Buying guide

Buying a designer handbag, watch, or fine jewelry online for the holidays: the FTC’s shipping rule, returns and final sale, marketplace sellers, fake reviews, and counterfeits

Updated November 1, 2026 · Written by the House of Biz & Company Editorial Team · General information, not legal or financial advice

A bag from Paris, a watch from a dealer three states away, earrings from a jeweler a friend swears by: the finest gifts of the season are increasingly chosen on a screen. Federal law holds an online seller to its shipping promise and to a prompt refund when it can’t keep it, but it gives you no general right to change your mind. Here is where the protections begin and end, read from the FTC’s rules, two state refund-policy laws, the federal marketplace-seller law, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

We don’t sell, broker, or consign handbags, watches, jewelry, or anything else. Only for the Wealthy is a publisher. This is general information drawn from the Federal Trade Commission’s rules and guidance, two state statutes, a federal marketplace law, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, all cited below. It is not legal advice; the store’s own terms and your state’s law decide your particular order. We are not affiliated with any retailer, marketplace, or agency named here, and we earn nothing from them.

Why the fine print matters in November

The most considered gifts of the season are increasingly chosen on a screen: a bag from a house in Paris, a watch from an authorized retailer three states away, a pair of earrings from a jeweler you found through a friend. The pleasure is the same; the protections are not. Buying online, you can’t hold the piece, you rely on a stranger’s promise of a delivery date, and your right to change your mind is whatever the seller wrote into its policy. Federal law does give the discerning buyer real leverage, but only if you know where it begins and ends. Here it is, read from the rules themselves.

1. A shipping promise is a legal promise

The FTC’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule, first issued in 1975 [3], covers merchandise you order by mail, by phone, or on the internet, whatever way you pay and however the order was solicited [1]. A seller may not invite your order unless it has a reasonable basis to expect it can ship within the time it states clearly and conspicuously, or, if it states no time, within 30 days after it receives a properly completed order [1]. If you apply to the seller itself for credit to pay for the piece, the default becomes 50 days [1][2].

The clock starts with a complete order. It runs from the moment the seller has both your payment (or your authorization to charge an account) and all the information it needs to ship, not from when a check clears or a deposit posts [1][2].
“Shipped” is not “delivered.” Under the rule, shipment means the moment the merchandise is placed in the carrier’s hands [1]. A promise to ship by December 20 is not a promise that the box arrives by Christmas, so read which one the site is making. For carrier ship-by dates and how to insure a watch or jewelry in transit, see our guide to giving a luxury gift.
What you are told at checkout counts. Updated shipping information given when you place the order, on the site or by a sales associate on the phone, supersedes what the advertising said, and the seller is then held to it [2]. The FTC staff adds that a seller who says it ships in 48 hours “most of the time” is expected to ship, or send a delay notice, within 48 hours every time [2].

2. When the piece is late: your choice, and the seller’s duty to refund

If the seller can’t ship on time, it must, without being asked, offer you the choice of accepting the delay or cancelling for a prompt refund, and it must do so before the promised time runs out [1]. It must also give you a way to cancel at its own expense, such as a toll-free number, a prepaid card, or a website [1][2]. What happens if you say nothing depends on the length of the delay:

What the seller tells you	If you don’t reply	What it must do
A new ship date 30 days or less after the original one	You are treated as agreeing to wait [1]	Ship by the new date, or come back to you again before it passes [1][2]
A new ship date more than 30 days later, or that it doesn’t know when it can ship	The order is cancelled automatically unless it ships within 30 days of the original date [1]	If it gives no date, tell you the reason for the delay; if you agree to wait indefinitely, you may still cancel at any time before it ships [1][2]
A second (“renewed”) delay notice	Silence now counts as cancelling, not as consent [2]	Refund you promptly if it can’t ship by the date you last agreed to [1][2]
Nothing at all, and the piece hasn’t shipped on time	—	Treat the order as cancelled and refund you [1]

The refund rules are precise. A prompt refund means within seven working days; if the seller itself extended you the credit, within one billing cycle [1][2]. If nothing shipped, the seller must refund everything you paid, including shipping, handling, and insurance charges, and it may not substitute store credit, a voucher, or scrip [2]. Nor may it quietly send a different piece: without your express agreement beforehand, it can’t substitute merchandise that is materially different, and the FTC staff counts differences in design, style, color, or fabric as material [2]. A different strap, a different stone, or a different leather is a different order.

Know the limits. The rule doesn’t cover orders shipped cash on delivery, services, or true sales on approval, where you pay only after you receive and accept the item; nor does it cover merchandise shipped with an invoice payable on receipt [1][2]. And it sets a floor, not a ceiling: state laws that give you equal or greater rights still apply [1]. If you have paid in advance for a piece the house must make or order in, our guide to special orders, gift cards, and store credit covers how to protect the deposit.

3. There is no federal right to change your mind online

Many buyers assume a three-day “cooling-off” right follows every purchase. It doesn’t. The FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule covers certain sales made at your home, workplace, or dormitory, or at a seller’s temporary location such as a hotel room or convention center, and it expressly does not cover sales made entirely online, by mail, or by telephone [5][6]. Once an online order arrives as described, whether you can send it back is decided by the seller’s return policy and your state’s law.

So read the policy before you pay, the way you would read a condition report. The FTC suggests finding out who pays return shipping, how many days you have, and whether a restocking fee applies, and double-checking the policy on sale items, which often differs, especially for clearance merchandise [4]. For a fine piece, also look for the words that end the conversation: final sale, as is, made to order, engraved, or personalized.

Some states require the policy to be in front of you. New York requires every retailer, including an online retailer, to post its refund policy by a notice or link near the item or before you are asked for billing information. The notice must say whether refunds are given and on what conditions, including on sale or “as is” merchandise, without proof of purchase, within what time, in cash or store credit only, and subject to which fees, with the dollar or percentage amount of any restocking fee [7]. A retailer that fails to comply is liable for up to 30 days from purchase for a cash refund or credit, at the buyer’s option, if the merchandise hasn’t been used or damaged and you can verify the date of purchase [7]. California requires a retailer selling to the public in the state whose policy is not to give full cash or credit refunds, or equal exchanges, for at least seven days to display that policy conspicuously, on signs at registers or entrances, on tags attached to the items, or on its order forms; a store that doesn’t is liable for the purchase price if you return the goods within 30 days. That rule doesn’t reach goods marked “all sales final” or “as is,” customized goods received as ordered, or goods not returned in their original package [8]. Other states have their own rules, or none.

4. Know who is actually selling to you

On a large marketplace, the name at the top of the page is often not the seller. The INFORM Consumers Act, in force since June 27, 2023, requires online marketplaces to collect, verify, and disclose information about their high-volume third-party sellers: those with 200 or more separate sales and $5,000 or more in gross revenue on the platform in any continuous 12-month period during the previous 24 months [9][10]. For a high-volume seller with $20,000 or more in annual gross revenue on the platform, the marketplace must show, on the listing or in the order confirmation, the seller’s full name and contact information that lets you communicate with it directly, and the listing must carry a clear way to report suspicious conduct to the marketplace [9]. If the seller used a different business to supply the product, the marketplace must give you that supplier’s name, address, and contact information on request [9].

Two cautions. The thresholds count only new or unused consumer products [10], so a seller of pre-owned bags or watches may fall outside them, and the disclosures may not appear. And a disclosed name is not proof of authenticity; it is simply someone you can hold to account. For pre-owned pieces, our guides to buying a pre-owned designer handbag and verifying a luxury watch cover what to check.

5. Reviews: now regulated, still not proof

Since the FTC’s rule on consumer reviews and testimonials was published in August 2024 [11][12], a business may not write, create, or sell reviews or testimonials that misrepresent that the reviewer exists, used the product, or had the experience described [11]. It may not offer compensation or incentives conditioned on a review expressing a particular sentiment, positive or negative; may not pass off a site it controls as an independent reviewer; may not use groundless legal threats, intimidation, or certain false accusations to keep a review from being posted or have it removed; and may not present the reviews it shows as most or all of those submitted when it has suppressed reviews for being negative [11]. Selling or buying fake followers or views is also covered [11]. The FTC says the rule lets it seek civil penalties against knowing violators [12].

A rule doesn’t make every review real. The FTC’s own advice is to read reviews across several sites, consider who wrote each one and the reviewer’s history, and not rely on star ratings alone, because fake reviews can be negative as well as positive [4].

6. Counterfeits: the price is the first clue

Customs and Border Protection says fashion, jewelry, and luxury products are among the counterfeits sold through online sources, and that in fiscal year 2025 it seized nearly 79 million counterfeit items with a combined manufacturer’s suggested retail price of over $7.3 billion, had they been genuine [14]. It reports that nearly 90% of its intellectual-property seizures that year originated from China and Hong Kong, and that express consignment, which many online retailers use alongside international mail to ship small packages, is close behind commercial cargo in the quantity of counterfeits seized [13].

The risk isn’t only to your money. CBP states that it is against the law to import counterfeit or pirated merchandise and that individual consumers may be liable for a fine even if they didn’t intend to import it [13], or, as its office of trade put it, even if the item was ordered by mistake [14]. Its advice for holiday shoppers: if a deal seems too good to be true, the item is probably fake; avoid sites with typos or without a refund policy or a way to contact the seller; inspect the packaging when it arrives; and report a fake through CBP’s Trade Violations Reporting platform or the National IPR Center [14]. The FTC adds that expensive brand-name items offered at bargain prices could be counterfeit or stolen, and that words like “refurbished” or “vintage” can mean a piece is in less-than-perfect condition [4]. Before you buy a stone or a watch online, read our guides to spotting fake diamonds and jewelry and pre-owned versus new Rolex or Omega.

7. Pay in a way you can take back

The FTC says paying by credit card best protects you if something goes wrong. If you are billed for merchandise you never got, or receive the wrong or a defective item, you can dispute the charge; call immediately, and send a letter that reaches the card company within 60 days of the date it mailed the first bill showing the error [4]. It also warns never to buy from an online seller that insists on payment only by gift card, wire transfer, payment app, or cryptocurrency [4]. How dispute rights work on a five- or six-figure charge, and what debit, wire, and crypto don’t give you, is in our guide to paying for a big purchase; the wire-transfer traps are in our guide to fake escrow and wire-fraud scams.

8. Keep the record

Every right above depends on proof of what was promised and when. The FTC recommends keeping the company’s name and website, what you ordered, the date and the price, the return policy, the seller’s promise to ship and the date it made it, all emails and texts, and the statement showing how you paid [4]. Screenshot the product page and the policy as they stood on the day you ordered; both can change before the box arrives.

Before you click “place order”: a checklist

Find the stated ship date, note whether it is a ship date or a delivery date, and screenshot it [1][2].
Read the return policy, including who pays return shipping, the window, any restocking fee, and whether the piece is final sale [4].
Remember there is no federal three-day right to cancel an online purchase [5].
On a marketplace, look for the seller’s name and contact details, and the link for reporting suspicious conduct [9].
Read reviews across several sources and never on stars alone [4].
Treat a price far below the market as a warning sign of a counterfeit [4][14].
Pay by credit card, and never by gift card, wire, payment app, or crypto to a seller who insists on it [4].
If a delay notice arrives, decide and reply: on a long or open-ended delay, silence can cancel the order [1][2].

Frequently asked questions

How long does an online store have to ship my order?

The time it clearly stated, or 30 days after it receives a properly completed order if it stated none (50 days if you applied to the seller for credit to pay). If it can’t, it must offer you the choice of accepting the delay or cancelling for a prompt refund [1][2].

Can I return something I bought online just because I changed my mind?

Only if the seller’s policy or your state’s law allows it. The FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule doesn’t cover sales made entirely online, by mail, or by phone [5].

How fast must a seller refund me if it can’t ship?

Within seven working days, or within one billing cycle if the seller itself extended the credit, and the refund includes shipping and insurance charges if nothing shipped. Store credit can’t be substituted [1][2].

Can I get in trouble for buying a counterfeit by mistake?

CBP says individual consumers may be liable for a fine for importing counterfeit merchandise even if they didn’t intend to, and it seizes counterfeit imports [13][14].