{"id":1991,"date":"2011-02-13T10:56:30","date_gmt":"2011-02-13T10:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/rechtsanwaltsblog\/?p=43"},"modified":"2025-10-28T10:36:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T10:36:06","slug":"kaufrecht-verschlechterung-der-kaufsache-durch-ingebrauchnahme-nicht-grundsatzlich-ersatzpflichtig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/sales-law-deterioration-of-the-object-of-sale-due-to-use-not-generally-subject-to-compensation\/","title":{"rendered":"Sales law: Deterioration of the purchased item due to use is not generally subject to compensation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Federal Court of Justice, 3 November 2010, Ref.: VIII ZR 337\/09<\/strong><\/p>\n

In principle, the consumer must pay compensation for any deterioration caused by the intended use of the item in accordance with Section 357 (3) sentence 1 BGB if he was informed of this legal consequence and the possibility of avoiding it in text form at the latest when the contract was concluded.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Facts of the Case:<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/span>The plaintiff (buyer) concluded a purchase contract with the defendant (seller) for a waterbed at a price of \u20ac1,265.<\/span><\/h3>\n

The defendant's offer was sent to the plaintiff by email as an attached PDF file. This PDF contained a cancellation policy with the following content: \"With regard to the above-mentioned cancellation policy, we would also like to point out that filling the mattress of the waterbed regularly results in a deterioration, as the bed can no longer be sold as new.\" After delivery, the buyer set up the waterbed and filled the mattress with water.<\/p>\n

<\/span>After filling the waterbed, the plaintiff exercised his right of cancellation<\/span><\/h3>\n

Instead of the full purchase price, the seller only refunded an amount of \u20ac258 and claimed that only the heater sold with the bed could be sold, but not the bed itself. The buyer then sued the seller for reimbursement of the full purchase price. The local court upheld the claim for repayment of the remaining purchase price of \u20ac 1,007. The regional court dismissed the seller's appeal. The seller then lodged an appeal.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Decision of the BGH<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/span>Buyer can demand a full refund of the purchase price<\/span><\/h3>\n

The buyer can demand the full purchase price back despite the possible loss in value, as he has only inspected the goods. Although according to \u00a7 357 para. 3 sentence 1 BGB, the deterioration of the sold item is generally to be compensated by the buyer if the seller has given proper notice, this is not the case if the deterioration is exclusively due to the inspection of the item.<\/p>\n

<\/span>In the case of an Internet purchase, the buyer must have the opportunity to try out the goods<\/span><\/h3>\n

According to the Distance Selling Directive (Art. 6 of Directive 97\/7\/EC) and the German regulation implementing it, the consumer should in principle have the opportunity to inspect and try out the goods purchased by concluding a distance selling contract because he was unable to see the goods before concluding the contract. This includes putting the goods into use insofar as this is necessary for testing purposes, even if it leads to a reduction in the value of the goods.<\/p>\n

Source: Federal Court of Justice<\/p>\n

Important Note: The content of this article has been prepared to the best of our knowledge and belief. However, due to the complexity and constant evolution of the subject matter, we must exclude liability and warranty.<\/b> Important Notice: The content of this article has been created to the best of our knowledge and understanding. However, due to the complexity and constant changes in the subject matter, we must exclude any liability and warranty.<\/p>\n

If you need legal advice, feel free to call us at 0221 \u2013 80187670 or email us at info@mth-partner.de.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bundesgerichtshof, 03.11.2010, Az.: VIII ZR 337\/09 Grunds\u00e4tzlich hat der Verbraucher gem. \u00a7 357 Abs. 3 S. 1 BGB Wertersatz f\u00fcr eine durch die bestimmungsgem\u00e4\u00dfe Ingebrauchnahme des Sache entstandene Verschlechterung zu leisten, wenn er sp\u00e4testens bei Vertragsschluss in Textform auf diese Rechtsfolge und eine M\u00f6glichkeit hingewiesen worden ist, sie zu vermeiden. Sachverhalt des gerichtlichen Verfahrens Der […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mietrecht-rechtsanwalt"],"yoast_head":"\nKaufrecht: Verschlechterung der Kaufsache durch Ingebrauchnahme nicht grunds\u00e4tzlich ersatzpflichtig<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Grunds\u00e4tzlich hat der Verbraucher gem. \u00a7 357 Abs. 3 BGB Wertersatz f\u00fcr eine durch die bestimmungsgem\u00e4\u00dfe Ingebrauchnahme Verschlechterung zu leisten.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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