As a traditional business owner with a high-street store, you may have been noticing changes in the way that people buy their goods and realise that you need to take action if you're going to survive. You may understand that online marketing is here to stay and will surely only grow, but you're worried about the "Wild West" nature of this world. You need to ensure that you are covered legally when you sell something, but how do you check that your virtual contracts are going to be valid?

Doing Business Domestically

If you principally do business with people who live in one of the Australian territories or states, then the law across the country affords you a degree of protection during electronic commercial transactions. Legislation has been developed specifically for this situation to help retailers, as well as to protect consumers when they buy.

What the Law Says

Fundamentally, any transaction made online can only be validated if a buyer has given either an implied or an expressed level of consent to the agreement. This is just a modification of standard contract law and means that you, as the retailer, must have made an offer that was subsequently accepted. Consideration must have been given both ways during the exchange and both parties must have been legally able to enter into such a contract.

How It Works

Of course, there's no face-to-face interaction online, and most contracts are protected by "clicking" or "swiping" to indicate acceptance. Usually, the buyer will need to scroll through a page and accept they have read the terms and conditions before being allowed to click or swipe. The software will not allow them to do so without validating that they have read those conditions and their action at the end creates the contract.

Clarity Is Important

It's very important to clearly tell the buyer that they are about to enter into an agreement governed by contract law and that you are giving them their opportunity to read the terms and conditions before proceedings. The clearer you are with this type of statement, the more that you are protected online. Some people choose to make the entire agreement available for download by the buyer, but it must always be available, even if only in electronic form, on your server.

Ensuring You Do This Properly

Those sellers new to this type of transaction may want to get professional help in order to ensure that they have everything covered. In addition, those who seek to conduct business overseas should know that additional laws may impact them. For these reasons it may be best if you get in touch with a commercial lawyer specialising in online business.