Early on Friday morning, the Bundestag passed regulations to strengthen consumer protection in competition and trade law.
"It must finally come to an end that older people in particular are often put under pressure and ripped off on so-called 'coffee trips'," said Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD).
The new law would better protect consumers "from these lousy business practices".
The new regulations include, for example, comprehensive notification obligations for the benefit of consumers. In the future, online marketplaces such as Amazon or Ebay will have to disclose the essential criteria for their rankings of search results. In addition, they must inform consumers whether the potential contractual partners are entrepreneurs or consumers.
The law aims to protect older consumers in particular from unfair business practices.
The new law, for example, provides for a regulation according to which consumers may not be asked to pay before the end of the day on which the contract is signed for contracts that have come about as part of an unsolicited visit to the home.
In addition, the sale of financial services, food supplements and medical products on coffee trips will be prohibited in the future.
The fines for violations will be increased from 1,000 euros to 10,000 euros.
Advertising in online networks should also be more recognizable in the future - this applies to influencers, for example.
Labeling is not necessary if the advertiser has not received any money or similar consideration from a company.