How to exchange or return goods of proper quality within 14 days

When this is needed

This pro­ce­dure applies when a cus­tomer bought non-food goods of proper quality in a regular shop and they do not meet the cus­tomer’s needs because of shape, di­men­sions, style, colour, size or another reason they cannot be used as in­tend­ed. Before con­tact­ing the seller, use the 14-day cal­cu­la­tor, then check every con­di­tion in Article 9, not only the date.

If you ordered re­mote­ly, the dispute con­cerns a defect or the goods are on the list in Cabinet of Min­is­ters Res­o­lu­tion No. 172, do not treat this guide as a com­plete answer.

If the goods are de­fec­tive and you have already handed them over for free war­ran­ty repair, check the sep­a­rate pro­ce­dure for a delayed war­ran­ty repair claim and the pre­lim­i­nary penalty cal­cu­la­tion. The ex­change period for goods of proper quality does not apply.

For a dis­tance con­tract, check the sep­a­rate seller-notice dead­line and the pro­ce­dure for can­celling an online pur­chase: the de­liv­ery date and con­fir­ma­tion of in­for­ma­tion may change the route.

Applicable time limit or procedure

The law pro­vides 14 days, ex­clud­ing the pur­chase date, unless the seller an­nounced a longer period. This is a cal­en­dar cal­cu­la­tion: for a pur­chase on 8 August, day one is 9 August and the un­ad­just­ed day 14 is 22 August. Au­to­mat­i­cal­ly moving a weekend dead­line to Monday is risky; in prac­tice, apply earlier.

The first request is an ex­change. Only if equiv­a­lent goods are un­avail­able for sale does Article 9 allow you to choose another item with a price ad­just­ment, ter­mi­nate the con­tract and receive a refund, or agree to ex­change the goods after re­stock­ing.

Steps to take

1. Do not use the goods; pre­serve all parts, seals, labels and their orig­i­nal ap­pear­ance.
2. Find the payment doc­u­ment and check the exact cat­e­go­ry against Cabinet of Min­is­ters Res­o­lu­tion No. 172.
3. Prepare two copies of the ex­change request, de­scrib­ing the item, pur­chase date, reason it is un­suit­able and your primary request.
4. Submit the request at the shop and ask for an ac­knowl­edge­ment on your copy. For cor­re­spon­dence with a Kyiv retail chain, keep the legal entity’s address, en­clo­sure in­ven­to­ry and track­ing record.
5. If no equiv­a­lent item is avail­able, record that in writing and state which option you choose. For a refund, the law links the cal­cu­la­tion to the item’s value at the time of pur­chase.

What to check before filing

Match the seller on the receipt, date, model, serial number, con­tents and actual con­di­tion. Dis­tin­guish “not suit­able” from a defect: de­scrib­ing a mal­func­tion may move the claim under Article 8. Do not rely only on an oral con­ver­sa­tion with a store manager; a later com­plaint or lawsuit needs a doc­u­ment­ed chronol­o­gy.

When to consult a lawyer

Legal help is ap­pro­pri­ate if the seller calls the item used without in­spect­ing it, invokes List No. 172 without iden­ti­fy­ing the exact cat­e­go­ry, dis­putes the date of your request, sub­sti­tutes repair for an ex­change or refuses to confirm in writing that no equiv­a­lent item is avail­able. For a dispute in Kyiv or Kyiv region, a lawyer can for­mu­late the request, pre­serve ev­i­dence and sep­a­rate a pre-action com­plaint from a future lawsuit.