Regulations on late delivery in the US

[Avid Consumer]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York
Hi,
Are there any specific regulations for selling products in a model where consumers pay the full amount in advance and wait a long time (usually months)?
Note that the waiting time is part of the deal and there are incentives as to why they would want to participate in this in the first place.
The question is regarding any law or regulation that may be violated by doing this.
How does this change when the deal is viewed as a "pre-order"?

 

[Antigone*]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York
Hi,
Are there any specific regulations for selling products in a model where consumers pay the full amount in advance and wait a long time (usually months)?
Note that the waiting time is part of the deal and there are incentives as to why they would want to participate in this in the first place.
The question is regarding any law or regulation that may be violated by doing this.
How does this change when the deal is viewed as a "pre-order"?

Nope....

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York
Hi,
Are there any specific regulations for selling products in a model where consumers pay the full amount in advance and wait a long time (usually months)?
Note that the waiting time is part of the deal and there are incentives as to why they would want to participate in this in the first place.
The question is regarding any law or regulation that may be violated by doing this.
How does this change when the deal is viewed as a "pre-order"?

Many industries would call that pre-ordering and many other industries would call it special ordering. Either way, it happens all the time. However, it is not necessarily the norm for the entire amount to be paid up front. Generally a deposit is made, with the balance due on delivery. You want to be very careful in drawing up your contracts to make sure that you are covering all contingencies. For example, are you going to allow customers to cancel their orders at any given point? What happens if for some reason or another you cannot deliver the merchandise? Are you going to guarantee any particular deadline? etc.

You also want to be carefully financially that you don't end up creating a quasi pyramid type situation that could come back to bite you in the rear. That would be an easy mistake to make if all of your products are sold this way.

 

[FlyingRon]

The general rule for mail (which includes phone/internet) orders is that if they can't be shipped within 30 days of the ordering, then before the 30 days are out you need to contact the buyer and give a cancellation option.

More info here:

http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus02-business-guide-mail-and-telephone-order-merchandise-rule
http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus02-business-guide-mail-and-telephone-order-merchandise-rule

 

[Zigner]

The general rule for mail (which includes phone/internet) orders is that if they can't be shipped within 30 days of the ordering, then before the 30 days are out you need to contact the buyer and give a cancellation option.

More info here:

http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus02-business-guide-mail-and-telephone-order-merchandise-rule
http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus02-business-guide-mail-and-telephone-order-merchandise-rule

No, that only applies if no representation of a shipment date is given.

The OP is going to give a delivery date of (say) 6 months from the date of order. As long as the OP can ship by the date given, then no cancellation offer would have to be sent.

 

[LdiJ]

No, that only applies if no representation of a shipment date is given.

The OP is going to give a delivery date of (say) 6 months from the date of order. As long as the OP can ship by the date given, then no cancellation offer would have to be sent.

Correct. OP may intend to offer a made to order product that needs even as much as a year to produce. Those kinds of orders don't require anyone to offer a cancellation after 30 days.