Selling Practices Policy

By keeping some basic selling practices in mind, you’ll be able to create a great experience for your buyers.

Our full selling practice guidelines below provide a range of tips for helping ensure you keep your buyers happy. They cover areas such as the item description, your terms and conditions, shipping and handling charges, delivery times, communication, and photos.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do I need to specify the location of the item in my listing?

Buyers like to know where the item is being shipped from as it helps to give them an idea of how much shipping will cost and how long it might take for the item to arrive. Having an inaccurate item location can cause confusion and lead to a poor experience for your buyer.

What should I include in my terms and conditions?

Be very clear and thorough about the terms of the transaction and include information about any taxes or other applicable fees, shipping and handling, and your return policy. Being upfront and honest about these terms helps build trust and provides a positive buying experience for your customers.

 

Full Policy Overview

Setting clear buyer expectations and then meeting or exceeding them is a great way to make your buyer happy and ensure a smooth transaction.

Some of the simplest things you can do are to provide accurate and consistent details about your items and to be clear and specific about the terms and conditions of the sale. You should also make every effort to provide excellent customer service from start to finish, including:

• Charging reasonable shipping and handling costs
• Specifying your handling time and return policy in your listing
• Responding to buyers' questions promptly
• Being professional throughout the transaction
• Making sure the item is delivered to the buyer as described in your listing
• Frequently reviewing and updating listings to make sure all information

 

To help you meet our vendor performance, we have some basic requirements all vendors and logistics service providers must meet.

 

What are the guidelines?

Shipping service

Buyers expect their items to be delivered on time, especially when they pay additional fees for expedited shipping services. Using a slower shipping service than the one selected by the buyer during checkout may result in the item being delivered later than expected, and an increase in claims for items not received.

What to do

• Ship items using shipping service options with features that meet or exceed those the buyer selected

What not to do

• Use shipping service options with features that do not meet those selected by the buyer.

 

Shipping and handling costs

Be sure to specify shipping costs and related service charges in your listings.

What to state if you charge

• Actual shipping cost: This is the amount for shipping the item. It should be what you paid the carrier.
• Handling cost: This can include the cost of packaging materials and insurance cost, if any.
• Delivery confirmation and extra services: If you choose to use these options, you must add them to your shipping and handling costs, and you can only charge what they actually cost.
• Tax and government-imposed fees: Only applicable country, city, Value Added Tax (VAT), or equivalent taxes may be charged.

Free shipping

You can offer free shipping to select or all destinations. For a destination with free shipping, no other fees related to shipping, handling, or packaging can be charged. 

Shipping and handling time

Buyers want to know when they can expect to get their items.

• Specify in your listing clearly and accurately when the item will be shipped.
• Ship items within the handling time you state in your listing.
• Use tracking, delivery confirmation, or signature confirmation. Using delivery confirmation can help protect you if a buyer claims an item wasn't received.

 

Terms and conditions

It's important that you clearly specify the terms and conditions of the sale/service in your listing so that buyers know what to expect.

What to do

You're required to include the following details in your listing:

• Return policy
• Shipping method, costs, and other information
• Terms of the transaction

You're required to meet the expectations you've set in your listing:

• Ensure the safe delivery of the item within the timeframe stated in your listing
• Items you list must be in your inventory or you must have an existing agreement with a third party to fulfill the delivery of the item under the terms of your listing, unless otherwise stated or indicated

 

Tracking

Providing tracking details for items you've sold is an industry standard and something that your buyers expect. Tracking data lets buyers know where their item is throughout the shipping process, and can be critical in cases where the buyer claims they didn't receive an item.

What to do

• Upload accurate tracking details
• Upload tracking details within your specified handling time

What not to do

• Upload information other than valid tracking in the tracking field, including tracking not associated with the transaction
• Upload tracking information later than the handling time window promised in your listing

 

Item location misrepresentation

When a buyer purchases an item, they expect it to be shipped from the item location included in the listing. Including false, inaccurate, vague, or misleading item location information may lead to confusion around delivery time and shipping costs.

What to do

• Include accurate item location descriptions. The city and country should match appropriately.

What not to do

• Provide incorrect or inaccurate item location
• State 'Kenya' when the item is actually being shipped from outside of Kenya
• Include inaccurate, vague, or misleading item location descriptions
• Include item location information in the item description that doesn't match the information in the item location field
• Include inconsistent information in your return policy around the item location which may result in higher return costs or confusion for buyers

 

Item description

The listing page is where buyers get most of their information about an item. Information in the listing helps buyers decide what to buy and know what to expect when they receive the item. It's important to make sure that the listing is only used to describe the item for sale/service and to communicate the terms of the sale/service in a professional way.

You're required to:

Specify the condition of the item

Describe any defects or flaws in the item – this helps avoid problems or buyer dissatisfaction

Note: When selling a used, or flawed item, you must include photos of the actual item for sale instead of a stock photo.

 

Cancel orders

You may need to cancel an order because the item is broken or out of stock, you made a mistake in your listing, the buyer requested to cancel the order, there's a problem with the buyer's shipping address, or the buyer hasn't paid. Make sure you use the correct process on Eyby to cancel the order.

 

Communication

Do whatever you can to provide excellent customer service. Meeting or exceeding buyers' expectations can help you improve your performance on Eyby.

What to do

• Respond promptly to any questions during the bidding or buying process, as well as after the item has been purchased
• Communicate professionally, including emails
• Be responsive to any buyer concerns or problems 

What not to do

• You're not allowed to use profane or offensive language with anyone on Eyby
• You're not allowed to send anyone on Eyby inappropriate images including nudity, profanity or other general content not related to an Eyby listing

Most often, transactions without additional communication are a sign of great service, and you shouldn't receive low detailed vendor ratings for communication in these situations.

 

Returns

You must honor your stated returns policy.

When you choose to accept returns, a buyer can return an item for any reason, including if they change their mind about a purchase. As long as the return meets your stated return requirements, you are required to honor the return.

 

Photos

Along with the description, photos are the most important part of a listing. Photos help buyers to see exactly what they're getting as well as specific details they may be looking for. When selling used items, photos are especially important because they let the buyer see the actual condition of the item along with other details like color.

 

Pricing promotions terms and conditions

When you place an item on sale and indicate an original price, you are required to follow rules concerning the original price and tools that you use to create a sale or promotion. Learn more about the pricing and promotions terms and conditions.

 

Independent pricing

To maintain a competitive marketplace, Eyby requires that you price your items independently from other vendors. You may take into account the pricing of other vendors that you observe on the Eyby site, but you may not contact another vendor to coordinate pricing in any way.

 

Other rules for vendors

You're responsible for reviewing and understanding our rules for vendors, as well as all relevant laws and regulations in your User Agreement. Knowing our policies before you list an item can lead to smoother, more successful transactions, and it can help you avoid breaking rules by mistake.

 

Activity on Eyby is required to follow this policy, the Eyby User Agreement and all applicable laws, as well as respect the rights of third parties. If it doesn’t, Eyby may take action consistent with applicable laws and the Eyby User Agreement, and may even be legally required to do so. Such actions may include, as an example only: Removing the listing or other content, issuing a warning, restricting activity or account suspension.