Set the rules before you take preorder money

Standard website terms often do not say enough about the issues that matter most in a preorder sale. Customers are paying before stock is available, before a launch date is locked in, or before digital access is live. That creates extra pressure around timing, cancellations, product changes and communications. Preorder terms let you deal with those points directly, including when payment is taken, whether dates are estimates, and what happens if supply or release plans shift after the order is placed.

They commonly deal with when the preorder is accepted, when payment is charged, whether delivery or release dates are estimates, what happens if there is a delay, whether substitutions or changes can occur, and how cancellations or refunds are handled. The document may also cover stock allocation, limits on quantities, customer responsibilities such as providing correct delivery details, and how preorder terms interact with your broader website terms. The exact wording depends on whether you are selling physical goods, digital products, memberships, subscriptions or app access.

Yes. Preorder terms can also be relevant for digital launches, memberships, subscription offers, online communities, apps and other offers where customers pay before access or fulfilment starts. The legal and commercial issues can look different in each model. For example, a physical product preorder may need detailed delivery and stock wording, while a digital launch may need clauses about access dates, staged releases, feature changes or account eligibility. We draft the terms around the way your preorder offer actually works.

A template may be useful for orientation, but it often misses the operational details that decide whether the wording works for your business. However, it often misses the commercial details that create complaints later. If your checkout says one thing, your marketing says another, and your terms are silent on delays or changes, that can create avoidable friction. Tailored drafting is useful where you have deposits, limited runs, launch windows, waitlists, bundled offers or digital access conditions. The aim is not to produce a longer document for its own sake, but to make sure the terms match the preorder model you are actually using.

The fixed-fee covers the preorder terms and related legal input within the agreed scope. It does not automatically include broader website terms, privacy documents, supplier contracts, advertising review, ongoing representation or advice on unrelated legal issues. It also does not include tax advice. If you need a wider ecommerce document set or further changes after the included work is completed, we can scope that separately. We will let you know if your preorder setup raises issues that sit outside this service.

Just submit an enquiry via this page or click the 'get started' button on our website to submit an enquiry. After you've submitted an enquiry, one of our legal consultants will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.

Then your legal consultant will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you're happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online - easy!

Once you've formally accepted, we'll connect you with a specialist lawyer and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Preorder Terms And Conditions service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We operate completely online, which means we can help you wherever you are in New Zealand. We have office spaces in Sydney, and in Melbourne, but our use of technology allows our team members to work remotely from around the world. Our legal team are mostly based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We also have a London office for Sprintlaw UK.

Our legal team is made up of experienced lawyers, who are specialists in various areas of law and hold an Australian legal practising certificate. None of our Sprintlaw lawyers are New Zealand qualified lawyers and they do not currently hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

They provide legal services working remotely from Australia via our 'legal consultancy' model, through which (under section 6 and section 35 of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006) our Australian legal team are permitted to provide legal services to New Zealand businesses provided they do not provide services in certain 'reserved' areas of law. You can read our FAQ page to learn a bit more about our 'legal consultancy' model.

Given the strong similarities between Australian and New Zealand law, and the areas of law in which we practice (being small business and startup law), we do not view the fact that our lawyers have not qualified in New Zealand as having any substantive impact on the quality of our service. We are committed to ensuring that we provide high quality, affordable legal services to all our New Zealand clients.

Our legal team have all trained at leading firms, but have left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. They have specialist expertise in technology law, intellectual property law, contract drafting and review, corporate law and commercial law.