Shopify, for the UK
Consumer Contracts Regulations: your online shop rights
UK online order rights under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013: 14 days to cancel from delivery, a 14-day refund, and when the extension applies.
The short answer: on most online orders you have 14 days from delivery to cancel, for any reason, and the shop must refund you within 14 days of your cancellation. That 14 is a default, not a promise. Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, which came into force on 13 June 2014, the deadline stretches to 12 months and 14 days. This applies where the shop never told you about the right to cancel. Who pays return postage depends on what the shop said before you paid. Read the confirmation email before you count days: if the trader told you everything it had to, 14 days is the whole entitlement.
What we measured: we read the 13 ranking pages for this search in full; one more could not be read. We compared which core rules each page covers. Of the 13, six mention the 14-day cooling-off right, six cover the trader's duty to give information before you pay, and five list where the right does not apply. The remaining rules appear on fewer pages still. It is a one-day reading, so a page updated since could shift the count.
Most guides to these rules stop at the 14 days. The figure is a default. Everything else, the extension, the postage, the refund, traces back to one question: what did the shop put in writing before you paid?
We write mainly for people building shops in Britain, and the buyer's rights are the trader's compliance list. If you are opening a shop rather than chasing a parcel, Setting up a Shopify shop in the UK: the full guide covers the duties from the other side. Everyone else, read on.
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The 14-day baseline under the Consumer Contracts Regulations
Fourteen days, counted from delivery. For goods bought at a distance, the cooling-off period runs from the date the parcel reaches you; for a service, from the day the contract was agreed. The European Commission documents both start points in its withdrawal guidance, checked on 12 September 2026. You do not need to give a reason.
Tell the trader and the refund is due within 14 days of your cancellation, including the cheapest outbound delivery you paid for. You then get a further 14 days to send the goods back. Two clocks, one decision.
The right comes from the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. Per The National Archives, these came into force on 13 June 2014. They replaced the Distance Selling Regulations 2000 and the 2008 home-selling rules. Contracts signed before that date follow the old law.
A cancellation notice you can copy. Our suggested wording, not the statutory form: "To [trader]: I cancel order [number], placed on [date], under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. Please refund £[amount] to my original payment method within 14 days." Add your name and address, then email it. Written notice starts your clock; the government's model form is optional.
What the shop must tell you before you pay
Paperwork decides the deadline. Before you pay, the trader must give specified information: what the goods are, the total price in pounds, delivery arrangements, and whether you pay return postage when you cancel. It must then confirm the contract on a durable medium, paper or email. Guidance from the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, checked on 12 September 2026, treats that confirmation as the record that counts in a dispute.
Miss one item and the cost lands on the trader. Where it never mentioned the right to cancel, the period extends to 12 months and 14 days after delivery. That is the biggest number in these rules, and it exists precisely because the plain 14 days is the reward for a shop that did its homework.
Reading this from the trader's side? The Regulations are a checklist, and complying costs nothing. Sort the legal base first: our sole trader or limited company guide settles the structure. Registering with HMRC must happen before the first sale. VAT on a Shopify shop matters once turnover nears the threshold. The platform is the smaller question; what Shopify is covers basics, while the monthly cost and app spending explain where the money really goes.
Cancelling when the parcel is already on its way
A parcel in transit ends nothing. Dispatch does not touch your rights; you can cancel right up to 14 days after it lands. What matters is your own timing: the send-back clock runs from the day you send your cancellation notice, not from the day the trader replies. In the consumer threads we read, buyers feared that waiting for written confirmation would burn the window. It does not. Send notice, then send the parcel.
If no delivery date was agreed, the trader must deliver within 30 days of the order. Miss that, and you can treat the contract as cancelled and claim a full refund. One more boundary worth knowing: the risk of loss or damage in transit passes to you only when you, or someone you nominated, takes possession.
Who pays the return postage
You do, by default. Return postage is your cost unless the shop failed to tell you so before you bought, in which case it pays. That single line of pre-contract information flips the liability, which is why the confirmation email deserves a read before anything else. Either way, the goods go back within 14 days of your cancellation notice.
Handle an item beyond what inspection needs and the trader may deduct the lost value from your refund. Trying a coat on is inspection. Wearing it to a wedding is not.
In the consumer threads we read, the recurring complaint is the flat "restocking fee". One buyer was told "restocking fees of 20% will be subtracted (and of course return shipping is on me too)". The Regulations permit deductions for diminished value only. A fixed percentage labelled a restocking fee is not one of the permitted deductions, whatever the returns page claims.
Where the cooling-off period does not apply
The right has hard edges. Digital content loses the right once download starts with your express consent and your acknowledgement that the right is gone. There is no cooling-off on gift cards or e-vouchers. There is also no cooling-off on personalised or bespoke goods, perishables, or unsealed audio or video.
Additionally, it does not apply to items booked for a specific date, such as accommodation or car hire.
Two checkout rules protect the rest. Pre-ticked boxes for paid extras are banned, and the button that concludes the order must make it unambiguous that you are paying. If a shop's terms say you "forfeit" cancellation rights, ignore the clause; the Regulations cannot be signed away, however far away the seller sits.
How the Consumer Contracts Regulations treat each contract type
The right follows how the deal was made, not what you bought. The first four columns below read straight off the 2013 Regulations; the final column is our judgment.
| Contract type | Cooling-off right? | Clock starts | Your deadline | Return postage | Refund due | What it means for your order (our judgment) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distance (online) | Yes, 14 days | Delivery of goods | 14 days to cancel, 14 more to send back | You, if told before buying | Within 14 days of cancellation | The default for a typical online order |
| Distance, no cancellation notice given | Yes, extended | Delivery of goods | 12 months and 14 days | As above | Within 14 days of cancellation | Where the confirmation email stayed silent |
| Off-premises (doorstep) | Yes, 14 days | Delivery of goods | 14 days to cancel, 14 more to send back | You, if told before buying | Within 14 days of cancellation | Same rules, different doorway |
| On-premises (in a shop) | No statutory right | Not applicable | Not applicable | Whatever the shop's policy offers | Per its policy | Buying in person means relying on goodwill |
Our take: the 14-day figure gets quoted as though it were unconditional, and it is not. A thin confirmation email makes your real deadline 12 months and 14 days, while a purchase made in person may carry no statutory clock at all. Where the cooling-off right genuinely matters to you, order online rather than at the counter, and keep the confirmation.
The cases most guides skip
Same rules, different counterparty, and that changes the practical answer. On a marketplace, the cooling-off right binds the third-party seller, not the platform; the platform's returns policy sits on top as a bonus. Check where the seller is based. The European Commission's One Stop Shop page, checked on 12 September 2026, explains how EU sellers handle cross-border VAT. However, chasing a refund across a border proves harder than doing so in Britain.
Click-and-collect still counts: you concluded the contract online, so cancel before you collect. Paying with buy-now-pay-later changes nothing about the right; cancel with the trader, then tell the credit provider so the schedule is paused. Exchanges do not reset the clock; the deadline keeps running from the original delivery. Second-hand goods bought online from a business carry the full right.
When the shop refuses your refund
Refusals follow a pattern. In the threads we read, shops that resist tend to go quiet. One buyer requested a return "multiple times, both by email and by phone" before falling back on a chargeback. Another was offered "only exchange or store credit". The Regulations entitle you to money back, not shop credit, and silence does not extend the trader's deadline.
Work the list in order:
- Reply to your original cancellation email, citing the Regulations and the 14-day refund deadline.
- Ask the trader which ombudsman or alternative dispute resolution scheme it belongs to.
- Ask your card provider for a chargeback; on credit cards, Section 75 can hold the lender jointly liable above the statutory floor.
- Report the trader to Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer service.
- Use the small claims track at the county court as the last step.
One caution worth its own line: claim the chargeback and send the goods back too. Withholding them hands the trader an argument. Terms claiming you forfeit your rights do not survive the Regulations.
Frequently asked questions
Do I get a cooling-off period on a digital gift card or e-voucher?
No. Vouchers are excluded from the withdrawal right, so the money sits on the card on the retailer's terms. A physical gift card bought online is treated the same way, though check the expiry rules that came with it.
Can I cancel a click-and-collect order before I collect it?
Yes. The contract was made at a distance, so the usual cancellation applies. One difference: because you paid no delivery, there is no basic-delivery amount to refund, only the price of the goods.
Does exchanging an item restart the 14 days?
No. The deadline keeps running from delivery of the original item. If the replacement is a different product at a different price, that is arguably a new contract. However, do not rely on it; cancel and reorder if you are near the deadline.
What if I paid with Klarna or another buy-now-pay-later firm?
The cancellation right is identical. Cancel with the trader first, then notify the credit provider so the payment schedule is held while the refund is processed. Refunds cover what you have already paid.
Do I have to keep the original packaging for a full refund?
No. The lawful deduction is for lost value from handling beyond what was necessary, not for a missing box. Keeping the packaging while you decide simply makes the return easier and the deduction harder to argue.
Sources
- The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk), "The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013". https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134 — checked on 12 September 2026
- European Commission, "Returns and the right of withdrawal - Your Europe". https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/returns/index_en.htm — checked on 12 September 2026
- Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, "Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013: Guidance". https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a817b92ed915d74e33fe73a/bis-13-1368-consumer-contracts-information-cancellation-and-additional-payments-regulations-guidance.pdf — checked on 12 September 2026
- European Commission, "VAT One Stop Shop - VAT e-Commerce". https://vat-one-stop-shop.ec.europa.eu/index_en — checked on 12 September 2026