General Terms and Conditions of Sale | User Guide

General terms and conditions of sale, also called T&Cs, constitute an important document and essential for all professionals. They ensure legal compliance, but also frame commercial relationships with their various customers. It is therefore imperative for professionals to write their T&Cs or have them written in order to be able to communicate them. But are general terms and conditions of sale really mandatory? Can we plagiarize other general conditions? Are sales conditions always applicable? What clauses can be found in T&Cs? These are questions we will answer in this article. The entire Flexina team wishes you a good read. Follow the guide!

General terms and conditions of sale | Are they mandatory? What are they for?

General terms and conditions of sale are very important for a company. Thanks to these, your commercial relationship with your customer will be secured.

You can find clauses regarding applicable law, limitation of liability for each party, court jurisdiction...

In case of conflict, it will be easier to recover unpaid invoices, impose late payment interest rates as well as the cost of legal proceedings, inform the customer about the rules of delivered products or service provisions as well as product warranties...

We can only encourage you to establish your general terms and conditions of sale, especially since this must meet a legal obligation.

In the context of online sales, there is an obligation to inform the customer, whether professional or not, of their right of withdrawal.

Insofar as this does not apply for various reasons, you must nevertheless inform the consumer that the right of withdrawal is not applicable by specifying the reason.

The right of withdrawal provided by the Economic Law Code is 14 days.

However, this will not apply in the field of "perishable goods" such as in the bakery sector.

Indeed, it will be impossible (notably due to the expiration date) in this case to have a 14-day period to withdraw and return expired merchandise.

Can we plagiarize general conditions from another company?

Plagiarizing general terms and conditions of sale is very dangerous for various reasons and can cost you dearly:

• They could be protected by copyright which could lead to legal proceedings
• Not be adapted to your sector and incomplete.
• No longer be up to date.
• May not protect you enough in case of problems.
• Could be in favor of your customer.
• ...

We strongly recommend that you call on a sector professional so that they can write general terms and conditions of sale adapted to your company

Are general terms and conditions of sale automatically applicable?

General terms and conditions of sale can only apply if they have been subject to consent from the other party.

In order to apply these, the other party must be able to take note of these conditions at the latest at the conclusion of the contract.

In order to apply its general conditions, the company will have to demonstrate in 2 ways, either:

• Express: this means that it must be provided in writing. In this case, for example, you will need to have a document signed.
• Tacit: not having recourse to a claim.

What clauses can be found in T&Cs?

You can find several elements as well as different clauses, below, we have chosen to present 9 of them (this list is not exhaustive):

• The payment conditions practiced by the company: i.e., payment deadlines, payment methods, and why not, discount conditions for early payment;
• Late payment penalties: if an amount is paid after the agreed date, late payment penalties will be applied according to a penalty clause;
• Rebates, discounts and rebates: if a professional wishes to grant certain reductions to a customer, it is imperative for them to mention it/them in the general terms and conditions of sale;
• Necessary information relating to the price charged per unit and sales conditions
• Legal and contractual warranties that you undertake to provide;
• Provisions relating to the liability for products purchased or offered
• Provisions relating to any order cancellation, early termination of the contract as well as the procedures to follow in both cases.
• Designate the jurisdictions that will be competent in case of dispute
• Retention of title clause. The seller retains ownership of the goods until full payment.

And you, have you properly drafted your general terms and conditions of sale? Perhaps you needed help establishing them? Did this article help you see things more clearly? Come share your experiences and impressions in the comments, we will be happy to answer you. Don't forget to come test our online invoicing software for 15 days. If you have questions or need tips, you can also contact us.