Retail & Consumer Goods

Distance Selling and E-Commerce

Comply with Consumer Contracts Regulations for online, phone, and mail order sales.

UK-wide
Guide summary

You must give customers a 14-day cooling-off period for online, phone, or mail order sales. Provide clear information about your business, prices, and delivery before checkout. Refund returns within 14 days and never charge restocking fees.

  • Give customers 14 days to cancel orders
  • Refund returns within 14 days of receiving goods
  • Never charge restocking fees
  • Customer pays return shipping unless you offer free returns
  • Provide business name, address, and contact details
  • Show total price including VAT before checkout
  • Deliver within 30 days unless agreed otherwise
  • Risk passes to customer on delivery, not dispatch
  • Missing cancellation rights extends cooling-off to 12 months
  • Breaching rules can lead to unlimited fines
On this page
UK-wide

Related guides in E-commerce

The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give consumers additional rights when buying online, by phone, or by mail order. These 'distance selling' rules are in addition to the Consumer Rights Act.

Important: No restocking fees

You cannot charge restocking fees when customers exercise their cancellation right. This is illegal under the Consumer Contracts Regulations. You can only deduct from the refund if the customer has used the goods beyond what was necessary to check them.