A mail-order form should be included whenever you send a catalogue selling goods by mail-order (ie where a customer places an order through the post). Certain information is legally required to be included on a mail-order form, and ensuring legal compliance helps to maintain good customer relationships and your business’s reputation.
You should attach your standard terms and conditions of sale to the mail-order form (you can find templates here).
If you use our template mail-order form, it also provides options to either direct customers to your privacy policy URL or attach your privacy policy to the form itself.
Information provided on the mail-order form
Your mail-order form needs to include the following information:
1. Payment information
How the customer can pay and which payment methods you accept.
2. Delivery information
Delivery options, including any delivery charges (see Customer service when selling via mail order for more information about your obligations in relation to delivery).
3. Options for the customer to consent to various items
Your form should include tick-boxes (none of which should be pre-ticked) dealing with:
- confirmation from the customer that they have read and understood your terms and conditions (for templates, see Terms and conditions – Sale of goods, Terms and conditions – Services and Terms and conditions – Sale of goods and services);
- if you wish to use the customer’s details in order to send them marketing materials (eg new catalogues) in the future, you may need to include an option for them to consent to receive direct marketing from you in the future – see Obtaining consent for direct marketing for when you will need consent for this, and how to get it;
- digital content – if you intend to let a consumer download or stream the content within 14 days of placing their order, you must obtain their express consent, and acknowledgement that they will lose their legal right to cancel as a result; and
- any additional services or items that the customer has the option of paying for (eg purchasing insurance with jewellery). You must get the customer’s express consent to paying for any such additional items, which means that the customer must tick a box to positively indicate they want the additional service. If you do not get this consent (eg the default position is that the jewellery comes with insurance which costs extra), you may be required to reimburse the customer for the additional costs.
Our template mail-order form is customisable to your business.
As well as providing the appropriate information on your mail-order form, there is also certain information you need to provide to customers as part of your catalogue itself. This is discussed further below.
Information required in your catalogue
There is certain legal information which you must provide within your catalogue if you sell to consumers.
This can be divided up as follows:
1. Information about your business
Your customers need to know basic details about your business and how to get in contact with you.
2. Information about the customer’s rights
It is suggested you do this in a standard set of terms and conditions to be produced within the catalogue.
3. Product information
You must provide this on the product pages.
Our Q&A on Mail-order sales provides further guidance about these requirements.
Whilst you are not required to provide most of this information to business customers (who are not consumers), you may not know for sure whether it is a business or consumer ordering through your catalogue, unless you only sell to trade customers. In most cases, you should therefore ensure that this information is made available to all customers as a matter of course.
See Checklist of information to include to ensure your catalogue is legally compliant for a quick guide on ensuring your catalogue is legally compliant.
Sending an order confirmation
Once you receive and process a customer’s mail-order sale, you will need to send them an order confirmation. This must be done as soon as possible and, at the latest, before you deliver your goods to the customer. The confirmation could be sent by post or via email.
Your confirmation must include the following:
- any of the information required in your catalogue or mail-order form that you have not already sent to the customer;
- how and when the goods will be delivered or digital content supplied; and
- where you have sold digital content to the customer and they have agreed to your providing it immediately and acknowledged that they will lose their cancellation rights as a result, you must provide confirmation of this consent and acknowledgement.
For what to do if a customer orders something which is out of stock, see Customer service when selling via mail order.
The content in this article is up to date at the date of publishing. The information provided is intended only for information purposes, and is not for the purpose of providing legal advice. Sparqa Legal’s Terms of Use apply.
Marion joined Sparqa Legal as a Senior Legal Editor in 2018. She previously worked as a corporate/commercial lawyer for five years at one of New Zealand’s leading law firms, Kensington Swan (now Dentons Kensington Swan), and as an in-house legal consultant for a UK tech company. Marion regularly writes for Sparqa’s blog, contributing across its commercial, IP and health and safety law content.