“Items on sale will not be taken back or exchanged”. Does this sentence sound familiar to you? This is because it blooms twice a year in stores and on small lines of websites. The 2023 winter sales will start on Wednesday January 11 and end on the evening of Tuesday February 7, after four weeks of promotions. While many French people take the opportunity to make their purchases for the year, especially for their wardrobe, more and more consumers are abandoning these framed promotions, preferring private sales or Black Friday.

In case of favorite purchase, not necessarily reasonable, you wonder if you can return your item? Please note that nothing obliges the merchant to comply with your request. On its website, the Ministry of the Economy explains that “a sale item benefits from the same guarantees as any other item”. “Thus, the announcement ‘neither taken back nor exchanged’ that we sometimes find during sales periods does not therefore exempt the merchant from exchanging or refunding the article in the event of manufacturing defects or apparent”, is it added.

What if the item doesn’t fit? Refund and exchange are not obligations. The Ministry of the Economy indicates: “If the item purchased no longer suits you or if the garment is not your size but there is no hidden defect, the merchant is not required legally to the exchange: he can do so on a purely commercial basis”. A word of advice, try on the clothes in question before buying them.

What about purchases made on the internet? The Ministry of the Economy is also very clear on this subject: “The sales carried out by distance selling companies, in particular on the Internet, are subject to the same conditions and the same regulations as those carried out in stores”. Whether the item in question is on sale or not, “you may return the product to the seller for exchange or refund, without penalty, within seven days of delivery”.