Best E-commerce & Internet Law Lawyers in Borgholm

About E-commerce & Internet Law in Borgholm, Sweden

E-commerce and Internet Law in Borgholm operates within Sweden's national legal system and the European Union framework. This field covers how online businesses are formed and run, what information must be provided on websites and marketplaces, how consumers are protected in distance sales, how personal data is handled, how online advertising must be presented, how payments and delivery are regulated, and how platforms handle user content and illegal listings. Although Borgholm is a smaller municipality on Öland, the rules that matter to your online shop or digital service are largely national and EU-wide, with local practical touchpoints such as consumer guidance and the competent courts for disputes.

In practical terms, Swedish and EU consumer law, data protection, marketing standards, digital platform rules, electronic communications, product safety, VAT, and intellectual property all intersect when you sell online, run a marketplace, provide apps or SaaS, use influencers, collect reviews, or process customer data. If you target Swedish consumers, you are expected to communicate clearly in Swedish, show prices including VAT, and honor mandatory consumer rights.

Why You May Need a Lawyer

You may need legal help if you are setting up an online shop, building or operating a marketplace, offering digital content or subscriptions, or scaling cross-border in the EU. A lawyer can draft compliant terms and conditions, privacy and cookie documentation, returns and warranty policies, and marketplace seller terms, and can advise on the correct use of cookies and tracking technologies.

Legal support is also common when a platform receives a takedown request or must remove illegal content, when a consumer complaint escalates to the National Board for Consumer Disputes, when the Swedish Consumer Agency questions your marketing, when an influencer campaign needs robust advertising identification, when a data breach occurs, when a competitor challenges your comparative advertising or SEO practices, when you need licensing or age controls for restricted products, when you handle OSS VAT for EU sales, or when your .se domain name is contested.

If you are dealing with fraud, chargebacks, counterfeit listings, unfair reviews, or scraping of your site content, a lawyer can help with evidence preservation, notices, orders, negotiation, and if needed court action before the competent courts including the Patent and Market Court for IP and marketing disputes or the local district court for contract claims.

Local Laws Overview

Swedish E-commerce Act sets the basic information you must display online, such as company name, geographic address, email address, organization number, VAT number when relevant, pricing including taxes and fees, supervisory authority details if in a regulated profession, and clear ordering steps. You must confirm orders electronically.

Distance and Off-Premises Contracts rules give consumers a 14-day right of withdrawal in distance sales with important exceptions, for example for digital content once download or streaming begins with explicit consent and acknowledgment of losing the right, for custom-made goods, or for perishable items. If you fail to inform about the right of withdrawal, the withdrawal period can be extended significantly.

The Swedish Consumer Sales Act sets conformity standards and remedies for goods, including repairs, replacement, price reduction, or termination, and aligns with EU rules for goods with digital elements. Consumers can complain about defects that existed at delivery within three years, with a presumption that defects that appear within the first two years existed at delivery unless you can prove otherwise.

The Marketing Act requires that advertising is identifiable as advertising, prohibits misleading and aggressive practices, regulates price reductions and comparative advertising, and protects children. Email marketing to consumers generally requires prior consent with a limited soft opt-in for existing customers purchasing similar products, and all marketing must include clear sender identity and an easy opt-out.

GDPR and the Swedish Data Protection Act require a lawful basis for processing personal data, transparency through a privacy notice, respect for data subject rights, data processing agreements with vendors, appropriate security, and timely breach handling. Cookies and similar technologies are governed by the Electronic Communications Act and require prior consent for non-essential cookies, together with clear information about purposes.

Online platforms and intermediaries must follow the EU Digital Services Act. Even smaller providers need to maintain clear terms and conditions, a single point of contact, a notice-and-action channel for illegal content, reasoned decisions on content moderation, and transparency reporting scaled to size. Marketplaces must collect and verify trader identity information and provide better traceability and product safety cooperation under the Digital Services Act and the General Product Safety Regulation.

Platform-to-Business Regulation sets fairness and transparency rules for online intermediation services toward business users, such as clear ranking parameters and notice periods for changes. The Geo-blocking Regulation restricts unjustified geo-blocking within the EU. VAT rules require that consumer prices are shown including VAT, with a 25 percent standard Swedish rate and the One Stop Shop scheme available for cross-border EU B2C sales.

The European Accessibility Act now applies to e-commerce services, requiring that online shops and apps meet accessibility requirements for users with disabilities. Electronic signatures and trust services are recognized under the eIDAS Regulation. The Swedish Internet Foundation administers .se and .nu domains, including a specific alternative dispute procedure for domain conflicts.

Locally, Borgholm matters mainly for where disputes may be heard and where municipal consumer guidance may be available. Contract disputes from Borgholm commonly go to Kalmar District Court, while IP and marketing cases go to the specialized Patent and Market Court. Consumer disputes can often be resolved through the National Board for Consumer Disputes before any court filing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What information must my Swedish online store display to be compliant?

You must show your legal name, organization number, geographic address, email contact, VAT number if applicable, prices including VAT and all mandatory fees, delivery costs, key contract terms, how to order, and the 14-day withdrawal information. If you are part of a regulated profession or require a license, state the supervisory authority. Terms should be easy to find and in clear Swedish if you target Swedish consumers.

Do I need consent for cookies and analytics?

Consent is required before setting non-essential cookies such as analytics, personalization, or marketing tags. Essential cookies that are strictly necessary for the service do not require consent. You must provide clear cookie information, allow users to accept or reject non-essential categories, and honor their choice. The Post and Telecom Authority supervises cookie rules and the privacy authority oversees any personal data aspects.

How does the 14-day right of withdrawal work for online purchases?

Consumers have 14 days from receiving goods or from contract conclusion for services to withdraw without giving a reason. You must refund within 14 days of being informed and can withhold until you receive the goods back. Consumers can be liable for diminished value if they handled goods beyond what is necessary to establish nature, characteristics, and functioning. There are exceptions, for example custom-made goods and digital content once download starts with explicit consent and acknowledgment of losing the right.

What are my obligations under the Digital Services Act if I run a marketplace?

You must provide clear terms and content rules, a user-friendly notice-and-action mechanism for illegal content, reasoned decisions on removals, an internal complaint system, and transparency reporting. You also must collect and verify trader identity details before allowing them to sell, display seller identity to consumers, and cooperate on product safety alerts. Larger platforms have additional duties, but basic obligations apply broadly.

Can I send promotional emails to past customers without consent?

Yes, but only under the soft opt-in if the customer bought a similar product or service and you obtained their email during the sale, you market your own similar offerings, and you clearly offer an easy opt-out in every message. Otherwise, prior consent is required for consumer email marketing. Always include accurate sender identification and do not conceal the origin of messages.

What do I need to know about online reviews and influencer marketing?

It is unlawful to present fake reviews or to omit that reviews are sponsored. If you claim reviews are from verified purchasers, you must have reasonable verification methods. Influencer posts must be clearly marked as advertising in a way that is obvious at first glance. Hidden advertising and misleading environmental or health claims can lead to enforcement by the Consumer Ombudsman.

How are refunds, repairs, and warranties handled for defective goods?

Under the Consumer Sales Act, the consumer can request repair or replacement in the first instance. If that is impossible or disproportionate, a price reduction or termination may follow. Consumers can complain about defects that existed at delivery within three years, and there is a two-year presumption period where defects are presumed to have existed at delivery unless you prove otherwise. Commercial guarantees are optional and cannot reduce statutory rights.

Do I need a privacy policy for a small shop that only collects names and addresses?

Yes. Any processing of personal data triggers GDPR duties, including a privacy notice explaining what you collect, why, your legal basis, retention, recipients, security measures, and the rights of individuals. You also need appropriate security and supplier agreements with payment providers, hosting, and logistics partners that process data on your behalf.

How are VAT and cross-border EU sales handled online?

Consumer prices must include VAT. Sweden's standard VAT rate is 25 percent, with reduced rates for certain categories such as books. If you sell to consumers in other EU countries, you can use the One Stop Shop to report and pay VAT in one place once you pass the EU thresholds. Digital services and some platforms have special VAT rules, so structuring and invoicing should be reviewed.

What if someone registers a .se domain similar to my brand?

.se domains are administered by the Swedish Internet Foundation. There is an alternative dispute procedure where you can challenge a domain that is identical or confusingly similar to your protected name or mark and was registered or used in bad faith without legitimate interest. Evidence of trademark rights, reputation, and the registrant's conduct are key in such cases.

Additional Resources

The Swedish Consumer Agency and the Consumer Ombudsman provide guidance on marketing, price information, and consumer rights, and can act against unfair commercial practices.

The National Board for Consumer Disputes provides a free alternative dispute resolution forum for many consumer disputes. Its recommendations are influential and often followed by traders.

The Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection provides guidance and supervises GDPR compliance for personal data processing in e-commerce.

The Post and Telecom Authority supervises cookie rules and electronic communications aspects related to websites and apps.

The Swedish Tax Agency provides guidance on VAT, OSS registration, invoicing, and tax treatment of online sales.

The Swedish Companies Registration Office handles company registration and filings relevant for online traders.

The Swedish Internet Foundation manages .se domains and the domain dispute procedure. It also offers guidance on domain name best practices.

The European Consumer Centre in Sweden helps consumers with cross-border EU online shopping issues and trader disputes.

The Patent and Market Court is the specialized court for intellectual property and marketing law disputes, including online advertising and trademark issues.

Borgholm Municipality or nearby municipalities may offer local consumer guidance that can help clarify rights and obligations before a formal dispute is started.

Next Steps

Map your online operation. List what you sell, who you sell to, where your customers are located, what data you collect, what cookies you use, what third parties you rely on, and whether you act as a marketplace, merchant of record, or service provider. This scoping determines which rules apply.

Gather documents and evidence. Prepare your current terms and conditions, privacy policy, cookie notice, checkout screens, order confirmations, marketing materials, influencer contracts, and internal policies. Export logs for consent, orders, customer service tickets, takedown requests, and moderation actions.

Perform a compliance check. Verify information obligations on your site, right of withdrawal handling, returns flow, warranty language, accessibility of your webshop and app, cookie consent behavior, GDPR transparency and vendor contracts, marketing identification, review authenticity claims, and VAT treatment. Adjust content to clear Swedish and show prices including VAT.

Address platform obligations if you host third-party sellers. Implement trader onboarding and verification, notice-and-action processes, reasoned decisions for content moderation, and transparency reporting scaled to your size. Update marketplace terms for P2B fairness and ranking disclosures.

Plan for incidents. Create playbooks for data breaches, chargebacks, counterfeit or unsafe product reports, and abusive reviews. Assign a single point of contact for authorities as required and document timelines for responses.

Consult a lawyer experienced in Swedish and EU e-commerce law. Local counsel familiar with Borgholm and the broader Kalmar region can advise on dispute forums, municipal consumer guidance, and practical enforcement. Ask for a fixed-fee compliance review if you are launching or scaling.

If a dispute arises, try ADR first. Many consumer disputes can be resolved through the National Board for Consumer Disputes. Preserve all communications and follow procedural deadlines. For IP or marketing disputes consider the Patent and Market Court route. For contract disputes consider the district court with simplified procedures for low-value claims.

Keep policies current. Laws change, including accessibility requirements and platform duties. Schedule periodic reviews of your legal documents, tech stack, and marketing practices to remain compliant as your online business in Borgholm grows.