Countries › Costa Rica › Guide › 16. What is normal abroad but not here › An implied warranty, a 30 day claim window and eight days to cancel off premises and online sales

An implied warranty, a 30 day claim window and eight days to cancel off premises and online sales

Last verified: 2026-10-30 · Status: Stable

Abroad, return rights are often set by store policy and warranties by the maker. In Costa Rica every good and service carries an implied warranty, durable goods must state its scope and length in writing, and consumers have at least thirty days from delivery to claim under it. For sales made outside the seller's premises, including e commerce, the buyer may cancel within eight business days, and the seller must refund within eight calendar days.

USD figures use the Banco Central de Costa Rica reference selling rate of ₡454.82 per US dollar published for 29 October 2026 (indicator 318 on bccr.fi.cr), rounded to the cent; conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Withdrawal period for off premises and online sales	8 business days textDE 37899-MEIC art. 72; Ley 7472 art. 40, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Refund deadline after withdrawal	8 calendar days textDE 37899-MEIC art. 75, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Minimum warranty claim window from delivery	30 daysLey 7472 art. 43, as of 2026-10-30 · in force

The rule

1. Every good sold and service provided is impliedly guaranteed to meet the legal quality and technical standards for health, environment and safety; for durable goods and their repair the warranty must also state scope, duration, conditions, who is responsible and how to claim, on the label, a separate document or the invoice. Consumers have thirty days from delivery or service to enforce the warranty before the authority, or from discovery for hidden defects; longer contractual periods prevail.Ley 7472, art. 43, 1994-12-20 official text · verified 2026-10-30

2. In sales made outside the seller's premises, where the nature of the good allows, the consumer may cancel without liability within eight days of the sale.Ley 7472, art. 40, 1994-12-20 official text · verified 2026-10-30

3. The buyer may cancel within eight business days after the sale by written notice to the seller's address, fax or email shown in its documents, keeping proof of sending, or by returning the product at the seller's premises.Decreto Ejecutivo 37899-MEIC, Reglamento a la Ley 7472, renumbered by DE 44400 of 26 February 2024, art. 70 and 72, 2013-07-08 official text · verified 2026-10-30

4. The seller must refund everything received within eight calendar days from the day after the cancellation notice (or after return of the goods). For e commerce, Ley 7472 art. 40 applies: the right is exercised through the same channel the consumer used and the refund is made by the same payment method.
Example: ₡300,000 online sale cancelled on day five: full ₡300,000 back to the card used, within eight calendar days. / About US$659.60.Decreto Ejecutivo 37899-MEIC, as amended by DE 40703 of 3 October 2017, art. 75, 2017-10-03 official text · verified 2026-10-30

5. No withdrawal applies to consumables, perishables or goods that cannot be resold once installed or used, or to goods made to measure or specially imported if already made or irrevocably ordered; sellers must warn of these limits. For services, withdrawal covers only the part not yet provided.Decreto Ejecutivo 37899-MEIC, art. 73 and 77, 2013-07-08 official text · verified 2026-10-30

Right	Deadline
Cancel off premises or online sale	8 business days from the sale
Seller refund	8 calendar days from notice or return
Claim under warranty	30 days from delivery (hidden defects: from discovery)

Consumer timelines (Ley 7472; DE 37899-MEIC).

Worked example

A foreign e commerce brand selling into Costa Rica must state withdrawal terms in Spanish at checkout (DE 37899 art. 186) and refund to the original card within eight calendar days of a valid cancellation.

Step by step

Publish Spanish terms with the withdrawal period, exceptions and warranty conditions.
Print warranty scope and duration on durable goods or on the invoice.
Set up a refund flow that returns funds by the original payment method within eight calendar days.

Common traps

Store credit instead of a refund does not satisfy the eight day refund rule unless the consumer agrees.
Warranty terms shorter than the legal minimum are ineffective.
An address missing or wrong on the invoice lets the consumer prove cancellation by other means.

Sources

← Leases run at least three years, renew automatically and dollar home rents cannot be raisedAccepted electronic invoices are enforceable titles and can be traded; payers have ten business days to object →

Get rule changes weekly

Free. One email a week from The LatAm Thread.

One more step after you press the button: we take you to Substack, where your email is already filled in. Confirm there to start. No spam, unsubscribe anytime, we never share your address. By subscribing you agree to the privacy policy.