The 14-Day Return Right in Egypt: What the Law Says

Do you have the right to return something you bought within 14 days without explaining why? The answer is in Consumer Protection Law No. 181 of 2018 itself — but the law has two articles on it, not one: the first for purchases in general, the second for what it calls "distance contracting", meaning buying online or by phone. And the difference between them comes down to one question that matters to you: who pays for shipping.

We read the texts below in the Official Gazette copy (issue 37 continued, 13 September 2018) published on the legislation page of the Consumer Protection Agency's website, on 5 October 2026. The law is in Arabic: the quotations below are our translation, and the Arabic text is the one that applies.

Article 17: the general right to exchange and return

"The consumer has the right to exchange the goods or return them and recover their cash value, without giving any reason and without bearing any costs, within fourteen days of receiving them, without prejudice to any legal or contractual guarantees or conditions more favourable to the consumer; and the Agency may set shorter periods in view of the nature of certain goods."

Three things in this text: the 14-day period starts from receiving the goods, not from ordering; you are not asked for a reason; and you bear no costs. The text also preserves any better condition the store offers, and allows the Agency to shorten the period for some goods according to their nature.

When this right does not apply

The second paragraph of the same article excludes five cases:

1. If the nature, characteristics, method of filling or packaging of the goods prevents their exchange or return, or makes it impossible to restore them to the condition they were in when the contract was made.
2. If they are consumer goods that perish quickly.
3. If the goods are not in the same condition as at the time of sale, for a reason attributable to the consumer.
4. If they are goods made to special specifications set by the consumer, and they match those specifications.
5. Books, newspapers and magazines, and software and the like.

And the article provides that "the executive regulations of this law may add other cases".

Article 40: if you buy online

"Without prejudice to any legal or contractual guarantees or conditions more favourable to the consumer, a consumer who contracts at a distance has the right to withdraw from the contract within fourteen days of receiving the goods."

"In that case, the supplier must refund the amount paid by the consumer by the same method of payment, unless another method of refund is agreed, within a period not exceeding seven days from the date the product is returned in the case of goods, or from the date of contracting in the case of services; and the consumer bears the costs of shipping and returning the product, unless the contract provides otherwise."

The period is the same — 14 days from receipt — but the difference is in the second paragraph: in a distance purchase "the consumer bears the costs of shipping and returning the product, unless the contract provides otherwise", whereas Article 17 says "without bearing any costs". So read the store's policy before you buy: if it promises free returns, that is a "more favourable contractual condition", which the law preserves for you.

And the article obliges the store to refund the amount by the same method you paid with unless you agree otherwise, within no more than seven days of the product being returned.

And if delivery is late

"If the supplier is late in delivering the product beyond the agreed date, or does not deliver it within thirty days where no delivery date was agreed, the consumer may withdraw from the contract, without any costs, within fourteen days of the date of the delay or of the date of receipt, whichever is longer…"

In other words, a delay turns the equation round: if the store misses the agreed date, or does not deliver within 30 days when there is no date, you may withdraw at no cost, and "the supplier bears all the costs of return shipping and delivery expenses", as the article goes on to say.

Article 40 lists no exceptions of its own, but Article 39 provides that "in distance contracting, and in whatever is not covered by a special provision in this chapter, the supplier is bound by all the provisions of this law."

The difference in a table

What do stores say? Amazon Egypt as an example

The law sets the minimum, and a store may offer better. Amazon Egypt's return policy (read on 6 October 2026) states that items shipped from it "can be returned within 15 days of receipt of shipment in most cases" — one day more than the law. But it adds:

• Items marked "non-returnable" on their product detail page cannot be returned, unless they reach you damaged, defective or wrong.
• The product must be "returned in the same condition as when it was received".
• If the seller is a third party on the platform, it must offer you one of three: "A return address within the Arab Republic of Egypt", "A prepaid return label", or "A full refund without requesting the item to be returned".

We have limited this to a store whose page we read ourselves; read any other store's policy before you buy, and compare it with the two articles.

Before and after you buy

1. Count the 14 days from the day you receive the order, and keep proof of the date.
2. Before buying online, look in the store's policy for who pays for return shipping — the law puts it on you unless the store undertakes otherwise.
3. Do not damage the packaging or use the goods if you might return them: their condition "for a reason attributable to the consumer" is one of the exceptions.
4. If your request is refused and you believe the law is on your side, the Consumer Protection Agency takes complaints on 19588, as shown on its official website.

To find stores and offers in Egypt, browse stores in Egypt and the latest coupons, or the blog.

This is a reading of the law's text as published, not legal advice; the executive regulations and the Agency's decisions may add detail or cases.