California Automatic Renewal Law for Black Friday Subscriptions

An advertising deadline tells customers when they must enroll to receive an offer. Their subscription discount may expire on a different date. Disclose the recurring charge, billing frequency, renewal term or continuous nature of service, cancellation policy, and any minimum purchase obligation. Explain known future pricing and potential changes.

Compare the advertisement, landing page, and mobile checkout. An advertising compliance review should check whether the promotional message accurately describes the subscription customers will purchase

For online negative-option sales, the federal Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA) separately requires material disclosures before obtaining billing information, express informed consent before charging, and simple ways to stop recurring charges. The FTC’s vacated 2024 click-to-cancel amendments should not be treated as current federal requirements.

Place clear and conspicuous renewal disclosures near the request for consent. Avoid language or design that contradicts or undermines the customer’s choice. A separate, unchecked subscription checkbox can help document acceptance, but the statute does not prescribe that specific design.

Keep verification of affirmative consent for at least three years, or one year after termination, whichever is longer. Link the consent event to the customer, timestamp, and disclosure version. Today’s screenshot cannot establish what an earlier customer accepted.

Provide an acknowledgment containing the renewal terms, cancellation policy, and cancellation instructions in a form the customer can retain. A receipt showing only the amount paid leaves these requirements unanswered. For a free gift or trial offer, explain how to cancel and allow cancellation before the consumer pays for the goods or services.

Preserving the confirmation template and sending record is a practical evidence measure. The consent-retention rule does not set a universal retention period for subscription records.

A subscription may trigger several notices. Match each event to its timing and content.

Where both trial/promotion and long-initial-term notices apply under § 17602(b), the statute requires only the long-initial-term notice under that subsection. That rule does not broadly eliminate separate fee-change or annual-reminder duties.

Electronic renewal notices must direct customers to cancellation through a link or another reasonably accessible electronic method. Use the enrollment or customary interaction medium for annual reminders. For originally in-person or voice-based transactions, use telephone, mail, or internet-based communication.

Do not assume advance disclosure of the regular price eliminates later notice duties. Section 17602(g)(2) covers changes in fees under existing offers, including changes customers affirmatively accepted in the original arrangement.

For a promotional-to-regular-price transition, assess the fee-change requirement alongside any trial-expiration notice. A discount lasting 31 days or less falls outside the specific longer-promotion notice trigger. It does not create a general exemption from disclosure, consent, cancellation, or applicable fee-change requirements.

When presenting an online retention offer, simultaneously display a prominent, continuously visible nearby button or link labeled “click to cancel” or equivalent wording. Process cancellation promptly when the customer uses it.

Online account authentication is permitted for customers with accounts. However, customers unwilling or unable to authenticate online must have another statutory offline method to authenticate or terminate. Test that alternative rather than treating a failed login as the end of the process.

Test a cancellation request through to future billing. Preserve its submission, processing time, resulting status, and any later charge. Distinguish ending the renewal feature from refunding an earlier payment or resolving remaining contractual obligations.

An e-commerce transaction review can also identify which platform handles billing and which records the seller can retrieve. Before launch, an attorney can assess gaps between the offer, consent evidence, notice settings, and tested cancellation route.

The statute addresses offers to consumers in California. Evaluate the transaction and applicable exemptions rather than relying only on the seller’s address.

A platform does not establish compliance by itself. Check its agreement and settings to identify who handles disclosures, consent, notices, and cancellation. Confirm the seller can retrieve supporting records.