Company Performance Metrics
In an online context, terms and conditions (or “T&Cs” for short) usually refer to the contract under which you sell goods or supply services to customers. There are many other ways to describe the same kind of thing, eg “user agreement”, “conditions of use”, “conditions of sale”, “terms of service” etc.
The main purpose of having a contract
with your users is to set out the details of your legal relationship and to make it less likely that users will have a basis to sue you if something goes wrong. Indeed, having a tight set of web terms and conditions can be a useful bargaining chip if you receive a solicitor’s letter from a lawyer acting for your customer. Your own solicitor can point out the difficulties which the customer would face in taking legal action against you. Whereas, if there are no terms and conditions, or they don’t work (e.g., because terms are invalid or not sufficiently relevant), then you may have little to fall back on – other than an insurance policy (if you have one) or the hope that you won’t be sued!
Many payment providers, such as Paypal, will check that you have a satisfactory set of ecommerce terms before they will let you open a merchant account.
