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As an eCommerce business, you engage in distance selling when selling products online. Specific laws apply to distance selling for consumer protection, which details certain information, such as cancellation rights. One of the critical consumer laws you need to know about consumer rights is the Consumer Contract Regulations. This article will explain four crucial points about the Consumer Contract Regulations for online businesses.
What Are the Consumer Contract Regulations?
The full name of the Consumer Contract Regulations is the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. However, people commonly refer to them as the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 for ease.
The Consumer Contract Regulations are a piece of UK law that details obligations for eCommerce businesses because you trade online with consumers. These include rules such as ensuring :
- you describe the products that you sell accurately;
- you provide full details of your business, which includes your address and telephone number;
- you include details of the rights your online customer have to cancel their purchase, such as how to do so; and
- when you provide a refund, you do so promptly.
What Do I Need to Know About the Consumer Contract Regulations for Online Businesses?
There are many points that online businesses like yours need to know about the Consumer Contract Regulations. We will explore some key points for e-commerce businesses to understand below.
1. Providing a Breakdown of Costs
A key point to note about the Consumer Contract Regulations is that they require you, as an eCommerce business, to provide a breakdown of costs for what you sell. This applies whether you are:
- selling goods online;
- providing services online or
- providing digital content online.
Providing a breakdown of costs for your online business means that you must:
- show what the cost of delivery of any product is;
- explain the options for delivery
- explain who pays for costs to return goods;
- say what the taxes are; and
- how long the products will stay at their price.
2. Pre-ticked Boxes Are Prohibited
It is important to note that the Consumer Contract Regulations make it unlawful to include pre-ticked boxes. You cannot do this in terms of using them to try to sell extra products or services to your online customers.
3. Digital Content
A third key point to understand about the Consumer Contract Regulations as an online business is your obligations regarding digital content.
Download this free Commercial Contracts Checklist to ensure your contracts will meet your business’ needs.
If you sell digital content, the Regulations require you to inform your customers about its compatibility with hardware and software and provide details about its functionality.
4. Consumer Contract Obligations After Ordering
As an eCommerce business, an important point to know about the Consumer Contract Regulations is your obligations after ordering. In addition to rules you must comply with before a sale, the two key things you must do after orders are:
- provide your customer with a copy of their contract; and
- deliver the goods.
A contract must be in a format your online customer can retain, such as paper or email. They must have this by the time they receive their goods.
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Key Takeaways
As an online business distance selling to consumers, the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 apply to you. These are detailed rules about what you must and must not do when you sell your goods and services. This article describes four key points to understand about the Regulations. The first is the obligation to provide a breakdown of your customer’s online purchase costs. Another helpful fact is that you do not include pre-ticked boxes when selling your goods and services.
It is also essential to know that there are rules on what information to provide for the material you sell. Also, when you sell online, you have two obligations after your customers order. These are to give them a copy of their contract and deliver their goods within 30 days.
If you need help understanding key points about the Consumer Contract Regulations for online businesses, LegalVision’s experienced eCommerce lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
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