Hi Tracy,

I think a solicitor may have the answer to this.   I am not the best person to answer this but I think charging-on-dispatch is probably best practice in terms of:

• fair timing: you charge only if you send the book.
• lower admin costs: no need to worry about wasting time to issue refunds, etc if  someone goes wrong and you never send the book.

Also, the time of billing could also be part of the "contract" formed as part of the purchase, so It may all be down to the agreement that the buyer and the seller.

Once more, a solicitor probably is the best person to answer this but I hope the thoughts above help.

regards,

Denis
www.naxtech.com
Web Development and Organic Search Engine Optimisation

Hello Tracy

I used to work for an online bookshop so have been in a similar situation to yourself. 

The Distance Selling Regulations  sort of imply as long as you inform the customer their debit/credit card is going to be charged and their goods sent on arrival or similar, that this abides by the DSR guidance

Personal experience with customers  revealed they tend to get more irked if charged before goods are in stock and ready for despatch, so we always employed a dues system that charged as items came into stock.

Guess it depends what type of customer you have and what service offering they would value most.

No substitute for getting it 100% clarified by your legal eagle but the following link may provide useful reading if you haven;t already read it.

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/general/oft698.pdf

Hope this helps

Robert