Buying a greenhouse online: what to check before you pay
You have found the greenhouse, the price is right and the checkout is one click away. Before you press it, spend twenty minutes on the seller. A greenhouse bought online is usually paid for in full, made or packed to order and delivered on a pallet weeks later, so the questions that matter are who you are paying, what exactly arrives, who moves it from the kerb and what happens if a part is missing.
- Check the company. Its name, number and registered office should match Companies House and every document it sends you.
- Get the kit list and the manual. What is in the box, what you buy separately, and how the greenhouse is fixed down.
- Pay with protection. A credit card gives Section 75 cover on items priced over £100; a bank transfer to a stranger gives the least.
Who are you actually paying?
A company you can look up. Find the legal name behind the shop name, check it on Companies House and make sure the same name appears on the terms, the invoice and the payment request.
A UK limited company has to show its registered number, registered office and place of registration on its website, under GOV.UK’s disclosure rules. Search the number on Companies House and read the status, the date it was set up and the filing history. A new company may simply not have filed accounts yet; that tells you it is young, not that it is unsound. An active record proves the company exists, not that it will deliver.
Then test the seller with a practical question by email: which base suits your garden, say, or how many ground anchors come with your length. A clear, specific answer before you pay is the best preview of the service after it.
What exactly arrives, and what do you buy separately?
A written kit list that marks every item as included or extra, the assembly manual for your exact model and size, and a straight answer on what the base needs.
Greenhouse kits differ most in the parts that are easy to leave out of a photograph: the fixings, the ground anchors, the doors, the vents and the edge tapes. Ask for the packing list, and for the manual before you order rather than in the box. Then list what you will buy yourself, because the cheapest kit can need the most.
| Ask | Why it matters | Plot 3.14 |
|---|---|---|
| What holds it down? | Anchors decide whether you need concrete | Ground anchors in the box, counted for your length; no concrete on firm, level soil |
| What is the frame made of? | Section and coating decide stiffness and rust | 40 × 20 mm closed steel profile, galvanised with a ZAM coating |
| How are the panels fixed? | Clips can work loose; screws hold every edge | Self-drilling roofing screws with washers at every edge |
| How thick are the panels? | Thicker twin-wall is stiffer and warmer | 4 mm twin-wall as standard, 6 mm as an option |
| What do you buy yourself? | The real total | The base, U-brackets for a hard base, tools, free-standing staging, watering and any heater |
| Is the manual public? | You can check the build before paying | Yes, with a base plan for every length |
How do you judge a greenhouse you can’t see?
Ask which photographs show the exact model and which are renders or another product, look for build photos and videos, and read reviews on sites the seller doesn’t control.
A render can show a layout honestly if it is labelled, but it cannot show how the panels are fixed. Close-ups tell you more than a garden view: a screw through the panel, the anchor at the foot of a leg, the door catch. A film of a real build, start to finish, is the next best thing to seeing the greenhouse. A reverse image search shows whether the same photographs appear elsewhere under another name.
Fake reviews have been banned in the UK since April 2025, and the CMA’s guidance explains what that covers. The ban cannot vouch for any single review, so read what reviewers say about delivery and how problems were handled, not only the stars. A new seller with few reviews is best judged on its documents and its answers.
Who gets it from the kerb to the garden?
Usually you. Pallet deliveries are normally made to the kerb, so check the delivery window in writing, how big and heavy the pallet is, and whether the driver will carry it in.
Ask three things: the delivery window, where the pallet is set down and whether there is anything to pay on the day. Our greenhouses are delivered in 1–4 weeks from order, on one pallet to the kerb, with nothing to pay at the door; the driver does not carry it into the garden. Delivery is free to most of the UK mainland, and Northern Ireland, the Highlands and the islands carry a set surcharge shown before checkout. Tell the seller about a narrow lane, restricted parking or a steep drive before you order. A Plot 3.14 pallet is about 1.2 × 0.8 m and 2.3 m tall and weighs 65 to 120 kg depending on the length, so it goes in by hand, a bundle at a time.
Under GOV.UK’s rules for distance selling, goods must be delivered within 30 days unless a different period has been agreed. If the seller’s lead time is longer, make sure it is agreed in writing before you pay. If the agreed period passes, write with your order number, the date you were given and what you want to happen next, and keep the reply.
What if something is short or damaged?
Check the pallet against the packing list as soon as it arrives, photograph any damage and tell the seller before you start building. Ask before you order how missing parts are sent and who pays.
Damage is easiest to prove on the day. Note it on the delivery paperwork, take photographs and keep the packaging until the check is done. For our greenhouses, check the pallet against the packing list within 14 days of delivery; anything missing or damaged is sent free. Later on, parts are held for ten years: you send the part code, a photo and your order number, and pay the cost plus carriage, confirmed first.
Which way of paying protects you?
A credit card, for an item priced over £100 and up to £30,000, brings Section 75 cover. Debit cards, PayPal and regulated instalment plans have their own routes. A bank transfer to a seller who simply doesn’t deliver is the hardest money to recover.
| Method | What can help | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Credit card, paid to the seller | Section 75: the card provider shares liability for breach of contract or misrepresentation | Item priced over £100 and no more than £30,000; Citizens Advice |
| Debit card | Chargeback through your bank | A card-scheme process, not a legal right; ask your bank promptly about time limits |
| PayPal | PayPal Buyer Protection | PayPal’s own rules and deadlines; PayPal terms |
| Buy now, pay later from a separate lender | Section 75 and the Financial Ombudsman, for agreements regulated since 15 July 2026 | Check the lender and the agreement; FCA |
| Bank transfer | Reimbursement for authorised push payment scams | Up to £85,000 for qualifying scams; ordinary disputes with a genuine seller are outside it; Payment Systems Regulator |
The NCSC’s advice on shopping online is to use a credit card where you can and to avoid paying by direct bank transfer. We take payment by card through our checkout, with Klarna’s pay-in-3 where it is offered.
What are the rules on cancelling and returning?
Goods bought online normally come with 14 days to cancel after delivery, then 14 more to send them back. Ask before you order who arranges the return of a pallet and what it costs.
Citizens Advice sets out the cooling-off period and its two deadlines. These rights come from the law and apply whoever you buy from. The practical question is the pallet: a greenhouse goes back the way it came, at a pallet price.
Our terms: you can cancel free of charge until we email to say your order is in production, usually within five working days. After delivery, you have 14 days to return a greenhouse unused, unassembled and in its original packaging; you arrange and pay for the return pallet, typically £150 to £250 on the mainland. Read the full refund policy before you order, as you would with any seller.
If you think you have paid a fraudster, call your bank straight away, then report it to Report Fraud in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or to Police Scotland on 101.
Quick answers about buying a greenhouse online
It can be, if you check the company, get the kit list and terms in writing and pay in a way that protects you. The checks above take about twenty minutes.
Where you can. Section 75 can cover the whole item when only the deposit went on the card, as long as the price is within the limits.
Note it on the delivery paperwork, photograph it, keep the packaging and tell the seller before you start building.
It depends on the seller’s terms and the reason. For a change of mind, our terms ask the buyer to arrange and pay for the return pallet; faulty goods are a different matter under consumer law.
What should you have on file?
The company checked, the kit list and manual saved, the delivery and return terms read and a payment method chosen for its protection.
Eight checks on the seller
Tick them off as the answers come in. Your ticks stay on this device.
This is general information, not legal advice.
Check us against this list
The Plot 3.14 page carries the kit list, the manual, the base plan, the delivery terms and the warranty. An expert can answer anything else before you order.
What we checked for this guide
Consumer rules link to GOV.UK, Citizens Advice, the FCA and the other bodies that publish them; our own terms come from the Plot 3.14 page and our policies. Checked 20 October 2026.
- 01GOV.UKRunning a limited company: signs, stationery and promotional material
- 02GOV.UKGet information about a company
- 03Companies HouseWaldenhaus Ltd: company record
- 04GOV.UKFake reviews: short guide for businesses publishing reviews
- 05GOV.UKOnline and distance selling for businesses
- 06Citizens AdviceGetting your money back if you paid by card or PayPal
- 07PayPalPayPal Buyer Protection terms
- 08FCABuy now pay later
- 09Payment Systems RegulatorAPP fraud reimbursement protections
- 10NCSCShopping online securely
- 11Citizens AdviceChanging your mind about something you’ve bought
- 12Report FraudReport fraud and cyber crime
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Written by the Waldenhaus team. We sell outdoor saunas and greenhouses and write these guides from manufacturer manuals, official guidance and our own product pages. Where your equipment manual says something different, follow the manual.