The canvassing at home consists of soliciting a client in a place not normally intended for trade to sell him products or services. The customer can be asked at his home, on sound workplace or during a excursion organized by the vendor (e.g. travel with sightseeing tours).

Door-to-door selling involves simultaneous physical presence the seller and the customer, unlike distance selling (e-commerce, for example).

The home seller plays the role ofintermediate between the customer-consumer and the direct selling company whose products he distributes (examples: ready-to-wear, jewelry, cosmetics, household appliances, windows, insulation, solar panels, electricity, gas).

The independent home seller (VDI) exercises autonomously, without subordination link with the company that uses its services. Labor law is not applicable to it. It should not be confused with the home seller employee who has an employment contract and enjoys the status of VRP: titleContent.

Door-to-door canvassing is a business practice strictly framed by law. Thus, door-to-door canvassing excludes the following cases:

• Sale by telephone or internet (specific arrangements for distance selling)
• Sale in markets, fairs, or any place usually intended for trade
• Sales of certain products: health services, foodstuffs, gambling or financial products (banks, savings, insurance).

Before taking the order, the home seller must provide the customer with a pre-contractual information document.

The document must contain the following information :

• Identity of the seller (postal address, email and telephone)
• Identity of the company whose products it distributes (address of the registered office, SIRET number, share capital, corporate form)
• Characteristics of the good or service sold
• Unit price of products and overall price to be paid including all taxes
• Prices and payment terms (and interest rate in case of credit sale)
• The date or time within which the seller commits to deliver the goods or perform the service
• Shipping or commissioning cost
• Withdrawal conditions (terms of return, deadline, possible costs and standard form)
• Legal or commercial guarantees
• Availability of spare parts
• Mediator of consumption competent in case of dispute.

This information must be communicated to you in a legible and comprehensible manner, on one durable support. The document must be time-stamped and signed by the client.

Know the rules in case of solicitation for public aid

Where the solicitation concerns public aid, the seller cannot falsely present himself as acting on behalf of a public body. This practice is a offense punished by 2 years' imprisonment and €300,000 of fine.

Before signing the contract, the seller must indicate to the consumer in a legible and comprehensible manner, on a durable support, whether or not it holds such a label or quality sign for the categories of works concerned, accompanied by a evidence issued by an approved body to issue quality labels and signs. Where appropriate, the seller must inform the consumer of the consequences of not holding that label or that quality sign on the receipt of the financial aid to which he is entitled.

 These obligations are in addition to existing rules on advance information.

Warning  

Soliciting by telephone for commercial purposes in the fields of energy renovation and adaptation of housing to disability and old age is only possible if the consumer has given his or her consent. prior consent.

Since the August 11, 2026, telephone canvassing is based on the consent of the consumer: possible only if the consumer has expressly agreed to be contacted. Without this agreement, the appeal is prohibited (except in the context of the execution of an ongoing contract).

For learn more about the regulations regarding telephone canvassing :

Professionals: how to comply with the regulations on telephone solicitation?

Ministry of Economy

Pour en savoir plus

At the conclusion of the order form, the home seller must give his customer a dated copy of the contract on a durable support. The contract must be signed by the two parties.

The contract must contain the mandatory particulars following:

• Identity of the seller (postal address, email and telephone)
• Identity of the company whose products it distributes (address of the registered office, SIRET number, share capital, corporate form)
• Characteristics of the good or service sold
• Unit price of products and overall price to be paid including all taxes
• Prices and payment terms (and interest rate in case of credit sale)
• The date or time within which the seller commits to deliver the goods or perform the service
• Shipping or commissioning cost
• Withdrawal conditions (return procedure, deadline, possible costs and standard form)
• Legal or commercial guarantees
• Availability of spare parts
• Mediator of consumption competent in case of dispute.

The contract is not valid if he does not mention all this information. In addition, the contract must also be accompanied by a standard withdrawal form.

The home seller cannot receive any payment or no consideration on the part of the customer before the expiry of a 7 days delay, from the conclusion of the contract.

Thus, the home seller cannot receive deposits, checks or bank debit authorizations. It is also prohibited to provide a service before the expiry of that period.

In either case, the contract is not valid if the home seller receives the payment without respecting this deadline.

However, the home seller may collect the payment, without respecting the deadline of 7 days, in the following cases:

• Subscription to a newspaper devoted to political information (daily, monthly or bimonthly)
• Contract for the provision of services to the person (concluded with an approved body)
• Contract concluded during a meeting organized by the seller at his home or at the home of a customer
• Contract for repair works to be carried out urgently at the customer's home at his request.

The right of withdrawal allows the customer cancel the contract in a 14 days, without having to justify its decision and without incurring any other costs (apart from any return costs). The deadline is short from the following day the receipt of the goods or the conclusion of the contract for the provision of services.

If the home seller does not provide information on the right of withdrawal, the withdrawal period is extended by 12 months from the expiry of the initial 14-day period. Where the provision of information occurs during this extension, the right of withdrawal expires after 14 days from the day on which the customer received the information.

The home seller has the obligation to mention the existence of this right to the customer, specifying the conditions, the time and the modalities of exercise (whether or not he pays the return costs). It must also provide a standard withdrawal form.

When informed of the customer's decision to withdraw, the seller has a period of 14 days to make the refund of the total amount paid.

The customer may request that the provision of services be carried out before the end of the withdrawal period. The seller must collect his express request on a durable support.

However, certain products or services are not subject to the right of withdrawal and therefore cannot be refunded. This is particularly the case for the following products:

• Custom product: it has been made especially for the customer (tailor-made for example)
• Product likely to deteriorate rapidly
• CD, DVD or computer software if unsealed by the customer
• Product that has been unsealed by the customer after delivery and cannot be returned for reasons of hygiene or health protection
• Newspapers, periodicals or magazines (except for subscription contracts for these publications)
• Provision of accommodation, transport of goods, car rental, catering or leisure activity provided on a specified date
• Maintenance or repair works to be carried out urgently at the customer's home and expressly requested by him
• Fully executed service before the end of the withdrawal period, provided that the consumer has given his prior consent and has waived the exercise of his right of withdrawal. The seller must also respect the 7-day period, specific to home sales, during which he cannot perform any service and receive no payment
• Digital content without material support, the execution of which began before the end of the withdrawal period, provided that the customer has given his prior consent and has waived the exercise of his right of withdrawal