → Contract withdrawals holds every customer statement. The number beside the menu item shows how many wait for your decision. The tabs are:
- New - still waiting for a decision. Linking an unrecognised order or declining one of several items does not move it - the rest still waits.
- In progress - a return carries the withdrawal out and has not finished yet.
- Closed - refunded, the return rejected at inspection, the order cancelled, every item declined, or marked as closed by you.
- All - everything together.
Each row shows the withdrawal number, when it was sent, the customer, the order, the items, the order's state when it was sent, the withdrawal's state and whether the confirmation was delivered. You can search by number, order, name or email and filter by the state when sent, the confirmation and the period.
The expanded row shows the statement word for word (it is the evidence and cannot be edited), the confirmation to the customer, the order and the deadlines (until when the withdrawal period runs and by when you must refund - 14 days from the withdrawal), the return if there is one, and the history - every action with its date, time and who did it.
What to do
- The order has not shipped yet - do not ship it. In the expanded row press "Cancel the order": the stock comes back, a registered waybill is voided and a card payment is refunded automatically. If the order is still awaiting a card payment, the cancel may stop until that payment finishes - the BackOffice tells you what to do (see Orders). The order is never cancelled on its own, because that moves stock and money. The same warning sits on the order itself in All orders (a red badge and a "do not ship this order" box), and courier registration holds it back until you confirm - see Orders.
- The parcel is in transit - the courier already has it, so "Cancel the order" is not shown: the goods are not back with you, and cancelling would put them back in stock. The customer can refuse it on delivery or send it back after receiving it. If the parcel was refused on delivery, close the withdrawal with "Mark as closed" and a note.
- The order was delivered - press "Create return". It is a statutory return: the 14-day window of your return policy does not apply, items with a possible Art. 57 exception are included (you decide at inspection), and a withdrawal of the whole order also refunds the delivery, whatever the delivery setting in Returns → Policy says. The return is approved at once and the customer gets a waybill or the return address; you carry on in Returns. If the order was not paid by card, the refund goes by bank transfer: ask the customer for their IBAN, because a return you create has none (Returns shows "no IBAN"). If the customer already requested the return themselves, it is in "In progress".
- "Unrecognised order" - the customer could not find their order and described it. Find it from the description (in All orders by email or name) and link it with "Link to the order" by its number. It links only to an order of your shop.
- A withdrawal cannot be refused - except for an item exempt under Art. 57. Personalised items and products (or categories) with an "Exception to the right of withdrawal (Art. 57)" set are flagged "Possible Art. 57 exception", but the call is yours. The customer sees which exception you named next to the item (e.g. "deteriorates rapidly - Art. 57(4)") but can still choose it, and the decline dialog suggests that exception. With "Decline an item (Art. 57)" you pick the item and the exact exception (e.g. pt. 3 - made to the customer's specifications or personalised) and an optional note. The customer always gets the email "Withdrawal: item declined (Art. 57)" naming the item and the exception - it is mandatory like the confirmation. Decline only goods the law really exempts. Once there is a return, the items are decided at its inspection.
- "Late by our records" - our period counts from the delivery date in the system, while the law counts when the customer sent the withdrawal and when they actually received the goods. For a split order, the period of both orders counts from the delivery of the later parcel (a part cancelled before it was delivered - refused or returned by the courier included - does not count); while the other parcel is on its way, the period has not started yet. So the function never refuses on its own; review the case. For such a withdrawal the customer does not see the return button - if you accept it, create the return from the list.
Switching the function off
The function is mandatory for online sales to consumers. In Online store → Legal pages → Withdrawal from the contract you can switch it off only with a declared reason: you sell to businesses only, you sell no goods to consumers, or all your goods are exceptions under Art. 57 (for example you only print to order). Pressing "Save" declares the reason true; the declaration is recorded with your email and the time in the "Change history", which cannot be edited.
Switching off hides only the link in the shop and in the customer account. Statements already sent stay in Contract withdrawals and still need handling - if you have new ones, the form reminds you before you save.
Next step
Move on to the people behind the orders - see Customers.