websiteI know this is a big question, so I understand I probably won’t get a nice and simple list of dos and don’ts, but I’m willing to work to move this forward, and I have to start somewhere.
I’ve been building a website for the past few months that is basically a media sharing website, but it’s tailored for a particular audience. (As per most of these types of question, I’ll be leaving the specifics out).
I’m looking at charging a very small amount (around £2 or $3 per month) for each member, primarily to cover the cost of the web server, and then hopefully further down the line it will cover my salary so I can take the project on full time and start to really make it grow.
The site is currently up and running, albeit still in the development phase, and I am about to release it to a group of beta testers in order to iron out any kinks, and identify any areas that need improving.
My real question is about the legalities of the whole thing. I expect that an online subscription service has to be done “by the book”, and I’m afraid I simply don’t know where to start.
Any advice relating to this area will be very gratefully received, but any other pointers for a new starter would also be very helpful.
Edit: I should point out that I understand there are issues regarding taking payments and PCI compliance, but I’ll be taking recurring payments from PayPal, to start with at least.
You don't really ask a question here, but I think I get the point.
This is no legal advice, these are just some considerations, we had to do. It is not a and does replace a legal counsel. If you want to be on the safe side, go see your lawyer of choice.
In Germany, (and as we both are in the EU there should be some similarities) you would have to do the following:
Please note, that the complexity differs and is depended on your service. The payment should be part of your Terms and Conditions.
You may let yourself be inspired by some other platforms with subscriptions. Please note, that even terms and conditions are intellectual property, so stealing could backfire to you.
Terms and Conditions normally consist of legal scope, conclusion of contract, rights and obligations of each contractor etc.
Subscriptions come with questions, like "How much?" (in €, $?), "how often?" (per month?), "how long?" (3-month subscription), "automatically renewed?" and "methods and terms for termination?".
If you google for "Terms an conditions templates" or similar you may find something interesting for you.
Also you don't have to provide all different payment solutions by yourself, you may search for a "Payment service provider", which does everything for you, but will ask for a percentage of your transactions. Have you ever asked your private bank consultant? May they have a solution for you or at least some information. It costs nothing to ask.
Hope that helped.
All content is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.