30 days. That is the shipping time an American brand is held to when it takes an order online and says nothing about delivery, under the Federal Trade Commission's Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule at 16 CFR part 435, and it is the number that turns a creator's "order now and it's under the tree by Christmas" into a promise with a text behind it. The rule says a seller may not solicit an order unless, at the time of the solicitation, it has a reasonable basis to expect that it will be able to ship within the time clearly and conspicuously stated, or, if no time is stated, within thirty days after receipt of a properly completed order. A creator video that names a delivery date is a solicitation that implies a shipping time.
The craft of the unboxing, the format gift content is built on, is in the guide to what an unboxing video is, and the price claims of the sale weekend that opens the season are in this cocoon's Black Friday guide. This guide is about the American layer under the four weeks from Thanksgiving to Christmas: what the rule requires when a brand promises delivery, what it requires when the brand cannot keep the promise, and what the calendar fixed by federal law does to a creator's brief.
The rule, section by section
A reasonable basis to ship
The rule applies to sales in which the buyer orders merchandise by mail, via the Internet or by telephone, regardless of the method of payment. Its first requirement is the one above: a reasonable basis, at the time of the solicitation, to expect to ship within the stated time or within thirty days, and fifty days rather than thirty where the buyer applies to the seller for credit to pay for the merchandise. The FTC's business guide to the rule puts it in one sentence, that when you advertise merchandise you must have a reasonable basis for stating or implying that you can ship within a certain time, and it notes that direct marketers sometimes call this the "30-day Rule". The word that matters for a creator video is "implying": "arrives before Christmas" implies a shipping time, and the brand behind the video needs the basis for it on the day the video runs.
The delay notice, and what silence means
The rule's second requirement is triggered the moment the seller learns it cannot ship in time. It must offer the buyer, clearly and conspicuously and without prior demand, an option either to consent to a delay or to cancel the order and receive a prompt refund, within a reasonable time after it first becomes aware of the problem and in no event later than the stated time or, where none was stated, the thirty days. The offer must state a definite revised shipping date, or, where the seller lacks a reasonable basis for one, say that it is unable to make any representation regarding the length of the delay and give the reason for it. The rule then splits by the length of the delay. Where the revised date is thirty days or less after the original time, the notice must expressly say that unless the buyer rejects the delay before shipment and before that date, the buyer will be deemed to have consented; silence is consent, and the notice has to say so. Where the revised date is more than thirty days out, or no date can be given, the notice must say that the order will automatically be deemed cancelled unless the seller ships within thirty days of the original time and has received no cancellation, or the buyer, within those thirty days, expressly consents to the longer delay.
The refund
A prompt refund, in the rule's definitions, is one sent by any means at least as fast and reliable as first class mail within seven working days of the date the buyer's right to a refund vests, or, for a credit sale on which the seller is itself the creditor, within one billing cycle; where the seller cannot refund by the method the buyer paid with, it refunds by cash, check or money order within seven working days of discovering that. The rule also requires the seller to deem the order cancelled and refund promptly whenever the buyer cancels before shipment under any of the options above, and the business guide states the other half: if you decide that you cannot ever ship the order, you must promptly cancel it and make a full refund.
| What the creator's video promises | What the rule requires of the brand | What the brand prepares before the video runs |
|---|---|---|
| "Order today, it ships tomorrow" | A reasonable basis, at the time of the solicitation, to ship within that stated time | Stock and carrier capacity that support "tomorrow" for the volume the video may bring |
| "Under the tree by Christmas" | A reasonable basis for the implied shipping time, counted back from December 25 | An order-by date the brand can keep, and a plan to change the video when it passes |
| Nothing about delivery | A reasonable basis to ship within 30 days of a properly completed order, 50 if the buyer applies for credit | The same stock check, against a 30-day clock |
| A delay after the order | A clear and conspicuous notice, without being asked, with a revised date or the admission that none can be given, and the option to cancel with a prompt refund | The notice template, and the rule's sentence about silence or automatic cancellation |
| A cancellation by the buyer | A prompt refund: 7 working days, or one billing cycle where the brand is itself the creditor on a credit sale | The refund path, whoever runs the payments |
What the calendar does to the brief
The season's dates are fixed by federal law, not by retailers. The Office of Personnel Management's schedule of federal holidays, under the section of title 5 of the United States Code that designates them, places Thanksgiving Day on Thursday, November 26, 2026 and Christmas Day on Friday, December 25, 2026. The sale weekend follows the Thursday, and every delivery promise in the season counts back from the 25th. For a creator brief that means three dates written in before the shoot: the last day the brand can promise Christmas delivery at standard shipping, the last day at expedited shipping, and the day the video's promise has to change or the video has to come down. A video filmed in October and still running on December 22 with "arrives before Christmas" in it is a solicitation the brand no longer has a basis for.
What the video may say, and when
The honest brief separates the sentence about the product from the sentence about delivery. The product sentence is the creator's, and the endorsement rules described in the reviews and testimonials guide govern it. The delivery sentence is the brand's, and the rule governs it; a creator can say it, but only in the words and for the dates the brand gives, and the brand changes the video, the caption or the landing page the day the basis changes. What usually stops a brand from running the season this way is that the delivery promise feels like customer service rather than advertising, whereas the rule's first sentence is about the solicitation, which is the ad.
The brief for holiday creator video
- Put the order-by dates in the brief before the shoot, counted back from December 25 at each shipping speed the brand offers, and give the creator the delivery sentence word for word.
- Check, on the day each video goes live, that the brand has a reasonable basis for the time the video states or implies, at the volume the video may bring.
- Write the delay notice before the season: a definite revised date, or the admission that none can be given with the reason for the delay; the option to cancel with a prompt refund, and a way to do it at the brand's expense; the sentence about silence for a delay of 30 days or less, and the sentence about automatic cancellation beyond that.
- Set the refund path to meet the rule's 7 working days, or one billing cycle only where the brand is itself the creditor on a credit sale, whoever runs the payments.
- Schedule the day each video's delivery promise changes or the video comes down, and keep that schedule with the campaign file.
Sources
- eCFR, 16 CFR part 435, Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule
- Federal Trade Commission, Business Guide to the FTC's Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Federal Holidays
Checked on 21 September 2026. This guide is not legal advice. Where this guide and the official source disagree, the official source prevails.
