If a company advertises a shipping timeframe when you place your order, it has to ship within that window. If it makes no promise, federal law gives it 30 days from when it receives your completed order. So how long does a company have to ship your order? Whichever timeframe applies, if the seller can’t meet it, it has to tell you before the deadline passes and offer you the choice to wait or cancel for a full refund. These rules come from the FTC’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule and cover almost anything you buy online, by phone, or through the mail.
When the Shipping Clock Starts
The deadline runs from the moment the seller receives a “properly completed order.” That means the company has your payment or authorization to charge you, plus everything it needs to fill the order: shipping address, item selections, size, and so on. The clock starts even if the merchant hasn’t actually run your card yet. Having your authorization is enough.1Federal Trade Commission. Business Guide to the FTC’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule
The seller must also have a reasonable basis to believe it can ship within whatever timeframe it advertises at checkout. If the product page says “ships in 5 business days,” the company is bound to that. Pre-orders and backorders are allowed, and the shipping date can be months out, as long as it’s clearly stated. A listing that just says “pre-order” with no ship date defaults to the 30-day rule.2eCFR. 16 CFR 435.2 – Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Sales
One exception most buyers don’t know about: if you apply for credit directly through the seller to pay for the purchase, the default stretches to 50 days instead of 30. This covers store credit cards and merchant financing opened at checkout. It does not apply when you use an existing credit card.2eCFR. 16 CFR 435.2 – Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Sales
What the Seller Must Do If It Can’t Ship on Time
A seller that realizes it can’t meet the shipping deadline has to notify you before that deadline passes. Going quiet is not an option. The notice must offer you a clear choice: accept the delay or cancel for a full refund.2eCFR. 16 CFR 435.2 – Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Sales
How your silence is treated depends on the length of the delay. If the seller gives you a revised shipping date 30 days or less past the original deadline, not responding counts as agreement to wait. If the new date is more than 30 days out, or the seller can’t provide a date at all, your order is automatically canceled unless you actively tell the seller you’ll wait.2eCFR. 16 CFR 435.2 – Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Sales
For any further delay after you’ve already agreed to wait once, the seller has to send a new notice and get consent again. A single consent doesn’t authorize an open-ended wait. And if you do agree to an indefinite delay, you keep the right to cancel any time before the item actually ships.2eCFR. 16 CFR 435.2 – Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Sales
What a Valid Delay Notice Must Include
A compliant first delay notice has to contain specific elements:
- A revised shipping date, or a statement that the seller cannot estimate when the item will ship.
- A clear statement that you can cancel for a full refund if you don’t want to wait.
- A free way to cancel, such as a prepaid reply card, toll-free number, or website link, so exercising the option costs you nothing.
When the seller can’t provide any estimated date, the notice also has to explain the reason for the delay and tell you that if you agree to wait, you can still cancel any time before the order ships.1Federal Trade Commission. Business Guide to the FTC’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule
Many sellers send a vague “your order is delayed” email with no revised date and no cancellation instructions. That email doesn’t satisfy the rule. If your notice is missing any of the required elements, the seller is not in compliance, whatever the reason for the delay.
Your Refund Rights
When you cancel a delayed order, or when the seller fails to get consent and the order is automatically canceled, the refund has to be prompt. For purchases made by check, cash, or money order, the seller has seven working days to send your refund. For credit card purchases, the seller must issue a credit within one billing cycle.3eCFR. Part 435 – Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise
The refund covers everything you paid, including shipping, handling, and insurance charges. Pay $45 for the product and $12 for expedited shipping, and you get $57 back. The seller cannot deduct a restocking fee or keep the shipping cost when it’s the party that failed to deliver.1Federal Trade Commission. Business Guide to the FTC’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule
Store credit, gift cards, and merchandise vouchers are not acceptable substitutes for a cash refund, no matter how generous the offer sounds. If you paid with a credit card, the money goes back to that card. If you paid with cash or check, you get cash or a check.1Federal Trade Commission. Business Guide to the FTC’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule
Purchases the Shipping Rule Doesn’t Cover
A few categories fall outside the rule: magazine and other serial subscriptions after the first issue ships on time, seeds and growing plants, collect-on-delivery (COD) orders, and negative option plans like subscription boxes that ship until you cancel (those are governed by a separate FTC rule). Standard purchases of clothing, electronics, furniture, and virtually everything else you’d buy from a retailer are fully covered. State consumer protection laws can also provide additional rights on top of the federal baseline.4GovInfo. 16 CFR 435.3 – Limited Applicability
If the Seller Ignores You: Dispute the Charge
If a seller refuses to refund you or won’t respond to a cancellation request, your credit card gives you a second route. The Fair Credit Billing Act lets you dispute charges for goods that were never delivered. Send a written dispute to your card issuer at the billing inquiry address on your statement (not the payment address) within 60 days of the date the first statement showing the charge was sent to you.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666 – Correction of Billing Errors
Your written notice needs your name and account number, the amount in dispute, and an explanation of the error. For undelivered merchandise the explanation is simple: the seller charged you and never shipped the item. The card issuer has 30 days to acknowledge your dispute and must resolve it within two billing cycles, capped at 90 days.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666 – Correction of Billing Errors
The 60-day deadline is where a lot of claims fall apart. If a seller strings you along with delay notices for months and you keep agreeing to wait, the original charge can age past the dispute window. Some card issuers voluntarily extend the window for delayed shipments, but they don’t have to.6Federal Trade Commission. What To Do if You’re Billed for Things You Never Got, or You Get Unordered Products If you sense a seller is stalling, dispute the charge early rather than waiting for a delay notice that never turns into a shipment.
Debit Cards Work Differently
Debit card purchases don’t get the same protections. They fall under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E. You still have 60 days from your bank statement date to report a problem, but the investigation process and your exposure are different.7eCFR. Part 1005 – Electronic Fund Transfers (Regulation E)
After you report the issue, the bank generally has 10 business days to investigate and must provisionally credit your account if it needs more time. The full investigation can run 45 days, and for point-of-sale debit card transactions specifically it can reach 90 days.7eCFR. Part 1005 – Electronic Fund Transfers (Regulation E) With a credit card, the money in dispute is the issuer’s money during the billing cycle. With a debit card, the funds already left your checking account, and getting them back takes longer. For unfamiliar sellers, a credit card gives you stronger leverage.
Reporting the Seller
Filing a complaint at reportfraud.ftc.gov puts a record in the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel database, which is shared with federal, state, and local law enforcement. The FTC does not intervene in your individual dispute, but complaints help the agency spot patterns and build cases against repeat offenders.8Federal Trade Commission. ReportFraud.ftc.gov – FAQ
Your state attorney general’s consumer protection division is often the better route for a single complaint. Those offices can sometimes mediate directly with the seller and have authority to investigate companies operating in the state. Whichever route you take, hold onto your order confirmation, any delay notices, and copies of your cancellation request or refund demand. That documentation is what turns a complaint into a case.