Adding a shop, online booking or payments to your website changes your legal position. The moment a consumer can agree a contract with you without being in the same room, a specific set of UK rules applies. They protect buyers, but they also give you a clear framework: follow it, and disputes are rarer and easier to resolve.
This guide covers selling online and UK law for small businesses selling goods, services or bookings to consumers, as of September 2026. It applies whether you sell candles, take deposits for garden design, sell gym memberships or take restaurant bookings with a card. It is general information, not legal advice, and details matter; the Business Companion site run by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute is a good free next step.
The three laws that matter most
These apply to business-to-consumer sales. Selling to other businesses is mostly governed by contract terms and different legislation, although the Electronic Commerce Regulations information duties still apply to your website.
| Law | What it covers | Key points for your website |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 | Information you must give and cancellation rights for distance and off-premises contracts | Pre-contract information, order button wording, confirmation, 14-day cancellation |
| Consumer Rights Act 2015 | What consumers are entitled to when they buy goods, digital content and services | Goods must be as described, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose; services with reasonable care and skill |
| Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 | Unfair commercial practices and enforcement, in force for consumer protection since April 2025 | No drip pricing, no fake or misleading reviews, CMA can fine directly |
What you must tell customers before they buy
Before a consumer is bound by a distance contract, the Consumer Contracts Regulations require you to give certain information in a clear and comprehensible way. For a website, most of it belongs on the product or service page and in the checkout, with the full detail in your terms. It includes:
- The main characteristics of the goods or services.
- Your identity, geographic address and contact details.
- The total price including taxes, or how it is calculated, plus any delivery charges.
- Payment, delivery and performance arrangements, including when you will deliver or carry out the service.
- Whether there is a right to cancel, the conditions and how to do it, including a model cancellation form.
- Who pays for returning goods if the customer cancels.
- Your complaints handling, the existence of legal guarantees, and any after-sales service or commercial guarantee.
- The duration of the contract and how to end it, for ongoing contracts such as memberships.
The checkout and the order button
Right before the customer commits, the key information (what they are buying, total price, contract length, delivery charges) must be displayed clearly and prominently. The button that places the order must make it plain that clicking means an obligation to pay. “Order and pay”, “Buy now” and “Pay now” work. “Continue” or “Next” on the final step do not. If you get this wrong, the consumer may not be bound by the contract.
After the sale, send a confirmation on a durable medium, usually an email, that repeats the pre-contract information, including cancellation details. For goods, this must arrive at the latest when the goods are delivered; for services, before the service starts.
The 14-day right to cancel
For most distance and off-premises contracts, consumers can cancel within 14 days without giving a reason. For goods, the period usually runs from the day after the goods are delivered. For services, it runs from the day after the contract is made.
If a customer wants a service to start within the cancellation period, for example a tradesperson booked online to start next week, they must expressly request it. If they then cancel, you can charge a proportionate amount for what you have already done. If you fail to give cancellation information at all, the cancellation period can extend by up to 12 months, and for services the customer may not have to pay for work done in the cancellation period. That is a serious risk for any business taking bookings or quotes online.
Exceptions to the right to cancel
Even where an exception applies, you should still say so clearly before the sale.
- Goods made to the customer’s specifications or clearly personalised, such as engraved gifts or made-to-measure blinds.
- Goods that deteriorate quickly, such as fresh food and flowers.
- Sealed goods unsuitable for return for health or hygiene reasons once unsealed, such as cosmetics.
- Sealed audio, video or software once unsealed.
- Services fully performed within the cancellation period at the customer’s express request, where they acknowledged they would lose the right to cancel.
- Urgent repairs or maintenance the customer specifically asked you to visit for.
- Some accommodation, transport, catering and leisure services booked for a specific date, such as a restaurant booking or holiday let stay.
Refunds and delivery
When a customer cancels, you must refund the price and the standard outbound delivery cost within 14 days. For goods, you can wait until you receive them back or the customer provides evidence they have sent them. You can reduce the refund if goods have lost value because they were handled more than necessary to inspect them. Refund using the same payment method unless the customer agrees otherwise.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, unless you agree a different time, goods must be delivered without undue delay and within 30 days, and they remain your responsibility until the customer has them. Consumers also have a short-term right to reject faulty goods for a full refund within 30 days.
You cannot add a surcharge for a customer paying by consumer debit or credit card. If you want to cover card fees, build them into the price.
Prices, fees and reviews under the DMCC Act
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 took over the rules on unfair commercial practices from April 2025. Headline prices must include any mandatory fixed charges, such as a compulsory booking fee, rather than revealing them later. Genuinely optional extras can be added, and delivery costs that vary can be explained, but the total must be clear before commitment.
The Act also lists banned practices, including fake reviews, concealing incentivised reviews and presenting reviews in a misleading way, such as hiding the negative ones. The CMA can now fine businesses directly, up to 10% of global turnover. The Act also contains new rules for subscription contracts, which are being brought in separately from the rest; if you sell memberships or subscriptions, check GOV.UK for when they apply to you.
Online selling checklist
Shops, bookings and payments can be added to any Nerdsharks plan, quoted on your call, and come as standard on Pro (£6,950 plus £299 a month); we set up the checkout wording and confirmation emails with these rules in mind, although your terms remain yours to check with an adviser. Whoever builds yours, ask them to walk you through the checkout as a customer before you launch.
- Business name, geographic address, email and, where relevant, company and VAT details on the site.
- Clear product or service descriptions and total prices including VAT and unavoidable fees.
- Delivery or service timings stated.
- Terms covering cancellation, returns, refunds, complaints and guarantees, with a model cancellation form.
- Key information displayed right before the order button.
- An order button that says the customer will pay.
- Confirmation email with the full information, including cancellation rights.
- A process for express requests to start services within 14 days.
- Refunds within 14 days, to the original payment method.
- No card surcharges, no fake or cherry-picked reviews.