When an online order goes wrong, the retailer’s returns policy is not the final word. You may have bought something that does not fit, received faulty goods or waited for a parcel that never arrived. Each situation has different legal rules. Understanding online shopping consumer rights in the UK helps you request the remedy you are actually entitled to.
Which laws protect online shoppers?
The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 provide a cooling-off period for most eligible distance purchases. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 separately requires goods to be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. A store cannot remove statutory rights through its own terms.
These protections generally apply when you buy from a business, including one selling through an online marketplace. Buying from a private individual may provide fewer statutory remedies, although marketplace buyer protection might help. Check the seller’s status before ordering.
How does the 14-day cancellation period work?
For most eligible goods bought online, you can cancel without giving a reason until 14 days after the day you receive them. If one order arrives in separate deliveries, the period normally runs from receipt of the last item.
Tell the retailer you are cancelling before the deadline, ideally by email or its cancellation form. You then normally have another 14 days to send the goods back. Keep evidence of both your cancellation notice and postage.
Who pays return postage and when is a refund due?
For a change-of-mind return, you may need to pay return postage if the retailer informed you of that responsibility before purchase. The shop must normally refund the product price plus the cost of its cheapest standard delivery option, even if you paid extra for express shipping.
Refunds must be issued without undue delay, generally within 14 days after the retailer receives the goods or evidence that you sent them back. Different timing applies if the retailer agreed to collect. The refund normally goes to the original payment method.
You can inspect goods as you would in a shop. Handling or using them excessively may justify a deduction for diminished value, but opening a box alone does not automatically cancel your legal rights.
When does the right to change your mind not apply?
Online returns law has exceptions. Examples include genuinely personalised goods, rapidly perishable products and certain sealed health or hygiene items once unsealed. Some event tickets and accommodation bookings for specified dates are also excluded.
Digital downloads have special rules. You can lose the cancellation right when supply starts if you expressly agreed to immediate supply and acknowledged the consequence. Services generally have a 14-day cancellation period from the contract date, but you may owe an appropriate amount for work you expressly requested during that period.
These limits concern changing your mind, not a trader’s duty to remedy faulty goods.
What if a product is faulty or misdescribed?
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 generally gives you a short-term right to reject goods that breach its standards for a full refund within 30 days of delivery. This right is separate from the 14-day cooling-off period and does not require you to accept store credit. Special timing rules can apply to perishable or installed goods.
After the initial period, repair or replacement is normally the first remedy. If that is impossible, fails or cannot be provided within a reasonable time without significant inconvenience, you may have a right to a price reduction or final rejection. For problems discovered within six months, a fault is generally presumed to have existed at delivery unless the trader demonstrates otherwise or the presumption does not fit the circumstances.
Rights can last longer than six months, depending on durability and evidence. The commonly mentioned six years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or five years in Scotland, concern possible legal claims; they are not guarantees that every product must last that long. A warranty’s expiry does not automatically end statutory protection.
For more detail, explore our guide to faulty goods refund rights.
What if a delivery is late or missing?
Unless you agreed otherwise, a retailer should normally deliver within 30 days. If an agreed date was essential and the seller knew this, missing it can justify cancellation. Otherwise, you usually need to allow a suitable additional delivery period before ending the contract.
The retailer is ordinarily responsible until goods reach you or someone you nominated, even if its courier claims to have delivered them. Ask the seller to investigate missing parcels. Different rules can apply where you independently arranged a carrier the retailer did not offer.
See our guide to consumer rights for delayed deliveries for practical next steps.
What must online retailers disclose?
Before checkout, a business must provide important details including its identity and contact information, the product description, total price, delivery charges and relevant cancellation terms. It must also confirm the contract in a form you can retain, such as an email. Optional paid extras require your active agreement.
Save checkout screenshots and order emails. They help show what the retailer promised if its product listing later changes.
Example: two very different headphone returns
Suppose £85 headphones arrive on 3 October and you paid £5 for standard delivery. If they work but feel uncomfortable, you can normally notify cancellation by 17 October, then return them within the next 14 days. The refund usually covers £85 plus £5 standard delivery, though you may have to pay return postage.
If a speaker is defective instead, explain the problem under the Consumer Rights Act. During the usual short-term rejection period, you can generally claim a full refund, and the retailer must bear reasonable return costs for rejected faulty goods. Keep photos, order details and messages.
If the retailer refuses, raise a formal complaint explaining your preferred remedy. Chargeback may be available through your card provider; qualifying credit-card purchases may have Section 75 protection. Citizens Advice can explain your options. Our guide to how to complain to an online retailer can help you prepare evidence.
Frequently asked questions
Can an online store refuse all refunds?
No. A retailer can set rules for extra goodwill returns but cannot override legal cancellation rights or refuse remedies for goods that breach consumer law.
Do I have 14 or 30 days to return goods?
For most eligible distance purchases, you have 14 days after receipt to notify cancellation, then another 14 days to return the goods. A separate 30-day short-term rejection right generally concerns faulty or misdescribed goods.
Can sale items be returned?
Usually yes. Reduced prices do not remove legal rights, although the normal exceptions to change-of-mind cancellation still apply.
Who handles a parcel marked delivered but not received?
Usually the retailer that arranged delivery. Contact the seller with the order details and explain that the goods never arrived.
Use the right rule for the problem
Online purchase rights in the UK are easiest to enforce when you identify the issue first: cancellation for a change of mind, the Consumer Rights Act for faulty goods, or delivery rules for missing parcels. Clear written notice, purchase records and an accurate timeline can prevent a retailer’s internal policy from overshadowing your legal rights.