Buying online in Tunisia: your rights and the habits that prevent bad surprises

What the seller must tell you before you order

Article 25 of Law No. 2000-83 of 9 August 2000 on electronic exchanges and commerce (published in French) lists the information an online seller must give you, clearly and understandably, before the contract is concluded. It is the best checklist for judging a retail website. If any of it is missing, ask for it before you pay:

• the seller's identity, address and telephone number;
• the nature, characteristics and price of the product;
• delivery costs and any taxes due;
• how long the listed price is valid;
• the terms of the commercial warranty and after-sales service;
• payment methods and, where relevant, credit terms;
• delivery arrangements and timescales;
• whether you can cancel, and within what period;
• how to return, exchange or get a refund.

A website that shows no address or phone number and only communicates by messaging app leaves you with no practical recourse if something goes wrong.

The right to cancel: 10 working days

Article 30 of the same law lets you withdraw from an online purchase within 10 working days, counted from receipt for goods and from the date of the contract for services. You notify the cancellation by the method set out in the contract, so keep a written record. The seller must refund you within 10 working days of the goods being returned. You pay the cost of sending them back.

If the purchase was financed by credit from the seller, or from a lender with an agreement with the seller, cancelling also ends the credit agreement without penalty (Article 33).

The exceptions

Article 32 excludes the following from the right to cancel, unless there is a visible or hidden defect: services you asked to receive before the cancellation period ended, products made to your specifications, perishable goods or goods that cannot be sent back, audio or video recordings and software that have been unsealed or downloaded, and newspapers and magazines.

Wrong item or late delivery

Article 31 provides a separate remedy: if the product delivered does not match your order, or the seller missed the delivery deadline, you can return it as it is within 10 working days of delivery. The seller must then refund the amount paid and the related costs within 10 working days of the return, without prejudice to any claim for damages. That is why it pays to check the parcel on arrival and photograph any fault.

Choosing how to pay

Cash on delivery is still very common in Tunisia and protects you well with a lesser-known seller: you only pay for what you have received. Paying by bank card on a secure payment page is more convenient with an established retailer. Paying in advance by bank transfer or money order to a private individual, on the other hand, leaves almost no recourse if the goods never arrive: keep it for sellers whose identity you have been able to verify.

Warning signs

Four situations should make you slow down. A price far below every other seller's for the same reference. Pressure to pay quickly: stock "almost gone", an offer that "ends in an hour". No address, no phone number or no terms of sale. A request for payment by a method that cannot be traced. The history of promotions recorded on acombien.com shows what normal gaps between reputable sellers looked like: a few dozen dinars on a TV or a tablet, rarely half the price.

These habits apply to any major purchase, whether it is a smartphone bought online or a household appliance. They complement, rather than replace, the rights the law gives you.

Keep the evidence

For every order, keep the order confirmation, the product page as it was when you bought (a screenshot is enough), your messages with the seller, proof of payment and the invoice. In a dispute, these documents are all you have to rely on. Separately, Law No. 92-117 on consumer protection gives you the right to a warranty on every product and voids any clause that would exclude it.