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Regulations and Laws For Selling Online

dotBiz logo If you're thinking of dipping your toe into selling your goods or services online, remember that, as well as the usual regulations about quality and suitability with which all businesses should comply, there are extra ones if you sell at a distance or online. These also apply if you sell via a catalogues, the telephone, fax or even digital TV.

Let's start with The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations – really rolls of the tongue, doesn't it? In a nutshell, these require you to provide your customers with specific information before they place an order with you, send an order confirmation, and give customers the opportunity to cancel their order.

You must tell them your business name and postal address when advance payment is required, a clear description of the goods or services, prices (including all taxes); any delivery costs along with when and how they should expect delivery; arrangements for making payment; their right to cancel the order and who’s responsible for delivery costs if they do cancel; for how long prices are valid, and the minimum duration of any contracts.

Remember, customers have the unconditional right to cancel an agreement up to seven days after the goods have been delivered or a service contract has been agreed. This is the "cooling-off period". To cancel, they must notify you by letter, fax or email, and their payment should be refunded within 30 days at most. There are some exceptions to the cooling-off period – for example transport, accommodation, leisure or catering services, goods that are made to the customer's specification, and so it goes on – drop me an email if you want the full list.

As well as all that, there are privacy and data protection laws to comply with when getting in touch with your customers or processing any of their personal information.

That's a lot to remember, isn’t there – and that's not even all of what you need to do! If you're contemplating going it alone and setting up the facility to sell online yourself, you should have a look at Office of Fair Trading website for more information. They have a guide that you can download to keep handy. Alternatively, when you choose your website designer, make sure that they are familiar with all the relevant rules and regulations.