Legal & Compliance

When selling digital products to EU customers, VAT rules apply:

How It Works

• • VAT is charged based on customer's country
• • Rates vary: 17% (Luxembourg) to 27% (Hungary)
• • Germany: 19%, France: 20%, etc.

What Gleam Does

• • Automatically detects customer location
• • Calculates correct VAT rate
• • Shows VAT-inclusive price at checkout
• • Collects VAT on your behalf

Important

• • You may need to register for VAT OSS
• • Consult a tax advisor for your situation
• • Keep records of all EU sales

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies to all EU customers:

What You Must Do

• • Have a privacy policy
• • Only collect necessary data
• • Allow data deletion requests
• • Report data breaches

What Gleam Handles

• • Secure data storage
• • Privacy policy template
• • Cookie consent banner
• • Data export/deletion tools

Customer Data You Receive

• • Email address
• • Name (if provided)
• • Country
• • Purchase history

German law requires an "Impressum" for commercial websites:

Required Information

• • Full legal name
• • Address (no P.O. boxes)
• • Contact email
• • Phone number (recommended)
• • VAT ID (if applicable)
• • Trade register number (if applicable)

Penalties

• • Fines up to €50,000
• • Competitor lawsuits
• • Customer trust issues

Gleam Provides

• • Auto-generated Impressum page
• • Uses your business info from Settings
• • Always accessible from checkout

EU consumers have a 14-day withdrawal right:

The Rule

• • Customers can cancel within 14 days
• • No reason needed
• • Full refund required

Digital Goods Exception

• • Right is waived once download begins
• • Must inform customer before purchase
• • Customer must explicitly consent

Gleam's Approach

• • Clear notice at checkout
• • Consent checkbox for downloads
• • Honor reasonable refund requests anyway

This builds trust and reduces disputes.

Your terms protect both you and customers:

What to Include

• • What you're selling
• • Delivery method
• • Refund policy
• • Usage rights/license
• • Liability limits

Gleam Provides

• • Template terms of service
• • Linked from checkout page
• • Customizable for your needs

License Considerations

• • Personal use only?
• • Commercial use allowed?
• • Redistribution rights?
• • Number of devices/users?

Avoid these legal pitfalls:

Missing Legal Pages

• ✗ No Impressum = fines
• ✗ No privacy policy = GDPR violation
• ✓ Gleam generates these for you

Wrong VAT Handling

• ✗ Not charging VAT to EU customers
• ✗ Charging wrong rates
• ✓ Gleam calculates automatically

Unclear Terms

• ✗ No refund policy stated
• ✗ Vague product descriptions
• ✓ Be clear about what's included

Data Issues

• ✗ Collecting unnecessary data
• ✗ No consent for marketing
• ✓ Only collect what you need