Händlerbund „Käufersiegel“
A legally focused seal – audited by lawyers specialising in online law.
What this seal checks
around 130 lawyer-drafted criteria
- Complete, permanently visible company details (name, legal form, address)
- Compliance with the rules on distance selling, e-commerce and data protection
- Buyer protection at payment: certified payment providers (e.g. PayPal, Klarna) or purchase on invoice
- Complete, transparent price information including VAT and shipping costs
- Transparent withdrawal notice with a sample form
- A clear ordering process with an overview and a recognisable obligation to pay
Before it is awarded, lawyers audit the shop against the criteria catalogue. The certificate is then valid for around three years.
How to check whether it's genuine
- 1Click the seal – it must open an individual certificate page on kaeufersiegel.de.
- 2Check whether the certificate page explicitly names the shop you visited.
- 3If nothing opens or only a generic page appears, the seal is not genuine.
A real certificate or just an image?
A genuine seal leads, on click, to a valid certificate that names exactly this shop. A fake, by contrast, is just a logo – with no working proof.
Every genuine seal links to an individual certificate page with its own identifier (kaeufersiegel.de/zertifikat/?uuid=…) that names exactly this shop.
Käufersiegel – kaeufersiegel.deA copied Käufersiegel emblem without a working, shop-specific certificate page (kaeufersiegel.de/zertifikat/?uuid=…) is a forgery.
Quick check for any seal
These four points apply regardless of the provider.
Click on the seal
A genuine seal is always linked and leads to a certificate page at the provider. If the logo is just an image and not clickable, the most important proof is missing.
The certificate must name this shop
The destination page must explicitly show the shop you came from – with the matching domain. A generic “valid” with no reference to the specific shop is not enough.
Look it up in the official list
Every reputable provider keeps a public, searchable list of certified shops. If the shop is missing there even though it displays the seal, that is a clear warning sign.
Check the status and date
Check the certificate status (valid / revoked) and the date. Expired or revoked certificates do not count – nor do seals from programmes that no longer exist.
Context on this seal
Stiftung Warentest assessment
In the Warentest comparison, Händlerbund refused to certify a deliberately flawed test shop – an indication of a thorough legal review.
Cost for merchants
Chargeable for retailers (provider figure of around €19.90/month in the first year, tied to a Händlerbund membership).
A paid seal is not proof of authenticity, but a signal of legitimacy.
Does a shop carry this seal – rightfully?
Our fake-shop check automatically detects seals without a valid certificate link – together with over 30 more trust signals.
Check a shop for freeMore trust seals
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DEActiveEHI „Geprüfter Online-Shop“
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The first German online-shop seal – with the strictest catalogue of legal texts.
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DEDiscontinuedTÜV Süd „s@fer shopping“
Shop certification
Caution: discontinued in 2021. An s@fer-shopping seal shown today is a warning sign.
Seal explainedFakeshop AI has no business relationship with the seal providers mentioned here and is neither authorised nor commissioned by them. This overview is independent, editorial consumer information. All brand names, seal names and logos belong to their respective owners and are shown only for explanation and recognition. Information is provided to the best of our knowledge and without guarantee – the respective provider is always authoritative.