The same is true in the Netherlands, customers can return something within 14 days (in fact I think they only have to initiate a return within 14 days, the retailer may not receive it for a while). The retailer is not required to pay for return shipping, or to refund the initial shipping costs. Many retailers do, however.
Recently I've been buying one of the most likely-to-return things I regularly purchase (running shoes) online. Two out of four have been returned, and the seller (Zalando) reimburses shipping costs and pays for return shipment. Hopefully the have negotiated some nice rates with the post office...
Edit: Amazon even started to block accounts when they returned too frequently (link in german) http://www.golem.de/news/verbraucherschutz-amazon-sperrt-kun...
The Atlantic article doesn't mention Germany, but is has been a issue for years over there.