Terms of sale

Terms of sale summarize all the information established between a seller and the customer.

It’s a contract that gathers the legal conditions of sale of the products or the conditions of execution of the services of a company. Thus, this is a very important document to frame the relationship between suppliers and their customers.

Terms of sale are essential for providing a legal framework for any commercial exchange. They’re essentially used to do the following:

• protect both parties,
• inform the customer before they finalize the transaction,
• define the obligations of each party, and
• impose a limit and responsibility in case of litigation.

Terms of sale must be written. They’re made up of different clauses, some of which are mandatory and others optional.

Moreover, the terms of sale are themselves governed by law, which notably regulate abusive clauses. In the same way, the regulation stipulates which clauses are negotiable and revisable by the customer.

Terms of sale will usually contain a variety of details, including at least the following information:

• the identity of the manager and the identity of the company;
• the goods and services concerned;
• the price, the validity period of the offer, and the proposed means of payment;
• the terms of delivery;
• the existence and terms of the right of withdrawal;
• the guarantees available to the buyer;
• the contact details of the consumer mediator;
• the languages proposed for the conclusion of the contract;
• the steps to follow to conclude the contract by electronic means; and
• the protection of personal data.

It’s also important to differentiate between terms of sale, legal notices, and terms of service. Legal notices contain other information, while terms of service are more general and not mandatory.