Website terms and conditions template

About these terms and conditions

These T&C are for a website that brings together buyers and sellers of any physical products. It sets out the contract between your business and buyers.

So far as consumer selling regulations are applicable, we have provided as far as possible for your suppliers to be responsible for compliance, so as to minimise the regulatory burden on you. If all buyers are businesses, you can easily remove the provisions relating to the regulations.

It doesn't matter what type of products are sold through your website, provided that they is are tangible and not downloaded. You could bring together traders selling items such as antiques or consumer electronics or those selling only to other businesses, or both.

The template is ideal where you:

• where you are simply bringing people together. You should not also be a seller, nor hold stock or fulfil orders on behalf of sellers
• offer additional functionality. For example, product reviews, feedback, forums, or questions
• provides payment facilities, collect taxes and fees
• are paid either by commission or by a transaction fee
• allow sellers to upload their own product pages or product advertisements
• provide a marketing service
• host your site in the UK

Examples of websites that could use these T&C

• online shop fronts for manufacturers, wholesalers or producers where the product descriptions are controlled by the seller
• trading sites for second-hand goods
• forums that incorporate a marketplace for members
• sites that bring together retailers of different types of goods to offer a one-stop shopping experience to buyers

The benefit of clear T&C

Website terms are one of the best examples of where the use of plain English strengthens the legal effect. If a dispute arises, it would be hard for a user to claim that he or she did not understand, even if English is not his first language.

A good set of terms, written in plain english should help you:

• set out clearly how your business works and how buyers should act and behave
• ensure that all visitors receive the quality of service that you aim to provide
• present a professional image
• prevent misunderstandings and make solving disputes easier
• protect your website from misuse
• protect your business from complaints about content that users post

Similar templates

Because every business has a different revenue model, we provide separate agreements for terms with buyers and for terms with sellers. You should therefore pair this document with the most suitable seller side T&C document we offer.

If you operate a market for services, not for products, see our website terms for a marketplace for events template instead. The 'events' can be changed for other services.

If buyers are required to become members before they can access the market, then you should use website terms for a marketplace where a buyer subscribes for access.

The complementary template that provides seller terms for marketplace website.

If you are in any doubt as to which templates you need, please contact us.

The law in this document

The law in these T&C is largely common law that deals with the basics of contracts: offer, acceptance, price and payment, provision of service, liabilities and risk. Largely, you can set the terms you want, particularly the commercial ones. The document should be edited so that it reflects exactly how your business works. Our guidance notes will tell you what you can change safely, and what we don't advise changing.

This template includes provisions allowing your sellers to comply with The Sale of Goods Acts (1979 and 1994) and The Consumer Contracts (ICAC) Regulations 2013, while selling to businesses or consumers.

Contents

The terms cover both transactions between the seller and the buyer, and the relationship with your website.

Contents include:

• Definitions
• Basis of contract
• Responsibility to provide accurate personal information to you
• The buying procedure
• Optional guarantee by you
• Matters of payment
• Extensive options for re-assurance to customers that you will take care of data
• Option for consumer rights information
• Defects and returns
• Handling buyer's personal data, credit card and content uploaded or posted
• Very extensive options for behaviour on the site
• Removal of offensive content
• Protection of copyright and other intellectual property rights
• Interruption to service
• Disclaimers and limitation of liability
• Miscellaneous legal matters to protect your business

Additionally, there are over 3,000 words of drafting notes to help you edit the document to your precise requirements.