Introduction
Selling to customers in Türkiye through a website, mobile application, online marketplace or telephone channel may bring a foreign business within a detailed set of Turkish consumer-protection rules. For an international seller, the main legal risk is often not the wording of the sales contract itself. Problems usually arise from the way the transaction actually works: what the consumer sees before clicking the purchase button, what information is provided about returns, how payment is confirmed, how a withdrawal request is processed, and how quickly a refund is made.
For this reason, businesses entering the Turkish consumer market should review the entire online purchasing process - not merely copy a standard “distance sales agreement” onto their website.
The principal rules are found in Article 48 of Consumer Protection Law No. 6502 and the Regulation on Distance Contracts, originally published in the Official Gazette dated 27 November 2014 and numbered 29188.1 The regulatory framework has since been amended several times, including changes that became effective on 1 January 2026.
What Is a Distance Sales Contract Under Turkish Law?
A distance contract is generally a contract concluded between a consumer and a seller or service provider without their simultaneous physical presence, within an organised system established for the distance marketing of goods or services, where distance communication methods are used up to and including the conclusion of the contract.2
Typical examples include purchases made through:
- e-commerce websites
- mobile applications
- online marketplaces
- telephone sales systems
- certain social-media or messaging-based
However, the mere fact that communications take place online does not automatically make every transaction a distance contract. The Ministry of Trade currently identifies three cumulative elements: the parties are not physically together when the contract is concluded, an organised distance-marketing system exists, and distance communication is used up to and including the conclusion of the contract.
This distinction can become particularly important for foreign companies operating hybrid sales models - for example, where negotiations take place online but significant contractual terms are subsequently negotiated or concluded in person.
Pre-Contractual Information: Compliance Begins Before Checkout
Before a consumer becomes contractually bound, Turkish law requires the seller or provider to supply detailed information concerning the transaction.
Among other matters, the consumer must be informed about:
the principal characteristics of the goods or services; the seller's or provider's identity and contact information; the total price including taxes; additional delivery, shipping and similar charges; payment and performance arrangements; the right of withdrawal; and available dispute-resolution mechanisms.3
Under the Regulation, this information must be given in clear, understandable and readable language and, where applicable, in writing or through a durable medium such as email or another medium that allows the information to be stored and reproduced.4 The Regulation also contains specific presentation requirements for internet sales, including information that must appear clearly immediately before the consumer assumes a payment obligation.
This is where foreign sellers sometimes make a costly mistake. A technically well-drafted distance sales agreement hidden behind a hyperlink does not automatically make the sales process compliant.
The legally relevant question is broader:
What was the consumer actually shown, and at what point in the purchasing process?
A compliance review should therefore examine the website or application screen by screen, including product pages, checkout pages, payment screens, confirmation emails and withdrawal procedures.
The Consumer Must Know That the Order Creates a Payment Obligation
Immediately before the consumer confirms an order, the seller, provider and - where applicable - the intermediary service provider must clearly inform the consumer that approving the order creates a payment obligation.
If this requirement is not satisfied, the consumer is not bound by the order.5 The Regulation does not require every business to use one identical sentence on its purchase button. Nevertheless, from an evidentiary and compliance perspective, the checkout design should make the financial consequence of clicking the final order button unmistakable.
Businesses should also retain sufficient electronic records to demonstrate what information was displayed to the consumer at the relevant time.
The 14-Day Right of Withdrawal
As a general rule, a consumer may withdraw from a distance contract within 14 days, without giving a reason and without paying a contractual penalty.6
For goods, the period generally begins when the consumer - or a third person designated by the consumer - receives the goods. For services, it generally begins on the date the contract is concluded. A consumer purchasing goods may also exercise the withdrawal right between conclusion of the contract and delivery.
The consumer's withdrawal notification must be sent within the applicable period. Written notification or notification through a durable medium is sufficient; consumers are not limited to a specific withdrawal form.
What if the consumer was not properly informed?
This is one of the highest-risk areas for sellers. Where the consumer has not been properly informed about the withdrawal right, the consumer is not bound by the ordinary 14-day period. The legislation provides a longer statutory period, subject to the one-year long-stop rule.7
The significance of this obligation has also been recognised directly by the Court of Cassation.
Yargıtay 3rd Civil Chamber, E. 2020/5130, K. 2021/6041, 4 June 2021
In this case, the consumer had purchased a holiday-related service through the seller's website. Yargıtay found that the seller had failed properly to inform the consumer about the right of withdrawal. The Court concluded that the consumer could therefore not be treated as bound by the ordinary 14-day withdrawal period and upheld the consumer's ability to exercise the right within the extended statutory period.8
For e-commerce businesses, the practical implication is straightforward: proof of disclosure matters almost as much as the disclosure itself.
When Is the Right of Withdrawal Excluded?
The right of withdrawal is important, but it is not unlimited. Current Turkish rules recognise exceptions for certain transactions, including, subject to the statutory conditions:
goods prepared according to the consumer's individual wishes or personal needs; rapidly perishable goods; certain sealed goods unsuitable for return for health or hygiene reasons once their protective packaging has been opened; certain digital-content products and computer consumables after protective packaging has been opened; specified date-dependent accommodation, vehicle rental, catering and leisure services; electronically supplied services performed immediately; immediately supplied intangible digital goods; and certain services whose performance begins with the consumer's consent before expiry of the withdrawal period.9
Businesses should be particularly careful about treating an item as “custom made.” The exception should correspond to the actual nature of the goods and the consumer's individual order. Merely inserting the words “custom product - no returns” into standard terms is not a sound compliance strategy.
A significant point for electronics in 2026
The current Ministry of Trade guidance expressly confirms that mobile phones, smart watches, tablets and computers are not automatically excluded from the withdrawal right. Consumers can therefore generally exercise the statutory withdrawal right for these goods, subject to the applicable rules.
This is especially important because earlier planned regulatory amendments had created considerable uncertainty in this area.
Yargıtay on the Use of Goods During the Withdrawal Period
Another useful authority is Yargıtay 3rd Civil Chamber, E. 2022/6784, K. 2022/8533, 7 November 2022, which concerned a mobile phone purchased online.
Yargıtay accepted that the mobile phone was not, merely because it was an electronic device, outside the withdrawal regime. The consumer had installed a SIM card and applications and used the phone for six days. The Court held that the relevant issue was whether that use exceeded normal or ordinary use; if it did and caused loss to the seller, the resulting loss had to be properly assessed. The case was remitted for an expert examination on that issue.10
The decision is useful for both consumers and sellers because it shows that exercising a withdrawal right and determining liability for excessive use are separate legal questions.
Important 2026 Change: Who Pays the Return Shipping Cost?
This area changed materially from 1 January 2026. Under the current Regulation, when the consumer returns goods using the carrier specified by the seller in the pre-contractual information, the consumer cannot be charged the return cost.
If the seller failed to specify a return carrier, the consumer likewise cannot be charged a return-shipping fee. If the designated carrier does not have a branch where the consumer is located, the seller must arrange collection of the goods without imposing additional cost on the consumer.
For platform-based sales, certain costs and responsibilities may fall on the intermediary service provider where the relevant failure is attributable to the platform.11 These rules derive from the amendment published in the Official Gazette dated 24 May 2025, No. 32909, which became effective on 1 January 2026.
This provision should be reflected not only in contractual wording but also in the business's actual return-management system.
Refund Timing After Withdrawal
When a valid withdrawal is exercised, the seller or provider must refund the relevant payments in accordance with the statutory timetable. Current Ministry guidance states that where goods are returned using the carrier specified in the pre-contractual information, the 14-day refund period is linked to the consumer's delivery of the goods to that carrier. If another carrier is used, the period may instead run from receipt of the goods by the seller.
For undelivered goods and service contracts, the refund period generally runs from receipt of the withdrawal notification. Refunds must also be made through a method compatible with the payment method originally used, without imposing additional cost on the consumer.
A seller should therefore ensure that its finance, logistics and customer-service systems are aligned. A legally correct withdrawal policy is of little value if the accounting department cannot process refunds within the statutory period.
Marketplace and Platform Liability
Foreign businesses selling through marketplaces should not assume that consumer-law responsibility lies exclusively with the individual seller. Amendments to Law No. 6502 and the Regulation have imposed significant obligations on intermediary service providers. Depending on the particular issue, platforms may be responsible for maintaining systems through which consumers can send and track requests, ensuring or proving pre-contractual disclosures, preserving transaction records, and - where they collect payments on behalf of sellers - certain delivery and refund obligations.
At the same time, the seller retains its own statutory responsibilities. Accordingly, a business entering the Turkish market through a marketplace should review both:
- its relationship with the consumer, and
- its contractual allocation of responsibilities with the marketplace
Foreign Sellers and Cross-Border Transactions
A company does not necessarily avoid Turkish consumer-law issues merely because it is incorporated outside Türkiye. Under Article 26 of Law No. 5718 on Private International Law and International Civil Procedure, parties may select the law applicable to a consumer contract, but that choice cannot deprive the consumer of the minimum protection afforded by the mandatory provisions of the law of the consumer's habitual residence. In the absence of a choice of law, the consumer's habitual-residence law may apply where the statutory conditions specified in Article 26 are met.12
Consequently, a foreign company's governing-law clause should not be treated as an automatic mechanism for excluding Turkish consumer protection.
For a foreign business planning Turkish-market sales, legal review should normally cover:
consumer-contract rules; electronic-commerce regulation; data-protection obligations; marketing and electronic communications; payment arrangements; dispute-resolution clauses; and the company's regulatory or establishment structure in Türkiye.
Law No. 6563 and ETBİS Should Also Be Checked
Distance-contract compliance and electronic-commerce compliance are related, but they are not identical. Law No. 6563 on the Regulation of Electronic Commerce and its secondary legislation impose separate obligations on electronic-commerce service providers and intermediary service providers. The Ministry of Trade also operates the Electronic Commerce Information System (ETBİS).
Whether a particular foreign business must make registrations, notifications or obtain other regulatory approvals depends on how its operations are structured. This issue should therefore be reviewed separately rather than assuming that a compliant distance sales contract is sufficient.
Consumer Disputes in Türkiye
Foreign companies should also know where a consumer dispute may end up. For 2026, consumer disputes with a value below TRY 186,000 fall within the monetary jurisdiction of Consumer Arbitration Committees (Tüketici Hakem Heyetleri), subject to the applicable procedural rules. The threshold is revised periodically.
For disputes requiring proceedings before a Consumer Court, mandatory mediation under Article 73/A of Law No. 6502 may also apply before litigation, subject to statutory exceptions. The current Distance Contracts Regulation expressly requires information to be given to consumers concerning these available remedies.
For a foreign business receiving a Turkish consumer complaint, early legal assessment can therefore be particularly important because the procedure, monetary jurisdiction and response deadlines may differ significantly from those in its home jurisdiction.
Administrative Risk for Non-Compliance
Distance-contract violations are not limited to private refund claims. The Ministry of Trade may impose administrative sanctions for violations of Law No. 6502. For 2026, the Ministry states that many violations concerning consumer rights and information obligations in distance contracts carry an administrative fine of TRY 3,973 for each non-compliant transaction or contract.
Failure by an intermediary service provider to establish and continuously maintain the system through which consumers can submit and track the prescribed requests and notifications may attract a substantially higher administrative penalty; the Ministry lists the applicable 2026 amount as TRY 6,380,408.
For businesses processing large volumes of online transactions, even a seemingly minor systemic defect can therefore produce material regulatory exposure.
What Should a Foreign Business Ask a Turkish Lawyer to Review?
When appointing Turkish counsel for an e-commerce or distance-sales project, the legal review should extend beyond a generic contract template. Counsel should ideally examine the actual customer journey, including the website or application interface, mandatory disclosures, checkout wording, proof of consumer confirmation, withdrawal procedure, return-carrier arrangements, payment and refund systems, marketplace agreements and data-retention records.
For foreign businesses, counsel should additionally assess conflict-of-laws issues, Turkish e-commerce obligations, the structure through which the company sells into Türkiye, consumer-dispute procedures and whether Turkish-language documentation or local regulatory filings are required.
A distance sales agreement should therefore be treated as one component of a broader compliance architecture - not as the entire solution.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Turkish distance sales law apply to a company located outside Türkiye?
Potentially, yes. The answer depends on the structure of the transaction, conflict-of-laws rules and the manner in which the business deals with consumers in Türkiye. A foreign-law clause does not necessarily eliminate the mandatory protections that may be available to a Turkish consumer.
Does every online purchase qualify as a distance contract?
No. The statutory elements of a distance contract must be satisfied. In particular, the transaction must generally take place without simultaneous physical presence and within an organised distance-marketing system using distance communication through conclusion of the contract.
How long does a consumer have to cancel an online purchase?
The general withdrawal period is 14 days, subject to statutory exceptions. For goods it normally starts upon delivery; for services it normally starts when the contract is concluded.
What happens if the seller does not properly explain the withdrawal right?
The consumer is not bound by the ordinary 14-day period. Turkish legislation provides an extended period, subject to the statutory one-year limit, and Yargıtay has applied this protection in distance-sales disputes.
Can a seller charge the consumer the cost of returning a product?
Under the rules applicable from 1 January 2026, a consumer cannot be charged return costs when using the carrier specified by the seller. If no carrier was identified in the pre-contractual information, the consumer likewise cannot be charged a return-shipping fee.
Can an online seller refuse returns of mobile phones or computers simply because the packaging has been opened?
Not automatically. Current Ministry of Trade guidance expressly states that mobile phones, smart watches, tablets and computers are not generally excluded from the withdrawal right.
Questions concerning use exceeding normal use must be assessed separately.
Are marketplaces responsible when something goes wrong?
Sometimes. Turkish law imposes specific obligations on intermediary service providers, while sellers retain their own obligations. Responsibility depends on the nature of the breach and the role played by the platform.
Should a foreign company use a Turkish lawyer before launching an e-commerce site in Türkiye?
For a business actively entering the Turkish consumer market, legal review before launch can prevent considerably more expensive corrective work later. The review should cover not only the distance sales agreement but also pre-contractual disclosures, checkout design, withdrawal and refund workflows, electronic-commerce requirements and cross-border legal issues.
Conclusion
Distance sales compliance in Türkiye cannot be reduced to placing a standard-form agreement at the bottom of an e-commerce website. Turkish consumer law regulates the transaction from the moment the product or service is presented through payment, delivery, withdrawal, return and refund. The amendments applicable from 2026 make this operational dimension even more important, particularly in relation to return costs and platform responsibilities.
Foreign companies selling to Turkish consumers should therefore examine both their contractual documentation and the technical process through which consumer transactions are concluded. Early legal review can identify deficiencies before they become repeated consumer claims, marketplace disputes or regulatory violations.
Footnotes
1 Law No. 6502 on Consumer Protection, Art. 48; Regulation on Distance Contracts, Official Gazette, 27.11.2014, No. 29188. Official source.
2 Law No. 6502, Art. 48/1; Regulation on Distance Contracts, Art. 4. Official source.
3 Regulation on Distance Contracts, Art. 5.
4 Regulation on Distance Contracts, Arts. 4, 6 and 7.
5 Regulation on Distance Contracts, Art. 8.
6 Law No. 6502, Art. 48/4; Regulation on Distance Contracts, Art. 9. Official source.
7 Law No. 6502, Art. 48/4; Regulation on Distance Contracts, Art. 10. Official source.
8 Yargıtay 3rd Civil Chamber, E. 2020/5130, K. 2021/6041, T. 04.06.2021. Official decision database.
9 Regulation on Distance Contracts, Art. 15.
10 Yargıtay 3rd Civil Chamber, E. 2022/6784, K. 2022/8533, T. 07.11.2022; published in Official Gazette No. 32071 dated 12.01.2023. Official decision database.
11 Regulation on Distance Contracts, Arts. 5 and 12, as amended by the Regulation published in Official Gazette No. 32909 dated 24.05.2025, effective 01.01.2026.
12 Law No. 5718 on Private International Law and International Civil Procedure, Art. 26. Official source.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
