French Consumer Law is a comprehensive and comparative overview of French and EU law in this field, covering: advertising, unfair commercial practices, conditions for the validity of contracts, unfair terms, product conformity, latent defects, product safety.

French Consumer Law

Prior to the LME Law, the question of the application of the statutory sales period in the area of internet sales raised difficulties due to the lack of territoriality of e-commerce, which makes it possible to address all customers at the same time, regardless of their place of residence. This universal accessibility was not compatible with the principle of territoriality of the statutory sales da …

Specific case of online sales

Prior to the adoption of the LME Law of 4 August 2008, Article L. 310-3 of the Commercial Code provided that sales could “only be conducted during two periods per calendar year of a maximum duration of six weeks, the dates of which [were] fixed in each department by the competent administrative authority”.

This departmental organization gave rise to disparities at the national level and between traditional trade and the merchant websites which could only open their sales once all the departmental sales were opened. Traders found the winter sales period too long, the summer period too early, and complained of the rigidity of these two winter-summer periods, while the multiplication of collections requires more frequent destocking operations. Also, to increase the opportunities for consumers to benefit from low prices and put traditional traders and merchant websites on an equal footing, the French legislator decided to relax the laws on sales without going so far as to deregulate them. With the LME Law, France adopted a less rigid regulation of sales which allowed traders to hold sales twice a year, at their choice, outside of the two fixed annual periods , the date of which was fixed by decree and no longer by the prefect of the department. The Law of 18 June 2014 abolished these provisions by putting an end to the possibility to hold sales outside the fixed legal periods and by increasing each fixed sales period to six weeks.

The two fixed periods of six weeks of sales are determined by a decree specifying not only the date, but also the starting time of the sales, to avoid a form of unfair competition consisting in some traders opening their doors at midnight on the first day of the sales. Under Articles D. 310-15-2 and D. 310-15-3 of the Commercial Code, the winter sales start on the second Wednesday of the month of January at 8:00 a.m.  and the summer sales start on the second Wednesday of the month of June at 8:00 a.m. in the morning . However, for some departments, the sales may be fixed on a different date , “to take account of a strong seasonality of sales, or commercial operations carried out in the border regions”, a derogation which, since Law No 2011-525 of May 17, 2011, does not apply to distance selling , since online sales companies may, in particular, cover the entire territory.

2)  Sales during non-fixed periods ("floating sales" )

Under the LME Law, traders also had the option of organizing sales on the date of their choice for two weeks each year. The trader could either accumulate the two weeks, or organize these additional sales over two periods of a maximum duration of one week . In all cases, traders were prohibited from choosing the floating sales period in the month preceding the national sales period. However, they could begin on the day after the end of the national sales. The dates of additional sales periods were subject to prior declaration to the competent administrative authority of the department of the place of the sales or department of the registered office of the distance selling company. Articles R. 310-15 et R. 310-15-1 of the Commercial Code specified the procedure to be followed for the declaration. It had to be madefor each establishment and “sent by the trader to the Prefect of the department, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, at least one month before the date scheduled for the start of the sale, starting to run from the date of its dispatch”. When it was made electronically, the prefect issued an electronic acknowledgment of receipt. A template for a prior declaration was annexed to the Order of 8 January 2009 on the prior declaration of additional sales periods, which also laid down the terms of the electronic declaration for which, “after registering, the legal representative of the establishment can make the declaration […] on the public website of the Ministry of Trade to which the Prefect of the department where this establishment is located has access” . The trader was obliged to keep the notice of receipt of his declaration at the disposal of the services responsible for monitoring sales during the legal sales periods .

The rules  of sales outside the fixed legal periods did not have the expected effects on consumption. On the contrary, the multiplication of periods of reduction may have disoriented the consumer by making it more difficult for him to determine the fair price of a product. In addition, sales outside the fixed legal periods could generate significant costs for traders, linked to the organization of these sales: reorganization of stores, labeling, etc. As a result, the Law of 18 June 2014 on crafts, trade and very small businesses abolished the possibility of sales outside the fixed legal periods.

 Article L. 310-3, as resulting from the LME Law, provided that sales "shall take place in periods during the calendar year defined as follows: 1° Two periods of a duration of five weeks each, the dates of which are determined by decree. This decree may specify different dates for these two periods and for sales other than those listed in Article L. 121-16 of the Consumer Code in departments it shall determine to take account of the highly seasonal nature of the sales or commercial transactions conducted in cross-border regions; 2° One period of a maximum duration of two weeks or two periods with a maximum duration of one week, the dates to be chosen freely by the trader. These additional periods shall, however, end no later than one month before the start of the periods specified in 1°. They are subject to prior declaration to the competent administrative authority of the department where the sales are taking place or of the department where the company has its registered office for distance selling companies". 

 This date is brought forward to the first Wednesday of the month of January when the second Wednesday occurs after the 12th of the month.

 This date is brought forward to the second last Wednesday of the month of June when the last Wednesday occurs after the 28th of the month.

 The list of areas concerned is set out in the Annex to Article D. 310-15-3. These include the overseas departments and territories, Corsica and some metropolitan border departments.

 Article L. 310-3, I, 1°: "Two periods of a duration of five weeks each, the dates of which are determined by decree. This decree may specify different dates for these two periods and for sales other than those listed in Article L. 121-16 of the Consumer Code in departments it shall determine to take account of the highly seasonal nature of the sales or commercial transactions conducted in cross-border regions".

 If a professional practices a first additional sales period of a duration of more than 7 days, he cannot organize a second operation in the same year. Conversely, when a trader organizes a first additional sales period of a duration of three days, the second will be limited to 7 days. The additional sales period is calculated from date to date. It does not include the closing days of the establishment.

 Article 2 of the Order of 8 January 2009 on the prior declaration of additional sales periods.

 Article R. 310-15-1 of the Commercial Code.

Specific periods

Prior to the LME Law, the question of the application of the statutory sales period in the area of internet sales raised difficulties due to the lack of territoriality of e-commerce, which makes it possible to address all customers at the same time, regardless of their place of residence. This universal accessibility was not compatible with the principle of territoriality of the statutory sales dates fixed at the time by the Prefect of each department. Thus, the e-trader who launched a sales campaign nationwide, therefore covering all the departments, and taking the precaution of informing its customers that the delivery date would differ depending on their place of residence, was guilty of conducting a sale outside the authorized legal periods . The material element of the offense was constituted as soon as the offer became viewable by any customer residing in a department for which the legal sales period had not officially started. By laying down the principle of fixing national sales, the LME Law resolved the issue and introduced equal treatment between physical traders and e-traders in the area of sales.

Since 1 January 2009, online traders can therefore participate in the two national sales periods that have been fixed. However, they do not benefit from the exception laid down in Article L. 310-3, 1° of the Commercial Code which makes it possible to specify different dates in some departments “to take account of the highly seasonal nature of the sales or commercial transactions conducted in cross-border regions”, with distance sales being excluded from this mechanism.

 TGI Bordeaux, 9 January 2006, LawLex200600001993JBJ.

French Consumer Law

321. Specific case of online sales

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321. Specific case of online sales

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Les notions juridiques connexes

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