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Consumer rights: 7 day withdrawal, legal warranty and no liability caps

Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Stable

Abroad, sellers often set their own return policy and cap their liability in standard terms; in Brazil a consumer who buys outside the store, including online, can withdraw within 7 days for a full refund. A legal warranty sits under any contractual one: 30 days to claim for non durable goods and services and 90 days for durables, and a defect not fixed in 30 days lets the consumer choose replacement, refund or a price cut. Clauses that exclude or reduce the supplier's liability are void, companies can be consumers too, and courts can reverse the burden of proof.

USD figures use the Banco Central do Brasil PTAX selling rate of R$5.3346 per US dollar for 27 October 2026. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Withdrawal period for sales outside the store	7 daysCDC art. 49, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Claim period for non durable goods and services	30 daysCDC art. 26 item I, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Claim period for durable goods and services	90 daysCDC art. 26 item II, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Supplier deadline to remedy a defect	30 daysCDC art. 18 § 1, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Limitation for product liability claims	5 yearsCDC art. 27, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Supplier liability caps in consumer contracts	Void (limited only for legal entity consumers in justifiable situations) CDC art. 51 item I, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. A consumer is any individual or legal entity that acquires or uses a product or service as final recipient, so a company buying for its own use can be a consumer.
Cost to do it: No fee; B2B sales to end users can fall under the CDC.
Example: A company buying laptops for its staff is a consumer of the seller. / No statutory US dollar amount.Lei nº 8.078 of 11 September 1990 (Consumer Defense Code, CDC), Art. 2, 1990-09-11 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. When a contract is made outside the commercial establishment, especially by telephone or at home, the consumer may withdraw within 7 days of signing or of receiving the product or service, and any amounts paid during the reflection period are refunded immediately, with monetary correction.
Cost to do it: Full refund, including amounts paid on any account, plus return logistics in practice.
Example: An online sale of R$2,000 returned on day 6: R$2,000 refunded at once. / About US$375 refunded.Lei nº 8.078 of 11 September 1990, Art. 49 and sole paragraph, 1990-09-11 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. The right to claim for apparent defects lapses in 30 days for services and non durable products and 90 days for durable services and products, counted from delivery or the end of the service; for hidden defects, from when the defect becomes evident. A documented complaint to the supplier suspends the period until a clear negative answer. Claims for damage caused by a defective product or service (product liability) prescribe in 5 years from knowledge of the damage and its author.
Cost to do it: Warranty handling for at least 30 or 90 days, beyond any contractual warranty.
Example: A defect in a refrigerator noticed on day 60 is within the 90 day period for durables. / No statutory US dollar amount.Lei nº 8.078 of 11 September 1990, Art. 26 items I and II and §§ 1 to 3; art. 27, 1990-09-11 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. Suppliers in the chain are jointly liable for quality or quantity defects. If the defect is not remedied within 30 days, the consumer chooses replacement, immediate refund with correction (plus damages) or a proportional price cut; the parties may agree a period of 7 to 180 days, set separately in standard form contracts. For essential products or where repair would impair the product, the consumer may choose at once. A contractual warranty is complementary to the legal one and must be given in a standard written term.
Cost to do it: Replacement, refund or price cut if repair takes over 30 days.
Example: A R$2,000 appliance not repaired in 30 days: the buyer may demand R$2,000 back, corrected. / About US$375.Lei nº 8.078 of 11 September 1990, Art. 18 §§ 1 to 3; art. 50, 1990-09-11 official text · verified 2026-10-27

5. Clauses that prevent, exclude or reduce the supplier's liability for defects, or imply waiver of rights, are void; only with a consumer that is a legal entity may the indemnity be limited, in justifiable situations. Also void are clauses reversing the burden of proof against the consumer or imposing compulsory arbitration. Courts may reverse the burden of proof in the consumer's favor when the claim is plausible or the consumer is vulnerable.
Cost to do it: No fee; standard terms copied from abroad may be void in part.
Example: A global terms of sale clause capping liability at the price paid is void against an individual consumer. / No statutory US dollar amount.Lei nº 8.078 of 11 September 1990, Art. 51 items I, VI and VII; art. 6 item VIII, 1990-09-11 official text · verified 2026-10-27

6. Courts may disregard the company's separate personality when it is an obstacle to compensating consumers, and companies in the same group and controlled companies are secondarily liable for obligations under the CDC.
Cost to do it: Group exposure for consumer claims against a subsidiary.
Example: A foreign parent's other Brazilian subsidiaries can be pursued for a consumer judgment. / No statutory US dollar amount.Lei nº 8.078 of 11 September 1990, Art. 28 caput and §§ 2 and 5, 1990-09-11 official text · verified 2026-10-27

7. Administrative fines for consumer law breaches range from 200 to 3 million times the UFIR or the index that replaced it; a separate range of R$20,000 to R$500 million applies when fuel importers, producers, distributors or retailers refuse to supply consumers within their stock or raise prices without just cause (art. 39 items II and X).
Cost to do it: Fines graded by gravity, advantage gained and the supplier's economic condition.
Example: A fuel distributor found raising prices without just cause faces a fine of R$20,000 to R$500 million. / About US$3,749 to US$93,727,740.Lei nº 8.078 of 11 September 1990, art. 57 § 1 (added by Lei nº 8.703 of 6 September 1993) and § 2 added by Medida Provisória nº 1.393 of 25 September 2026, Art. 57 §§ 1 and 2, 2026-09-25 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Medida Provisória nº 1.393 of 25 September 2026 added the fuel sector fine range to CDC art. 57.

Right	Period	Starts	Article
Withdrawal, sales outside the store	7 days	Signature or receipt	Art. 49
Claim, non durable goods and services	30 days	Delivery or end of service	Art. 26 item I
Claim, durable goods and services	90 days	Delivery or end of service	Art. 26 item II
Hidden defect	30 or 90 days	When the defect appears	Art. 26 § 3
Supplier repair	30 days (7 to 180 by agreement)	Complaint	Art. 18 §§ 1 and 2
Product liability damages	5 years	Knowledge of damage and author	Art. 27

Consumer deadlines (Lei nº 8.078).

Worked example

A foreign online retailer sells a R$2,000 (about US$375) appliance to a buyer in Brazil. The buyer may return it within 7 days of receipt for a full, immediate refund (CDC art. 49). If a defect appears on day 60, the buyer is still within the 90 day period for durables (art. 26 item II); if the retailer cannot fix it within 30 days, the buyer chooses replacement, refund or a discount (art. 18 § 1). The retailer's global terms capping liability at the purchase price are void against this buyer (art. 51 item I).

Step by step

1. Localize standard terms for Brazil: remove liability caps and arbitration clauses for consumers.
2. Build a 7 day no reason return flow for online and phone sales.
3. Set warranty handling for 30 and 90 days and a 30 day repair target.
4. Issue a standard written contractual warranty term, if any, with the product.
5. Record complaints, since they suspend the claim period until a clear answer.

Common traps

Companies buying as end users are consumers too (CDC art. 2).
The 7 day period runs from receipt, not from order, when that is later (art. 49).
Contractual warranties add to, and never replace, the legal warranty (art. 50).
Group companies can answer for a subsidiary's consumer debts (art. 28 § 2).

Sources

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