Door-to-Door Selling and Distance Selling in General

Door-to-door selling, as defined in the Finnish Consumer Protection Act, involves the trader offering consumer goods or services  to consumers at a place other than the premises of the business as, for instance, in door-to-door sales in the consumer’s home.  The purpose of the statutory provisions regarding door-to-door selling is to protect consumers in situations where selling occurs unexpectedly, and there is a limited time to make a purchase decision. However, the provisions regarding door-to-door selling are not applied in case the price of the consumer good or service, or the consumer goods and services purchased at the same time, is less than EUR 30.

Distance selling takes place via different media, without an actual encounter between the trader and the consumer. In these circumstances the consumer does not have the benefit of inspecting the goods before making a purchase decision. The distance selling regulations give the consumer special protection by requiring that the trader provides the consumer with certain advance information and by giving the consumer a right of withdrawal. Telesales, mail order business and internet sales are all regarded as distant selling.

The statutory requirements concerning door-to-door selling and distance selling are in Chapter 6 of the Finnish Consumer Protection Act. However, specific provisions of Chapter 6a of the Finnish Consumer Protection Act apply to distance selling of financial services and instruments. For example the sale and purchase of real estate and time-share housing are left out of the scope of application of the provisions regarding door-to-door selling and distance selling.