E-Commerce (Goods by Subscription - B2C) Website Terms of Sale

These Website Terms of Sale for the Sale of Goods are designed for use by online retailers on e-commerce websites providing goods to consumers. These terms are sufficiently broad to cover virtually any kind of goods sold on a single-transaction or ongoing subscription basis. An alternative version of this template that is limited to one-off transactions is available here.

Continuing supply of products to consumers on a subscription basis is becoming a popular model, particularly among startups, and additional provisions in terms of sale should take this into account, dealing with important points such as future changes to your products, delays or temporary suspension in delivery, ongoing customer payments (and in particular what will happen if the customer is late paying for a particular instalment), and customers’ rights to end their subscriptions (including situations where they may wish to end them early).

This document is one of two alternatives designed for use alongside our E-Commerce Sale of Goods Website Terms of Use. The Terms of Use template covers the use of the website, while this Terms of Sale template covers the sale and purchase of goods. It is important to ensure that both documents are used together. The counterpart E-Commerce Sale of Goods Website Terms of Use are available here.

Using consumer-friendly language, these e-commerce terms of sale guide customers through the order process, explaining the formation of the contract between them and the retailer, also setting out details on goods, pricing and availability (with particular regard for the accuracy of, and changes to such information), payment, delivery, risk and ownership.

Of particular importance is the customer’s right to cancel. In some cases this may arise because the goods do not comply with the contract. In other cases, the customer may wish to cancel under the 14-day cooling off period granted to them under the 2013 Consumer Contracts Regulations (extendable to a duration of your choosing using the optional “goodwill guarantee” provisions). Detailed clauses deal with both avenues of cancellation providing guidance to customers on their rights and the appropriate steps to take.

Please note that if a situation arises whereby the customer has to return goods because they have cancelled their contract with you due to a forthcoming change to the products, it is for you, the trader, to bear the cost of such return. This has not been included in this template as it is unlikely that goods already delivered would need to be returned simply because future deliveries are to be cancelled. If the nature of your product(s) makes this a possibility, please make the appropriate amendments.

The terms of this document have been left open when it comes to the duration of subscriptions for the sale of goods – these should be defined on your website in an appropriate place and confirmed in the customer’s order details. The cancellation provisions do not provide for long tie-in periods (e.g. a minimum term of 12 months). You are free to amend the document to include such restrictions, but it is important to ensure that your customers know what they are signing up for. Any minimum terms, less-restrictive alternatives, and the consequence of being “locked in” should be clearly explained to customers before they commit to their orders so as to ensure that the terms of your contract are fair (in both the legal and practical sense).

Further key provisions deal with liability, events beyond the retailer’s control, customer complaints (with reference to complaints handling policies and procedures, templates for which are also available from Simply-Docs), contact information, and data protection.

Optional phrases / clauses are enclosed in square brackets. These should be read carefully and selected so as to be compatible with one another. Unused options should be removed from the document.

This document is duplicated in the Website Terms & Conditions group.

These E-Commerce Sale of Goods Website Terms of Sale (Subscription) contain the following clauses:

1. Definitions and Interpretation
2. Information About Us
3. Access to Our Site
4. Age Restrictions
5. Business Customers
6. International Customers
7. Goods, Pricing and Availability
8. Orders – How Contracts Are Formed
9. Payment
10. Delivery, Risk and Ownership
11. Faulty, Damaged or Incorrect Goods
12. Cancelling and Returning Goods if You Change Your Mind
13. Your Other Rights to End the Contract
14. Our Liability to Consumers
15. Events Outside of Our Control (Force Majeure)
16. Communication and Contact Details
17. Complaints and Feedback
18. How We Use Your Personal Information (Data Protection)
19. Other Important Terms
20. Law and Jurisdiction

This document is in open format. Either enter the requisite details in the highlighted fields or adjust the wording to suit your purposes.

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E-Commerce (Goods by Subscription - B2C) Website Terms of Sale is part of Business Documents. Just £35.00 + VAT provides unlimited downloads from Business Documents for 1 year.