If you offer your products at wholesale or plan to in the future you are going to want to get some terms + conditions in place. A good set of Terms + Conditions presents qualified retailers a detailed set of guidelines about how you conduct business while simultaneously protecting what you have built. It’s one of those things you hope to never have to use but are sure happy to have in place when you encounter a major hurdle (like hunting down payment for an outstanding invoice)
When a buyer agrees to become a retailer for your products they agree to the terms you set forth. Typically, you’ll find a company’s terms + conditions listed in their catalog and on their website. (Side note: If you’re planning to sell to national retail chains they will most likely have their own set of terms you’d be agreeing to in order to become one of their vendor partners.)
Your terms + conditions can be as standard or in-depth as you like. While there are lots of template options available online (include one specific to product based businesses in my shop!) you may consider consulting with a lawyer to make sure you’re business is covered because as good as templates are, every business is a bit different! At the minimum, I recommend your terms + conditions including the following information:
Sales Order Terms
Chances are your opening order and re-order minimums will be different. It’s important to detail what the dollar amount is for each so buyers know what the expectations are when placing an order with you. A word of caution here, though, you are NOT allowed to dictate what a store retails your product for. Sharing MSRP info and making suggestions is ok but ultimately the decision is the buyers.
Payment Terms
It’s important to specify how you receive payment including which credit cards you may or may not accept, how and when you process payment along with credit term options. While it’s uncommon, some stores will ask if they can be set up on terms before they’ve established a relationship with you. The most common ask being for Net 30, but there are lots of different variations out there. Decide what you are most comfortable with for your business and detail them in your t+c.
Batch Requirements
Most wholesale businesses require buyers to place a minimum number of units per style when they write an order. While you don’t need to list every sku’s minimum inside your terms and conditions (because that could get lengthy!) you want to make sure buyers are aware that you do have required minimums per style and point them to where they can find the specifics. If you’d prefer to include additional details in your terms consider listing minimums by category, it will take up less space.
Shipping
It’s important to detail how you handle shipping including any specific shipping or carrier guidelines and how you process shipping charges. (for example, most people charge at the time of shipment) Nobody likes an expensive surprise especially when it cuts into profits.
Cancellations, Returns + Exchanges
It’s inevitable, at some point a customer is going to want to cancel an upcoming order, return an item or want to do an exchange. Things can get tricky if you haven’t detailed your policy ahead of time. These policies differ from one business to the next so you want a specific plan in place and details in writing so your buyers know in advance how you handle these different situations
Contact information to submit an order
The #1 goal of your wholesale business is to get orders so you want to make it as easy as possible for buyers to get in touch with you. How do you accept orders? Email? Phone? Fax? Carrier Pigeon? Even if you’ve worked with a buyer before emails can accidentally be deleted and business cards misplaced so you want to reiterate all the details in your T+C.
The easier we make it for buyers to do business with us the easier it will be to grow. Terms + Conditions not only protect you and your buyers but they help your business to appear professional + legitimate. If you don’t feel like going the DIY route to piece together your own Terms + Conditions I’ve got you covered! Streamline the process and quickly cross this major to do off your list with my Terms + Conditions template now in the shop!
