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| Trading
Schemes (Pyramid Selling) |
 Please
click the button to read our Fact Sheet on Trading Schemes.
Trading
schemes may be called direct selling, network marketing, pyramid
selling, multi-level marketing, or other names. It is a way of
selling goods or services through a trading scheme which operates on
more than one level. People who join such schemes are self-employed
and earn money by selling the schemes' goods or services. In some
schemes participants may increase their earnings by recruiting
others and from the sales made by their recruits.
Such
schemes are not illegal in the UK but they must comply with the
provisions in Part XI of the Fair Trading Act as amended by the
Trading Scheme Act 1996 and the Trading Scheme Regulations 1997
 DTI
has issued a guidance booklet The
Trading Scheme Guide which outlines these provisions.
  Please
click the button or the cover to read the guide on-line.
Anyone who is concerned that they
have been asked to join a scheme which may be acting illegally
should write, with any supporting evidence, to:
Consumer
& Competition Policy Directorate 2
(Trading Schemes)
Department of Trade and Industry
1 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0ET
Please
Click the button to read our Fact Sheet
on doorstep selling.
The Consumer Protection (Cancellation of Contracts Concluded Away
from Business Premises) Regulations 1987
provide consumers with a 7 day cooling off period
when
they agree to buy goods or services worth more than £35 from a
trader during an unsolicited visit to their home.
Amended Regulations to provide consumers with more protection from
unscrupulous doorstep sellers came
into force on 31 December 1998.
Consumers' Guide to the amended regulations (web page).
Please
click this
 button to have a
printed copy
of the guide posted to you.
October 2005 - Consultation Responses
A Statistical
Summary of the responses to the consultation (see below) has been
published. We intend to consult further on the detail of specific
options before making a full response to the consultation.
Statistical
summary of responses (33 pages)
July 2004 - DTI Consultation
Following the publication of the Office of Fair Trading
(OFT) report on their market study of
doorstep selling (see
above), the Government
agreed to consult as recommended. The consultation dealt with the principles of possible changes to the
legislation regulating doorstep sales.
Consultation
document (55 pages). Regulatory Impact Assessment
(10 pages).
May 2004 - OFT Market
Study Report
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT)
published a Market Study report on
Doorstep Selling on 12 May 2004, recommending a strengthening
and broadening of measures to protect consumers.
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