If you take orders through the mail, you need to become familiar with the Federal Trade Commission's Rule Concerning Mail Order Merchandise,? 16 CFR ? 435. The rule is explained in an easy-to-read booklet, A Business Guide to the Federal Trade Commission's Mail Order Rule, published by the FTC. Here are some basic features of that rule:

• You must ship the merchandise within 30 days after you receive a properly completed order and payment, unless your ad clearly states that it will take longer.
• If there?s going to be a delay, you must notify the customer in writing. You must give the customer the option of a new shipment date (if known) or the opportunity to cancel the order and receive a full refund. You must give the customer a postage-free way to reply. You may assume that a customer who doesn?t reply has agreed to the delay.
• If the customer cancels, you must refund the customer?s money within seven days after you receive the canceled order. If the customer used a credit card, you must issue the credit within one billing cycle.
• A customer who consents to an indefinite delay can still cancel the order any time before it?s shipped.
• A customer who cancels or never receives the ordered merchandise doesn?t have to accept a store credit in place of a refund, but is entitled to a cash refund or credit on the charge card.

The mail order rule doesn?t cover mail order photo finishing; spaced deliveries such as magazines (except for the first shipment); sales of seeds and growing plants; COD orders; or orders made by telephone and charged to a credit card account.

Excerpted from the "Legal Guide for Starting and Running a Small Business" by Fred S. Steingold
Click here for more related information and products.