Social media for mobility and medical equipment shops: a practical guide

Your customers are often older or disabled people buying something important for daily life, and very often their adult children, carers or occupational therapists are doing the research for them. They want to see the product working, understand the differences between models, know what it costs in full and trust that you will not push them.

That makes social media a showroom and a reassurance channel. Clear demonstrations, honest buying guides and a friendly team do more than discount banners.

Two to four posts a week is enough. Film demonstrations with your own team so you can show products without involving customers.

• Monday: a product demonstration, such as how a riser recliner chair works.
• Tuesday: a buying guide, such as how to measure a doorway for a wheelchair.
• Wednesday: a care or safety tip, such as charging a scooter battery or checking tyre pressure.
• Thursday: meet the team, such as your engineer or your home visit assessor.
• Friday: practical details, such as showroom hours, home demonstrations, delivery areas or servicing.

GOV.UK says disabled people and people with a long-term illness are not charged VAT on products designed or adapted for their own personal or domestic use. It says people do not qualify if they are elderly but not disabled, or only temporarily disabled, and that they will need to confirm in writing that they meet the conditions.

HMRC's VAT Notice 701/7 tells suppliers to get a written declaration from each customer, kept separate from or clearly distinguishable from the order form, and warns that a customer signing an order should not automatically be signing a declaration. It says suppliers should take care that procedures, forms and literature do not encourage or lead customers to make a declaration, and that there are penalties for knowingly accepting false declarations. Separately, certain mobility aids supplied and installed in the home of someone aged 60 or over are subject to the reduced rate of VAT.

In posts, that means showing both prices clearly, explaining who qualifies in plain words and linking to the GOV.UK page, rather than implying everyone can buy VAT free.

This is general information, not legal or clinical advice. Rules differ by country and change, so check with your regulator, professional body or a lawyer before you post claims, prices or photos of the people you serve.

1. Show the price with VAT and the VAT-relief price, labelled clearly.
2. Explain who qualifies in one sentence and link to GOV.UK.
3. Never say "everyone over 60 pays no VAT" or similar.
4. Keep your eligibility declaration separate from your order form.
5. Check with HMRC's guidance which of your products are eligible.

Sources: GOV.UK: Financial help if you're disabled, VAT relief for disabled people, checked 15 October 2026; GOV.UK (HMRC): Reliefs from VAT for disabled and older people (VAT Notice 701/7), checked 15 October 2026

Scooter classes: GOV.UK says a class 2 mobility scooter or powered wheelchair usually has a maximum speed of 4mph and a class 3 a maximum of 8mph. Both can be used on pavements, class 3 can also be used on the road and must be registered with DVLA, and neither can be used on cycle lanes. It also says you can only drive one if you have trouble walking because of an injury, physical disability or medical condition, or for reasons such as demonstrating it before sale. Describe each model's class correctly in every post.

Medical device claims: the ASA's advice says medical claims can only be made for a medical device with the appropriate conformity marking, that devices must be registered with the MHRA before being placed on the market in Great Britain, and that because the onus is on the manufacturer, ads should not state or imply that a device has been "approved" or "certified" by the MHRA. Check manufacturers' claims before you repeat them.

US: the FTC's health products guidance says claims about the health benefits or safety of health-related products need competent and reliable scientific evidence. If you supply Medicare-covered items, the DMEPOS supplier standards (42 CFR 424.57, standard 11) say you must not contact a beneficiary by telephone about supplying a covered item unless they have given written permission, you are coordinating delivery, or you have supplied them a covered item in the past 15 months.

Sources: GOV.UK: Classes of mobility scooter and powered wheelchair, checked 15 October 2026; GOV.UK: Using mobility scooters and powered wheelchairs, checked 15 October 2026; ASA Advice Online: Health, medical devices, checked 15 October 2026; FTC: Health Products Compliance Guidance, checked 15 October 2026; eCFR: 42 CFR 424.57, DMEPOS supplier standards, checked 15 October 2026

Show the full price, including delivery, installation and any compulsory extras. The CMA says it is illegal to hide extra fees until later in the purchase process, and the headline price should normally include unavoidable charges. Avoid countdowns and pressure offers aimed at people making a big decision about their independence.

Photos of a stairlift installed in a customer's home, or a customer on a new scooter, can reveal their health and where they live. The ICO says data concerning health is special category data. Get written consent, keep house numbers, street views and faces out unless the customer is happy, and offer a first name only.

Ask every customer for a review the same way after delivery. Google's review policy bans incentives for reviews and selectively asking happy customers. The FTC's 2024 rule in the US bans fake reviews and rewards tied to a review's sentiment.

Sources: GOV.UK (CMA): Providing clear and accurate information about prices, summary, checked 15 October 2026; ICO: What is special category data?, checked 15 October 2026; Google Maps user-generated content policy: fake engagement, checked 15 October 2026; FTC: Final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials (August 2024), checked 15 October 2026

Plan around the year: scooter servicing and days out in spring, holiday travel aids in summer, and home safety, rise and recline chairs and Christmas gifts for carers in winter.

Disclosure: this guide is published by Zolyp, an AI social media manager. Zolyp plans a calendar around your content pillars, writes and designs each post, and schedules it to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Threads. You start in review-everything mode, so nothing goes live without your approval. Brand Brain can hold words you never want used, such as "VAT free for everyone" or "MHRA approved". Zolyp does not check posts against HMRC, ASA or CMS rules, so read every post before you approve it. Everything in this guide works just as well done by hand.

• Week 1: check Google hours, delivery areas, prices and VAT labels.
• Week 2: film two product demonstrations and one buying guide.
• Week 3: one safety or servicing tip and one team post.
• Week 4: reply to reviews, note which products people asked about and plan next month.