Are terms of sale mandatory in France? What the law says in 2026 (B2C, B2B, sole traders)

Leaving one line out of your payment terms can be expensive: a company that fails to state the late-payment penalty rate and the €40 fixed recovery fee faces an administrative fine of up to €2 million. Meanwhile, the sole trader selling candles on Shopify will not find a single article of French law ordering her to write a document called « CGV » (conditions générales de vente, general terms of sale). Yet before every order she must give each customer the eleven items listed in article L221-5 of the Consumer Code, and terms of sale are the only sensible way to do that. So the real question is not “are terms of sale mandatory?” but “who are you selling to, and how?”.

This guide covers French law: the article numbers, the standard warranty text and the fines below are French. The 14-day withdrawal right and the new withdrawal button come from EU consumer law, so the same logic applies across the EU, with each country’s own wording and penalties.

Are terms of sale (CGV) mandatory in France?

For sales to consumers, yes in practice: the law requires detailed pre-contract information, and terms of sale are where you put it. Between businesses, no: but any terms you have must be sent to every business customer who asks for them, and your payment terms must contain specific wording.

On the consumer side, article L111-1 of the Consumer Code requires every trader to provide, before the consumer is bound, the main characteristics of the goods or service, the price, the delivery time, the trader’s identity, the legal guarantees and the option of using a consumer mediator. Article L211-2 sets out what the “general terms applicable to consumer contracts” must state, and the Entreprendre Service Public page on CGV (the French government’s business portal, in French) treats them as mandatory when you sell to consumers.

On the business side, the same page is blunt: terms of sale “are not mandatory between businesses”. The obligation is to hand them over, if you have them (art. L441-1 of the Commercial Code).

One exception: a business with five employees or fewer that signs an off-premises contract outside its main line of business gets the consumer rules on information and withdrawal (art. L221-3). Think of a plumber with no staff who is pitched a website in his workshop.

flowchart TD
  A["You sell goods or a service"] --> B{"Is the customer a consumer?"}
  B -->|Yes| C["Mandatory pre-contract information: consumer terms of sale"]
  B -->|No| D{"Business with 5 staff max, off-premises, outside main activity?"}
  D -->|Yes| C
  D -->|No| E{"Have you drawn up terms of sale?"}
  E -->|Yes| F["Send them to any business customer who asks"]
  E -->|No| G["Invoice: late penalties and €40 fee"]
  F --> G
  C --> H{"Distance sale?"}
  H -->|Yes| I["14-day withdrawal and withdrawal function"]

What must online terms of sale for French consumers include?

At a minimum: your identity and contact details, the characteristics and price, delivery times, the 14-day withdrawal right with its model form and the location of the withdrawal function, the legal guarantees using the standard text, and your consumer mediator. That is the list in article L221-5, which must be presented in a clear, readable way (art. L221-11).

Withdrawal. The consumer has fourteen days to withdraw, without giving a reason, starting from receipt of the goods or, for a service, from the conclusion of the contract (art. L221-18). Your terms set out the conditions, the procedure and the model withdrawal form (L221-5, 7°), say whether return costs are borne by the customer (8°) and flag the cases where the right does not exist (10°), such as clearly personalised goods or goods that perish quickly (art. L221-28).

The withdrawal button. Since 19 June 2026, for any distance contract concluded through an online interface, the trader must give the consumer a withdrawal function, free of charge (art. L221-21, introduced by Order No. 2026-2 of 5 January 2026, which transposes Directive (EU) 2023/2673). Your terms must state “the existence and location” of this function (L221-5, 7°): terms written before that date are therefore incomplete. The details are in our guide to the EU withdrawal button.

Legal guarantees. The text is explicit:

The decree set a standard box of text to insert in terms of sale for goods, published in the annex to article D211-2: two years from delivery to claim under the guarantee of conformity, repair or replacement within thirty days, the hidden-defects guarantee for two years from discovery of the defect, and a reminder of the civil fine of up to €300,000 (which can be raised to 10% of average annual turnover) for a seller who obstructs the guarantee in bad faith. Copy that box word for word.

The mediator. Every consumer has the right to use a consumer mediator free of charge (art. L612-1), and you must give them the mediator’s contact details (art. L616-1). According to Entreprendre Service Public (in French), those details must appear visibly and legibly on your website, in your terms of sale and on your order forms.

The checkout. The final button must read « commande avec obligation de paiement » (order with obligation to pay) or similar wording, and payment methods and delivery restrictions must be shown at the latest at the start of the ordering process (art. L221-14). After the purchase, a confirmation on a durable medium repeats this information, together with the withdrawal form (art. L221-13).

The seller’s identity also belongs in your « mentions légales » (legal notice), and order data falls under your privacy policy: three separate documents, linked to each other.

Do micro-entrepreneurs (sole traders) need terms of sale in France?

The status makes no difference: a micro-entrepreneur selling to consumers has the same information duties as a company, and one working for businesses follows the same Commercial Code rules. Only the fine ceilings differ, lower for an individual.

The texts apply to every “professional” (trader), whatever their size. For a sole trader, the ceilings are those for an individual: €3,000 for general pre-contract information (art. L131-1), €15,000 for distance-selling information (art. L242-10), €75,000 for payment terms without penalties or the €40 fee (art. L441-16).

An illustrator trading as a micro-entrepreneur and selling posters to consumers on her own site needs complete online terms of sale. For her agency commissions, a detailed quote and service terms with the payment wording are enough. Two customer bases, two sets of terms. Her other obligations are covered in our guide to mandatory legal documents for a French business.

Do I need terms and conditions for a service business in France?

Yes, as soon as the client is a consumer: services are subject to the same pre-contract information, supplemented by article L111-2 of the Consumer Code. Between businesses, the Commercial Code extends the L111-2 information to every client, and a provider whose price cannot be set in advance must supply, on request, its calculation method or a detailed quote.

For a coach selling online coaching to consumers, three things change. The withdrawal period runs from the conclusion of the contract (L221-18, 1°). If the client expressly asks to start before the fourteen days are up and then withdraws, they pay for the part already performed, and your terms must say so (L221-5, 9°). And the service-specific information of article L111-2 is added on top (L221-5, II).

For a consultant running a one-person company (SASU) who only works with businesses, it is article L441-2 of the Commercial Code that imposes this information. If he bills by the hour or day, he must give any client who asks “the method used to calculate the price so that it can be checked, or a sufficiently detailed quote” (L441-1, III).

What must B2B terms of sale include in France?

B2B terms of sale include in particular the payment terms and the elements used to set the price, such as the unit price list and discounts. The payment terms must state the late-payment penalty rate and how it applies, as well as the €40 fixed recovery fee.

The framework is article L441-1 of the Commercial Code:

The payment wording comes from article L441-10:

• Payment period. Unless agreed otherwise, thirty days after receipt of the goods or performance of the service. The agreed period cannot exceed sixty days from the invoice date, or forty-five days end of month if this is expressly stipulated and is not manifestly unfair to the creditor.
• Late-payment penalties. Without a contractual rate (at least three times the French legal interest rate), the ECB refinancing rate plus 10 points, i.e. 12.40% for the second half of 2026 according to Entreprendre Service Public (in French). Payable without any reminder.
• Fixed recovery fee. Any business that pays late automatically owes a fee for recovery costs, set at €40 by article D441-5.

Légifrance already publishes the wording of articles L441-9 and L441-10 that applies from 1 January 2027: it keeps these payment periods, penalties, invoice details and fine ceilings.

Which clauses are mandatory in my terms of sale?

It depends on your customers: the Consumer Code when you sell to consumers, the Commercial Code payment rules between businesses. “Yes” means the clause comes from a legal text; “Recommended” means it mainly protects you.

Do terms of sale have to be printed on the invoice?

No, and the invoice is not where they take effect: general terms only apply if the customer was made aware of them and accepted them, so in principle before the order. The invoice has its own mandatory details, including the payment date, the penalty rate and the €40 fee.

A web agency that prints its terms on the back of its invoices is likely to find this out at the first dispute: its clause limiting liability only reached the client after the work was done. Attach your terms to the quote and get a signed acceptance statement. And if your business client pushes back with its own purchasing terms, the incompatible clauses on both sides have no effect.

As for the invoice, article L441-9 of the Commercial Code requires it to state the date by which payment is due, the early-payment discount terms, the applicable penalty rate and the amount of the fixed recovery fee. A breach carries an administrative fine capped at €75,000 for an individual and €375,000 for a company.

What is the difference between terms of sale (CGV) and terms of use (CGU)?

« CGV » (terms of sale) govern the sale: price, payment, delivery, guarantees. « CGU » (terms of use) govern the use of a website or service: accounts, posting rules, suspension. « Conditions générales de prestation » (general terms for services) are terms of sale applied to a service.

A SaaS or a marketplace usually needs both. A brochure site with no sales and no accounts needs neither, but it always needs a legal notice.

Can I copy a competitor’s terms and conditions?

Using them for structure, yes; copying them as they are means importing their mistakes and clauses that do not fit your business. The mediator, delivery times, return costs and withdrawal exclusions are specific to each seller.

The texts involved: clauses must be “drafted in clear and comprehensible language” and, in case of doubt, are interpreted in the consumer’s favour (art. L211-1); the blacklist of article R212-1; unfair clauses are “deemed unwritten” (art. L241-1); a civil fine for anyone who keeps using a clause already held unfair by a final decision (art. L241-1-1).

What are the fines for missing or incomplete terms of sale in France?

An administrative fine from the DGCCRF (the French consumer protection authority), with a ceiling that depends on the missing information: from €3,000 to €75,000 for an individual, from €15,000 to €2 million for a company. And, in court, clauses that do not protect you.

These are ceilings, not a price list. For payment periods, they rise to €150,000 and €4 million for a repeat offence within two years of a first final penalty (L441-16). How are online shops doing in practice? See our French e-commerce compliance study 2026.

How do I check my terms of sale before publishing them?

Go through the list below, then check that your terms are reachable from your website: the free website audit checks the legal links on your homepage, terms of sale included.

For a check of your whole site: the website compliance quiz and the other free tools.