The European regulation coming into effect at the end of 2026 changes the rules of the game for online buyers. Between the new framework for installment payments and customs fees on small packages from outside the EU, the purchasing habits that worked two years ago are no longer sufficient. Successfully shopping online now requires mastering these changes even before comparing prices.
Online Installment Payments: What the European Directive 2023/2225 Changes
The “buy now, pay later” scheme is coming out of legal ambiguity. Starting from November 20, 2026, the European directive 2023/2225, transposed in France by orders n° 2025-880 and n° 2025-1154, classifies installment payments as consumer credit. The total cost, duration, and conditions must be clearly stated at the time of choosing the payment method.
In practical terms, a merchant offering payment in three or four installments will have to display the same information as a traditional credit institution. For the buyer, the direct consequence is simple: compare the actual cost of the installment plan before confirming a cart. A product listed at an attractive price can become more expensive than a competitor if the installment fees are high.
We recommend systematically checking the interest rate and the total amount due before choosing this option. Platforms that aggregate web offers, such as Les Affaires du Net, allow for comparing final prices among several merchants before committing to a payment method.
Customs Fees on Non-EU Packages: The Impact on Low-Priced Purchases
Since July 1, 2026, a customs fee of 3 euros per category of item applies to imported packages valued at 150 euros or less. A complementary reform provides for processing fees per item shipped from a third country, to be collected by November 1, 2026, at the latest.
This mechanism directly targets platforms that ship very low-priced products from Asia. On an item sold for 8 euros, a 3 euro customs fee represents an increase of more than one-third. The financial incentive to order from outside the EU significantly decreases for small purchases.
Before confirming an order on a site based outside the European Union, we advise calculating the delivered price including all taxes and customs fees. The relevant reflex is to compare this total with the price from a European seller for the same product or an equivalent.
- Check the actual shipping country of the product (often indicated at the bottom of the product page, not in the title)
- Add the 3 euro customs fee per category to the displayed price to estimate the actual cost
- Prefer sellers with a warehouse in the EU if the final price is comparable, to also reduce delivery times
Online Fraud: Risk Areas Beyond Card Payments
Fraud is no longer concentrated on the payment page. Oneytrust’s annual report for 2026 describes a shift in abuses towards installment payments, gift cards, promotions, returns, and refunds. A buyer can fall victim to a scam without their credit card being compromised.
Fake promotions remain a major vector. An artificially inflated crossed-out price, a discount calculated on a rate that no one has ever paid: these practices persist despite controls. The Omnibus directive, however, requires displaying the lowest price from the last 30 days before any discount.
Return conditions deserve as much attention as payment security. A third-party seller on a marketplace may apply different return conditions than those of the host platform. Reading the return conditions of the actual seller, not those of the marketplace, avoids unpleasant surprises.
- Check that the crossed-out price corresponds to the lowest price practiced in the previous 30 days
- Identify the seller actually responsible for the order (third-party seller or marketplace)
- Verify the refund terms: timeframe, form (credit or transfer), and eligibility conditions
- Be wary of gift cards resold outside official channels, often linked to fraudulent transactions
Personal Data Security and Online Purchases
The quality of an online purchase is not measured solely by price. The management of personal data by the merchant has a direct impact on the buyer’s security in the medium term. A site that collects more data than necessary exposes its customers to increased risk in the event of a breach.
We observe that sites that request a phone number without a delivery-related reason often indicate excessive data collection. The GDPR imposes a principle of minimization: a merchant should only collect data strictly necessary for the transaction.
On the payment side, strong authentication (3D Secure 2) remains the standard. If a site does not trigger any additional verification during a credit card payment, it is a warning signal. The overall decline in credit card fraud in France should not obscure the fact that sites without strong authentication concentrate a disproportionate share of incidents.
One last technical point often overlooked: account creation. Prefer guest checkout when possible to limit data exposure. An account created on a little-known merchant site is one more account likely to be compromised during a future data breach.
Taking advantage of the best web offers relies less on hunting for promotions than on the ability to evaluate the actual cost of an order. Customs fees, installment costs, and the return conditions of the actual seller: these three checks, done before clicking “pay,” prevent most disappointments.
