Track returns and keep an eye on the deadline
Return deadline approaching
You have 7 days left to return the Zalando order from November 20.
A return is only done once the money is back in your account. Between deciding to send something back and getting that refund there are three steps, and each step comes with a date to watch.
When you buy online in the European Union, you have a fourteen-day cooling-off period, counted from the day you receive the order. After you tell the shop you are withdrawing, you have another fourteen days to send the goods back. Shops may give you longer, never less.
The problem is rarely that people don't know this period exists. The problem is that you have to remember it for every order, while each order arrived on a different day.
The three steps between deciding and getting your money back
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Making up your mind
You don't know yet whether you'll keep something. With the end date in view, you can calmly put off that choice until just before the deadline.
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Sending it back
The parcel is packed, but the trip to the drop-off point keeps slipping. Keep your proof of postage: without it you are on weak ground if the shop says nothing arrived.
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Getting the refund
The shop may wait until it has the parcel back. Keep your own note of the amount you are owed, and you'll notice straight away when it doesn't come.
What you want to know about each return
- Which item it is, because usually only part of an order goes back
- Until when you can return it
- Whether the parcel has been sent
- How much you should get back
- Whether that money has arrived
Those last two are why loose notes don't work: you tick off a return as soon as the parcel has gone, and forget that there is still money to come.
How Orderlyst keeps track
You mark per item whether it goes back. The status label moves along from Return to Return Sent to Refund Completed, so you always see which returns are not finished yet.
You mark per item whether it goes back. Orderlyst works out how many days you have left until the end of the return period and warns you when it is about to run out. As long as a refund hasn't arrived, it stays visible in your overview, even if the parcel went out weeks ago.
Orders whose return period has definitely passed disappear from your daily list, but you can still look them up.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to return an online order?
In the European Union you have fourteen days from receipt to tell the shop you want to withdraw from the purchase, and then another fourteen days to send the goods back. Shops may offer a longer period, never a shorter one. The right of withdrawal does not apply to made-to-measure items, perishable goods and a few other exceptions.
How long can a shop take to refund me?
The shop must refund you within fourteen days of your withdrawal notice, including the standard delivery costs you paid for the original shipment. It may hold back the refund until it has received the goods or until you have shown that you sent them.
Do I have to pay the postage for sending it back?
The shop may charge you for that, as long as it told you clearly beforehand. It does have to refund the delivery costs you paid when ordering, up to the cost of its cheapest standard delivery.
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Checked on 28 October 2026