How long do you have to return something bought online?

In the UK and the EU, the law gives you 14 days to cancel almost anything you buy online from a business, counted from the day after it arrives, plus another 14 days to send it back. In the United States there is no federal right to return an online purchase at all: the retailer's own return policy is the whole of your right, unless the item is faulty or a state rule about posted policies applies. The 30 days you often hear quoted is a different right, and in the UK it is for faulty goods only.

The deadlines side by side

The last column is the one that catches people out: a faulty item is handled by separate, usually longer rules everywhere.

The UK and EU rules apply when you buy from a business. In the EU, goods bought from a private individual are not covered by the right of withdrawal, and the same logic applies in the UK, because the regulations govern contracts between a trader and a consumer. That matters on marketplaces, where the seller may be a person clearing out a cupboard, and is one reason marketplace purchases go wrong in their own particular ways.

Why 14 days and 30 days both get quoted

Both numbers are correct, for different situations. The 14 day right is a cooling-off period for buying at a distance. You need no reason, and it does not apply in a physical shop, where a change of mind return depends on the shop's policy.

The 30 day right comes from the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and is about goods that are faulty, not as described or not fit for purpose. Section 22 gives you 30 days to reject them for a full refund, starting from the day after ownership has passed, the goods have been delivered and any installation is done. It applies however you bought. After 30 days you are not out of options: the seller must repair or replace, and GOV.UK tells businesses that if an item comes back within six months, they must do so unless they can prove the fault was not there when it was sold.

How the UK and EU clock actually runs

Three separate 14 day periods run one after another, and each starts from a different event. Here is how they fall for an order delivered on Monday, October 5, 2026, under the UK rules.

If an order arrives in several parcels, the 14 days run from the last one. For services and digital content that is not on a physical disc, the period is 14 days from the day you agree the contract, which is why a subscription you regret signing up for can sometimes be cancelled with a full refund in its first two weeks.

Telling the seller is what stops the clock, not posting the item. A short email or the seller's cancellation form is enough.

When the seller never told you, the period is 12 months longer

A business selling online has to tell you about your right to cancel before you buy. If it does not, under UK regulation 31 and Article 10 of the EU directive, the cancellation period is extended by 12 months from the end of the normal period. If the seller supplies the information late but within that year, you get 14 days from the day you receive it instead.

In the UK, a seller that did not tell you about the right to cancel cannot deduct money for wear from handling, and a seller that did not tell you that you would pay return postage has to pay it. This is also a quick test of a shop you have never used: checking an unfamiliar shop before you buy includes looking for a returns page that matches the law.

What the seller can and cannot keep

• Original delivery. The seller must refund it, but only up to the cost of its cheapest standard option. If you paid extra for next day delivery, the extra is yours to lose.
• Return postage. You pay it, unless the seller offered to pay or did not tell you beforehand that you would have to.
• Loss of value. If you handled the goods more than you would need to in order to establish what they are, how they look and how they work, the seller can deduct the drop in value, up to the full price. Trying shoes on is fine. Wearing them outdoors is not.

Some purchases have no cooling-off period at all. The UK exclusions include personalized or made to order goods, goods that deteriorate rapidly, items bought at a public auction, and travel, accommodation, car hire and leisure bookings for a specific date. The right also ends for sealed health or hygiene goods, such as cosmetics, once you unseal them, and for sealed audio, video or software once opened. Your Europe lists the same kinds of exception for the EU, including tickets and digital content you have started to use.

The US rules that do exist

The federal rule people sometimes cite is the FTC's Cooling-Off Rule. It gives you until midnight of the third business day to cancel a sale of $25 or more made at your home, or $130 or more made at a temporary location such as a hotel room or fair stand. The FTC states that it does not apply to sales made entirely online, by mail or by phone.

What some states require is disclosure. California Civil Code section 1723 says a retail seller whose policy is not to give full cash or credit refunds, or equal exchanges, for at least seven days after purchase must display that policy conspicuously, on signs, item tags or its order forms, and a seller that fails to can be liable for the purchase price on goods returned within 30 days. The section excludes food, perishables, goods marked final sale, customized or used goods and goods returned without their original package. New York's General Business Law section 218-a works the same way: a retailer that does not post its refund policy is liable for a cash refund or credit, at your option, for up to 30 days after purchase if the item is unused and you can prove the purchase date.

Neither law gives you a right to return something from a store with a clearly stated no returns policy. If the item never arrived, or is not what was described, the stronger tool is usually your card issuer, and how a payment dispute works explains the timelines and evidence. Fraud you did not authorize is a different matter again, with its own clocks, set out in how long you have to report fraud to your bank.

Where these rules stop

This is general information, not legal advice about a particular purchase. The UK and EU figures are legal minimums, and a longer retailer policy is a promise the retailer must keep. In Australia, Consumer Affairs Victoria states that a store generally does not have to refund a change of mind, but that stores with such a policy must abide by it. A generous policy is also worth weighing before you buy, alongside reviews that tell you whether the product is worth keeping.

What to do before the deadline

1. Work out which right you are using: change of mind or fault.
2. Count from the day after delivery and put the last day in your calendar.
3. Tell the seller in writing before the deadline.
4. Keep proof of postage since it starts the refund clock.
5. Use only the seller's own returns channel. Fake refund and return label messages are common, and delivery and parcel scams shows how they copy real couriers. If an email asks you to log in or pay a fee to process a refund, check it against the red flags in scam texts and emails first.
6. Escalate if the refund is late, usually with a card dispute.