Q
What are the top 5 legal issues I should think about as I am setting up a new business online, selling overseas property?
A
1. Where will your business be based?
UK (and bearing in mind where many UK people are buying at the moment) Spain, Portugal, France or Morocco? They have different laws that apply, especially Morocco but may also have significant tax advantages. So, take advice from your lawyer and your tax adviser.
2. Data protection.
You will be obtaining people’s data and passing it on so you will need to register and have a good privacy policy drawn up by your lawyer. A carefully drawn up policy (and proper compliance) can often allow you to create a database of significant value in a later sale.
3. Are you an estate agent?
Apart from being able to charge insane amounts of money for doing very little, you really don’t want to be. This is a link to some info on that. Try to avoid the extra compliance soon needed.
4. Limit your liability
Make it clear in your legal terms exactly what you are doing and make it more clear what you are not doing. What if the room sizes are wrong? What if the property isn’t actually owned by the sellers and the buyer has spent a lot of money on international travel, surveys, time off work, legal fees: they will try to pursue someone.
5. Insure
Make sure your business insurance covers the intended website including the international aspects. This is often missed.
Q We sell cheap jewellery items from our website. We are getting a lot of people complaining and asking for refunds. What are we obliged to do?
A
When you sell goods they must, under the Sale of Goods Act 1979, be 'fit for purpose', 'of satisfactory quality' and correspond to their description.
'Fit for purpose' means the item must do what it's supposed to do. So if the jewellery you are selling falls apart when people wear it or causes rashes on sensitive skin you might have a problem.
To be 'of satisfactory quality', goods must be durable, safe and free from minor, as well as major, defects. What constitutes satisfactory quality may be influenced by the price paid for the goods. 'Quality' includes the appearance and finish of goods, and in your case I’d have think about what impression people are getting of the product from the pictures in your website and whether the actual products live up to reasonable expectation.
Goods should also correspond with their description. It's an offence under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 to describe goods misleadingly. If you claim they are gold or silver and they are not you could be really asking for trouble.
Consumers can claim a refund if goods aren't up to scratch, as long as they haven't 'accepted' them. Consumers can 'accept' goods by telling you they've accepted them, or by conduct - for instance, if they alter the goods or keep them for a reasonable length of time.
These rules apply whatever you are selling and however it is sold. Online retailers must have a returns policy which is available to all customers along with terms and conditions of sale. These should be clearly stated on your website and it is best practice to include them in the confirmation of purchase you send out with the goods. Making a contract on the web has more details. |
