Direct Seller Vendor

What is a Direct Seller

A Direct Seller is also referred to as a vendor and means a person who:

  • Solicits to enter into an agreement between a consumer and a supplier at a place other than the supplier’s place of business; or other than a market place; an auction; trade fair; agricultural fair or exhibition;
  • Contacts occupants of houses by telephone;
  • Through advertising or otherwise carried out by the supplier requests consumers to contact the direct seller by telephone or present themselves at a non-business premise;

For the purpose of

  • Selling or offering for sale goods or services to them;
  • Soliciting orders for the future delivery to them of goods or service.

You are not considered to be direct selling and not required to be licenced if you are:

  • A person selling newspapers;
  • A person selling dairy or bakery products, firewood or coal; motor vehicles, farm implements, feed grain, feed supplements, fertilizer or weed spray, where that supplier resides or has a place of business in the Province;
  • A person selling farm products, fish or meat;
  • A person selling goods or services on behalf of an organization or corporation having objects of a benevolent, religious, charitable, philanthropic, educational, agricultural, scientific, artistic, social, political, professional, fraternal, sororal, sporting, athletic or other useful nature and not formed for gain;
  • A person in respect of business for the carrying on of which he or she is required to be licenced under the Securities Act, the Insurance Adjusters, Agents and Brokers Act, the Insurance Companies Act or the Real Estate Trading Act;
  • A person or one of a class of persons exempted from the application of this Part by the regulations;

^ Top of Page

How to become registered as a Direct Seller Vendor

Before operating in Newfoundland and Labrador a business entity wishing to become a Direct Seller, where applicable, must comply with the following:

  • Complete a Direct Sellers Vendor Application and submit a registration fee of:
    No salespersons/distributors $ 100.00
    One to ten salespersons/distributors $ 300.00
    Eleven to twenty salespersons/distributors $ 400.00
    More than twenty salespersons/distributors $ 500.00

    Cheques are to be made payable to the Newfoundland Exchequer Account;

  • If the business entity is a corporation, be in good standing as a company. If the corporation is outside Newfoundland and Labrador then it must be registered as an extra provincial corporation in this province. Please refer to the Registry of Companies for more information. Contact the Registry of Companies;
  • Have an address for service in the Province where a document sent or served under the Act shall be considered to be sufficiently given or served if delivered or sent by registered mail to the person at the address for service stated in the application for registration;
  • Provide a Surety Bond in the amount of:
    1. (a) where the vendor is an individual and there are no salespersons and where:
      1. sales to any one individual do not ordinarily exceed $500 – $1,000 bond
      2. sales to any one individual ordinarily exceed $500 – $5,000 bond
    2. (a) where the vendor is a corporation or partnership, regardless of the amount of any one individual sale:
      1. not more than 5 salespersons – $5,000 bond
      2. more than 5 salespersons – $10,000 bond
  • Submit a direct sales contract to be used by the vendor that clearly shows the Buyers Right to Cancel in compliance with Section 24 to 26 of the Act;
  • Provide a description of the goods or services and its value;

Salespersons or distributors of the Direct Seller are not required to be licenced or to be registered in this Province.

^ Top of Page

What a Direct Seller should know

The licence remains in effect subject to the filing of an annual report and the payment of an Annual Fee or until cancelled by the licencee or suspended or cancelled under Section 88 of the Act. Under Section 93 of the Act, an annual filing is due every 12 months from the effective date of the original licence.

A direct seller is restricted to the sale of goods and/or services that were identified on the application. To sell other products or service the Direct Seller must notify the registrar in writing of the change and if approved the new products or services will be added to the licence.

A direct sales contract shall contain:

  • The consumer’s name and address;
  • The supplier’s name, business address, telephone number and where applicable fax number;
  • Where applicable, the salesperson’s name;
  • The date and place of the contract;
  • A description of the good and services, sufficient to identify them;
  • A statement of Cancellation Rights that conforms with the requirements of the Act/ Regulations;
  • Itemized prices of the goods or services or both;
  • The total amount of the contract;
  • The terms of payment;
  • In the case of a contract for the future delivery of goods, future provisions of services or goods together with services, the delivery date for the goods or start date for the services or both;
  • In case of a contract for the future provision of services or goods together with services, the completion date for supplying the services or the goods together with services;
  • Where credit is extended the details of the credit; Refer to Section 24(1) of the Consumer Protection and Business Practices Act;
  • Where goods are taken in trade, a description of and the value of the trade-in;
  • The signatures of both parties.

^ Top of Page

What a Consumer should know

A direct sales contract may be cancelled within 10 days after a copy of the contract is received. To cancel a contract the consumer must send or deliver a cancellation notice to the direct seller using a method where the consumer can provide evidence he or she cancelled the contract and the date on which this occurred. For more information on canceling a contract refer to Section 24 to 26 of the Act.

A licenced direct seller shall produce his or her licence for inspection when requested to do so by a consumer.

If you are dealing with a direct seller vendor regarding a purchase and you feel that the vendor is violating the Consumer Protection and Business Practices Act we suggest you file a complaint with us. The complaint has to be registered by the person that was dealing with the vendor. We cannot mediate third party complaints or legal cases where the complaint is in the process of court action. To register a complaint online, please complete our online complaints form or to mail or fax your complaint, please download the Complaint Record Form.

^ Top of Page

Direct Seller Links

^ Top of Page

Direct Seller Forms, Pamphlets and Information

^ Top of Page

Contact Information

Consumer and Financial Services Division
Digital Government and Service NL
149 Smallwood Drive
Mount Pearl (or mail to P.O. Box 8700, St. John’s)
St. John’s, NL
A1B 4J6
Tel. 709 729 2660
Fax 709 729 6998
Toll Free: 1 877 968 2600
Email: consumeraffairsaccount@gov.nl.ca

^ Top of Page

Adobe® Acrobat® Reader software can be used for viewing PDF documents. Download Acrobat® Reader for free.