An internet business owes its buyer one price
Every fee a business can work out at that moment belongs in the first figure the buyer sees, which the ACCC calls the minimum total cost. Delivery may sit outside that figure, but its known minimum must be shown with the price (Australian Consumer Law, s 48). From 1 October 2026, the card networks' no-surcharge rules apply to Visa, Mastercard and eftpos payments, and American Express also removed surcharging.
General information about Australian law for businesses that sell online, not legal or tax advice.
Where each rule comes from
- Product page
- The single price is s 48 of the Australian Consumer Law: where a business shows part of a price for goods or services of a kind ordinarily bought for personal, domestic or household use, it must also specify, in a prominent way and as a single figure, the single price for the goods or services. The ACCC gives the working rule: the displayed price must be the minimum total cost.
- Cart
- The ACCC names the wrong, drip pricing, and requires an extra the business pre-selects to be included in the total price.
- Delivery
- s 48 of the Act lets the sending charge sit outside the single price, and where the seller knows the minimum that must be paid, the price must be shown with that minimum.
- Your details
- The Privacy Act 1988 governs personal information, and its s 6D draws the small business line at an annual turnover of $3,000,000 or less for the previous financial year, but takes the exemption away from a business that has had a year over $3,000,000 ending after it started, or after the section commenced if that was later.
- Payment
- The Reserve Bank's Payments System Board decided to remove surcharging for all designated card networks, and the ACCC records the card networks' no-surcharge rules from 1 October 2026. 1a discount for another way to pay: the ACCC says businesses can offer discounts to consumers who pay using a particular payment method, such as cash or PayID, and that a payment method discount should be clearly disclosed before consumers choose to book, order or pay
- Receipt
- s 100 of the Act sets the proof of transaction at $75 or more excluding GST, and the ATO gives the tax invoice rule: a tax invoice, if you're registered for GST and the customer asks, within 28 days, unless the sale is $82.50 including GST or less.
- After
- The consumer guarantees, as the ACCC states them: a refund should be the full amount the consumer paid, in the same form as the original payment, unless agreed otherwise. On a change of mind, Consumer Affairs Victoria says generally, a store does not have to give a refund or replacement. 2change of mind: generally, a store does not have to give a refund or replacement, and where a business has a change of mind policy it must follow it