Anyone who sells new goods through an online auction as a trader within the meaning of §14 of the German Civil Code (BGB) is subject to the same rules as in ordinary mail-order trade: the buyer is entitled to a 24-month warranty period (Gewährleistung) and a fourteen-day right of return. Clauses in terms and conditions that exclude the return of goods bought at auction are void to that extent, for online auctions are not auctions in the narrower sense but count rather as offers of sale at the highest price; with buy-it-now listings there is obviously no auction in any case.
If a commercial vendor sells used writing instruments, he may shorten the warranty period to one year, but may not exclude the fourteen-day right of return. Nor does the widespread notice that the goods are being sold 'on a customer's behalf' (im Kundenauftrag) alter the legal position: the buyer's contractual partner remains the commercial seller, who is then acting as a commission agent (Kommissionär). Handling fees charged on the reversal of the transaction are not permissible.