When Your Business Ships Goods
Nolo, September, 2005 by Attorney Richard Stim
When taking orders, whether by phone or online, you must follow the shipping and refund rules of the Federal Trade Commission's Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule, also known as the "30-Day Rule." In a nutshell, the rule mandates that when you advertise merchandise and state the shipping times, you must have a reasonable basis for believing you can meet these shipping deadlines.
The 30-Day Rule
If you don't say anything about shipment times, you're expected to ship within 30 days from the date you received a properly completed order -- that is, when you receive the payment and all the information needed to fill the order. The rule does not apply to collect-on-delivery (C.O.D.) orders or sales of seeds and growing plants or to magazine subscriptions (except for...
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