Ecommerce Laws Every Seller Should Know

The sale of goods via the Internet is becoming increasingly popular and in demand, however, at the same time, difficulties arise regarding issues of legal regulation of trade through the Internet, work with delivery and returns, and maintaining cash registers. Ivan Kurguzov, Executive Director of Oborot.ru, told how to avoid possible mistakes and how to legally conduct trade through the Internet.

The legislative framework

Internet trading in Russian laws sounds like a “remote way to sell goods” and is regulated by:

• Civil Code of the Russian Federation;
• Law of the Russian Federation "On Protection of Consumer Rights" No. 2300-1 from 07.02.1992;
• Federal Law “On Advertising” No. 38-ФЗ from 13.03.2006;
• Federal Law “On the Basics of State Regulation of Trade Activities in the Russian Federation” No. 381-ФЗ from 28.12.2009;
• Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation “On approval of the Rules for the sale of goods by remote means” No. 612 from 27.09.2007;
• By the letter of Rospotrebnadzor "On monitoring compliance with the Rules for the sale of goods by remote means" No. 0100 / 10281-07-32 from 12.10.2007;
• By the letter of Rospotrebnadzor “On the suppression of offenses with the remote method of selling goods” No. 0100 / 2569-05-32 from 08.04.2005.

Remote sale of goods represents trade in goods under retail sales contracts concluded by buyers on the basis of information received from catalogs, brochures, booklets, by means of communication, or in other ways, excluding the possibility of direct acquaintance of buyers with goods or samples of goods upon conclusion of such contracts.

Despite the fact that the owner of the online store can choose the design, advertising and various options of the site according to their own preferences, information on the products offered on the site must be provided exhaustively, in accordance with article 26.1 of the Law of the Russian Federation "On Protection of Consumer Rights". Even before the conclusion of the contract, the seller’s duty is to post the following information about the product to the consumer:

• main consumer properties of the goods;
• location of the seller;
• place of manufacture of goods;
• full company name of the seller or manufacturer;
• price and terms of purchase of goods;
• features of the delivery of goods;
• service life, shelf life and warranty period;
• payment procedure for the goods;
• the period during which the proposal to conclude a contract is valid.

However, there are no strict restrictions on how this information will be drawn up. The seller has the right to choose whether to publish this data in the form of an advertising message, an annotation to the product or a public sales contract posted on the seller’s website. Online shoe stores, for example, Obuvshop.ru, Sapato.ru, Online-Obuv.ru., Usually post comprehensive information about the product in its description, and the purchase conditions in other tabs of the site.

In addition, an important detail in the remote way of selling goods is the special design of advertising. Article 8 of the Law "On Advertising" obliges to indicate in the advertising information information about the seller, namely, his name, location, state registration number of the record on the establishment of a legal entity, last name, first name, middle name and main state registration number of the record on state registration of an individual as an individual entrepreneur.

Delivery

Today, one can hardly find an online store that would not offer the delivery service of its goods. If delivery is not provided, this is a violation. The seller must offer one or more delivery methods, from which the buyer will choose for himself, placing an order on the website: by sending goods by post or shipping, indicating the delivery method used and the type of transport (paragraph 3 of the Rules for the sale of goods remotely). To deliver goods to the place indicated by the buyer, the seller can use the services of third parties, but with the obligatory informing of the buyer about this.

A contract for the retail sale of goods is considered to be executed from the moment the goods are delivered to the place specified in such an agreement, and if the place of transfer of the goods is not specified by the contract - from the moment the goods are delivered to the place of residence of the buyer-citizen or to the location of the buyer-legal entity.

It does not matter whether the goods are delivered by mail or courier service, the buyer at the time of delivery must be sent (or sent) documents that contain information about the goods in the form of a sales contract or technical documentation, as well as written information about the procedure and timing for returning the goods.

Refusal or Refund

According to Ivan Kurguzov, in addition to the fact that on the selling website you need to post detailed information explaining in an accessible form information about the product (properties, manufacturer, warranty period and useful life, price of the goods, complete information about the seller, payment options and delivery methods of goods), should also be “the place where, in which case the user can come to write a claim or return the goods, must be indicated. And if the seller is going to use and process the personal data of a person, then he is obliged to take written consent from him and this. ”

Why is it so important to provide the buyer with information on return conditions in writing? There is one significant difference between online trading and regular store sales. According to the law, the consumer has the right to refuse the goods within seven days after receiving it. But in the event that information on the procedure and terms for the return of goods of good quality was not provided in writing at the time of delivery of the goods, the consumer has the right to refuse the goods within three months from the date of transfer of the goods (Article 26.1. Of the Law "On Protection of Consumer Rights" ) Therefore, of course, it is more profitable for any owner of an online store to transfer all the necessary information to the buyer on time.

The rights of a consumer buying goods through the Internet are protected in a special way. This is due to the fact that the buyer can not carefully inspect the product and evaluate its quality and features until he buys it. That is why the buyer can refuse to purchase until the goods are transferred to the online store, while reimbursing the seller for the expenses incurred in connection with the execution of the contract (article 497 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Such actions usually include the delivery of goods. The return of good quality goods to the online store is possible if its presentation, consumer properties, as well as a document confirming the fact and conditions of purchase of the specified goods are preserved. The consumer’s absence of a document confirming the fact and conditions of purchase of the goods does not deprive him of the opportunity to refer to other evidence of the purchase of goods from this seller.

Cash desk

Internet commerce, although it has its own characteristics, but in the same way as traditional, is an individual business and is subject to comprehensive control by the tax authorities. Therefore, entrepreneurs who trade through the online store and who believe that the use of a cash register is not a prerequisite for this activity, may be fined.

If you do not want to independently engage in cash transactions, it is now possible to transfer these responsibilities to a courier company with cash services, which will have to pay from 0,5% to 2%, but to save yourself from all the difficulties associated with registering, working and maintaining a cash register in an online store . If all operations are conducted independently, then several rules must be observed, which will depend on the form of the enterprise.

LLC and cash register:

Advertising

Advertising of Business Global Expo LLC, Taxpayer Identification Number (INN) 7710961530, erid: 2W5zFJRB7Va

For LLC there is an important concept of “cash discipline”, which obliges to knock out a check on the doorstep of an apartment or office of the buyer. It is not recommended to do and arrive in advance with a ready check, since fines are charged for violation of cash discipline. It is most convenient to use portable cash registers of the Mercury-180-K type. They are compact enough, lightweight and easy to use. Three or four such devices are enough for most online stores to work with dozens of orders per day. There is one more plus in this: if the client decided to refuse the purchase, the courier simply does not knock out the check without carrying out the return procedure.

IP and cash register:

If the business is registered in the form of IP, then the concept of “cash discipline” is not applied, which greatly simplifies the work. The check is still needed, but the time when it is knocked out no longer matters. Since only its presence is important, it is possible to have one cash register and knock out all the checks on it before leaving the courier. Although, of course, this will not facilitate the process of returning goods.

When purchasing a cash register, it is necessary to conclude a contract for its execution and repair, and after going through the registration procedure, the tax authority issues the cashier-operator's journal and documentation that confirms the registration of the cash register.

Cash magazines must be kept in an online store, as in a regular one, to ensure the full legitimacy of its activities.

You can identify the main pros and cons of independent work with the cash register in the online store.

Pros:

- lack of payment of a courier company for cash services;

- instant receipt of money from buyers;

- lack of expectation of a weekly payment of funds from courier services with cash services.

Cons:

- high responsibility for the cash desk;

- reporting to government agencies;

- constant payment for maintenance of the cash register;

Many entrepreneurs are still looking for ways to circumvent the established order in order to save on the use of a cash register. In reality, this is unlikely to provide any significant cost savings: there is no legal way to trade via the Internet without using a cash register, since Internet trading, from the point of view of legislation, is not a special type of activity.