For example, within the United States, the federal government imposes 72-hour cooling-off periods for many consumer transactions completed at home or away from the seller's traditional place of business.
[2] The European Union allows residents of member states to seek refunds for goods and services purchased outside of a shop, such as by telephone, mail order or in response to a door-to-door sales pitch, to cancel the transaction, return any purchase and obtain a refund within fourteen days.
For example, in the European Union the Consumer Rights Directive of 2011 obliges member states to give purchasers the right to return goods or cancel services purchased from a business away from a normal commercial premises, such as online, mail order, or door-to-door, with limited exceptions, within two weeks or one year if the seller did not clearly inform the purchaser of their rights from the receipt of the goods, for a full refund.
The effects of cooling-off periods have been studied in experimental economics in the context of the so-called ultimatum game.
Cooling-off periods can reduce the rejection rates of unfair offers when the parties perceive the stakes to be large.