Topics
Reference sections
The reference's pages are grouped into four topics that follow the path of an ordinary purchase. First you pay and receive documents, then you may return or exchange the item; orders with delivery stand apart, as do purchases that have no physical form at all. Choose the topic closest to your situation and follow the links.
A buyer's rights do not disappear just because the purchase was made on a phone rather than in a store. Only the details change: who hands over the goods, when the clock starts and what confirmations you are left with.
We include questions that ordinary buyers without legal training run into. Topics that require analysing a specific contract or dispute are flagged but not analysed: they need a specialist.
Documents and money
What to get and keep when paying, how to pay so that the purchase can be proven, and why your correspondence with the seller is a document too.
- Buyer's glossary
Till receipt, sales receipt, seller's details and other terms that come up when paying and in complaints.
- Five steps before paying
A short check of the seller, the terms and the final total that is handy before every noticeable purchase.
- Questions about receipts
What to do if a receipt has faded or been lost, and what other traces of the purchase you can show the seller.
Returns and exchanges
How returning an item that simply did not suit you differs from returning a defective product, and in what order to act in each case.
- Returning a purchase step by step
A detailed procedure from checking the terms to getting a refund or replacement, with hypothetical examples and a list of common mistakes.
- Answers on exchanges and defects
Short answers on the 14 days for an exchange, the list of non-exchangeable goods and your demands when there is a defect.
- Quality terms
Proper quality, defect, warranty period: what these words mean in a conversation with a seller.
Online and delivery
Special rules for distance purchases: inspection on delivery, withdrawing from an order and the signs of a seller you should not trust with prepayment.
- Collection: Ordering with delivery
A reading route from choosing a seller to sending back a parcel you have already received.
- Questions about online orders
How many days you have to withdraw, what to do with a damaged box and what about an item made to order.
- Online shopping terms
Distance selling, prepayment, pick-up point and other concepts you need to read the terms of sale.
Digital purchases
Activation keys, in-game purchases and subscriptions work differently from items on a shelf, and their rules are largely set by the platform itself.
- Collection on digital purchases
What to read before paying for a key or a subscription and how not to miss an automatic renewal.
- New pages
A publication feed where every new page is listed, including those on digital purchases.
- Archive by topic
All pages of the reference with dates and tags, so you can quickly find what you need.
What to read next
- Practical
A step-by-step return procedure and the catalogue of the reference's practical articles.
- Questions
Short answers on receipts, exchanges, delivery, defects, warranty and written complaints.
- Collections
Ready-made reading routes: a big purchase, an order with delivery, digital purchases.
What this text is based on
- Russian Federation Law "On Protection of Consumer Rights"
- Rospotrebnadzor: materials for consumers
- Rules for the sale of goods (general provisions), Russia
Consumer rights rules change from time to time, so before an important decision check the current version of the Russian Law on Protection of Consumer Rights and the specific seller's terms. Rules differ from country to country, so if you shop elsewhere, check the law where you buy. This reference describes general rules and does not analyse individual cases.