Plain language.
WHY IT MATTERS
Terms nobody reads protect nobody in practice.
A customer who did not understand what they agreed to disputes it anyway.
HOW TO WRITE THEM
Short sentences Plain words Headings for each section The important points first
WHAT TO AVOID
Archaic legal phrasing copied from elsewhere Long undifferentiated blocks of text Defined terms that make simple points complicated Clauses you do not understand
THAT LAST POINT
If you cannot explain a clause in your own terms, you should not have it.
Copied terms frequently contain provisions that do not apply to you and occasionally ones that work against you.
STRUCTURE THAT WORKS
A short summary of the key points at the top, then the detail.
Some businesses put a plain summary alongside each section. That is good practice.
WHAT TO PUT FIRST
The things customers actually want: delivery, returns, payment.
Not definitions and interpretation clauses.
TESTING
Give them to someone unfamiliar and ask what your returns policy is.
If they cannot find it, restructure.
