Write clear terms and policies customers read

Terms and policies have a bad reputation. Customers scroll past them, owners paste them from a competitor and nobody reads them until there is a dispute. Yet they do real work: they set expectations, protect both sides and show that you are a serious business. A good set is short, honest and specific to what you really do.

You need three documents for most businesses that sell online or to the public: terms of sale, a returns and refund policy, and a privacy notice. Below is how to write terms and conditions, a returns policy and a privacy notice in plain words.

Start with what you actually do

Before writing, answer these questions about your business:

• What do you sell, to whom (consumers, businesses or both) and where?
• How do customers order and pay?
• How and when do you deliver or perform the service?
• What happens if something is wrong, late or not wanted?
• What personal data do you collect, why and who else sees it?

Policies that describe a different business from the real one are worse than none. If you promise next day delivery in the terms and take a week, you have a problem the lawyers will not solve.

Terms of sale

These say how the deal works. Cover:

1. Who you are. Legal name, address and contact details.
2. What you sell and how the price is shown, with tax and delivery.
3. How a contract is formed. For example, an order is accepted when you confirm it.
4. Payment. Methods, when it is taken, what happens if it fails.
5. Delivery or performance. Times, areas, costs and what happens in a delay.
6. Cancellation and returns, linking to the returns policy.
7. Faults and guarantees. What you do if goods or services are not as described. Consumer law in many places gives rights that cannot be removed, so do not try to.
8. Liability. Reasonable limits, without claiming to exclude what the law does not allow.
9. Changes and complaints. How you change terms, and how a customer complains.
10. Governing law.

Our terms and conditions of sale template is organised this way. Fill in the short form, read the result critically, and remove what does not apply.

Returns and refunds

This is the policy customers actually read, usually when they are worried, so it must be easy. Say:

• how long they have to return something and from what date,
• what condition it must be in,
• how to start a return and where to send it,
• who pays for return postage,
• how and when the refund is paid and in what form,
• what cannot be returned, such as made to order items, with a clear reason,
• what happens with faulty goods, which is a separate and often stronger right.

Be generous where you can afford it. A clear, fair policy raises sales more than it costs in returns. Our returns and refund policy template gives the structure.

Whatever you write must match the law. Many places give consumers a statutory cooling off period or right of withdrawal for distance sales. You cannot offer less than the law gives.

Privacy notice

A privacy notice tells people what you do with their personal data. In many places the law requires one, and describes what it must contain. In plain words, cover:

• who you are and how to contact you about data,
• what data you collect (name, email, address, payment details, browsing data),
• why you collect it and on what legal basis,
• who you share it with (payment provider, courier, email service),
• whether it leaves the country or region,
• how long you keep it,
• the person's rights to see, correct and delete their data, and how to use them,
• how to complain to the authority.

Be honest and specific. "We may share your data with third parties" says nothing. "We send your name and address to our courier so they can deliver your order" is clear. Our website privacy notice template covers the common points. If you use analytics, advertising or cookies, mention them and check what consent is needed where your visitors are. For more on where data lives, see keeping your data in the EU.

Write in plain words

Short sentences. Everyday words. Headings that say what is under them. Numbers rather than "a reasonable time". Examples where a rule might confuse. If a paragraph takes three reads, rewrite it. This is not only kind to customers; plain terms are easier to apply and to enforce, because there is less to argue about.

Keep them true and current

Review your policies at least once a year and whenever something changes: a new product, a new delivery partner, a new law, a new tool that handles data. Put the date of the last update at the top. Keep old versions, because a customer is usually bound by the terms in force when they bought.

If you make a significant change, tell existing customers in good time.

Show them where people look

Link the terms, returns policy and privacy notice from the footer of every page, and from the checkout, where the customer agrees to them. Make sure the checkout shows the key points, such as price, delivery and the right to return, before the final button. Give each document its own page that works on a phone.

Get a professional check where it matters

A template is a good start, but laws differ and details matter. If you sell large amounts, sell to consumers in several countries, handle sensitive data or work in a regulated field, pay a professional to review the documents once. It is a modest cost compared with a dispute.

Where nerix helps

Start from the free templates above, fill in a short form and download the result as Word or PDF. What you type stays in your browser. If you build your site with the Websites tool, these pages can sit in its footer. In the chat, nerix can read a policy you already have and tell you in plain words what it promises, where it contradicts itself or what it leaves out, and it can suggest simpler wording.

It does not know the law that applies to you, so treat its output as a draft to check.

The short version

Describe what you really do. Write terms of sale, a returns policy and a privacy notice in plain, specific words. Match consumer law, keep them current with a date, show them in the footer and at checkout and have a professional check them once.