selling online - knowing the rules

It's easy to set up your own website or blog to promote yourself or sell your products and services online, but you also need to consider the legal issues.

Own-it and ECCA invited a lawyer and practitioner to talk about how you can leverage online platforms to make money without getting on the wrong side of the law.The event covered the various aspects of what one should be aware of when developing an online business.

Alice shared her experience of setting up her own online business, and gave practical tips on some of the pitfalls that young entrepreneurs could/should avoid – such as unnecessary high costs of web development and features, reliance on web developer for content management, postal strikes, use of fulfilment houses for stocking, etc.

She also pointed out the various e-commerce considerations such as trading currencies, payment providers, images, styling, etc, and emphasised the importance of the customer experience (packaging, waiting lists for sold out items, delivery times, etc).

Peter covered the various legal structures of business and the legal aspects of online businesses which sole traders/companies need to be aware of – including the compulsory information and options on the website, transaction process, terms and conditions, IP assigning and licensing (front end vs. back end), domain name, trademarks, liability for user-generated content, data and privacy control, etc.

Matthew provided useful resources for those who wish to set up online stores at a low cost. He suggested that, for a start, it might be useful to consider using existing platforms (e.g., PayPal, Shopify), instead of investing and developing a website from scratch. He also showed some alternative low-cost websites which simply aggregated content from the various free platforms such as, Twitter, Flickr, bogs and RSS feeds.