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ONLINE MARKETPLACE STOREFRONT GUIDELINES

 

A. General Requirements. The following requirements apply to all Authorized Storefronts:

  1. The Authorized Storefront must be confined to the specific approved screen name or storefront name.The Authorized Storefront must not give the appearance that it is operated by VPG or any party other than Seller.
  2. Seller shall, to the fullest extent possible, disable all cross-border shipping or international listings of the Products on the Authorized Storefront and shall disable automatic listings on affiliated or other online marketplace platforms.
  3. Seller shall not sell through an Authorized Storefront anonymously.To the fullest extent permitted by the marketplace, Seller shall clearly display on the Authorized Storefront and/or product listings its full legal name or registered fictitious name, mailing address, telephone contact, email address, and marketplace seller/merchant ID.
  4. To the fullest extent permitted by the marketplace, the Authorized Storefront shall disclose Seller’s customer return policy, customer service contact information, customer service hours, and any fees charged to customers associated with returns (e.g., restocking).
  5. Seller shall activate all available marketplace-operated customer communications features (e.g., “Contact Seller”) and shall respond to any customer inquiries or communications related to the Products received through any marketplace-operated communications platform within one business day of receipt.
  6. Seller agrees to provide copies of any information related to customer communications (including any responses to customers) regarding the Products (collectively, “Customer Communications”) to VPG for review upon request.Seller agrees to cooperate with VPG in the investigation of any negative online review associated with Seller’s sale of the Products and to use reasonable efforts to resolve any such reviews.Seller shall maintain all records related to Customer Communications for at least one year following the creation or submission of such a record, to the extent legally permitted.Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to require Seller to disclose identifying information about its customers to VPG.
  7. Seller shall represent or advertise all Products in compliance with the marketplace’s item condition guidelines.
  8. The Authorized Storefront shall comply with all applicable privacy, accessibility, and data security laws, regulations, and industry standards.
  9. Seller shall be responsible for all fulfillment to its customers who order Products through Authorized Storefronts, any applicable taxes associated with such purchases of Products, and any returns of Products.
  10. Except as otherwise provided herein or as approved by VPG, Seller shall fulfill all orders for Products and shall meet all requirements imposed by a marketplace platform related to speed of order acknowledgment and order fulfillment.
  11. Seller shall adhere to instructions from VPG regarding the disposition of any unfillable or unsaleable Product, and to the fullest extent possible, not permit any fulfillment service or marketplace platform or its affiliates (if applicable) to dispose or otherwise liquidate unfillable or unsaleable Products except in accordance with VPG’s instructions or as otherwise agreed to by VPG and Seller.If applicable, Seller shall require a marketplace platform or its affiliates to return unfillable or unsaleable Products to Seller or VPG.
  12. Except where Seller has entered into a drop-shipment arrangement with VPG (or, with VPG’s prior written consent, an Authorized Distributor) whereby VPG (or the Authorized Distributor) ships Products on Seller’s behalf to customers who order Products through the Authorized Storefront, Seller shall not permit orders to be fulfilled in any way that results in the shipped Product coming from stock other than Seller’s.
  13. Seller shall maintain an acceptable seller rating or feedback score for the Authorized Storefront, as determined by VPG in its sole discretion.
  14. Seller shall remain in good standing with the marketplace platform for each Authorized Storefront and shall notify VPG in writing within twenty-four (24) hours of notification from an online marketplace related to seller performance, including, without limitation, (a) any notice that Seller has not complied with any marketplace guidelines, policies, seller standards, or similar requirements, and (b) any selling restrictions placed on the Authorized Storefront or the Products.
  15. Seller shall promptly report to VPG any quality issues associated with its sales of the Products.
  16. Following termination or expiration of Seller’s authorization to offer for sale or sell the Products on the Authorized Storefront(s), Seller shall take all reasonable actions to ensure the orderly and uninterrupted transition of the offering of the Products on the applicable third-party marketplace platform(s). Such actions may include, but are not limited to, cooperating with VPG or its designated third party to provide necessary account access, data, or documentation. This subsection shall survive termination or expiration of the authorizations granted herein.
  17. VPG reserves the right to request information from Seller, including, but not limited to, information found within the marketplace seller portal associated with any Authorized Storefront, related to fulfillment, order defects, marketplace policy compliance, seller feedback, and other metrics, to evaluate Seller’s performance on the platform, compliance with the terms of this Policy, and continued authorization to sell Products through the Authorized Storefront(s).Seller shall provide such information upon request.

B. Amazon Requirements.  If an Authorized Storefront is a storefront on the Amazon.com marketplace (“Amazon Storefront”), the following additional requirements apply:

  1. Seller may use Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon (“FBA”) service to fulfill orders for the Products sold through the Amazon Storefront, provided that Seller discloses its use of the FBA service to VPG.If Seller uses the FBA service, Seller shall:
    1. provide the Products to Amazon’s FBA warehouses in a manner that ensures the Products qualify for Amazon’s Prime service;
    2. ensure that Seller’s inventory of Products is not comingled with any Products belonging to a third party by applying unique Fulfillment Network Stock Keeping Unit (“FNSKU”) labels to each Product fulfilled using the FBA service; and
    3. to the fullest extent permitted by Amazon, opt out of Amazon’s “repackaging” program and any other program whereby Amazon fulfills orders for “new” Products with Products that have been returned opened or are repackaged or refurbished.
  2. Seller shall list Products only on Amazon Standard Identification Numbers (“ASIN(s)”) created by or authorized by VPG.Seller shall not create any new ASIN for a Product without the prior written consent of VPG.Seller shall not alter or modify the content of any ASIN without the prior written consent of VPG.  To the extent Seller acquires any right or interest in or to any ASIN used to market or sell the Products, Seller assigns and conveys all such right and/or interest to VPG.Seller shall engage in all activities or take any actions VPG requests to facilitate the transfer of control of any such ASIN to VPG.  This subsection shall survive termination of this Policy. 
  3. Unless authorized in writing by VPG to sell Products through the Amazon Business Seller program, Seller shall opt out of the Amazon Business Seller Program to remove the business-to-business features in Seller’s Amazon Seller Central account.
  4. Upon request, Seller shall provide VPG with a report regarding the Amazon Storefront (“Amazon Performance Report”).This Amazon Performance Report must include:
    1. A screenshot of the Account Health dashboard within Seller’s Amazon Seller Central portal for the Amazon Storefront that provides the following information: (i) Customer Service Performance showing Order Defect Rate, including Negative Feedback, A-to-z Guarantee claims, and Chargeback claims rates; (ii) Shipping Performance (including Late Shipment Rate, Pre-fulfillment Cancel Rate, Valid Tracking Rate, and On-time Delivery Rate); and (iii) Policy Compliance, including Account Health Rating and Suspected Intellectual Property Violations, Received Intellectual Property Complaints, Product Authenticity Customer Complaints, Product Condition Customer Complaints, Food and Product Safety Issues, Listing Policy Violations, Restricted Product Policy Violations, Customer Product Reviews Policy Violations, Other Policy Violations, Regulatory Compliance, and Policy Violation Warnings.
    2. A screenshot of the Voice of the Customer dashboard within Seller’s Amazon Seller Central portal for the Amazon Storefront.

    Notwithstanding any changes by Amazon to the names/titles of any of the above metrics, if Amazon no longer reports any of the above information, Seller shall no longer be required to include it in its Amazon Performance Report, but Seller and VPG shall discuss whether a substitute metric should be required.  Seller agrees to provide such substitute metric(s) upon request. 

  5. If any Policy Compliance complaint or violation relates to a Product, Seller shall provide a detailed report to VPG within one business day regarding the complaint or violation including the violation date, reason, impacted ASIN(s), action taken, and resolution or plan to resolve.
  6. If any Product ASIN sold by Seller has a Customer Experience (CX) rating of “Very Poor” or “Poor,” Seller shall report the ASIN and rating to VPG within one business day and shall work with VPG to determine the potential cause of the Very Poor or Poor rating.Seller and VPG shall work together to implement mutually agreed upon measures to improve the rating for such ASIN.
  7. Seller shall provide a returns report for each ASIN that has a return rate of 3% or greater.Seller and VPG will promptly work to determine the cause of the return rate and take any mutually agreeable actions to lower the return rate to below 3%.

C. eBay Requirements.If an Authorized Storefront is a storefront on eBay.com (“eBay Store”), the following additional requirements apply:

  1. Seller shall sell Products through an eBay Store (business account).
  2. Seller shall offer at least a thirty (30) day return window to consumers.
  3. Seller shall use its best efforts to achieve a “Top Rated” seller status within the first six (6) months of Seller’s Product sales through the eBay Store.Seller shall notify VPG in writing within twenty-four (24) hours if Seller falls below eBay’s “Above Standard” seller status to eBay’s “Below Standard” seller status.
  4. Seller shall maintain a seller feedback score of at least 98% for the prior twelve (12) months for the eBay Store.
  5. Upon request, Seller shall provide VPG with a report regarding the eBay Store (“eBay Performance Report”).  This eBay Performance Report must include screenshots of Seller’s Seller Standards Dashboard or other metrics in the eBay Seller Hub as necessary to provide the following information: (a) Seller Level (i.e., Below Standard, Above Standard, Top Rated, or Top Rated Plus); (b) Transaction Defect Rate; (c) Late Shipment Rate; and (d) Cases Closed Without Seller Resolution.  The eBay Performance Report must include this information for every time period for which the information is reported on eBay.  Notwithstanding any changes by eBay to the names/titles of any of the above metrics, if eBay no longer reports any of the above information, Seller shall no longer be required to include it in its eBay Performance Report, but Seller and VPG shall discuss whether a substitute metric should be required.Seller agrees to provide such substitute metric(s) upon request.
 

D. Walmart Requirements. If an Authorized Storefront is a storefront on the Walmart.com marketplace (“Walmart Storefront”), the following additional requirements apply:

  1. Seller shall use its best efforts to meet all eligibility criteria to qualify for Walmart’s “Pro Seller” badging and achieve a Pro Seller badge within the first six (6) months of Seller’s Product sales through the Walmart Storefront.Seller shall promptly notify VPG in writing if Seller does not achieve a Walmart Pro Seller badge during this time.Once badged, Seller shall promptly notify VPG in writing of any alert from Walmart to Seller that Seller has fallen below the minimum criteria to retain the Pro Seller badge at the time of Walmart’s next refresh.
  2. Seller may use Walmart Fulfillment Services (“WFS”) to fulfill orders for the Products sold through the Walmart Storefront, provided that Seller discloses its use of WFS to VPG.If Seller uses WFS, Seller shall:
    1. provide the Products to WFS fulfillment centers in a manner that ensures that Products qualify for Walmart “2-day shipping” and “Fulfilled by Walmart” display tags and include two (2) day or faster shipping;
    2. ensure Seller’s inventory of Products is not comingled with any Products belonging to a third party and opt out of any program whereby WFS fulfills orders in any way that results in the shipped Product coming from stock other than Seller’s;
    3. unless separately authorized by VPG, only permit WFS to fulfill orders for Products placed through the Walmart Storefront; and
    4. to the fullest extent permitted by WFS, opt out of any program whereby WFS fulfills orders for “new” Products with Products that have been returned opened or are repackaged or refurbished.
  3. Upon request, Seller shall provide VPG with a report regarding the Walmart Storefront (“Walmart Performance Report”). The Walmart Performance Report must include screenshots of metrics in the Walmart Marketplace Seller Center as necessary to provide the following information: (a) Seller’s Listing Quality dashboard, including overall Listing quality score and breakdown and Items performance rankings; and (b) Seller’s Performance dashboard, including On-Time Delivery Rate, Valid Tracking Rate, Refund Rate, Cancellation Rate, and Seller Response Rate.The Walmart Performance Report must include this information for every time period for which the information is reported on Seller’s Walmart Marketplace Seller Center account.Notwithstanding any changes by Walmart to the names/titles of any of the above metrics, if Walmart Marketplace no longer reports any of the above information, Seller shall no longer be required to include it in its Walmart Performance Report, but Seller and VPG shall discuss whether a substitute metric should be required.Seller agrees to provide such substitute metric(s) upon request.

E. Target Requirements. If an Authorized Storefront is a storefront on the Target marketplace (“Target Storefront”), the following additional requirements apply:

  1. Upon request, Seller shall provide VPG with a report regarding the Target Storefront (“Target Performance Report”), which must include screenshots of Seller’s Target Partners Online portal for the Target Storefront that provide Seller’s order defect rate, feedback scores, shipping performance, and other performance metrics, to the extent such data is reported and available to Seller.The Target Performance Report must include this information for every time period for which the information is reported on the Target Partners Online portal.If the Target Partners Online portal no longer reports any of the above information, Seller shall no longer be required to include it in its Target Performance Report, but Seller and VPG shall discuss whether a substitute metric should be required.Seller agrees to provide such substitute metric(s) upon request.

F. Facebook Marketplace Requirements. If an Authorized Storefront is a storefront on Facebook (“Facebook Shop”), the following additional requirements apply:

  1. Seller shall sell Products through a Facebook Shop (business or commerce account).
  2. Seller shall fulfill all sales through the Facebook Shop, provided that all transactions of sales of Products are consummated through Seller’s Permissible Public Website or by telephone. Seller shall dispose of any unfillable or unsaleable Product in accordance with VPG’s instructions.
  3. Upon request, Seller shall provide VPG with a report regarding the Facebook Shop (“Facebook Performance Report”).This Facebook Performance Report must include screenshots of Seller’s Commerce Manager dashboard or other metrics in the Commerce Manager portal as necessary to provide the following information: (a) Seller’s seller rating, and (b) Seller’s Shop “Insights” data/performance metrics related to listing and/or sale of the Products through the Facebook Shop. The Facebook Performance Report must also include information related to any disputes opened by customers regarding the Products or Seller’s sale of the same. The Facebook Performance Report must include this information for every time period for which the information is reported on Seller’s Commerce Manager portal.Notwithstanding any changes by Facebook to the names/titles of any of the above metrics, if Facebook no longer reports any of the above information, Seller shall no longer be required to include it in its Facebook Performance Report, but Seller and VPG shall discuss whether a substitute metric should be required.Seller agrees to provide such substitute metric(s) upon request.

G. Sears Requirements.If an Authorized Storefront is a storefront on the Sears.com marketplace (“Sears Storefront”), the following additional requirements apply:

  1. Seller shall ensure that all Product listings on the Sears Storefront include Product UPC information and shall not copy Product listings from another seller’s listings on the Sears.com marketplace platform without VPG’s separate written consent.Seller shall ensure that when creating all Product listings, Seller completes all Product “required,” “variation,” and “search” attributes, as applicable to each Product or as otherwise requested by Sears.
  2. Seller shall offer at least a thirty (30) day return window to consumers.
  3. Seller shall use its best efforts to achieve a “Preferred” seller status within the first six (6) months of Seller’s Product sales through the Sears Storefront.Seller shall promptly notify VPG in writing if Seller does not achieve a Preferred seller status during this time.Seller shall notify VPG in writing within one business day if Seller loses its “Preferred” seller status after having attained such status.
  4. Upon request, Seller shall provide VPG with a report regarding the Sears Storefront (“Sears Performance Report”).This Sears Performance Report must include screenshots of Seller’s Seller Portal for the Sears Storefront as necessary to provide the following information: (i) Late Overdue Rate; (ii) Seller Initiated Cancel Rate; (iii) Late Shipment Rate; and (iv) BuyBox Performance, including “% of Items Winning BuyBox,” “# of Items Winning BuyBox,” and “# of Items Losing BuyBox.”The Sears Performance Report must include this information for every time period for which the information is reported on the Sears marketplace Seller Portal.Notwithstanding any changes by Sears to the names/titles of any of the above metrics, if Sears no longer reports any of the above information, Seller shall no longer be required to include it in its Sears Performance Report, but Seller and VPG shall discuss whether a substitute metric should be required.Seller agrees to provide such substitute metric(s) upon request.
  5. Seller may allow automatic and/or cross listings of Products on the Kmart.com marketplace provided that Seller discloses to VPG its use of the same and agrees to adhere to the same additional requirements on the Kmart.com marketplace as it has for the Sears Storefront.

H. Lowe’s Requirements. If an Authorized Storefront is a storefront on the Lowe’s marketplace (“Lowe’s Storefront”), the following additional requirements apply:

  1. Seller shall fulfill all sales through the Lowe’s Storefront and meet all shipping requirements (i.e., within 24 business hours for small parcel shipments, within 3 business days for LTL shipments).
  2. Upon request, Seller shall provide VPG with a report regarding the Lowe’s Storefront (“Lowe’s Performance Report”), which must include screenshots of Seller’s Lowe’s Marketplace platform portal for the Lowe’s Storefront that provide Seller’s order defect rate, shipping performance, customer feedback, and other performance metrics, to the extent such data is reported and available to Seller.The Lowe’s Performance Report must include this information for every time period for which the information is reported on the Lowe’s Marketplace platform.If Lowe’s no longer reports any of the above information, Seller shall no longer be required to include it in its Lowe’s Performance Report, but Seller and VPG shall discuss whether a substitute metric should be required.Seller agrees to provide such substitute metric(s) upon request.

I. TikTok Shop Requirements. If an Authorized Storefront is a storefront on TikTok Shop (“TikTok Storefront”), the following additional requirements apply:

  1. Seller shall operate the TikTok Storefront as a business seller.
  2. Seller shall, to the fullest extent possible, not permit any third party to alter, modify, remix, or otherwise manipulate any Product content (including, but not limited to, images, audio, and video) generated or used by Seller to advertise or sell the Products without the prior written consent of VPG in each instance.This includes any necessary opt-outs within the TikTok Shop to prevent the same.
  3. Upon request, Seller shall provide VPG with a report regarding the TikTok Storefront (“TikTok Performance Report”).This TikTok Performance Report must include screenshots of metrics in the TikTok Seller Center as necessary to provide the following information: (a) Seller-related Negative Review Rate, (b) Service-related Negative Review Rate, (c) Product-related Negative Review Rate, (d) Seller Fault Cancellation Rate, (e) Late Dispatch Rate, (f) Seller Fault Return/Refund Rate, (g) Valid Tracking Rate, (h) Defective Order Return/Refund Rate, and (i) Shop Performance Score.The TikTok Performance Report must include this information for every time period for which the information is reported on Seller’s TikTok Seller Center account.Notwithstanding any changes by TikTok to the names/titles of the above metrics, if TikTok no longer reports any of the above information, Seller shall no longer be required to include it in its TikTok Performance Report, but Seller and VPG shall discuss whether a substitute metric should be required.Seller agrees to provide such substitute metric(s) upon request.