Economique
Sell online in full compliance: GTC, legal notices, right of withdrawal, GDPR and securing your relationships with customers and suppliers.
Context
Selling online cannot be improvised from a legal standpoint. Electronic commerce is subject to a set of strict obligations: pre-contractual information, general terms and conditions of sale, right of withdrawal, statutory warranties, price transparency, GDPR compliance and cookie management. These rules protect the consumer, and failing to comply with them exposes the merchant to penalties and disputes.
Whether you are launching an online store, operating a marketplace or selling training courses and digital services, the compliance of your site and the strength of your contractual documents determine the peace of mind and credibility of your business.
Problem
Many online stores start out with GTC copied from a competitor, incomplete legal notices and a loose handling of the right of withdrawal and cookies. As long as everything goes smoothly, these shortcomings go unnoticed. But they become a real problem as soon as a customer dispute arises or an inspection takes place.
The consequences can be serious: penalties from the DGCCRF or the CNIL, an extended withdrawal period due to inadequate information, unfair terms deemed null and void, and a loss of customer trust. Models such as dropshipping or the sale of training courses add further specific rules that are often poorly mastered, exposing the merchant to liability they had not anticipated.
Solutions
I assist you with every legal aspect of your online business, from launch to day-to-day management.
I begin by auditing the compliance of your site and your documents in order to identify any shortcomings: legal notices, GTC, pre-contractual information, right of withdrawal, cookies and GDPR. I then draft tailor-made contractual documents, designed both to comply with the regulations and to protect your interests in the event of a dispute.
I secure your sales processes and your relationships with suppliers and platforms, and I support you over the long term: regulatory monitoring, updating of documents, management of customer disputes and inspections. Whether you operate a store, a marketplace or a dropshipping business, your activity rests on a solid legal foundation.
I carry out a complete audit of your site and your documents: legal notices, GTC, ordering process, pre-contractual information, cookie management and GDPR compliance. This assessment precisely identifies the shortcomings and risks to be corrected.
I draft or overhaul your tailor-made contractual documents: GTC, terms of use, legal notices, privacy policy, withdrawal form. Each document is adapted to your actual business and designed to protect you as much as to inform the customer.
I secure your processes: ordering and payment terms, the articulation of warranties, the management of returns and disputes, and the framing of your relationships with suppliers and platforms. Your business operates on solid and compliant legal foundations.
I support you over the long term: monitoring regulatory developments, updating your documents, managing customer disputes and DGCCRF inspections. Your compliance stays up to date as your business grows.
FAQ
An online store must display complete legal notices (the seller's identity and contact details), general terms and conditions of sale, clear information on prices inclusive of all taxes, payment and delivery terms, the right of withdrawal, statutory warranties and a privacy policy compliant with the GDPR. Pre-contractual information must be provided before the order, in a legible and accessible manner.
Strongly discouraged. Copied GTC generally do not match your actual business: they may omit mandatory information, contain unsuitable or even unfair terms, and turn against you in the event of a dispute. Tailor-made GTC are a genuine strategic tool: they frame your sales, protect your interests, limit your risks and resolve conflicting situations in advance (delays, unpaid invoices, returns, disputes).
For distance sales to consumers, the right of withdrawal allows the customer to reverse a purchase within a statutory period, without having to justify their decision. The merchant must clearly inform the customer of this right and provide them with a standard form. Inadequate information considerably extends the period. Certain categories of products and services are subject to exceptions that must be known and applied correctly.
An e-commerce site collects customer data: it must therefore have a clear privacy policy, obtain valid consent for non-essential cookies, secure the data, frame its relationships with processors (hosting provider, payment solution, marketing tools) and enable customers to exercise their rights. GDPR compliance is inseparable from e-commerce compliance and is frequently the subject of inspections.
Any professional seller owes the statutory warranty of conformity and the warranty against hidden defects, independently of any commercial warranty. These warranties are of public order: you cannot exclude them in your GTC. You must clearly inform the consumer of them. Sound drafting makes it possible to align these legal obligations with your returns policy and after-sales service.
The risks are manifold: administrative penalties from the DGCCRF for breaches of consumer rules, penalties from the CNIL on the data side, disputes with customers, and reputational damage. Misleading commercial practices and failures to provide information are particularly closely monitored. A compliance audit makes it possible to identify and correct shortcomings before they turn into penalties or litigation.
The sale of online training courses and digital content follows e-commerce rules, with certain specificities: tailored pre-contractual information, specific handling of the right of withdrawal for digital content, and transparency about the content and the advertised results in order to avoid misleading commercial practices. Platforms selling training courses are a particularly closely monitored sector, where legal rigour protects the seller.
These models add a layer of complexity: the allocation of responsibilities between the platform, the seller and the supplier, informing the consumer of the actual seller's identity, product compliance, and the management of disputes and returns. A clear contractual structure between the parties and transparent information for the customer are essential to avoid having your liability engaged in place of a third party.
Nous accompagnons les entreprises de la tech et du commerce avec une double compétence juridique et technique, de l'analyse à la mise en œuvre.
Ressources
Need to secure a contract, manage compliance, or anticipate a dispute? Our first meeting is designed to understand your needs and clearly explain how we can help.
Digital and Distribution Law Attorney, Paris Bar. We secure your contracts, data, and business.
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