Do I have to accept this return, and what do I refund? Six questions for UK online shops

A customer wants to send something back and you need to know two things: whether you have to take it, and how much of their money goes back. The answer depends on who bought it, how the sale was made, why it is coming back, what the item is and when the customer told you. This questionnaire asks about each in turn and gives the one outcome that fits, with the rule behind it. It follows the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 as we read them on legislation.gov.uk on 2 October 2026. Nothing you choose leaves the page.

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A return has come in: must you accept it, and what goes back

Answer each question. Some questions appear only when an earlier answer makes them relevant. Nothing you choose leaves this page.

1. Who bought the item, and how was the sale made?ChooseA consumer, online, by phone, by message or through a marketplaceA consumer, face to face at your shop or a stall you trade fromA business buying for its business
2. Why is the customer sending it back?ChooseThey changed their mind, or it does not fit or suitIt is faulty, damaged, or not as described or pictured
3. Did the customer tell you about the fault within 30 days of delivery?ChooseYes, within 30 days of deliveryNo, more than 30 days after delivery
4. What kind of item is it?ChooseAn ordinary item from stockMade to the customer's measurements, or clearly personalisedFood, flowers or anything else that goes off quicklyA sealed cosmetic or hygiene item opened after deliveryA sealed CD, DVD, game or software opened after delivery
5. When did the customer tell you they were cancelling?ChooseWithin 14 days after the day it was deliveredLater, and your site gave the cancellation information firstLater, within a year, but you never gave the cancellation information
6. What state is the item in when it comes back?ChooseUnused, or only handled as it might be in a shopWorn, used, marked or missing parts, so it is worth less

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The outcome is the rule as our guides and the sources named set it out, applied to the answers you gave. It is not advice on your own case.

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The questions, and why each is asked

1. Who bought the item, and how was the sale made? The 14-day right to cancel in the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 belongs to consumers buying at a distance or off your premises. The faulty-goods rights in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 cover every consumer sale.

2. Why is the customer sending it back? A change of mind is a cancellation under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. A fault, damage or a mismatch with the description is a breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, with different deadlines and remedies. This question appears only when an earlier answer makes it relevant.

3. Did the customer tell you about the fault within 30 days of delivery? Section 22 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives a short-term right to reject for a full refund that ends 30 days after delivery, or sooner for goods expected to perish sooner. This question appears only when an earlier answer makes it relevant.

4. What kind of item is it? Regulation 28 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 takes personalised, made-to-order and perishable goods out of the right to cancel, and ends it for sealed hygiene goods and sealed media unsealed after delivery. This question appears only when an earlier answer makes it relevant.

5. When did the customer tell you they were cancelling? Regulation 30 ends the right 14 days after the day the goods reach the customer. Regulation 31 extends it by 12 months where the shop never gave the information on the right to cancel. This question appears only when an earlier answer makes it relevant.

6. What state is the item in when it comes back? Regulation 34(9) lets a shop recover any loss in value caused by handling beyond what is needed to check the goods, which regulation 34(12) compares with handling allowed in a shop. This question appears only when an earlier answer makes it relevant.

Every outcome, and the rule behind it

A business buyer has no 14-day right: your terms decide

Reached when: "Who bought the item, and how was the sale made?" answered "A business buying for its business".

The right to cancel in the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 and the remedies in Part 1 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 are for consumers. A business buying for its business has neither. A change-of-mind return is whatever your terms of sale allow. For a fault, section 14(2) of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 implies a term that goods sold in the course of a business are of satisfactory quality, so a faulty item is still your problem to put right.

• Read your trade or wholesale terms before replying, and apply what they say about returns.
• If the item is faulty, offer a repair, replacement or refund rather than arguing the terms.
• Put a returns clause in your business terms if you sell to trade buyers without one.

Source: Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 4; Sale of Goods Act 1979, section 14(2); read on legislation.gov.uk 2 October 2026. The working is in Returns rights checker.

Faulty within 30 days: a full refund if they want one

Reached when: "Why is the customer sending it back?" answered "It is faulty, damaged, or not as described or pictured"; "Did the customer tell you about the fault within 30 days of delivery?" answered "Yes, within 30 days of delivery".

Section 22 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives the customer a short-term right to reject faulty goods for a full refund until 30 days after delivery, or sooner for goods expected to perish sooner. No deduction is made for use. Section 20(15) says the refund must be made within 14 days beginning with the day you agree they are entitled to it, by the same means of payment, and section 20(8) puts the reasonable cost of returning the goods on you. This applies to personalised items too.

• Send a prepaid returns label rather than asking the customer to pay and claim it back.
• Refund the full price and the delivery charge within 14 days of agreeing the refund.
• Keep photos of the fault for your claim against the supplier or the carrier.

Source: Consumer Rights Act 2015, sections 20(8), (10) and (15) and 22(3) and (4), read on legislation.gov.uk 2 October 2026. The working is in Returns rights checker.

Faulty after 30 days: repair or replace first, at your cost

Reached when: "Why is the customer sending it back?" answered "It is faulty, damaged, or not as described or pictured".

After the 30-day short-term right to reject ends, section 23 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 lets the customer require a repair or replacement within a reasonable time, with you paying the costs, postage included. A fault that appears within six months of delivery is taken to have been there at delivery unless you show otherwise (section 19(14)). If the repair or replacement fails, the customer can choose a price reduction or the final right to reject, and section 24(10) allows no deduction for use in the first six months.

• Offer a repair or replacement and send a prepaid label for the faulty item.
• If the fault appeared after six months, ask for evidence it was there at delivery before refusing.
• If one repair or replacement fails, refund rather than trying a second.

Source: Consumer Rights Act 2015, sections 19(14), 23(2) and 24(5) and (10), read on legislation.gov.uk 2 October 2026. The working is in Return and refund checklist for a UK online shop.

Bought face to face: no legal right to return for a change of mind

Reached when: "Who bought the item, and how was the sale made?" answered "A consumer, face to face at your shop or a stall you trade from".

The 14-day right in Part 3 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 covers distance and off-premises contracts. A sale made at your shop, or at a stall where you trade on a usual basis, counts as made on business premises under regulation 5, so a customer who changes their mind has no legal right to return it. A sale at a one-off event away from your usual pitch can be an off-premises contract, which carries the 14-day right. Your own returns policy decides the rest.

• Apply your own returns policy for in-person sales, and keep any promise it makes.
• If you sold at a one-off fair or event, treat the sale as carrying the 14-day right.
• Put your in-person returns policy on a sign or the receipt so it is agreed at the sale.

Source: Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulations 5 and 27 to 29, read on legislation.gov.uk 2 October 2026. The working is in Returns policy template for a UK online shop.

No right to cancel for this item, unless it is faulty

Reached when: "What kind of item is it?" answered "Made to the customer's measurements, or clearly personalised", "Food, flowers or anything else that goes off quickly", "A sealed cosmetic or hygiene item opened after delivery" or "A sealed CD, DVD, game or software opened after delivery".

Regulation 28 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 takes goods made to the consumer's specifications or clearly personalised (28(1)(b)) and goods liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly (28(1)(c)) out of the right to cancel. It ends the right for sealed goods unsuitable for return for health or hygiene reasons, and for sealed audio, video or software, once unsealed after delivery (28(3)). You may refuse a change-of-mind return of these items. A fault is different: the Consumer Rights Act 2015 still applies.

• Reply that the item is excluded from the 14-day right and name the regulation.
• Check the product page or policy told the customer before they ordered that the item could not be returned.
• If the customer then says the item is faulty, handle it under the faulty-goods rules.

Source: Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28(1)(b) and (c) and 28(3)(a) and (b), read on legislation.gov.uk 2 October 2026. The working is in Can I have a no-refund policy for personalised and custom orders? What a UK online shop can refuse, and what it cannot.

The 14 days have passed: you can say no

Reached when: "When did the customer tell you they were cancelling?" answered "Later, and your site gave the cancellation information first".

Regulation 30(3) of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 ends the cancellation period 14 days after the day the goods come into the physical possession of the customer, or of someone other than the carrier they named. You gave the cancellation information, so regulation 31 does not extend it. A change-of-mind return after that is a goodwill decision. If your returns policy promises longer, such as 30 days, the promise is part of the contract and you should keep it.

• Check the delivery date in tracking and count 14 days from the day after it.
• Check whether your own policy promises longer than 14 days before you refuse.
• If you refuse, say so politely and point out that faulty-goods rights are not affected.

Source: Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulations 30(3) and 31, read on legislation.gov.uk 2 October 2026. The working is in Returns policy template for a UK online shop.

Accept the return, but deduct the loss in value from the item price

Reached when: "When did the customer tell you they were cancelling?" answered "Within 14 days after the day it was delivered"; "What state is the item in when it comes back?" answered "Worn, used, marked or missing parts, so it is worth less".

The customer may cancel, but regulation 34(9) of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 lets you recover the amount by which handling beyond what was needed to check the goods has reduced their value, up to the contract price. Regulation 34(12) uses the handling allowed in a shop as the test. The deduction comes off the item price only: the standard delivery charge still goes back. Refund within 14 days of getting the goods back, or of proof of posting if earlier.

• Photograph the item as it arrives back, before you repackage or restock it.
• Work out the loss in value, not a flat fee, and write it down with the reason.
• Refund the item price less the deduction, plus the standard delivery charge, and explain the sum.

Source: Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 34(1) to (5), (9), (10) and (12), read on legislation.gov.uk 2 October 2026. The working is in What happens if a customer returns an item used or damaged? What a UK online shop can deduct from the refund.

Accept the return and refund the price and the standard delivery

Reached when: any other set of answers.

Regulation 29 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 lets the customer cancel without a reason. Regulation 34 says you refund everything paid, including delivery up to your cheapest standard option, within 14 days of getting the goods back or of proof of posting if earlier, by the same means of payment. The customer pays return postage only if you told them so before the order (regulation 35(5)). If you never gave the cancellation information, the period runs 12 months longer and no handling deduction is allowed (regulations 31 and 34(11)).

• Give the returns address and say who pays the return postage, as your policy states.
• Refund within 14 days of the parcel arriving back or of proof of posting, whichever is first.
• If the cancellation information was missing, add it to your site and order confirmation today.

Source: Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulations 29, 31, 34(1) to (5) and (11), and 35(5), read on legislation.gov.uk 2 October 2026. The working is in Returns rights checker.

How to use the result

Answer with the order, the delivery date from tracking and the customer's message in front of you, because the timing questions turn on dates, not on when you noticed the email. If the outcome is a refund, note the date the 14 days run to and pay by the same method the customer used. If the outcome is that you may refuse, say so politely and name the rule. Then check your returns policy says what the outcome assumed it says, especially who pays return postage.

The outcome applies the rule to the answers given; it cannot see the facts behind them. Where an answer is a judgement, or the facts are unusual, the outcome may not fit. This page is general information, not legal advice.

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