A customer orders a pair of trousers, a jumper and a belt, receives the lot, and writes to you that they wish to send back only the jumper. Are they entitled to withdraw on a single item? Yes, without difficulty. The right of withdrawal (harmonised across the EU by Directive 2011/83/EU, art. 9) can be exercised on all or part of an order: nothing obliges the customer to send back the whole to get their money back on one item.
The rule: item by item
Each item in an order can be withdrawn independently. The customer chooses what they keep and what they send back, within the 14-day period. You cannot make the withdrawal of one item conditional on the return of the others, nor demand an "all or nothing".
What you refund
The price of the item or items actually sent back. The items kept by the customer remain due: you only touch the withdrawn part.
The rest of the mechanism is identical to a classic withdrawal: the customer sends the item or items back within the 14 days following their decision, and you refund within the 14 days following the return (or the proof of dispatch), which is the right to withhold that we detail in "Do you have to refund before the product is sent back?".
The tricky point: delivery costs
This is where partial withdrawal stands apart. In the case of a full withdrawal, you refund the outbound delivery costs (at the standard rate). But when the customer keeps part of the order, the delivery remained necessary for the items kept: in practice, the initial delivery costs are then not refunded, since the delivery service was indeed provided for the retained order.
To frame in your T&Cs
The question of delivery costs in partial withdrawal is not settled word for word by the law. The safest course is to explain your rule clearly in your T&Cs: refund of the price of the items sent back, initial delivery costs retained as long as part of the order is kept. A written and coherent rule protects you far better than a case-by-case decision.
Return costs, however, remain the customer's responsibility
As with any withdrawal, the return costs of the item or items withdrawn are borne by the customer, provided you informed them before the purchase. If they send back a single small item, it is often negligible; on a bulky product, remember to have specified it.
In summary
A customer can send back a single item from an order: it is their right. You refund the price of what they send back, you keep the rest, and you retain in principle the initial delivery costs as long as part of the order stays with them. All of it clean and predictable, if your rule is written down in black and white in your T&Cs.
Trace every request
A partial withdrawal is a request that bears on precise references, on a precise date. The withdrawal button mandatory since 19 June 2026 timestamps the request and avoids disputes over "who said what, when". Are you concerned?
This article is general information and does not constitute legal advice. For the exact wording, refer to the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU) and your national consumer law.
Founder of BackToMe
Art. L.221-21 · 19 June 2026
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