Shipping Promises and the FTC 30-Day Rule
What the FTC's Mail, Internet or Telephone Order Rule asks of a Shopify store that promises ship dates: a reasonable basis, delay notices and refunds.
Every free shipping banner, holiday countdown and "ships in 2 days" badge is a promise about time, and a federal rule sits behind those shipping promises. The FTC's Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule, in 16 CFR Part 435 and often called the FTC 30-day rule, says what a seller must be able to do when it states a shipping time, what it must do when it cannot, and when a refund is due. This post walks through the rule's text, turns each period into wording for a banner and an email, and shows how to set a holiday cutoff from your own order data. It is not legal advice; confirm with a lawyer who knows your business.
What the rule covers
Section 435.1 defines the sales in scope as those in which the buyer ordered merchandise from the seller by mail, via the Internet or by telephone, regardless of the method of payment or the method used to solicit the order. The FTC's business guide puts it in plain words: the rule "applies to most goods a customer orders from the seller by mail, telephone, fax, or on the Internet." A Shopify store selling physical goods is inside that description.
Two definitions in the same section matter for a shop owner. "Shipment" is the act by which the merchandise is physically placed in the possession of the carrier, so the clock runs to the hand-off, not to the doorstep. And "receipt of a properly completed order" is the time the seller has both payment and an order containing everything it needs to process and ship it. The definition ties completion to payment, so count your days from the moment the payment is in hand, not from the moment the cart was started.
A reasonable basis for any time you state
The core duty is in section 435.2(a)(1). When you solicit an order, you need a reasonable basis to expect that you can ship the merchandise within the time clearly and conspicuously stated in the solicitation. If you state no time, the rule sets a default: within 30 days after receipt of a properly completed order. The text adds that where the buyer applies to the seller for credit to pay, the seller has 50 days, not 30. The FTC guide repeats the default: "If you make no shipment statement, you must have a reasonable basis for believing that you can ship within 30 days."
Section 435.2(a)(4) explains what a reasonable basis looks like in practice. In an FTC action, a seller that lacks records or other documentary proof of systems and procedures that assure shipment in the ordinary course of business within the applicable time creates a rebuttable presumption that it lacked a reasonable basis. In short, the rule expects you to be able to show your work. A banner that says "ships in 2 business days" is backed by a log of how long orders took to ship, not by hope.
The rule's text speaks of shipping time. It does not mention delivery dates. A countdown that promises delivery by Dec. 24 depends on a carrier, so whether it is judged by the same test is a question for a lawyer. The prudent reading is to treat a delivery date as a promise too, and to set it only from a carrier service you have tested.
When you cannot ship on time
Section 435.2(b) sets the delay rules. When you cannot ship within the stated time, you must offer the buyer, clearly and conspicuously and without prior demand, a choice between consenting to a delay and canceling for a prompt refund. The offer is due within a reasonable time after you first learn of the problem, and in no event later than the stated time. The notice must give a definite revised shipping date, or say that you cannot make any representation about the length of the delay. And you must give the buyer a way to answer at your expense, such as a prepaid reply or a free link.
The consent mechanics depend on the new date:
| Situation | What the rule says |
|---|---|
| New date is 30 days or less after the original time | The notice must say that unless the buyer rejects the delay and cancels before shipment and before the new date, the buyer is deemed to have consented |
| New date is more than 30 days later, or you cannot give one | The notice must say that the order is automatically canceled unless you ship within 30 days of the original time with no cancellation, or the buyer consents in that window |
| You miss the revised date | You must offer a renewed choice, with a new date or a statement that you cannot give one |
| The buyer cancels, or you decide not to ship | You must deem the order canceled and make a prompt refund |
"Prompt refund" has its own definition in section 435.1(b): a refund sent by a means at least as fast and reliable as first class mail within 7 working days of the date the buyer's right to refund vests. Where the seller is the creditor on a credit sale, the period is one billing cycle. For an online store, that usually means a refund to the original payment method, issued within 7 working days of the cancellation. Write that number into your help page and your support macros.
Wording that holds
A free shipping banner with a date is a shipping statement, so write it so that you can prove it. Three patterns work, and each is a plain sentence you can test against your order log.
- Banner: "Free shipping on orders over your threshold. Orders placed by Dec. 14 ship by Dec. 16." The date is a ship date, and your log shows the average and the worst case for the same weeks last year.
- Cart line: "Ships within 2 business days." Say business days, and count from the completed order.
- Delay email, new date within 30 days: "Your order will ship by Jan. 9, later than we promised. If you are fine with that, you do not need to do anything. If you would rather cancel and be refunded, reply to this email or use this link before it ships, and we will refund you within 7 working days." That matches the rule: a definite revised date, the cancellation choice, a free way to answer, and the statement that silence counts as consent.
For a delay of more than 30 days, the email must instead say the order will be canceled unless the buyer consents. Do not copy the 30-day wording there.
Holiday cutoffs: your data, not a carrier's guidance
A carrier publishes general send-by dates, and the holiday offer calendar lists when those fall. The seller's promise is different: it is how long your warehouse takes to ship. Pull the last 60 days of orders and compute the hours between payment and carrier scan, by weekday. Then write the cutoff from the 90th percentile, not the average. Suppose that on weekdays 90 percent of your orders ship within 1.5 business days and on the Monday after a promotion within 3. A cutoff that promises 1 day will break on peak days. The same log is the record that section 435.2(a)(4) says you may need.
Peak weeks need a buffer. If you run a Black Friday and Cyber Monday plan, add a day to the stated ship time for that week, and put the revised wording on the banner on the day the volume starts, not after orders back up.
Building the shipping tiers
Once the promise is set, the offer is the easy part. Start from the Shipping discount tiers template in Freebies Engine by Log Studio Lab, described in the catalog as "Discounted or free shipping above a cart value." Choose the threshold from your own costs, as the free shipping threshold post explains, and consider a progress bar that shows the distance to it. Add the ship-by date to the banner only after your log supports it. Plan requirements are on the pricing page.
This post summarizes a federal rule for planning. It is not legal advice, and the rule has more provisions than the ones quoted here, so read Part 435 and the FTC's guide before you rely on a banner.
Sources
- eCFR: 16 CFR Part 435, Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise (sections 435.1 and 435.2) (accessed October 11, 2026)
- Federal Trade Commission: Business Guide to the FTC's Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule (accessed October 11, 2026)