On a website, prices are two things at once: the strongest trust signal a page can send, and the place where businesses most often slip up legally. Naming a number answers the question visitors ask first anyway. Labelling it incorrectly invites a formal complaint — usually not out of bad intent, but because one line is missing, an addition sits in the wrong place, or a marketing claim sells something as special that applies by law regardless. This article covers both sides for the German market: when total prices including VAT are mandatory and when net prices remain permissible, how from-prices, hourly rates, travel charges and price ranges are labelled correctly, what applies to discounts and struck-through prices, which note belongs with the small-business VAT scheme, and why a price list is not yet a binding offer. Plus the advertising part with the four claims that come up most often in practice — and wording you can adopt directly.
Why price statements are challenged so often
Enforcement of German competition law is not a fringe phenomenon. The Centre for Combating Unfair Competition brought 241 (Wettbewerbszentrale) court actions in 2025, 18.1 percent (Wettbewerbszentrale) more than the year before, alongside 82 (Wettbewerbszentrale) proceedings before the conciliation boards of the chambers of industry and commerce and 2 (Wettbewerbszentrale) interim injunction proceedings. The distribution by subject matter is the telling part: 57 percent (Wettbewerbszentrale) of the legal questions examined concerned misleading practices under sections 5, 5a and 5b of the Act Against Unfair Competition. Four (Wettbewerbszentrale) cases went all the way to the Federal Court of Justice, three of which concluded in 2025.
Price statements are overrepresented in that statistic for a practical reason: they sit publicly, permanently and machine-readably on a page. Unlike a sales conversation, a pricing page can be checked at any time. On top of that, the requirements are not a matter of discretion. The German Price Indication Ordinance requires price statements to be clearly assigned to the offer, easily identifiable and clearly legible or otherwise readily perceptible, and to comply with prevailing commercial practice and the principles of price clarity and price accuracy (Price Indication Ordinance, section 1 (3)). Take that single sentence seriously and most of the topic is already handled.
The financial exposure for a breach is manageable but unpleasant. Breaches of the Price Indication Ordinance are administrative offences and can be punished with a fine of up to 25,000 euros (Economic Criminal Act 1954, section 3 (2)). Far more common than a fine, though, is a cease-and-desist letter from a competitor or a trade association — with a cease-and-desist undertaking, legal fees and the effort of correcting your own page under time pressure.
What the legislator softened for small businesses
- Net prices on a page that also addresses private customers — the classic case in trades and services.
- From-prices without the case that is actually bookable at that price.
- Hourly rates without a billing increment, without a minimum charge and without a travel rule.
- Struck-through prices without a reference price, even though the comparison figure has to be identifiable.
- Claims such as “statutory warranty included” that present a legal given as a benefit.
- Free offers with conditions that only appear in the small print.
Total price or net price — it depends on who the page addresses
The Price Indication Ordinance governs the indication of prices for goods or services by businesses towards consumers (Price Indication Ordinance, section 1 (1)). Within that scope the rule is short: anyone offering goods or services to consumers, or advertising to them with prices, must state the total price (Price Indication Ordinance, section 3 (1)). Total price means the price including value added tax and other price components. A net price with the addition “plus VAT” generally does not meet that requirement towards consumers.
If a price is broken down — into labour, material and travel, for example — the total price must be highlighted (Price Indication Ordinance, section 3 (3)). The breakdown itself is allowed and often helpful; it simply must not visually bury the final amount. For distance selling, meaning anything concluded online, a second duty applies: you must state that the prices charged include value added tax and other price components and whether additional freight, delivery or shipping costs or other costs arise; if they do, they must be quantified as far as they can reasonably be calculated in advance (Price Indication Ordinance, section 6).
| Situation | What belongs on the page | Typical mistake |
|---|---|---|
| The website addresses consumers (trades, hospitality, practice, studio) | Total price including VAT, additional costs quantified, final amount highlighted | Net price with the addition “plus VAT” as the headline figure |
| The offer is clearly aimed exclusively at businesses | Net prices are permissible if the whole site and the ordering path make that clear | A half-sentence in the footer while the wording and the form are open to everyone |
| Mixed audience of business and private customers | Both amounts side by side, with the consumer total price highlighted | A single figure that means something different depending on the reader |
| Price list as a download or leaflet | Same requirements as on the page, plus an as-of date | The old list stays online while the on-page prices have long been updated |
| Hospitality and accommodation | Price list including service charges and all other surcharges (Price Indication Ordinance, section 13) | Menu online without drink prices or with an outdated version |
The second case deserves a warning. “All prices are net plus statutory VAT” only holds if the website genuinely does not open up consumer business. What counts is the overall impression: language, imagery, service descriptions, the contact form and the path to closing. If you address private customers in your copy, show photos from private homes and offer a form without a company field, you cannot retreat to a footnote. Which pages are needed at all and where those signals sit is covered in the overview of the pages a business website needs.
The simple test question
Labelling from-prices, hourly rates and travel charges correctly
A from-price is permissible. It becomes a problem where the entry amount quoted barely ever occurs in the business. A “from 49 euros” that in reality rarely covers anything below 200 euros is not orientation, it is disappointment with a delay. The standard is simple: the entry case must be genuinely bookable, and it must be described so the reader can tell whether she belongs to that case. “From 89 euros for the annual service of a system up to 20 kilowatts, including travel within the city” does both in one sentence.
For hourly rates the Price Indication Ordinance sets its own requirement. Anyone offering services to consumers must keep a price list covering the prices for their essential services or their charge-out rates; hourly rates, mileage rates and other charge-out rates must cover complete service elements including value added tax (Price Indication Ordinance, section 12). Exempt are, among others, services customarily provided on the basis of an individual written cost estimate (Price Indication Ordinance, section 12 (4)). So a business that calculates every job individually is exempt from the list requirement — but the moment figures go onto the website, the requirements for total price and price clarity apply in full.
From-price with an entry case
State the amount and, in half a sentence, the service that genuinely exists at that price. Add the two or three factors that push the price up — property size, condition, travel distance. Without those details a from-price reads like bait.
Hourly rate with an increment
The rate alone is not enough. Next to it belong the billing increment, for example 15 minutes, the minimum charge, surcharges for emergency, evening and weekend work, and a note that the rate includes value added tax.
Travel as its own item
Name the travel flat rate, mileage rate or zone rule clearly and add the area it applies to. If travel is included in the price, say so explicitly — otherwise people ask, or they do not enquire at all.
- The stated total price includes VAT and is recognisable as the final amount.
- Where prices are broken down, the total sits visually ahead of the individual items.
- For hourly rates, increment, minimum charge and surcharges stand immediately alongside.
- The travel rule names an amount and an area, not just “travel charged as incurred”.
- Price ranges name the factors that determine where a job lands.
- Every price statement carries an as-of date or a validity period.
Price ranges are genuinely useful when they are meant honestly. “Between 1,800 and 3,200 euros, depending on roof pitch, access and the condition of the substructure” is a robust statement: it positions the job and names what drives the difference. In addition, the Price Indication Ordinance allows you to point out a willingness to negotiate the stated price where that corresponds to prevailing commercial practice (Price Indication Ordinance, section 3 (2)). Which format suits which service is a separate decision — the trade-off between a fixed figure, a range and a worked example is covered in the article on whether prices belong on your website.
A travel charge, cleanly worded
Discounts, struck-through prices and the 30-day rule
Announcing a price reduction for goods triggers an additional duty: you must state the lowest total price the trader applied towards consumers within the last 30 days (Price Indication Ordinance, section 11 (1)) before the reduction took effect. In practice that means: if you cut an item from 200 euros to 150 euros (Price Indication Ordinance, section 11) but sold it at 170 euros at some point in the preceding four weeks, the reference figure is 170 euros — not 200.
The ordinance provides exemptions. For progressively increased reductions, the reference price from the start of that sequence may be used instead of recalculating it daily (Price Indication Ordinance, section 11 (2)). Individually granted discounts are not covered either, nor are perishable goods or goods with a short shelf life where the reduction is made because of the risk of spoilage and this is pointed out (Price Indication Ordinance, section 11 (4)). The provision does not apply directly to services — there the general prohibition on misleading practices remains decisive.
This is exactly where the case law bites. A reference price must be readily ascertainable, the Higher Regional Court of Nuremberg held in proceedings on section 11 of the Price Indication Ordinance (Wettbewerbszentrale). The Federal Court of Justice has assessed price comparisons repeatedly, among them a pharmacy's price advertising referencing a health insurance settlement price (Federal Court of Justice, case I ZR 31/15); in a further case it prohibited the separate presentation of a booking fee alongside the airline fare that had to be shown (Federal Court of Justice). At the same time, a former-price reference reflecting the trader's own earlier price does not have to be explained in every case (Wettbewerbszentrale). Advertising a recommended retail price for own-brand products, where no genuine manufacturer recommendation existed, was also challenged (Wettbewerbszentrale).
That discounts noticeably shift behaviour is documented. In a representative survey commissioned by the Federation of German Consumer Organisations, 61 percent (Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband) of app users said discount apps had changed their shopping behaviour, and 67 percent (Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband) made additional purchases in order to obtain offers or benefits. Anyone working with that effect carries a corresponding responsibility for the accuracy of the reference figure.
| Type of discount | Permissible when | Typical mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage reduction on goods | the lowest total price of the last 30 days is named as the reference | The highest price ever charged is shown as the starting figure |
| Struck-through price next to the offer price | the struck-through amount was a price actually charged by the trader | A fantasy figure that only serves the contrast effect |
| Advertising a recommended retail price | a genuine and current manufacturer recommendation exists | A recommendation for own-brand goods that does not exist in that form |
| Introductory price | an end date and the later standard price are stated | The introductory price simply runs on indefinitely |
| New-customer discount | conditions, minimum term and exclusions are equally visible | The condition appears only in the terms and conditions |
The permanent discount is the most expensive one
The small-business VAT scheme: the note that belongs with it
Businesses using the German small-business VAT scheme do not show value added tax. The thresholds are set out in the VAT Act: total turnover in the previous year must not have exceeded 25,000 euros (VAT Act, section 19), and in the current year it must not exceed 100,000 euros (VAT Act, section 19). If the current-year threshold is exceeded, the scheme stops applying from that moment — with immediate effect on every price statement that is online.
For the website that has two consequences. Towards consumers little changes in the presentation, because the amount shown is the final price anyway; it simply contains no separately stated tax. Towards business customers the note matters, because an invoice without a tax line gives no input tax deduction. One sentence next to the price list saves the follow-up question and prevents the impression that the tax was simply forgotten.
Two formulations that hold
A practical note on switching: once the threshold is exceeded, the price presentation on the website has to change — not just the invoice template. Amounts that previously counted as tax-free final prices become gross prices with tax included, and the small-business note has to go. Anyone preparing that step lists the affected passages in advance: pricing page, service pages, downloads, quotation templates and legal pages.
Why a price list is not yet a binding offer
Under German law a price list on a website is generally not a binding contractual offer but an invitation to make one. The contract comes about when the customer orders or enquires and the business accepts. That is not a formality; it is the reason a typo in a figure does not immediately create a contract at that price. The business decides on acceptance — it merely has to actually make that decision and must not pre-empt it with an automatic confirmation.
That distinction does not, however, release anyone from the price indication duties. The Price Indication Ordinance already applies when a trader advertises to consumers with prices (Price Indication Ordinance, section 3 (1)) — not only at the point of contract. Competition law starts earlier too: material information such as the total price or, where it cannot be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is calculated belongs to the offer, as does the reference to additional freight, delivery and postal charges (Act Against Unfair Competition, section 5b (1)).
- As-of date: “Prices as of 1 August 2026” — one line that makes price changes traceable.
- Validity note: “Prices valid until 31 December 2026” for promotions and introductory prices.
- Scope: what the price covers and what it explicitly does not. Exclusions belong next to the figure, not in a submenu.
- Measured reservation: a note that a binding quotation follows an on-site assessment is fine; a blanket reservation for arbitrary price changes is not.
- Next step: a clear route to contact next to the figure, so the price list leads to an enquiry rather than a retreat.
Cost estimate, fixed price, price list
Four advertising claims that regularly attract attention
The second half of the topic is the advertising itself. It is unfair to make misleading statements (Act Against Unfair Competition, section 5) or to withhold material information that a consumer needs in order to make an informed transactional decision (Act Against Unfair Competition, section 5a (1)). Withholding expressly includes providing information in an unclear, unintelligible or ambiguous manner as well as providing it too late (Act Against Unfair Competition, section 5a (2)). Alongside that sits the Annex to section 3 (3) — a list of practices that are unlawful without any further assessment.
Superlatives without evidence
“The best company in the region”, “number one in the district”, “unbeatably cheap”: such claims to a leading position have to be provable, and specifically with a verifiable, clear and lasting advantage. Without evidence the claim is open to challenge. Factual alternatives carry further: years in business, the number of completed jobs, a documented response time.
Advertising with legal givens
It is unlawful to state untruthfully, or to create the false impression, that rights existing by law are a distinctive feature of the offer (Act Against Unfair Competition, Annex to section 3 (3), number 10). “Statutory warranty included” or “with statutory right of withdrawal” falls squarely under that.
Free with conditions attached
It is unlawful to describe goods or a service as “free”, “gratis”, “without charge” or similar when costs nevertheless have to be borne for it (Act Against Unfair Competition, Annex to section 3 (3), number 20). A free first appointment that requires a minimum contract term is therefore not free.
Claims without a link to the service
Quotes, awards and seals only work when it is clear who gave them, what they refer to and which period they come from. Without that link a trust signal turns into a point of attack — and a genuine reference into a worthless decorative element.
Advertising with legal givens is enforced regularly and hits very different sectors. Cases challenged include the promotion of commission-free flat rentals after the “orderer pays” principle had made commission-free letting the norm anyway, the labelling of raw sausage as gluten-free although raw sausage contains no gluten by nature, and the presentation of the legally required insolvency protection for package travel as a distinctive feature of the offer (Wettbewerbszentrale). The pattern is identical in all three: what applies anyway is not an advantage.
What the law grants regardless is no selling point — at best it is an explanation. The difference lies in a single word: “included” turns it into a benefit, “applies as a matter of course” turns it into information.
| Claim on the page | Why it is open to challenge | Robust alternative |
|---|---|---|
| “Best quality in the region” | Claim to a leading position without verifiable evidence | “At this location since 1998, more than 50 completed period-property renovation projects” |
| “Statutory warranty included” | Presenting a legal right as a distinctive feature (Annex to section 3 (3), number 10) | “In addition to the statutory warranty we cover the function of the installation for five years” |
| “Free initial consultation” with a contract commitment | Costs do arise after all (Annex to section 3 (3), number 20) | “Initial consultation of up to 30 minutes at no charge and with no obligation to buy” |
| “Our customers are delighted” | A statement without author, reference or period | A named, approved review with a date and a specifically identified service |
| “From 49 euros” without an entry case | A price without an identifiable object of reference | “From 49 euros for a visual inspection of a system up to 20 kilowatts, including VAT” |
The fourth point is less about a prohibition than about effect. A quote without a name, without a date and without a named service convinces hardly anyone while creating an opening for challenge. Which evidence supports reviews and what an approval looks like is covered in the article on customer reviews on your website; the same applies to logos, project photos and reference lists, set out in the article on client references and logos.
Wording you can adopt directly
The sentences below cover the cases that occur on almost every page of a trade, hospitality or service business. They are deliberately short and can be adapted without losing their meaning. The entries in square brackets stand for your own figures.
- Total price: “189.00 euros per year, including 19 percent VAT. Travel within the city included.”
- From-price: “From [amount] euros for [specific service in the standard case], including VAT. The price rises with [factor 1] and [factor 2].”
- Hourly rate: “[Amount] euros per hour, billed in 15-minute increments, minimum charge 30 minutes. All amounts include VAT.”
- Travel: “Travel flat rate [amount] euros within [radius] kilometres, beyond that [amount] euros per kilometre driven.”
- Price range: “Between [amount] and [amount] euros, depending on [factor 1], [factor 2] and [factor 3]. We name the exact price after an on-site look.”
- Discount on goods: “Instead of [lowest total price of the last 30 days] euros now [offer price] euros. The reference figure is the lowest total price of the last 30 days.”
- Small-business scheme: “All prices are final prices. As a small business within the meaning of section 19 of the German VAT Act, we do not show value added tax.”
- Business customers: “All prices are net plus statutory VAT. Our offer is aimed exclusively at companies, public authorities and self-employed professionals.”
- Non-binding nature: “This price list is an orientation and not a binding offer. We issue a binding quotation after assessing the work. Prices as of [date].”
- Extra service instead of a legal given: “In addition to the statutory warranty you receive [specific commitment of your own] for [period].”
One sentence that prevents a lot of follow-up
Legally correct and easy to understand are two requirements that need not contradict each other. Short main clauses, concrete amounts and named reference figures satisfy both at once. How to translate technical language into plain sentences without losing precision is shown in the article on writing website copy customers read.
When a cease-and-desist letter arrives
A cease-and-desist letter is unpleasant but a regulated procedure. It must state clearly and intelligibly who is issuing it, what the standing to claim is based on, how any reimbursement of expenses is composed and which specific infringement is objected to on which facts; it must also point out the exclusion of reimbursement where that applies (Act Against Unfair Competition, section 13 (2)). If the letter does not meet those requirements or is unjustified, the recipient has a claim to reimbursement of the expenses necessary for their legal defence (Act Against Unfair Competition, section 13 (5)).
- Note the deadline and take it seriously — the periods set are short, and ignoring them regularly leads to an interim injunction.
- Document the state complained of: screenshot of the page, date, page address. That is the basis of every later negotiation.
- Get legal advice before signing a pre-drafted cease-and-desist undertaking — it is usually drawn more widely than the point objected to.
- Assess the point on the website factually and, where it holds, correct it. The correction is not an admission of guilt but damage limitation.
- Apply the same check to all remaining pages so the same mistake does not sit in three other places.
- Record the matter and the correction internally so the change is not lost in the next site rebuild.
The undertaking is the expensive part
Keeping price presentation and mandatory notes together
Most objections arise not from ignorance but from drift. The price sits in the layout, the tax note in a free text field below it, the travel addition in a paragraph further down and the legal text on an entirely different page. When the price changes, the amount moves with it — the note stays put. After two years and four changes the page shows a combination nobody ever decided on.
In XICflow, price and package blocks are therefore set up as records rather than free layout. A price block has its own fields for amount, unit, currency, tax statement and additional note; the note is attached to the price, not to a text box beside it. A price change is thus a field change, and the mandatory detail is not lost along the way. In parallel, the legal pages are generated per domain, so price presentation and mandatory notes come into being together instead of in separate work steps.
Price block with mandatory fields
Amount, unit, currency and tax statement are separate fields. The additional note — travel, validity, small-business note — is attached to the block and travels with every change.
Packages with the same structure
Three tiers with identically built feature lists, one highlighted recommendation and a field for exclusions in each. What is not included sits next to the price instead of in a footnote.
Legal pages per domain
Imprint, privacy policy and the other mandatory pages are generated per domain from the business's own data. Pricing page and legal pages therefore stay on the same footing.
How a pricing page with total prices, scope next to the figure and a clear next step is structured can be seen on the overview of plans and credits. Which blocks are available for prices, packages and notes is shown by the product overview with Flow Builder and Flow Design, and the route from the first sketch to the published page is described on the page about how a website comes together. If you are looking for the comparison with other routes to a website, you will find it in the overview of the differences; the mandatory pages themselves are covered in the article on imprint and privacy policy.
The real work happens before the website
Sources and studies