A website hid important costs until the final checkout page. Is this an unfair practice?

What the Law Says

The EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive prohibits traders from hiding material information that affects consumers’ purchasing decisions — especially pricing details.

Under Directive 2005/29/EC, a commercial practice is unfair if it ‘distorts or is likely to distort the average consumer’s economic behaviour’ — including by omitting key price information until late in the purchase process.

Article 7(1) specifically defines a ‘misleading omission’ as failing to provide material information that the average consumer needs to make an informed decision — such as mandatory fees, delivery charges, or taxes — when that omission causes the consumer to take a transactional decision they would not have taken otherwise.

The European Commission’s Guidance on the UCP Directive clarifies that ‘presenting the price in a way that hides additional compulsory costs (e.g., only showing a base price at first, then revealing shipping or handling fees at the final step) constitutes a misleading omission’.

Statutory Text

A commercial practice is unfair if it is contrary to the requirements of professional diligence and materially distorts or is likely to materially distort the economic behaviour of the average consumer.

— Directive 2005/29/EC, Art. 5(2)

Statutory Text

A commercial practice is misleading if it omits material information that the average consumer needs… to take an informed transactional decision.

— Directive 2005/29/EC, Art. 7(1)

What Courts Have Said

EU courts and national authorities have consistently ruled that late-stage cost disclosure misleads consumers and breaches fairness standards.

What to Do

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