ng taxes to the purchaser; and make shipping costs clear to the purchaser; and remind the purchaser that he or she has a right to cancel the purchase.

Now this may seem quite a lot to take on board but the chances are you already have most of it covered anyway. Nearly everyone provides the first four details regardless of local legal requirements. It’s just good business practice.

It is the last point, reminding the purchaser that he or she has a right t

The European market is a multi-billion $ sector which you can not afford to ignore. If you are based within Europe, American or Canada you must be aware of the legal restrictions and requirements or face a hefty fine which could close your business. Don’t panic! I am going to make this so simple you can’t go wrong.

The aim of this article is to guide you through the very simple steps required to comply with European law when selling goods online.

The law concerning these matters is widely similar throughout Europe but the advice given below relates specifically to English & Welsh law.

And if you think you don’t need to comply because you are outside Europe and nobody enforces one country’s laws in another country, you are wrong! International co-operation has never been stronger and jurisdiction laws may allow English consumers to sue you in the English courts – forcing you to incur considerable legal expenses defending a claim in a distant country.

Print this now and keep it by your to-do list so your next website update adapts the key principles outlined.

Let’s start with step one.

Step One

The aim of the law is to protect consumers and retailers and bolster confidence in online transactions. Put simply the law protects all, not just the purchaser. The relevant body of law is found in one document, the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling Regulations). These Regulations have been altered a little recently but this is not of great concern to this article.

Now we know where to find the law, lets look at what it does in step two.

Step Two

The law forces the seller, before the sum is debited from the purchaser, to:-

provide the purchaser with the identity and address of the supplier; and describe the characteristics of the goods to the purchaser; and show the price of the goods including taxes to the purchaser; and make shipping costs clear to the purchaser; and remind the purchaser that he or she has a right to cancel the purchase.

Now this may seem quite a lot to take on board but the chances are you already have most of it covered anyway. Nearly everyone provides the first four details regardless of local legal requirements. It’s just good business practice.

It is the last point, reminding the purchaser that he or she has a right to

cerning these matters is widely similar throughout Europe but the advice given below relates specifically to English & Welsh law.

And if you think you don’t need to comply because you are outside Europe and nobody enforces one country’s laws in another country, you are wrong! International co-operation has never been stronger and jurisdiction laws may allow English consumers to sue you in the English courts – forcing you to incur considerable legal expenses defending a claim in a distant country.

Print this now and keep it by your to-do list so your next website update adapts the key principles outlined.

Let’s start with step one.

Step One

The aim of the law is to protect consumers and retailers and bolster confidence in online transactions. Put simply the law protects all, not just the purchaser. The relevant body of law is found in one document, the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling Regulations). These Regulations have been altered a little recently but this is not of great concern to this article.

Now we know where to find the law, lets look at what it does in step two.

Step Two

The law forces the seller, before the sum is debited from the purchaser, to:-

provide the purchaser with the identity and address of the supplier; and describe the characteristics of the goods to the purchaser; and show the price of the goods including taxes to the purchaser; and make shipping costs clear to the purchaser; and remind the purchaser that he or she has a right to cancel the purchase.

Now this may seem quite a lot to take on board but the chances are you already have most of it covered anyway. Nearly everyone provides the first four details regardless of local legal requirements. It’s just good business practice.

It is the last point, reminding the purchaser that he or she has a right t

ing a claim in a distant country.

Print this now and keep it by your to-do list so your next website update adapts the key principles outlined.

Let’s start with step one.

Step One

The aim of the law is to protect consumers and retailers and bolster confidence in online transactions. Put simply the law protects all, not just the purchaser. The relevant body of law is found in one document, the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling Regulations). These Regulations have been altered a little recently but this is not of great concern to this article.

Now we know where to find the law, lets look at what it does in step two.

Step Two

The law forces the seller, before the sum is debited from the purchaser, to:-

provide the purchaser with the identity and address of the supplier; and describe the characteristics of the goods to the purchaser; and show the price of the goods including taxes to the purchaser; and make shipping costs clear to the purchaser; and remind the purchaser that he or she has a right to cancel the purchase.

Now this may seem quite a lot to take on board but the chances are you already have most of it covered anyway. Nearly everyone provides the first four details regardless of local legal requirements. It’s just good business practice.

It is the last point, reminding the purchaser that he or she has a right t

s). These Regulations have been altered a little recently but this is not of great concern to this article.

Now we know where to find the law, lets look at what it does in step two.

Step Two

The law forces the seller, before the sum is debited from the purchaser, to:-

provide the purchaser with the identity and address of the supplier; and describe the characteristics of the goods to the purchaser; and show the price of the goods including taxes to the purchaser; and make shipping costs clear to the purchaser; and remind the purchaser that he or she has a right to cancel the purchase.

Now this may seem quite a lot to take on board but the chances are you already have most of it covered anyway. Nearly everyone provides the first four details regardless of local legal requirements. It’s just good business practice.

It is the last point, reminding the purchaser that he or she has a right t

ng taxes to the purchaser; and make shipping costs clear to the purchaser; and remind the purchaser that he or she has a right to cancel the purchase.

Now this may seem quite a lot to take on board but the chances are you already have most of it covered anyway. Nearly everyone provides the first four details regardless of local legal requirements. It’s just good business practice.

It is the last point, reminding the purchaser that he or she has a right to cancel, which is so important. We will look at this in step three

Step Three

However, the purchaser can notify you that he or she wants to cancel the purchase in a variety of ways – the most likely being my email, telephone call or fax.

In general the consumer must let you know they wish to cancel within seven working days. These seven working days start one day after the day on which the purchase was made. As long as the purchaser contacts you within this period they are entitled to cancel their purchase.

Even if the goods have arrived with the purchaser the right to cancel still exists. Now the law is not as short-sighted as you may expect. There will clearly be cases where common sense dictates certain items can not be returned or certain orders cancelled. These exceptions to the right to return/refund are discussed in step four.

Step Four

The most likely exception to be of use to e-commerce sellers is for goods which are made to specification or are clearly personalised.

One of our businesses is selling silver jewellery and if a customer orders an item which is engraved with his or her name then it would be useless if returned as we could not sell it on.

Items which by their nature can not be returned are also exempt. We make it clear in our shipping & returns panel for both of our businesses that we can not accept returns for body jewellery or earrings with Purdice Jewellery and bath products for Purdice Home.

Another exception vital for internet retailers is where goods are liable to deteriorate rapidly. Fresh food goes rotten very quickly and a right to return may be of little use to the retailer if the food arrives in a rotten condition. One must remember that the seven day refund applies to otherwise good items which the purchaser simply no longer wants. This exception is therefore vital