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

The regime of sales has been amended several times. Although the texts have become more relaxed, sales remain strictly regulated.
1) Law of 1906
Sales were initially governed by the Law of 30 December 1906, which provided that exceptional sales could be authorized by the mayor for a duration set by him. Decree No 62-1463 of 26 November 1962 imposed two exceptions to the requirement of prior author …

 Legislative developments

The regime of sales has been amended several times. Although the texts have become more relaxed, sales remain strictly regulated.

Sales were initially governed by the Law of 30 December 1906, which provided that exceptional sales could be authorized by the mayor for a duration set by him. Decree No 62-1463 of 26 November 1962 imposed two exceptions to the requirement of prior authorization: seasonal sales and permanent sales . These exceptions became the rule under Law No 91-593 of  25 June 1991 and its implementing Decree No 91-1068 of 16 October 1991, which stipulated that henceforth, the start of periodic or seasonal sales would be fixed by prefectural order .

Law No 96-603 of 5 July 1996 on the development and promotion of trade and crafts subsequently endorsed the practice of seasonal sales, which became the only sales possible . Sales were then defined as “sales accompanied or preceded by advertising and announced as having the purpose, by a reduction prices, of a rapid sale of goods in stock”. The objective of selling the stock justified sales only relating “to goods offered for sale and paid for at least one month”.

Law No 2008/776 of 4 August 2008 on the modernization of the economy substantially changed the rules on sales. The reform had two objectives: to improve the conditions for consumers to access offers of reduced prices and adapt the regulations to changes in the functioning of trade. To this end, the event-driven nature of sales, i.e. the maintenance of two-periods, whose date is fixed at national level, is maintained. The novelty lies in the creation of two weeks of additional non-fixed sales, to offer consumers new opportunities to buy at reduced prices while preserving the exceptional nature of the regulatory sales periods, which are longer, more observed by traders, relayed by the media and corresponding to dates that are now known to consumers and to facilitate the rapid sale of stocks during the year, to enable traders to renew their stocks and consumers to benefit from a more diversified range and low prices several times a year.

Law No 2009-526 of 12 May 2009 for the simplification and clarification of the law excluded distance sales or services from the possibility to adopt a specific sales date by department, in order, inter alia, to take account of highly seasonal nature of sales.

Law No 2014-626 of 18 June 2014 on crafts, trade and very small businesses abolished the possibility of having sales during non-fixed periods which, by multiplying the periods of price reductions at the risk of confusing the consumer and increasing operating costs for traders (labeling, reorganization of store windows, etc.), did not have the expected effects. The law increased the two fixed sales periods from five to six weeks as of 1 January 2015.

Law No 2019-486 of 22 May 2019 on the growth and transformation of undertakings (the Pacte Law) again amended the period of sales by setting a period ranging from three to six weeks.  The decree issued in application of this law finally increased the duration of each sale period to four weeks as of 1 January 2020  and specifies the dates and times at which sales may start . 

Four conditions must be met to fall within the classification of “sales” within the meaning of Article L. 310-3 of the Commercial Code: an objective, the disposal of a stock; a medium, advertising; a means, the reduction of prices; defined periods, a fixed period twice a year.

 Article 2 of Decree No 62-1463 of 26 November 1962: "The provisions of the law do not apply to: a) periodic or seasonal sales of outdated, shabby, mismatched or end-of-series goods, sold at the end of the season and only constituting part of the stock, carried out by traders in the premises where they usually carry out their trade, whether or not these sales are preceded or accompanied by advertising; b) Sales in the premises where they exercise their trade by professional discounters whose usual activity is to purchase from traders or manufacturers new goods that are mismatched, shabby, outdated or factory seconds, in order to resell them.

 Article 17 of Law No 91-593 of 25 June 1991, amending Article 1 of the Law of 30 December 1906, and Article 1 of Decree No 91-1068 of 16 October 1991.

  Article 28 of Law No 96-603 of 5 July 1996: "These sales can only be conducted during two periods per calendar year of a maximum duration of six weeks, the dates of which will be fixed in each department by the Prefect, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Decree provided for in Article 32 and can only relate to goods offered for sale and paid for at least one month from the start date of the sales period in question".

Order of 27 May 2019 setting the dates and time of the beginning of sales as well as their duration pursuant to Article L. 310-3 of the Commercial Code, Art. 3, JO 124 of 29 May 2019.

Order of 27 May 2019, Art. 1: "Pursuant to I of Article L. 310-3 of the Commercial Code :

- the winter sales begin on the second Wednesday of January at 8:00 am. This date is brought forward to the first Wednesday of January when the second Wednesday falls after the 12th of the month;

- the summer sales begin on the last Wednesday of June at 8:00 am. This date is advanced to the second last Wednesday of June when the last Wednesday occurs after the 28th of the month."

The Order of 27 May 2019, Art. 2: "By way of derogation from the provisions of Article 1 of this Order and pursuant to section I of Article L. 310-3 of the Commercial Code, sales are fixed on different dates in certain areas."

French Consumer Law

315. Legislative developments

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Les notions juridiques connexes

315. Legislative developments

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Les notions juridiques connexes

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