Recently, complaints from Belarusian consumers about purchasing goods from foreign sellers have increased. In response, the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade (MART) explained what buyers need to know when concluding such transactions.

The complaints have risen concerning foreign sellers registered outside the EAEU. They relate to purchases on foreign online marketplaces that deliver to Belarus.

Analysis of complaints shows that consumers encounter problems with receiving, inspecting, and returning such goods. This is because buyers do not always have full information about the special delivery and return conditions for items shipped from abroad (outside the EAEU), the ministry noted. The terms for such orders differ significantly from those of ordinary purchases from Belarusian sellers (or sellers from EAEU countries).

Thus, when a product is purchased abroad, it is processed and shipped as an international postal parcel. The item is delivered directly from outside the EAEU to the consumer's address, often bypassing the warehouse and logistics centers of the online marketplace located in Belarus and Russia. For this reason, inspection of the goods upon receipt is absent — the buyer cannot open the package and verify the purchase before fully paying at the order pickup point, including at Belarus Post (RUPO) branches. Claims regarding quality, completeness, and refunds are directed straight to the foreign seller. Returning the item abroad is borne by the consumer and only after agreement with the foreign seller. Consumers do not pay attention when placing the order and usually learn about the restrictions and shipment status only at the moment of receiving the order; Belarusian consumer protection law does not apply to such relationships.

Moreover, it is important to understand that a foreign online marketplace merely provides the foreign seller with a platform to list their offer, but it is not the seller itself. It does not verify the product quality and therefore is not liable to the buyer for substandard quality, mismatch with the description, or for consumer rights violations in case of disputes or defects.

Experts at MART advise that before placing such orders, one should carefully review all information about delivery terms, the procedure for receiving, inspecting, and returning the goods, as set out in the product description and on the website itself (the public offer governing such orders).