Terms & Conditions for Ecommerce


1

I run a new apparels ecommerce business and I manually pieced up a terms & conditions page from various sources. I was just wondering if it is at all crucial to have these drafted out by a lawyer instead? If not, are there any an online versions which I can refer to?

I've compared with my competitors and theirs are much more detailed and contains legal terms (eg. clauses). So I am kinda stuck to how should I proceed further.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

Ecommerce Legal

asked Jul 13 '12 at 12:43
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Bernie
23 points
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2 Answers


1

I think it really depends on where you are running your site.

I can speak for Germany where your terms&conditions (t&c) better be legally correct. There are plenty of law firms scanning sites for faulty t&c making a living on "calls to order" (don't know the correct term in English) with a hefty handling fee attached.

So, why you can always write something up yourself, you should know the pitfalls to avoid.

If you don't want to go through a lawyer - in Germany there is an association for eCommerce shops called "Haendlerbund ", where you get legally correct terms&conditons for a 9,90€ monthly membership. Maybe there is something similar whereever you are sitting, which I guess would be the best alternative for you.

answered Jul 13 '12 at 17:23
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Frequent
146 points
  • hi frequent, thanks for your advice. Unfortunately in this part of the world, ecommerce is a relatively new thing and we don't have any governmental or private associations for ecommerce businesses. I guess my best bet now, is to try to draft my own version and send it off to a lawyer for review. I'm sure thats gonna cost me :( Thank you very much for your input, I will check out the site you provided, maybe I could find some leads there. – Bernie 11 years ago

0

There are some open source examples on Docracy * that you can download or branch, unfortunately I don't think there's one from an e-commerce site, but it's actually a good idea to take a peak at your competitors' and see if you missed out something. I would draft at least a first version and then ask a lawyer to review it - this should limit the damage to just a couple hundred dollars usually, and you get to sleep at night.

*Disclosure: I work there

answered Jul 14 '12 at 03:03
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Veronica
829 points
  • Thanks Veronica, I will check out the website. Looks like there are a lot of useful info in there. Thanks! – Bernie 11 years ago

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