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When you sell products and services, you must comply with fair trading laws - covering areas such as:

• pricing
• weights and measures
• descriptions of products and services
• the contract between a buyer and seller
• competition between businesses
• intellectual property and counterfeiting

What are the rules around fair trade?

The law sets out practices that are illegal when selling goods or services. These unfair practices include misleading customers and using aggressive selling practices.

Misleading customers

You must not mislead customers about the goods or services you sell. For example, it is against the law to give customers wrong information, such as advertising something as being reduced when it never costs a higher price. It is also illegal to keep important information hidden. You must be open and honest with your customers. 

Aggressive selling

You must not use aggressive selling techniques. It is illegal to pressure a customer to buy goods or services. For example, this might be refusing to leave their home until they make a purchase or constantly contacting them. 

Other unfair practices include taking away a customer's statutory rights by displaying signs such as 'sold as seen' or 'no refunds' - a customer is entitled to redress if goods or services are faulty or misdescribed under the rules of the . 

Pricing and other fair trading rules

If your business sells goods or services, you must provide the price to customers. This rule applies whether you are selling to individuals or other businesses. 

If the price for a good or service is not pre-determined by your business, you must supply, if asked:

• the price of the good or service
• the method for calculating the price - if you can't give an exact price - so the customer can check the price
• a sufficiently detailed estimate

Read more on the rules of pricing goods and services.

You must also give customers:

• the general terms and conditions that you use, if any
• information on any contract terms governed by the law of a particular country
• the existence of an after-sales guarantee, if any, not imposed by law
• the main features of the service, if not already apparent from the context
• the name of the regulating institution if you work in a regulated profession
• information about your insurance cover, the contact details of the insurer and territorial coverage - if you are required to hold professional liability insurance or a guarantee
• contact details where any complaint can be made
• your legal status and form (for example, whether you are a sole trader or a limited company)
• Your business address and contact details where you can be reached directly 

Note that this list is not exhaustive and not all service providers are covered by these rules. There may also be further information that you must provide to a customer if they ask for it.

Fair trading law for certain goods and services

There are trading laws covering businesses that deal in specific goods and services, such as:

• property
• holidays

Understanding the laws that affect you is required for running a successful business. If you don't comply, you could face legal penalties. It could also damage your business reputation.

Any description of a product, including goods, services and digital content, a trader (either yourself or another trader) or any other matter connected to a consumer’s transactional decision must not mislead them or contain false or untruthful information.

You must also not omit details about products, including goods, services and digital content, or omit any information that is legally required, such as information required from an invitation to purchase or information required in consumer contracts, to ensure your customers are able to make a fully informed decision about whether to buy or not.

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) makes it an offence to engage in an unfair commercial practice. This includes anything a trader does or fails to do when promoting or supplying a product, including goods, services and digital content, to consumers.

Dishonest practices could include untruthful advertising, omitting important information, or providing deceptive after-sales information. Using these unfair practices, known as a misleading action and a misleading omission, breach the act. and are potentially a criminal offence.

Any business that trades in goods or services must comply with the act. Directors, managers and other employees can also be liable to follow the rules.

Transactional decision

The misleading information given or information not provided to a consumer must cause, or be likely to cause, a consumer to make a different transactional decision.

A transactional decision is any decision a consumer makes in relation to a product. It can be taken before, during or after a purchase is made or a contract is agreed. There doesn’t have to be an actual transaction for there to be a transactional decision.

Examples of transactional decisions include:

• decision to visit a shop, click on a website, view a property or attend a sales presentation
• decision to buy a product like goods, services, digital content
• decision to sell a product (to a trader or another consumer)
• decision to sign a contract
• decision to exercise their rights, for example use their right to cancel or seek a repair or replacement of faulty goods
• decision to pay a debt

What is a misleading action under unfair trading law?

A misleading action occurs when information relating to a product or a practice contains false information or is in some way untruthful, or its overall presentation deceives or is likely to mislead the consumer.

A false or untruthful product description can mislead a customer with information relating to things such as the price or how the price is calculated, or the need for a service, part, replacement or repair. For example, a customer pays £50 for a product, without being told the price does not include VAT. As this was not explained in the advert, the advert is misleading.

For more information on practices that could be misleading actions, see the .

What is a misleading omission under unfair trading law?

A misleading omission is when a trader omits or hides material information or provides it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous, or untimely way. For example, to make an informed decision about whether to buy or how much to pay, the consumer buying a car needs to know whether the vehicle has previously been an insurance write-off; you, as the trader, have to disclose this information, whether or not the consumer asks for it.

For a practice to be unfair, the trader's misleading action or omission must be likely to cause a consumer to take a transactional decision that they would not have taken otherwise - as above, this could be, for example, to buy as opposed to not buy, having work done or not, or paying a different amount for goods.

How can a misleading action or omission be given?

When selling, a misleading action or omission can be provided in several ways, including:

• verbally
• in writing (for example, in an advert, a brochure, or on an invoice or order form)
• by illustration (for example, in advertisements or on packaging)
• by implication

What does the law require?

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act does not cover insignificant inaccuracies. Only a court can decide whether the actions of a trader would adversely affect a consumer.

You can check which laws apply to the goods and services you trade in by asking your local .

Avoiding committing an offence

In the first instance, you should ensure that all descriptions are not misleading. This means that not only should they be accurate, but they should be presented in a way that would not mislead - for example, by being understood in the wrong context.

To avoid committing misleading omissions, traders should ensure that they are open and honest with customers, including anything that might make the product or the offer less attractive.

A consumer’s right to redress

If a consumer has been the victim of misleading actions or aggressive selling, there are regulations which give them a right to redress through a civil court order. The customer may be entitled to claim compensation, a price reduction or cancel the contract. These rights do not apply to misleading omissions.

The rights of redress for affected consumers are currently provided for by the .

If you sell used vehicles, you must ensure that the descriptions are listed accurately. This includes the mileage, condition, history and specification. This type of information will likely affect a consumer's decision whether to purchase the vehicle. These descriptions are controlled by the .

How to ensure accurate descriptions are applied

To comply with the law, a trader and their employees need to show that they took all reasonable steps to trade fairly and honestly with their customers when selling used vehicles. This practice is known as acting with due diligence. Reasonable steps you would carry out as a trader include:

• When buying motor vehicles always ask about their mileage and make sure it is written on the purchase document and not given verbally. Get the seller's signature declaring whether the history is correct, incorrect or unknown.
• Do not rely solely on the mileage statement of the previous owner unless they are the original owner. Only offer a vehicle for sale as genuine mileage when the full mileage history is known.
• Check the vehicle’s history. For example, whether it is recorded as stolen, is subject to outstanding finance, has been written off as an insurance loss or accident damaged.
• Check that you have the right to sell the vehicle. For instance, is the vehicle still subject to a hire purchase agreement. If yes, you do not own it.
• When inspecting a vehicle, make sure that the overall condition, both mechanically and physically is consistent with its age. Look at the vehicle's service history and to determine if there is a consistent increase in mileage over time.
• Inspect the vehicle yourself including reading the service history and contacting traders who have previously serviced the vehicle to establish that the service history is correct and keep a record of this inspection.
• Ensure that all staff who may meet customers are properly trained and instructed in these matters and have access to all relevant details (for example, purchase invoices and results of any checks made).

What is unlawful – mileage description

The mileage displayed on a vehicle odometer should accurately represent the distance the vehicle has travelled. Displaying an incorrect odometer reading may be a misleading action. To comply with the law, you must tell the consumer the accurate mileage, as failure to do this may be a misleading omission.

There are several practices that are prohibited, including: 

• Making a misleading statement about a vehicle’s mileage, such as altering the odometer to a lower figure or zero, or making other false claims in writing or verbally.
• Failing to provide all the information required when making an invitation to purchase, for example advertising a car with a price that doesn’t include VAT. See what information must not be omitted from invitations to purchase.
• Selling a vehicle that has been subject to a prior misleading action or omission. This could include having the vehicle on the forecourt, selling it with an incorrect odometer reading or not informing the consumer of the actual mileage.
• Having false mileage in an advertisement, for example, 'low mileage' stickers.
• Not telling the consumer the odometer reading or the fact that an odometer unit was faulty and replaced (either with a new or second-hand unit) may be a misleading omission.
• If the accuracy of the odometer reading is in doubt, you must make this clear to prospective customers. This is usually done using disclaimers (which obscure the entire odometer reading). It is always advisable to use disclaimers to avoid the potential false mileage description being read by consumers.
• It is not sufficient to disclaim all mileage without carrying out checks to confirm their accuracy. Even if a trader wasn't aware that the mileage was wrong, their actions could still be against the law.

You should be able to show that you have checks in place to verify the mileage on the odometer and show that these checks are carried out. However, despite having these checks in place, verifying the mileage recorded may still be impossible, and you should state this to customers.

What is unlawful – description of used vehicle sales 

Examples of unlawful trading practices include:

• Having false information in an advertisement. For example, ‘in excellent condition’ or ‘drives like new’ when you have knowledge of an existing fault with the vehicle.
• Making incorrect statements or not informing consumers of the correct service history, previous accident damage, number of previous owners, technical specification (e.g. engine size, miles per gallon), insurance grouping or environmental performance.
• Misleading consumers by making them believe they have no right to redress under the Consumer Rights Act, using statements such as 'sold as seen' or 'trade sale'.
• Hiding additional costs. For example, administration fees, delivery or other non-optional charges.
• Not disclosing that a vehicle was previously used for business purposes, such as rental or taxi.

The DMCCA lists banned trading practices which are considered unfair and provide a defence to any criminal charges. For example, a banned practice includes claiming or creating the impression that you are a private seller when you are a trader.
A full list of the 32 banned practices can be found in the .

All unlawful practices can be made verbally, in writing, visually or by association. They can be made by anyone in your business, including staff members. Businesses, business owners and staff members can all be held accountable for their actions.    

Used vehicle warranties

Any warranty or guarantee you supply free of charge or sell separately with a vehicle is in addition to a consumer's legal rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. You cannot refuse to deal with a complaint because it is excluded from a warranty, or the warranty period has expired. Any warranty you give is legally binding.

The Northern Ireland Trading Standards Service (TSS) enforces the laws on goods and services within Northern Ireland.

Customer complaints

The TSS receives complaints from customers about a wide range of consumer issues, including:

• misleading descriptions or prices
• inaccurate weights and measures
• consumer credit
• unfair commercial practices

The TSS can investigate customers' complaints and take appropriate enforcement action where necessary. This ranges from advice to warnings to criminal prosecutions.  In some cases the business may want to seek independent legal advice.

Find out more

If you'd like general advice regarding any consumer legislation - you should . It can provide free and impartial guidance.

It may be that by seeking their advice on your trading policies, you can prevent any complaints arising.