Starting Textile E-Commerce in Turkey: Legal Foundations

E-Commerce Law Series · 1 of 5

For a textile manufacturer or wholesaler, online sales create a new customer channel. They also require contracts, consumer information, records and data protection to work together. A website alone is not the legal infrastructure. This five-part series covers the foundations, distance contracts, withdrawal and returns, marketplaces and commercial messages.

1. The legal framework

• Law No. 6563: e-commerce service providers and intermediaries, commercial communications, information obligations and administrative sanctions.
• Consumer Protection Law No. 6502: distance contracts, withdrawal, defective goods, unfair terms, advertising and unfair commercial practices.
• Distance Contracts Regulation: detailed pre-contract information, delivery, withdrawal and return procedures.
• Commercial Communications and Commercial Electronic Messages Regulation: consent and opt-out rules for marketing emails, SMS and calls.
• Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698: customer, order, payment and cookie-related personal data.
• Tax rules: e-invoice, e-archive invoice and other electronic-document obligations, depending on the business and applicable thresholds. Confirm the current position with an accountant.

2. Choosing a sales channel

Your own website

The seller must organise required disclosures, contracting steps, payment security and applicable ETBİS registration. Personal data do not simply “belong” to the seller: controller and processor responsibilities depend on who determines the purposes and means of each processing activity. Hosting, payment and logistics arrangements must be assessed accordingly.

A marketplace

An intermediary agreement sets platform services, commissions and operational terms. Using a platform does not automatically transfer the seller's own duties to it. Statutory responsibilities and the contractual allocation must be considered together; part four examines this relationship.

Social media

An order taken through social media can still constitute a consumer distance contract. The absence of a separate shop website does not remove consumer information and contractual duties. ETBİS scope is a separate question: the Ministry explains that social-media sellers are not subject to its registration and notification obligation; orders completed on a seller's own shop site require a separate assessment.

Wholesale / B2B

Clearly record product specifications, price, payment, delivery, quality checks and remedies. Genuine commercial-purpose sales are assessed under the applicable commercial and obligations-law framework, rather than automatically importing consumer withdrawal rules.

3. Information and legal pages

Provide the legally required information before the consumer commits to purchase:

1. Seller identity: the applicable trade name, registry or tax details, address and contact information, including the required KEP registered-email address and authorisation or professional information where applicable. The exact disclosure set varies with seller status and channel.
2. Distance contract and pre-contract information: present them at the proper stage and preserve evidence; a footer link alone is not a complete order process.
3. Withdrawal, returns and exchanges: explain statutory conditions, periods and exceptions, distinguishing voluntary exchange policies from legal rights.
4. Privacy notice: explain personal-data processing under the KVKK. Giving information is distinct from requesting consent.
5. Cookies and preferences: classify cookies, identify the lawful basis and offer an effective choice where consent is required.
6. Payment and delivery: state payment methods, delivery arrangements and charges clearly.
7. Marketing permissions: establish a separate, compliant consent and opt-out process.

4. ETBİS registration

ETBİS is the Ministry of Trade's electronic commerce information system. The relevant categories must register before starting covered activity. These include providers operating their own e-commerce environment and e-commerce intermediaries. The foreign-marketplace category concerns providers established in Turkey that do not carry out domestic e-commerce but contract or receive orders through a foreign-established intermediary.

Sellers operating only through domestic marketplaces are not subject to ETBİS registration and notification on that basis. Exclusive individual communication channels are also treated separately under the communiqué. These distinctions do not remove tax, consumer or data-protection duties.

Changes to notified information must generally be reported within thirty days. Cross-border activity may also require the annual notification described in the relevant rules. Registration is not a guarantee that every transaction or website term is lawful.

Non-compliance can lead to administrative fines. For 2026, the Article 12(1)(e) and (f) ranges concerning the Article 11(3) and (4) information and notification duties are TRY 143,102–715,516. Identify the actual breached provision rather than treating this as the fine for every e-commerce violation. Monetary sanctions are year-specific; use the applicable annual official table.

5. Launch checklist

• Identify the channel and whether buyers act as consumers or for business purposes.
• Complete the applicable seller identity and contact disclosures.
• Prepare the distance contract, pre-contract information and return procedure.
• Implement privacy information, lawful processing and cookie preferences.
• Check ETBİS scope and complete required registration before launch.
• Confirm invoicing and accounting with an accountant.
• Document payment and logistics arrangements.
• Implement marketing-message consent and opt-out mechanisms.

Next in the series

Distance sales contracts and pre-contract information: what must be explained before an order, how the contract forms and how delivery and evidence are managed. Read the next article →

Official sources

Ministry of Trade: electronic commerce and ETBİS questions; Law No. 6563 and its 2026 administrative-fine table; KVKK Board decision 2020/71 on controller and processor roles.

Contact

Reviewed on 27 October 2026. General information on Turkish law; the business model and actual transaction determine applicable duties. Turkish statutory texts govern.