Seller Terms & Conditions

Selling Policies and Seller Code of Conduct 

All sellers are expected to adhere to the following policies when listing products on SMECluster. Seller offences and prohibited content can result in suspension of your SMECluster account. 

Misuse of the SMECluster Marketplace 

As a community, all sellers are able to access and use the SMECluster Marketplace. If a seller uploads excessive amounts of data repeatedly, or otherwise uses the website in an excessive or unreasonable way, it can create a disproportional load on the website and impair the ability of other sellers to easily access and use the website. 

Seller code of conduct 

SMECluster enables you to reach hundreds of millions of customers. We strive to ensure a fair and trustworthy buyer and seller experience. At SMECluster, we expect you to adhere to the code of conduct principles that are outlined below. 

Seller Code of Conduct Principles: 

• Adhere to all applicable laws and abide by all SMECluster policies. 
• Maintain current account information. 
• Never misrepresent yourself. 

• Always act in a manner that ensures a trustworthy experience for SMECluster customers. 
• Never list products that might cause harm to SMECluster customers. 
• Never engage in any misleading, inappropriate or offensive behaviour. This applies to all your activities, including but not limited to: 

• Information provided on your account 
• Information provided in listings, content or images 

• Communication between you and SMECluster, or you and our customers 

• Act fairly at all times. Unfair behaviour includes, but is not limited to the following: 
• Behaviour that could be deemed as manipulation or "gaming" of any part of the buying or selling experience. 
• Activities that could be perceived as attempting to manipulate SMECluster's search results or sales rankings. 
• Actions that intentionally damage another seller, their listings or their reputation. 

Only maintain one Seller account for your organisation, unless you have a legitimate business need to open a second account and all of your accounts are in good standing. Examples of a legitimate business justification include: 

• You own multiple brands and maintain separate businesses for each 
• You manufacture products for two distinct and separate companies 
• You are recruited for an SMECluster programme that requires separate accounts 

Selling fees 

When your item sells, SMECluster collects the amount paid by the buyer (including the item price and any shipping or other charges). SMECluster shipping rates apply to all products sold. 

Selling on SMECluster subscription fee 

There are no subscription fees for selling on SMECluster. 

Per-item Fees 

There are no per-item listing fees. 

Referral Fees 

Sellers pay a referral fee on each item sold. 

For all products, SMECluster deducts the referral fee percentage calculated on the total sales price. The total sales price is the total amount paid by the buyer, including the item price and any delivery charges. 

Referral fees may vary by category, as listed below. 

What is the UK Digital Services Tax? 

The UK government introduced a 2% tax on the revenues of large multinational enterprises generated from the provision of search engines, social media platforms, and online marketplaces, which derive value from UK users. See here for more information. 

Refund administration fee 

If you refund a customer for an order for which you have already received payment, SMECluster will refund you the amount of the referral fee you paid for the item(s), minus the applicable Refund Administration Fee, which is the lesser of GBP 5.00 or 20% of the applicable referral fee. 

For example, if you refund a customer the GBP 10.00 total sales price of an item in a category with a 15% referral fee, your Refund Administration Fee will be GBP 0.30 (GBP 10.00 x 15% referral fee = GBP 1.50). 

Prohibited seller activities and actions 

These Prohibited Seller Activities and Actions are established to maintain a selling service that is safe for buyers and fair for sellers of both products and services. Failure to comply with the terms of this policy might result in cancellation of listings, suspension from use of SMECluster tools and reports, and/or the removal of selling privileges. 

Note: This policy is in addition to, and in no way limits, your other obligations pursuant to your Seller Agreement or otherwise. 

Attempts to divert transactions or buyers: 

Any attempt to circumvent the established SMECluster sales process or to divert SMECluster users to another website or sales process is prohibited. Specifically, any advertisements, marketing messages (special offers) or "calls to action" that lead, prompt or encourage SMECluster users to leave the SMECluster website are prohibited. Prohibited activities include the following: 

The use of email intended to divert customers away from the SMECluster sales process. 

The inclusion of hyperlinks, URLs or web addresses within any seller-generated confirmation email messages or any product/listing description fields that are intended to divert customers away from the SMECluster sales process. 

Unauthorised and improper business names: 

Your business name (identifying your business entity on SMECluster) must be a name that: accurately identifies you; is not misleading; and that you have the right to use (that is, the name cannot include the trademark of, or otherwise infringe on, any trademark or other intellectual property right of any person). Furthermore, you can't use a business name that contains an email suffix such as .com, .net, .biz etc. 

Inappropriate email communications: 

Unsolicited emails to SMECluster customers (other than as necessary for order fulfilment and related customer service) and emails related to marketing communications of any kind are prohibited. 

Appropriate treatment of customer phone numbers: 

SMECluster provides professional sellers who fulfil their own orders access to customer phone numbers so that they can comply with carrier label requirements. If you receive this customer information, you are required to adhere to SMECluster's Privacy Policy: 

Proper treatment of customer phone numbers: 

Print on labels to comply with carrier requirements. 

Dispose of any customer phone number data that you retain after you have processed the customers’ orders. 

Monitor who in your organisation has access to customer phone numbers – protecting this data is your responsibility. 

Improper treatment of customer phone numbers: 

Never contact a customer using their phone number. To contact a customer about their order, only use Buyer-Seller Messaging.  

Never share customer phone information with an external party. 

Never pass along customer information of any kind, including phone numbers, outside of Buyer-Seller Messaging. 

Direct email addresses: 

Buyers and sellers can communicate with one another via the Buyer-Seller Messaging Service, which assigns unique SMECluster-generated email addresses to both parties. Sellers are prohibited from providing or soliciting direct, non-SMECluster-generated email addresses on the SMECluster website or in correspondence through the Buyer-Seller Messaging Service. 

Filing Infringement Notices as an Agent or Brand Protection Agency 

SMECluster understands that many brands may choose to have brand protection agencies or agents report intellectual property infringement on their behalf, and accepts submissions from authorised agents. However, SMECluster does not permit individuals with active selling accounts to file infringement notices as an agent of a brand when the filing of those notices could benefit their own selling account (through removing competing listings, for example). Any person filing notices as an agent that benefit their own status as a seller may have their selling account terminated. 

Misuse of the SMECluster selling service: 

All sellers are able to access and use the SMECluster selling service. If a seller uploads excessive amounts of data repeatedly, or otherwise uses the service in an excessive or unreasonable way, it can create a disproportional load and impair the ability of other sellers to easily access and use the service. If you misuse or make excessive or unreasonable use of the SMECluster selling service, SMECluster may, in its sole discretion, restrict or block your access to product feeds or any other functions that are being misused until you no longer misuse them. 

Post-transaction price manipulation and excessive shipping fees: 

Any attempt to increase the sale price of an item after a transaction has been completed is prohibited. Additionally, you cannot set excessive order fulfilment and shipping costs. 

Drop Shipping Policy 

Drop shipping, or allowing a third party to fulfil orders to customers on your behalf, is generally acceptable. If you intend to fulfil orders using a drop shipper you must always: 

• be the seller of record of your products; 
• identify yourself as the seller of your products on all package slips and other information included or provided in connection with them; 
• be responsible for accepting and processing customer returns of your products; and 
• comply with all other terms of your seller agreement and applicable SMECluster policies. 

 
Examples of drop shipping that are not permitted: 

• purchasing products from another online retailer and having that retailer shipping directly to customers; or 
• shipping orders with packing slips, invoices or other information indicating a seller name or contact information other than your own. 

 
Failure to comply with these requirements may result in the suspension or removal of your selling privileges.