CHECKLIST
Check the contract
before you sign.
The list is on this page. Leave an email if you want it in your inbox. Not legal advice.
FULFILLMENT, SHIPPING, RETURNS
We're picking our first 3PL and we're doing $2–10M a year
- Who owns the inventory if you leave, and how fast they must ship it out.
- The fee schedule: pick, pack, storage, receiving, accounts, and the minimum.
- What happens to orders already in the building if you terminate.
- Who pays for a reship when they miss.
Our 3PL is falling apart and we need to move fast
- A written overlap plan: which SKUs move first, and who ships during the move.
- Receiving capacity on the weeks you will actually deliver inventory.
- Data you get out of the old building: inventory, lot, and returns.
- The new exit clause, so you do not sign the same trap twice.
We're opening our first new country
- Who is merchant of record, and where the cash lands.
- Which country is in scope, and what a second country costs.
- The returns path, including who pays the label.
- How duties are calculated when the product data is wrong.
PAID MEDIA AND GROWTH AGENCIES
Should we hire an agency or a freelancer while we're under $10M
- You own the ad accounts, the pixels, and the creative files.
- The fee, the term, and how many days it takes to leave.
- Who makes the ads, and how many, in a normal month.
- What they will not do: landing pages, email, Amazon.
Our paid ads are not working
- A written question for the test: offer, page, or media.
- One change at a time, with a date you will look again.
- Access to the ad account and the creative, whether or not you switch.
Should we hire one agency, or a regional set
- Which markets are in the fee, and which are extra.
- Who writes the local language, and who approves it.
- One reporting format, even if the buyers are separate.
AMAZON AND MARKETPLACES
We're planning our first Amazon launch
- You own the Seller Central account.
- A handoff date and a list of what 'done' means.
- Which fees are in the quote: ads, storage, returns, the agency.
Unauthorized sellers are costing us the buy box
- A list of authorized sellers in the agreement with any firm you hire.
- What they are allowed to say to a marketplace on your behalf.
- A monthly count of cases opened and cases closed, not a vanity metric.
Who should run TikTok Shop?
- Who makes the videos, and how many a month.
- Who owns the account and the content.
- How orders and returns hit your warehouse.
FINANCE
We're hiring our first fractional CFO
- Days per month, and which decisions they own.
- What the bookkeeper still does.
- A notice period measured in weeks, not a year.
We need a weekly cash habit
- The day of the week the view is updated.
- Which accounts and which inventory number it uses.
- Who is allowed to place a purchase order after the meeting.
I want to know our contribution margin by Friday
- Where product cost comes from, and who updates it.
- Whether returns reduce the margin in the view.
- Who is allowed to export the number that goes to the board.
SITE, CONVERSION, MEASUREMENT
Should we replatform, or just rebuild the pages that matter?
- A list of templates in scope, and a list of what is out.
- You own the theme code and the accounts.
- A warranty period after launch, in weeks.
- Which apps are required, and which you will delete.
Who should actually do our conversion work?
- Who approves a test, and how fast.
- Where the test lives: theme, checkout, or offer.
- What 'stop' means, and who turns the loser off.
Who should own attribution at this stage
- Which decisions the tool is allowed to influence.
- What it costs relative to monthly ad spend.
- How you will notice if the connector breaks.