Does my online shop need terms and conditions?

Formally, terms are voluntary: § 305 BGB obliges nobody to use them. In practice they are indispensable in consumer trade, because many information duties must be met before the contract — and that needs a text.

Short answer

There is no statutory obligation to use terms; § 305 BGB leaves it up to you.
In B2C trade the terms in practice fulfil the pre-contractual information duties of Art. 246a EGBGB.
Terms only become part of the contract if the customer could reasonably read them before ordering.
Invalid clauses, such as a blanket exclusion of warranty towards consumers, simply drop out.
Copied terms are protected by copyright and at the same time a frequent ground for warnings.

What belongs in a shop's terms

Scope, and whether you sell to consumers, businesses, or both.
How the contract is formed — the product listing is the customer's offer, not yours.
Prices, shipping costs and the accepted payment methods.
Delivery times, partial deliveries and the passing of risk.
Warranty, any retention of title and a reference to the withdrawal policy.

A practical example

Example: a shop states in its terms that the contract is formed with the order confirmation e-mail. If an item is then unavailable, the merchant is bound to a delivery it cannot make. Better wording: the automatic acknowledgement is not yet an acceptance, and the contract is formed with the dispatch notice.

Common mistakes

Copying terms from another shop — that infringes copyright and rarely fits your own range.
Excluding warranty towards consumers or cutting it to one year.
Linking the terms only in the footer without any confirmation step in checkout.
Mixing the withdrawal policy and the terms into one impenetrable text.

How 4shopy helps

Terms, withdrawal policy and privacy notice are separate pages with their own URLs.
The checkout requires active confirmation and stores the version valid at the time of the order.
Changes are versioned, so you can later prove which text applied.