Most compliance checklists for Türkiye still focus on customs and tax. A quieter rule change matters just as much for anyone selling physical goods there.

Türkiye's amended Distance Contracts Regulation, published in the Official Gazette on May 24, 2025, took effect on January 1, 2026. The core change: consumers no longer have the automatic 14-day right to return delivered electronics (phones, smartwatches, tablets, computers), auction purchases, registered vehicles, or goods that have been installed. At the same time, sellers picked up new burdens elsewhere, return shipping costs can no longer be passed to the consumer unless a carrier was named upfront, and disputes now require mediation before they reach consumer court.

It's a trade, not a simple tightening. Türkiye closed one cost center for sellers and opened another.

For a North American brand selling electronics or big-ticket items into Türkiye, a few things are worth checking now:
Does your return policy on Trendyol, Hepsiburada or your own site still promise 14-day no-questions returns on excluded categories, exposing you to consumer complaints you no longer owe?
Have you named a designated return carrier in your pre-contractual disclosures, so return shipping stays off your books?
Is your dispute-resolution language updated to route through mediation first?

Policy details like this rarely make headlines, but they show up directly in margin and in customer trust. What's your experience reconciling platform-level return policies with local law changes like this?

Planning a move into Türkiye or the wider region? Happy to talk it through → zeluxa.com