Italian Sales Rules: Returns, Faults and Online Orders

The rules in brief

• A sale tag must show the normal price and the discount as a percentage.
• The "was" price must be the lowest price of the previous 30 days.
• In a shop, you have no legal right to return or exchange a sale item that is not faulty; it depends on the shop.
• Faulty items bought in the sales keep the full 2-year legal guarantee, and since 2022 there is no 2-month deadline to report a fault.
• Shops must accept debit and credit cards for any amount.
• Online, you can withdraw within 14 days of delivery, sale items included.

The dates of the sales themselves are in our guide to when the sales start in Italy.

What a sale price tag must show

Italian law on end-of-season sales (Legislative Decree 114/1998, article 15) says the discount must be expressed as a percentage of the normal selling price, and the normal price must be shown. Regions add detail. In Lombardy the tag must show the original price and the percentage, the final price is optional, and sale goods must be kept apart from full-price goods or clearly marked. In Friuli Venezia Giulia the original price, the percentage and the final price are all required, and the shop must also display what kind of sale it is, when it started and how long it lasts. Trento also requires all three prices.

The 30-day lowest price rule

Since 2 April 2023, article 17-bis of the Consumer Code says every price reduction must show the previous price, defined as the lowest price charged in the 30 days before the reduction, and it explicitly applies to the normal price shown in the saldi. The Ministry of Enterprise's guidance adds three points:

• The 30-day lowest price is the struck-through price on which the percentage is calculated: shown at €100 and 50% off, for example.
• If a shop deepens the discount during one continuous campaign, say from 20% to 30%, the reference price stays the same.
• Online shops and each physical shop count as separate sales channels, each with its own 30-day history.

There are exceptions for perishable food and for products on the market for less than 30 days, where the shop must state the period used. Our reading: because many regions ban promotions in the 30 days before the saldi, the reference price at the start of the sales will usually be the full price.

Returning or exchanging a sale item in a shop

For something you bought in a shop, Italian law gives no right to return or exchange an item that is not faulty because you changed your mind. The Turin Chamber of Commerce's consumer guide says exchanges are up to the seller, who may offer them, limit them or exclude them, for example during the sales. If the shop promises exchanges on a sign, the receipt or its website, that promise applies, so check the policy before you pay. A "no exchanges on sale items" sign does not remove the legal guarantee for faulty goods.

Faulty sale items: the 2-year legal guarantee

• The seller is responsible for a lack of conformity that appears within 2 years of delivery (Consumer Code article 133), whether the item was bought at full price or in the saldi.
• A defect that appears within 1 year of delivery is presumed to have existed at delivery, unless the seller proves otherwise (article 135).
• You can ask for repair or replacement free of charge, and if that fails, a price reduction or, unless the defect is minor, a refund (articles 135-bis and 135-ter).
• Legal action is time-barred 26 months after delivery.
• For purchases from 1 January 2022 the old rule that a fault had to be reported within 2 months no longer applies. Several pages still say it does.

Keep the receipt: the competition authority (AGCM) advises keeping proof of purchase to use the guarantee.

Trying on and paying by card

No official rule says a shop must let you try clothes on during the sales; trade association guidance (Federmoda-Confcommercio) says it is up to the shop. Card payments are a legal obligation: under Decree-Law 179/2012, article 15, shops must accept at least one debit card and one credit card for any amount, unless it is technically impossible, and since 30 June 2022 refusing a card payment can be fined €30 plus 4% of the transaction. Nothing changes during the saldi.

Buying online in the sales

• You can withdraw from an online purchase within 14 days of delivery (of the last item if the order came in parts), without giving a reason (Consumer Code article 52).
• The shop must refund everything you paid, including standard delivery, within 14 days, but may wait until it gets the goods back or proof they were sent (article 56).
• You pay only the direct cost of sending the goods back, unless the shop agreed to pay it or did not tell you (article 57). For a faulty product the trader pays.
• If the shop never told you about the right to withdraw, the period is extended by 12 months (article 53).
• Some goods are excluded, such as made-to-measure or personalised items and sealed hygiene products once opened (article 59). Sale items are not excluded.

Some shops give longer windows, but that is their own policy, not the law. Imperial, for example, applies the 14-day period, deducts €7.90 or €9.90 for a UPS return and refunds the original delivery cost, while returns in its authorised shops in Italy are free; the details are in our Imperial online shop guide.

A quick checklist before you pay

• Read the tag: original price, percentage and, where required, the final price.
• Ask about the shop's exchange policy for sale items, and keep the receipt.
• Check an item for faults when you get it home; if something is wrong, the 2-year guarantee applies.
• Online, note the return period, who pays the return postage and whether returns in store are free.

How we checked this page

We read the official texts on 16 October 2026: Legislative Decree 114/1998, the Consumer Code (Legislative Decree 206/2005) on normattiva.it, the Ministry of Enterprise (MIMIT) guidance on price reductions, Decree-Law 179/2012 on card payments, the EU's Your Europe pages, the competition authority (AGCM), the Turin Chamber of Commerce guide on guarantees and the sales pages of Lombardy, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Trento. This is general information, not legal advice. Current Imperial offers are on our Imperial coupons page. This page is maintained by the SavingArena Editorial Team.