Distance Sales Agreement and Mandatory Legal Texts for Online Stores

Sites in Türkiye that sell to consumers online have obligations to provide certain information before and during the purchase and to have it confirmed. The core framework is set by the Consumer Protection Law and the Distance Contracts Regulation that comes with it. KVKK (the Turkish data protection law) covers personal data, and e-commerce legislation covers commercial messages and seller information.

This isn't legal advice. As a web agency, we're explaining how these texts can be placed on a site and the mistakes that are commonly seen. We recommend having the texts themselves prepared or checked by a lawyer who knows your business.

Short answer: the texts sites usually have

• Pre-information form
• Distance sales agreement
• Cancellation, return and right-of-withdrawal terms
• A privacy notice under KVKK (and explicit consent texts where required)
• Cookie policy
• Seller information: trade name, address, contact details, tax and registry information
• A membership agreement or terms of use, if you have user accounts

The first two are presented to the consumer separately with every order. The rest stay accessible across the site, usually in the footer. Settle which ones your business needs with your lawyer.

What goes into a distance sales agreement?

The agreement is the contract between seller and buyer for that particular order. So it isn't a generic text; it's a document filled in with each order's details. Roughly, it includes:

• The seller's identity and contact details
• The buyer's details and delivery address
• The main characteristics of the product or service
• Total price including taxes, shipping and any extra charges
• Payment and delivery details, delivery time
• Conditions, period and procedure for the right of withdrawal
• Cases where the right of withdrawal doesn't apply
• Where to file complaints and objections

A common gap: the agreement is published as a static page with blank fields like “BUYER” and “PRODUCT” left in it. Order-specific details need to fill in automatically. Some hosted e-commerce platforms handle this; check how it works on yours. On custom-built sites it has to be written into the development scope from the start.

The withdrawal period is 14 days as a general rule. There are exceptions, such as made-to-order goods, perishable goods, or products unsuitable for return once opened for hygiene reasons. Your text needs to state clearly which exceptions apply to your products; a blanket line like “no returns accepted” is generally not considered valid. We cover return policies in more detail in a separate post.

The pre-information form

The pre-information form shows the consumer, before ordering, the terms they're buying under. Its content is very close to the agreement; the difference is timing. It's expected to be shown before the order is confirmed, and the consumer is expected to confirm they've read it.

In practice it sits on the checkout page, right above the order button, in a pop-up or a scrollable box. The consumer is expected not to be able to complete the order without ticking “I have read and accept the pre-information form”.

The confirmation flow at checkout

This is where design and law overlap most. A well-built checkout step usually has:

Separate checkboxes for the pre-information form and the distance sales agreement (or a single box naming both, with each text openable separately). The boxes must not be pre-ticked.

A link to the KVKK privacy notice. A privacy notice doesn't require consent; informing is enough. Processing that needs explicit consent (marketing messages, for example) gets its own optional checkbox. We give an overview of this distinction in our KVKK post.

The order button. It's expected to make clear that clicking creates an obligation to pay. Wording like “Confirm order and pay” instead of “Continue” or “Next” is better both legally and for the user.

After the order, the agreement and pre-information form are sent to the consumer on a durable medium, usually by email. They also need to be stored on your side: in a dispute, you need to be able to show which text the consumer accepted.

Invoicing is the next step of this flow. We gave an overview of sending invoices in a separate post; settle which document type you use with your accountant.

The risks of using a template

It's tempting to search for “distance sales agreement example” and copy the first result. Problems commonly found on sites that did this:

Another company's trade name and address left in the middle of the text. Clauses about electronics warranties on a site selling cosmetics. Shipping and delivery terms on a site selling digital products, but none of the withdrawal rules specific to digital content. Paragraphs citing provisions from years ago even though the legislation has changed.

These texts are among the first documents examined in a dispute with a consumer. A wrong or incomplete text can weaken your position even when you're in the right. Copying another site's carefully prepared text word for word can also raise copyright issues.

Our suggestion: use the template your platform provides, or one from a reliable source, as a starting point. Fill it in according to your product type and your shipping and return processes, then have a lawyer read it. A one-off review usually costs less than a single dispute. Review it once a year as the legislation changes.

If you'd like a list that also covers ETBİS registration, invoicing and other obligations for your own site, the checklist in our post on starting e-commerce is a good framework.

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for legal, financial or tax advice. For your own situation, consult a lawyer or a certified accountant.