Some laws of the state bind every business that we do. It is essential for all of us to know the eCommerce laws before we start selling online. In this article, I will talk about the top 5 eCommerce laws that you must know before trading online.
In the United States of America, every business and business process are bound by some state laws which everyone needs to follow. These laws are created and enforced to provide and secure the rights of the consumer as well as the businessmen.
Every state has its own specific laws. While many states have similar laws on some topics, at times a few rules are very different from each other. Hence, it is not only essential to know the laws that prevail throughout the USA but also the state-specific laws, so that you do not run into a problem at a later stage.
When selling internationally, you must also know the eCommerce laws of that specific country or state so that you can sell there without a problem too.
While planning to sell online on Shopify, you must know these laws well so that you can plan your entire venture accordingly. You can plan what to sell, how to sell and how to promote your products or services based on the eCommerce laws that prevail.
To help you in this plight, I am going to talk about the top 5 eCommerce laws that you must know before selling online. There are a few more apart from what I am going to mention here, but these are the basics that everyone must know and follow.
So, without wasting any more time, let’s start with the top 5 eCommerce laws. If you have any concerns while reading through or want to ask something related to this topic, please feel free to comment below, and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Keep reading.
Income Taxes.
The most critical laws for any businessman to know are the state tax laws – whether you are selling online or through a traditional store. As mentioned earlier, every state has different standards and expectations as far as income taxes are concerned. You must know the laws specific to your country and abide by them so that you do not get into any problem later on.
Before starting to sell or planning your venture, learn about the existing laws on income tax to ensure smooth operations once after you have launched. The best idea would be to talk to a tax lawyer who can guide you the best and suggest appropriate actions.
Payment gateways.
Choosing the right payment gateway is one of the significant steps in setting up your online store. There are a lot to choose from. Try to go through the various options available to you based on your niche and target market.
Many payment gateways have restrictions even on specific products and services that you can sell and collect money through them. Ensure that the one that you have selected for your market allows you to sell the products that you want to sell.
Most of the biggest eCommerce websites have multiple options as far as payment gateways are concerned. The most commonly used payment gateways around the world are:
- PayPal
- Payoneer
- Stripe
- Skrill
- Square
- SecureNet
Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights.
You must be 100% sure of the patents, trademarks, and copyrights associated with the products and services that you intend to sell online in different target markets. In various places, the definitions of these are slightly different, but you only need to ensure that you know what these are, typically.
Based on your product or service that you are going to sell you may or may not want to apply and procure one of these. The best way is again, to contact a chartered accountant or a professional business lawyer to get clarity about the patents, trademarks, and copyrights and ensure that you are not breaching any code of conduct while selling products and services to various places around the world.
Shipping restrictions.
When you sell products online through your eCommerce site, you sell products through third parties who ship the products from their inventories to places where the order was placed from. Ensure that the suppliers abide by the laws of the state and have no restrictions in shipping the products to different locations.
If you do not find an international supplier for your target market, you may have to look for local suppliers who can fulfill your orders.
Age restrictions.
It is of utmost importance that you and your website comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This act has laws that protect children from online frauds.
One of the main aspects of this law is that no online seller can collect personal information from children below 13 years of age. This action is a punishable offense. If you are selling to kids of that age or younger, you must abide by this law.
There can be other specific laws of the land where you are trying to sell. It would be best to do some proper research and then plan your product and design your shop accordingly, by putting in required disclaimers wherever needed.
I hope the knowledge of these top 5 eCommerce laws will help you in running an online eCommerce business successfully. If you have any question or if you want to know anything specific, please feel free to comment below, and I will get back to you as soon as I can. I will see you in the next article.
Cheers!
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