Value MY Trade In

Selling To The Public

Did you know?

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• Private buyers can return items after 14 days

• If buyers are not made aware then they have 12 months to cancel (in store sales)

• Online sales have 28 days and can return items for no reason at all

• Include pictures buckets, cutting decks etc

Selling online including Ebay

Before an order is placed

You must provide:

• your business name, contact details and address

• a description of your goods or services

• the price, including all taxes

• how a customer can pay

• delivery arrangements, costs and how long goods will take to arrive

• the minimum length of their contract and billing period

• conditions for ending contracts

• how they can cancel and when they lose the right to cancel

• if they will still need to pay reasonable costs for using a service after they cancel

• a standard cancellation form, if they can cancel

• conditions for money given as a deposit or financial guarantees

• what digital content does (for example, the language it’s in or how to update software)

• the cost of using phone lines or other communication to complete the contract where it will cost more than the basic rate

This information must be easy to understand and on paper, in an email or another format the customer can save for future reference.

Right to cancel

You must tell the customer they can cancel their order up to 14 days after their order is delivered. They do not need to give a reason for cancelling.

If you do not tell the customer about their right to cancel, they can cancel at any time in the next 12 months. If you tell them about the right to cancel during these 12 months, they have 14 days to cancel from when you told them.

After an order is placed

You must:

• provide a copy of the contract on paper, by email or another format the customer can save for future reference

• provide the copy of the contract no later than when the goods are delivered

• deliver the goods within 30 days, unless you’ve agreed otherwise with the customer

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Online, mail and phone order sales

Online, mail and telephone order customers have the right to cancel their order for a limited time even if the goods are not faulty. Sales of this kind are known as ‘distance selling’.

You must offer a refund to customers if they’ve told you within 14 days of receiving their goods that they want to cancel. They have another 14 days to return the goods once they’ve told you.

You must refund the customer within 14 days of receiving the goods back. They do not have to provide a reason.

Repairs and replacements

If a customer has ‘accepted’ an item, but later discovers a fault, you may have to repair or replace it. The customer can still reject the item after it’s been repaired or replaced.

A customer has accepted an item if they’ve:

• told you they’ve accepted it (having had enough opportunity to inspect the item before confirming they’ve received it)

• altered the item

You must repair or replace an item if a customer returns it within 6 months - unless you can prove it was not faulty when they bought it.

You can ask a customer to prove an item was faulty when they bought it if they ask for a repair or replacement after 6 months.

Customers have up to 6 years to make a claim for an item they’ve bought from you (5 years in Scotland).

Warranties and guarantees

A customer has the same right to free repairs or a replacement regardless of whether they have a warranty or guarantee or not. So you may still have to repair or replace goods if a customer’s warranty or guarantee has run out.

Proof of purchase

You can ask the customer for proof that they bought an item from you. This could be a sales receipt or other evidence such as a bank statement or packaging.

Items returned by someone other than the buyer

You only have to accept returns from the person who bought the item.

Penalties for displaying notices

It’s illegal to display any notice that deliberately misleads consumers or deceives them about their rights, for example a sign that says you do not accept returns or offer refunds.