Service Business

How to create regulations for an online store?

Online stores are becoming more and more competitive to traditional points of sale - and not only because of the customers. This form of activity is more and more often chosen by taxpayers who are at the beginning of an entrepreneur's career. It is caused by many factors, such as a smaller number of formal requirements - there is no need for a place, sign, equipment, etc. However, it is worth knowing that an online store may also impose additional formalities on the owner - one of them is the need to create a document such as the regulations for an online store .

Regulations for the online store in the regulations

Regulations in virtual stores are not only a tool that protects the entrepreneur and the consumer - it is also an obligation. The need to create the regulations results directly from the Act on the provision of electronic services of July 18, 2002.

Art. 8 sec. 1

Service Provider:

1.determines the regulations for the provision of electronic services, hereinafter referred to as "regulations",

2.The regulations are made available to the recipient free of charge before the conclusion of the contract for the provision of such services, and also - at his request - in a way that allows the content of the regulations to be obtained, reproduced and recorded by means of the ICT system used by the recipient.

Of 2

The Service Recipient is not obliged by the provisions of the regulations that have not been made available to him in the manner referred to in paragraph 1 point 2.

Therefore, the preparation of the regulations of the online store is the responsibility of the entrepreneur. It is also necessary to make it available to customers in an open and unequivocal manner - even the best presented regulations will be useless if it is hidden deeply. For if it happens that the customer fails to comply with the regulations that existed, but to which he did not have access, the entrepreneur will be in a lost position.

What to include in the regulations of the e-shop?

The regulations in the online store are therefore necessary - there is no doubt. The act, in addition to imposing this obligation on the entrepreneur, also indicates what data should be included in such a document.

In order to determine the necessary content of the regulations, it will be necessary to refer to the previously indicated Art. 8 of the Act. In paragraph 3 we will find a list of the necessary data of the regulations. They are therefore:

types and scope of services provided electronically,
conditions for the provision of electronic services, including:
- technical requirements necessary for cooperation with the ICT system used by the service provider,
- prohibition of the recipient from providing illegal content,
conditions for concluding and terminating contracts for the provision of electronic services,
complaint procedure.

It is also worth noting that not only the act on electronic services will be relevant in the case of sales in the online store. The seller who makes transactions with private persons is also bound by the provisions of the Act on Competition and Consumer Protection, as well as the Act on Consumer Rights.

Pursuant to the provisions of the above-mentioned acts, the consumer should be informed about:

the main features of the service, taking into account the subject of the service and the way of communicating with the consumer;
your identifying data, in particular about the company, body that registered the business, as well as the number under which it was registered;
the business address, e-mail address and telephone or fax numbers, if available, at which the consumer can contact the trader quickly and efficiently;
the address at which the consumer may submit complaints, if different from the address referred to in point 3;
the total price or remuneration for the service together with taxes, and when the nature of the subject of the service does not allow, judging reasonably, to calculate their amount in advance - the manner in which they will be calculated, as well as charges for transport, delivery, postal services and other costs, and when the amount of these fees cannot be determined - about the obligation to pay them; in the event of concluding an agreement for an indefinite period or a contract including subscription, the entrepreneur is obliged to provide the total price or remuneration including all payments for the settlement period, and if the contract provides for a fixed rate - also total monthly payments;
costs of using a means of distance communication to conclude a contract, in case they are higher than usual for the use of that means of communication;
method and date of payment;
the manner and time limit for the performance by the entrepreneur and the complaint handling procedure applied by the entrepreneur;
the manner and time limit for exercising the right to withdraw from the contract pursuant to art. 27, as well as the model withdrawal form included in Annex 2 to the Act;
costs of returning items in the event of withdrawal from the contract, which are borne by the consumer; in relation to distance contracts - costs of returning items, if, due to their nature, these items cannot be returned by regular mail;
the consumer's obligation to pay reasonable costs incurred by the entrepreneur in accordance with Art. 35, if the consumer withdraws from the contract after submitting a request in accordance with art. 15 sec. 3 and art. 21 sec. 2;
no right to withdraw from the contract pursuant to art. 38 or circumstances in which the consumer loses the right to withdraw from the contract;
the entrepreneur's obligation to deliver goods without defects;
the existence and content of guarantees and after-sales services and the manner of their implementation;
the code of good practice referred to in art. 2 point 5 of the Act of August 23, 2007 on counteracting unfair market practices and the manner of becoming acquainted with them;
the duration of the contract or on the method and conditions for termination of the contract - if the contract is concluded for an indefinite period or if it is to be automatically extended;
the minimum duration of the consumer's obligations under the contract;
the amount and method of deposit or other financial guarantees, which the consumer is obliged to fulfill at the request of the entrepreneur;
functionality of digital content and technical measures to protect them;
significant interoperability of digital content with computer hardware and software that the entrepreneur knows or should know about;
the possibility of using extrajudicial means of dealing with complaints and redress as well as the rules of access to these procedures.

It seems that there are a lot of these elements, but in practice, gathering them in one regulations should not be very problematic. Some of them are formal data of the seller, others - information about the products or services themselves. Only a small fraction of the rules will really be about the rights themselves. However, it is worth ensuring a competent and reliable formulation of the regulations - for the safety of both customers and your own company.