Selling subscriptions? What to have ready
For education only. Not legal advice. Tellbrief is not a law firm.
When a plan renews and charges a customer on its own, a lawyer may want to see exactly what the customer saw before paying, and how they can stop it.
Records to have ready
- Screenshots of every step of your sign-up and checkout, on a phone and on a computer, including the page where the customer enters payment details.
- Your terms of service and any renewal or refund policy.
- The emails or texts customers get: the receipt, any reminder before a renewal, and the message after a charge.
- Each step a customer takes to cancel, with screenshots.
- Your payment provider’s settings for trials, renewals and refunds.
Send them only if your lawyer asks. For the first call, it’s enough to know where each one is.
Write down how the plan works
A few lines: the price, how often it renews, whether there’s a free or discounted trial and what happens when it ends, and whether the price can change later. Note what the customer is told about each of these, and where they’re told it.
What one federal law says
For sales made online through a “negative option feature”, a federal law makes it unlawful to charge a consumer unless the seller meets three conditions. One is that the seller “provides simple mechanisms for a consumer to stop recurring charges” from being placed on their account.1 Another is that it obtains the consumer’s “express informed consent before charging” them.1 Ask your lawyer how this applies to your plan, and whether any state’s rules apply as well.
Count your numbers
- How many customers are on plans that renew, and in which states and countries.
- How many cancel each month, and how many ask for refunds.
- Any complaints about charges, from customers or through their banks.
Questions a lawyer may ask you
Have a short answer ready for each. “I don’t know yet” is a fine answer.
- What does a customer see before they enter payment details?
- How does a customer agree to the renewal?
- How does a customer cancel, and how long does it take?
- Do you remind customers before a renewal or when a trial ends?
- Where are your customers?
- Has anyone complained about a charge?
A made-up example
We sell a monthly coffee subscription at $24. New customers get the first bag at half price, and the plan renews each month until they cancel. Customers cancel by emailing us. A few have disputed charges with their bank, saying they didn’t know it would renew. We’re about to add a yearly plan. What should we change before we launch it?
Questions worth asking your lawyer
- Does our sign-up show customers what it needs to before they pay?
- Is our way to cancel simple enough?
- Which states’ rules apply to our customers?
- What should our renewal reminders and receipts say?
Tellbrief adds questions like these to your brief when your answers point to them.
Sources
Each quote was checked against its source on October 31, 2026. Laws and guidance can change after that date.
Questions
Does a free trial that turns into a paid plan count?
That’s a question for your lawyer. Bring screenshots of the trial sign-up and what the customer is told about the end of the trial.
Can we ask customers to call us to cancel?
That’s a question for your lawyer. Bring each step of your cancel process as it works today.
We only sell to businesses. Does this apply?
That’s a question for your lawyer. Bring who your customers are and how they sign up.
A customer disputed a charge with their bank. What should we bring?
That’s a question for your lawyer. Bring the customer’s sign-up record, the emails they were sent and the dispute notice.
Talking to a lawyer about your subscription terms?
About 30 questions, most of them one tap, free and with no account. Tellbrief turns your answers into a brief your lawyer can work from, and you keep a copy.
For education only. This article is general information for founders, not legal advice, and reading it doesn’t make you anyone’s client. Tellbrief is not a law firm. For advice about your situation, talk to a licensed lawyer.