What to check before buying bathroom products online

The bathroom is one of the last categories where buyers hesitate over whether online is the serious channel. The truth is simpler: buying sanitaryware online is perfectly normal — provided you check a few things before ordering. Here is the list we would want every customer to have.

First and most important: the article number. Every product from an established manufacturer has a precise catalogue number — it describes the exact model, size and finish with no room for error. It is the language spoken by the installer, the service centre and the warranty. A shop that displays article numbers openly has nothing to hide; a shop that omits them is asking you to buy a photograph.

With the article number in hand you can run the most useful check of all: open the manufacturer's website and look the product up there — the exact finish, the exact dimensions, what the set includes. That way the decision rests on factory data, not on the interpretation in a product tile.

Second: provenance. A genuine product from an authorised channel comes with an invoice and the manufacturer's full warranty, serviced in Bulgaria. A grey import can look identical in a photo — the difference appears the moment you need service, a spare part or a warranty claim. Ask directly: 'Are you an authorised partner of this brand?' A serious retailer answers in one sentence.

Third: the warranty — not as a word but as substance. In the European Union the legal conformity guarantee is a minimum of two years. On top of it, manufacturers offer commercial warranties which, in premium sanitaryware, are often longer for particular components. Read exactly what the warranty of the specific product covers and who services it — before the order, not after the problem.

Fourth: the right of return. With an online purchase in the EU you generally have 14 days to withdraw from the contract without giving a reason. Check how the shop applies this to bulky shipments: who arranges and who pays for the return transport, and what condition the packaging must be in. Clear terms, stated in plain sight, are the mark of a retailer who has thought about you.

Fifth: delivery. Ceramics, baths and glass travel heavy and fragile. Ask precisely how delivery works: to the entrance or to the floor, on a pallet or not, in what packaging. With heavy products a good answer is a specific one — and a vague answer before the order becomes your problem after it.

Sixth: acceptance. Unpack and inspect the product as early as possible — ideally while the courier is still there. Visible damage to the packaging is noted on the delivery record and photographed on the spot; those two minutes turn a potential claim from a dispute into a routine.

Seventh: the contents. In sanitaryware, 'in the box' does not always mean 'everything you need': traps, wastes, fixings and frames are often separate items. Check the list of what is included before ordering and ask what else the installation will require — one line added now spares a stalled installation later.

Eighth: compatibility and the paper trail. Dimensions, tap holes, connection type, working pressure — ask your questions in writing and keep the correspondence together with the invoice. The retailer's written answer is part of your security; serious shops reply specifically and gladly.

That is the whole list — and it is exactly how we have arranged our product pages: article number, contents, warranty and delivery terms with every product. If anything is missing or unclear, write to us before you order. Buying a bathroom online does not require blind trust — it requires verifiable answers.