Conduct rules for door-to-door sellers, by country

Name: Conduct rules for door-to-door sellers, by country
Creator: LawAsked
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This table is about how the seller behaves at the door, not about the cooling-off period. Only Australia and Norway fix calling hours in the statute itself, and they differ: Australia bans Sundays, public holidays, before 9 am and after 6 pm (5 pm on Saturday), while Norway bans 21.00 to 09.00 and every Saturday and holiday. Australia, Norway and Japan all require the seller to say who they are and why they have come, and to stop once the person refuses, but only Australia puts a 30-day no-contact period on the dealer. Germany, France, Austria and Sweden regulate the paperwork after the sale instead, and only France and Norway restrict when the seller may take payment.

Figures checked against the statute text on October 25, 2026 by Cong Ho, editor of LawAsked.

Conduct rules for door-to-door sellers, by country
Country	Must say who they are and why they came	Must stop or leave when refused	Banned calling hours	Paper copy or written information	Limit on taking payment
Austria				Pre-contract information on paper, and a copy of the signed contract or a written confirmation
Australia	Yes, before starting to negotiate: the purpose is to seek agreement to a supply, plus identity details set by regulation	Yes: leave immediately on request, and no contact to negotiate for at least 30 days	Sundays and public holidays; before 9 am; after 6 pm (after 5 pm on Saturday)
Germany				Pre-contract information under the Introductory Act to the BGB, and promptly a paper copy of the signed contract or a written confirmation
France				A dated copy of the contract on paper signed by both parties, with the standard withdrawal form	No payment or other consideration for 7 days after the contract is made
Japan	Yes, before the solicitation: name, the purpose of soliciting a contract, and the kind of goods, rights or services	Yes: no solicitation of a person who has said they will not contract
Norway	Yes, immediately: introduce themselves and say the approach is marketing	Yes: no door-to-door approach to a consumer who has clearly objected	21.00 to 09.00, and Saturdays, public holidays and equivalent days		For contracts over NOK 1,500 from unsolicited door sales, no payment until 14 days after delivery
Sweden				Pre-contract information in a document, and a copy of the signed contract or a confirmation

Country by country

Austria

Rule: Fern- und Auswärtsgeschäfte-Gesetz § 5

The information items themselves are listed in § 4 (1) of the same Act, which this table does not reproduce.
The consumer may agree to a different durable medium instead of paper.
The ingested text of this Act sets no calling hours and no duty to leave on request.

sind die in § 4 Abs. 1 genannten Informationen dem Verbraucher auf Papier

Der Unternehmer hat dem Verbraucher eine Ausfertigung des unterzeichneten Vertragsdokuments oder die Bestätigung des geschlossenen Vertrags auf Papier

Fern- und Auswärtsgeschäfte-Gesetz, Fern- und Auswärtsgeschäfte-Gesetz § 5. Official text

Statute text as of October 23, 2026

Australia

Rule: Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2) ss 73, 74, 75

Applies to a dealer calling to negotiate an unsolicited consumer agreement.
The hours ban does not apply where the person gave consent that was not given in the dealer’s presence.
The dealer must also advise the person that the dealer is obliged to leave the premises immediately on request.
Which identity details are required is set by regulations, which are not ingested.

at any time on a Sunday or a public holiday

before 9 am on any other day

after 6 pm on any other day (or after 5 pm if the other day is a Saturday)

Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Schedule 2 ACL), Schedule 2, Section 73. Official text

clearly advise the person that the dealer’s purpose is to seek the person’s agreement to a supply of the goods or services concerned

clearly advise the person that the dealer is obliged to leave the premises immediately on request

Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Schedule 2 ACL), Schedule 2, Section 74. Official text

must leave the premises immediately on the request of

for at least 30 days after the prospective consumer makes the request

Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Schedule 2 ACL), Schedule 2, Section 75. Official text

Statute text as of October 21, 2026

Germany

Rule: BGB §§ 312d, 312f

The content of the information duty sits in Article 246a of the Introductory Act to the BGB, which is not ingested.
The consumer may agree to another durable medium for the copy or confirmation.
The ingested BGB sections set no calling hours and no duty to leave on request.

ist der Unternehmer verpflichtet, den Verbraucher nach Maßgabe des Artikels 246a des Einführungsgesetzes zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuche zu informieren

Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (Kaufrecht und Verbraucherverträge, §§ 312–312k, 433–480), § 312d BGB. Official text

ist der Unternehmer verpflichtet, dem Verbraucher alsbald auf Papier zur Verfügung zu stellen

eine Abschrift eines Vertragsdokuments, das von den Vertragsschließenden so unterzeichnet wurde, dass ihre Identität erkennbar ist, oder

Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (Kaufrecht und Verbraucherverträge, §§ 312–312k, 433–480), § 312f BGB. Official text

Statute text as of October 23, 2026

France

Rule: Code de la consommation L221-9, L221-10

The 7-day payment ban has exceptions, including a daily-newspaper subscription taken at home, meetings the consumer agreed to host at home, and urgent repairs the consumer asked for.
The contract must carry all the information listed in L221-5, which this table does not reproduce.
The ingested text sets no calling hours and no duty to leave on request.

Le professionnel fournit au consommateur un exemplaire daté du contrat conclu hors établissement, sur papier signé par les parties

Le contrat est accompagné du formulaire type de rétractation

Code de la consommation, Code de la consommation, art. L221-9. Official text

Le professionnel ne peut recevoir aucun paiement ou aucune contrepartie, sous quelque forme que ce soit, de la part du consommateur avant l'expiration d'un délai de sept jours à compter de la conclusion du contrat hors établissement.

Code de la consommation, Code de la consommation, art. L221-10. Official text

Statute text as of October 23, 2026

Japan

Rule: 特定商取引法第三条, 第三条の二

The seller must also endeavour to check that the person is willing to be solicited at all (a duty to try, not an absolute bar).
The ingested sections set no calling hours.

その勧誘に先立つて、その相手方に対し、販売業者又は役務提供事業者の氏名又は名称、売買契約又は役務提供契約の締結について勧誘をする目的である旨及び当該勧誘に係る商品若しくは権利又は役務の種類を明らかにしなければならない

特定商取引法, 特定商取引法第三条. Official text

勧誘を受ける意思があることを確認するよう努めなければならない

訪問販売に係る売買契約又は役務提供契約を締結しない旨の意思を表示した者に対し、当該売買契約又は当該役務提供契約の締結について勧誘をしてはならない

特定商取引法, 特定商取引法第三条の二. Official text

Statute text as of October 23, 2026

Norway

Rule: Markedsføringsloven § 17 a

The hours ban on Saturdays and holidays does not apply to the business activity of voluntary organisations.
Where relevant the seller must also tell the consumer of the right to object to door sales and to register a reservation against them with the seller.

ikke rettes markedsføringshenvendelser ved hjemmebesøk (dørsalg) til forbrukere som klart har tilkjennegitt at de motsetter seg dette

ikke finne sted i tidsrommet fra kl. 21.00 til kl. 09.00

Slikt dørsalg skal i næringsvirksomhet heller ikke finne sted på lørdager, helgedager

skal den næringsdrivende straks presentere seg og opplyse om at henvendelsen skjer i markedsføringshensikt

kan den næringsdrivende ikke kreve betaling før tidligst 14 dager etter at tjenesten eller varen er levert

Markedsføringsloven, Markedsføringsloven § 17 a. Official text

Statute text as of October 23, 2026

Sweden

Rule: Distansavtalslagen (2005:59) 2 kap. 5 §

The information is in a document, or in another readable durable form if the consumer agrees.
The statute asks for particular regard to minors and other especially vulnerable people.
The ingested text sets no calling hours and no duty to leave on request.

ska informationen enligt 2 och 2 a §§ ges klart och begripligt i en handling

ska näringsidkaren ge konsumenten en kopia av det undertecknade avtalet eller en bekräftelse på avtalet

Lag om distansavtal och avtal utanför affärslokaler, DAL (2005:59), 2 kap. 5 §. Official text

Statute text as of October 23, 2026

Countries not in this table yet

Spain and the Netherlands are left out: the ingested consumer sections for Spain and Book 7 of the Dutch Civil Code do not state doorstep conduct rules in a form this table can quote. The United States, United Kingdom and Canada are outside the consumer acts ingested for this series.

How this table was built

Every row is taken from the official, consolidated text of the statute, which LawAsked loads from each government’s legislation service.

Each figure is tied to a passage quoted word for word from that text. When the page is served, it checks that every quoted passage is still in the current text of a law that is in force; if a law is amended and its wording changes, that row is hidden until a person reviews it again.

The table shows the statutory minimum only. Collective agreements, awards and individual contracts often give more than the statute, and some countries let a collective agreement set different terms.

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LawAsked, “Conduct rules for door-to-door sellers, by country”, https://lawasked.com/guides/door-to-door-sales-rules (reviewed October 25, 2026).

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