Choosing a trustmark for your online shop: 7 questions to ask first

1. Is it a trustmark or mainly a review platform?

Some providers assess your shop’s substance up front and then periodically. Others mainly collect reviews and show a score. Both can be valuable, but a star rating is not an assessment of your terms. So look at exactly what is evaluated before a logo goes on your site.

Also ask how reviews and assessment relate to each other. Does the review score count towards the trustmark? And can a business lose the trustmark because of persistent, justified complaints?

2. What is assessed, and how often?

Ask about the assessment criteria: business details, terms and conditions, right of withdrawal, privacy notice, price information, delivery and complaint handling. Are the criteria published? Is there only a check at sign-up, or also annually or by spot checks, for example with test purchases?

Also ask who carries out the assessment and what happens if you no longer meet the requirements. Do you get time to put things right, is the trustmark withdrawn, and is that publicly visible? A trustmark that never suspends anyone tells customers little.

The Dutch consumer association Consumentenbond compares how thoroughly various online shop trustmarks check shops in its own overview. An independent comparison like that is a good starting point.

• Consumentenbond: trustmarks for online shops (in Dutch)

3. What happens in a dispute?

For customers this is often the most important difference. Does the trustmark offer a complaints procedure, an independent disputes committee that issues binding decisions, mediation, or just a referral? And what happens if an online shop does not comply with a decision?

Look at your side too: who pays the costs of a dispute procedure, and what is expected of you if a committee rules in the customer’s favour? Check this before you join.

Watch out for outdated references: the EU’s online dispute resolution (ODR) platform closed on 20 July 2025. A trustmark or terms that only refer customers to that platform no longer help them.

A good dispute procedure is valuable for you too: a customer who knows where to turn if something goes wrong may feel more confident ordering from a shop they do not know yet.

4. Can customers check that your logo is genuine?

A trustworthy trustmark links its logo to a certificate or profile page on the trustmark organisation’s own domain, showing your business name and validity. That protects you too: if a fake shop copies your trustmark, customers can tell the difference.

Place the logo where it makes sense, such as in the checkout and the footer, and use the trustmark’s official code or file. That keeps the link to your certificate working.

Check now and then that your logo still links to the right page, for example after your website has been redesigned.

The reverse is prohibited: displaying a trustmark or quality mark without the necessary authorisation is on the EU blacklist of unfair commercial practices. So remove a logo immediately when your membership ends.

5. How does the trustmark handle reviews?

Does the trustmark also collect reviews? Then ask how they are checked, whether negative reviews remain visible and whether reviews with proof of purchase are labelled separately. Since the Omnibus Directive, you need to be able to explain on your own website how the reviews you show come about.

Also ask what happens to your reviews if you cancel later. Reviews are written by your customers; a fair platform does not simply delete them because you leave. On trustmark.site, reviews are not removed merely because a subscription ends.

• The Omnibus Directive and reviews: what do you need to sort out?

6 and 7. What does it cost, and does it suit your market?

Compare prices only on the basis of current, published information, and look at set-up fees, annual costs and what each plan includes, such as widgets, invitations and integrations with your shop software. A higher price does not automatically mean a stricter assessment, and a paid plan must never influence the outcome of an assessment.

Also look at the contract term, notice period and whether there is a trial period. A trustmark that ties you in for a year up front asks for more trust in advance.

If you sell mainly in one country, a trustmark your customers there recognise is valuable. If you also sell in neighbouring countries, check whether the trustmark is known there and whether it offers multilingual profiles and widgets.

All seven questions at a glance:

• A trustmark or mainly a review platform?
• Published criteria and periodic checks?
• A dispute procedure that genuinely helps customers?
• A logo that links to a verifiable page?
• Fair handling of reviews, including negative ones?
• Clear costs with no influence on the outcome?
• Recognised by your customers, in your countries?

• Compare trustmarks
• View plans

Where trustmark.site stands

At trustmark.site, a review score, a claimed profile, a verified purchase and a trustmark status are four separate signals. A trustmark status only results from an independent assessment of your application; a subscription does not change the outcome, and applicants cannot approve themselves.

Each business profile shows these signals separately. If it says ‘Not certified’, no trustmark has been granted, even if the business has a profile or reviews.

Formal dispute mediation by trustmark.site is still being prepared; we would rather be honest about that up front. The current application route is set up for Dutch businesses with a Chamber of Commerce (KvK) number; businesses in other countries should contact us.

Want to prepare an application? Get your business details, terms and conditions, returns or cancellation policy and privacy notice in order; our checklist helps you do that.

• What a trustmark status means
• Apply for a trustmark
• How we make money
• Preparing for certification: checklist