Parcelhero asks, 'Is it time to scrap the UK's "cooling-off" period for returns?'

Feb. 2, 2026 - PRLog -- The UK's 2013 Consumer Contracts Regulations introduced a 14 day no-fault 'cooling-off' period for online purchases. The regulations mean the majority of items purchased online can be returned to the seller without giving a reason, providing the seller is notified within 14 days and the buyer returns the item within another 14 days.

Thanks to these regulations, Brits have the right to cancel their order and get a refund on the majority of purchases – even if they just changed their mind. However, the home delivery expert Parcelhero (https://www.parcelhero.com/) says the cooling-off period regulations may be costing too much, both to the environment and to smaller and specialist e-commerce traders.

Parcelhero's Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks M.I.L.T., says: 'It may be time to cool off on the UK's online "cooling-off" period regulations, before they do more damage to the environment and small businesses. Our current legislation was introduced back in 2013, when only 10.5% of all goods sold in the UK were purchased online. Last month, nearly 30% (28.3%) of all retail sales were online. That means the impact of e-commerce returns has increased exponentially.

'That's grim news for the environment. Every return generates up to 4.2kg of CO2. In 2023, the statistics experts Statista calculated returns for the UK's fashion industry alone generated 1.1m tonnes of CO2 annually, in terms of the direct impact of returns (750,000 tonnes of CO2) and reverse logistics operations (350,000 tonnes of CO2).

'Many fashion items cannot be resold and 50% of these ended up in landfill. That's just the tip of the (fast-melting) iceberg when it comes to the cost to the environment. In 2022 alone, global emissions linked to returns reached 24m tonnes of CO2. Four years on, that number will have grown significantly.

'With the huge impact of returns on both the environment and Britain's favourite niche and specialist online sellers, Parcelhero is asking if it may be time to align our cooling-off period legislation with the more stringent terms of the Consumer Rights Act. Our 2013 Consumer Contracts Regulations were born at a time when we all bought less online and routinely returned far less items.

'For anyone not yet convinced, discover the full impact of returns on retailers large and small in Parcelhero's report "Retailers Reach the Point of No Returns" at: https://www.parcelhero.com/content/downloads/pdfs/returns/returnwhitepaper.pdf