ECM121 Terms and conditions for Internet sale internationally of goods to consumers (and to businesses), assuming website contains facilities for visitor inter-action, compliant with Distance Selling Regulations.
We offer a number of basic alternatives covering different business models. To help you select the right model and minimise the changes you must make, here is a guide. What matters is not so much what you sell as how you sell it.
About this document
Terms and conditions are the contract between you and your customer. Provided you comply with the general law, you can write what terms you like. However, if you sell to consumers you are constrained by the Distance Selling Regulations and other consumer law. The really important thing is to make sure that your terms accurately reflect exactly how you intend to “do business”.
This document assumes you sell to an end user. Changes may be needed to the paragraphs on delivery, risk and returns if you sell to wholesalers or distributors. If you do, you may like to consider agency and sales documents.
Who will use this document:
• a person or company selling physical goods of any sort through any sales channel, including an e-commerce enabled website, to consumers. If you sell to business you can use the same document. Certain consumer protection provisions are made applicable only to consumers. These terms are suitable for selling to anywhere in the World, though we cannot be responsible for local laws in other countries.
If you have no e-commerce facility (customers pay through your website), use the simpler version at ECM122.
Key features:
• Comprehensive set of terms and conditions suitable for any product or range of products;
• Provides protection (as far as can be given in a document) against problems which could arise from people posting content of any sort on your website.
• Compliance with provisions of the Distance Selling Regulations;
• Simple structure makes for easy amendment to suit your precise commercial requirements.
• The document covers all usual basic contractual issues, as well as Internet and technical issues.
• This document comes with an excellent set of notes to help and advise you on drafting points, alternatives and necessary insertions.
This document includes provision for:
• the essence of the contract: when made; offer and acceptance. Changes to information on website;
• customer account and confidentiality;
• price, VAT and payment;
• delivery and risk;
• goods returned: reasons and procedure;
• disclaimers and limitation of sellers liability;
• protection of your intellectual property (so far as possible in a document of this nature);
• a comprehensive draft “Acceptable Use Policy” which you use to say what your visitors or contributors may or may not do (delete it if there is no place on your site where people can enter text or otherwise communicate with you).
• protection from hackers (so far as possible in a document of this nature);
• extensive prohibitions against customer misdeeds;
• appropriate legal provisions - warranties, exclusions, indemnities, etc.
