Vendor Policy

Mustbuy.ph Vendor Policies

Last updated MAY 5, 2019

I. MARKETPLACE AGREEMENT

Mustbuy.ph’s Vendor Agreement comprises the terms and conditions that should guide vendors in their activities using the Platform. By selling on Mustbuy.ph, the parties agree to all its terms and conditions.

II. VENDOR ACCOUNT POLICY

Mustbuy.ph’s Vendor Agreement comprises the terms and conditions that should guide vendors in their activities using the Platform. By selling on Mustbuy.ph, the parties agree to all its terms and conditions.

What are Non-Compliance Warnings?
Warning system where we measure a vendor’s compliance to Mustbuy.ph’s policies. With this system in place, we strive to eliminate behavioral misconduct. Once the third warning is issued, the next non-compliance will result to termination of your account.

Issuing non-compliance points or account-related actions will be taken if vendors are verified to have taken part in activities that do not comply to our policies.

  • What policies should be observed to avoid non-compliance warnings?

III. NEW VENDOR ACCOUNT RULES

Mustbuy.ph’s Vendor Agreement comprises the terms and conditions that should guide vendors in their activities using the Platform. By selling on Mustbuy.ph, the parties agree to all its terms and conditions.

  • Vendors who were terminated are not allowed to open a new account.
  • Vendors are not allowed to create multiple stores.
  • Vendors are not allowed to imitate other seller’s decoration, products or content to avoid confusion or difficulties for buyers in identifying the seller.
  • We do not tolerate cheating or fraudulent behavior, or else we will not hesitate to take further actions.
  • You can file an appeal request via our Support Team if you received a notification that you violated our policy.

IV. STORE NAMING GUIDELINES

Mustbuy.ph’s Vendor Agreement comprises the terms and conditions that should guide vendors in their activities using the Platform. By selling on Mustbuy.ph, the parties agree to all its terms and conditions.

Contents should not have the following or similar variations within their store name:

  • Registered Brand Names
  • Derogatory, offensive, or sensitive words
  • Sexually suggestive or explicit content (profanity, slang terms, terms that are signals for pedophilia, bestiality, or sexual violence)
  • References to violent or terrorist activities
  • Copyrighted & trademarked words/phrases
  • Existing platform words (ex. Mustbuy, Mustbuy.ph)
  • Only Category name (ex. Laptops)
  • Only numbers or long string of numbers (ex. MS000000111)
  • Terms like “Official” or “Flagship” etc., if not a flagship, official or exclusive distributor store, then do not include those words in the store name. If vendor insists, they should produce a proof.
  • Generic words (ex. store, shop)
  • Duplicate Names (exactly similar to existing stores to avoid duplication and confusion)
  • Comparison Naming (ex. best, better)
  • Specific products that are banned from being sold (see Prohibited and Controlled Products List)
  • Phone numbers, links (ex. .com)
  • Store names that include “covid” “corona virus”
  •  

If found non-compliant to the Store Naming Policy, store name will be reset to default settings.

V. INACTIVE SELLER POLICY

Mustbuy.ph’s Vendor Agreement comprises the terms and conditions that should guide vendors in their activities using the Platform. By selling on Mustbuy.ph, the parties agree to all its terms and conditions.

  • If you’re on vacation, you must set your store into holiday mode.
  • If a seller is inactive after 60 days, the status of the store will automatically changed to holiday mode.
  • If a store is on holiday mode, your products are not visible on the platform. You will be informed via email that we set your store in holiday mode.
  • Sellers can simply re-active their store.

VI. DIGITAL GOODS SELLING GUIDELINE

Transactions for digital goods that are considered illegal

  • Digital Goods products that violate the intellectual property rights policy including download links and serial codes to software such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Suite, etc. without license to distribute; e-books without the license of the publisher; files of movies and media without the license of the creator or distributor; and subscription to streaming sites (unless authorized by providers).
  • Digital products that violate the Prohibited & Controlled Goods Policy including: cryptocurrencies; bank transfer, remittance services, unauthorized wallet value/services, prepaid load/credits; mobile or gaming app credits; online travel processing; online passport and visa processing, subscription to pornographic sites, and digital adult services (webcam).
  • Product Listings where there is no specific good, service or consideration provided back to the customer (except donations) are prohibited in the platform. Product listings that are for donations must list down explicitly (both in the product name and descriptions) the source to whom the funding will be redirected and should also present documents showing they are valid Non-Profit Organizations.

Vendors must ensure vouchers and promo codes are active. Information regarding validity and expiration must be provided in product description. Any seller who is found guilty of selling expired digital goods or falsifying the duration of validity of the goods may receive a warning.

Digital goods to be sent via e-mail of SMS must be delivered within 24 hours upon successful payment of customer. Unfulfilled orders within 24 hours will be automatically cancelled by Mustbuy.ph. Vendor must refund the customer.

VII. CONTENT & CATALOG POLICY

Mustbuy.ph does not allow content or product descriptions that intend to deceive users by excluding relevant information or giving misleading information about products or services. Vendors have a responsibility to ensure that accurate information is given to customers about the performance characteristics and benefits of their products, and that any claims are backed by adequate scientific or technical evidence.

If product listings are found to contain misleading and/or false descriptions, Mustbuy.ph reserves the right to suspend the vendor account, especially for repeated or severe policy violations. If you receive a notification for violating our policy, you may file appeal request by sending an email to our Support Team.

  • Examples of Content & Catalog Policy breach:
  • a. Under relevance
  • Information, images, or videos in your product listing that are not relevant to the product or services offered (i.e obscene images, scary, distasteful or overly graphic).
  • Using false claims or misleading claims that entice the user with an improbable result (i.e miracle cures, extreme weight loss products or programs).
  • Omitting information that is important to the product and service (ex. Expiry date, side effects of using the product).
  • Using competitive claims (superlatives and comparatives: best, No.1, better than, faster than, without any adequate scientific or technical evidence).
  • Listing of Products that does not have a clear detail of what buyers expect to receive, or product that mislead buyers to think that they get a better value off the recommended retail price or market price
  • Mystery/Surprise Boxes, Products with Lucky Draw features,
  • Products with prices that are inflated out of the normal ranges will not be approved, or deactivated.
  •  
  • Product Content Quality Rules:
  • Main Product Image
  • Must feature product itself
  • Must not consist of “before and after” and or testimonial type of images
  • Overclaiming exaggerated effects
  •  
  • Product Title
  • Must be straightforward and factual
  • Must consist of relevant keywords only
  • No words that compare or boasts itself as a 100% solution
  •  
  • Product Content
  • Must not mention any competitive claims
  • Must not include any distasteful keywords, or images
  •  
  • b. Product Miscategorization
  • Product listings that are placed in inappropriate categories making it difficult for buyers to find the product.
  • Mustbuy.ph reserves the right to deactivate the miscategorized product/ Vendor will be notified to correct your product with the correct category before activating the product again.
  • Should vendor be identified to have intentionally miscategorized for fraud purposes, issues of non-compliance warning and/or restrictions to sellers account may apply. If you have received a notification that your store is locked due to Willful Miscategorization, and you would like to file an appeal request, you may do so by sending an email to our Support Team.
  •  
  • c. Duplication of Product Listings
  • If product is available in different options, such as color or size, those options should be listed as variations under the same listing.
  • Willful Product Duplication is defined as a vendor observed to have engaged in activities to duplicate or spam product listings. Action will be taken when a vendor engages in duplication activities. They may receive a non-compliance warning or account may be locked. Depending on severity, vendors may experience account termination.
  •  
  • Possible Scenarios
  • Creating multiple listings for varying purchase quantity and minor differences to the product details such as price, color, size and materials, etc.
  • Creating multiple listings for the same item under same or different categories
  • Creating separate listings for universal items with different product compatibility
  • Listing the same set of items under multiple store, managed by the same seller
  • Listing huge volume of duplicated products
  •  
  • d. Product Quality Rating (PQR)
  • i. The following factors may lead to a poor PQR score for your product, such as but are not limited to:
  • Product near or past expiry date
  • Products that are damaged or defective
  • Product not as described
  • Missing accessories or freebies
  • Wrong item delivered
  •  
  • ii. How are PQI cases being identified?
  • It has received low product rating from buyers
  • Products have been returned due to seller-fault reasons
  • Buyers submit a complaint to our customer support team
  • The score is determined over a period of 3 months. Ex. A product with both a low product rating and complaint from the buyer is considered as 1 case.
  • We will notify you via e-mail that your listing has been deactivated. By setting the product offline, you can work on improving the quality of your product before re-uploading it.
  • Your product will be locked if it is deactivated due to poor score for more than 3 times. To file an appeal request for your product, please email our Support Team
  •  
  • iii. How do I improve the PQR score of my products?
  • Have proper standard operating procedure on Stock Management that has clear product MFG/EXP date.
  • Apply First in First out rule in inventory management.
  • Check stocks regularly, and remove/return products for those that have less than 6 months expiry.
  • Do not over order products to avoid stockpile.
  • Protect your products form damage by using parcel labels (ex. This Side Up, Fragile), or pack them with air cushion (ex. Bubble wrap).
  • Ensure that your product content is updated from time to time, and pay attention to customer reviews to ensure accurate product description.
  • Conduct product checks before inbounding to warehouse to ensure you have complete accessories or freebies, and make sure the packers are knowledgeable in the packing process.
  •  

VIII. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS POLICY

a. Violating this policy may result in loss of selling privileges or other legal consequences.

  • Counterfeits or infringement of Copyrights, Trademarks – unlawful reproduction
  • Content Infringement of trademarks and copyrights
  • Infringement of Patent Rights
  • Infringement of Registered Design Rights
  •  

b. Illustrations and Examples

  • Trademarks – Legal protection for a recognizable sign, design, or expression which identifies products or services of a source from those of the others
  • Copyrights – Legal protections for original creative works to determine whether and under what conditions it may be copied and used by others
  • Patent – Legal protections for inventions (ex. Process design) to exclude others from making, using, selling and importing
  • Registered Design – Legal protections for the shape, configuration, visual appearance, pattern or ornamentation of a product
  •  
  • Sample Case 1
  •  
  • Vendor applies a sign or signs identical or similar to a registered trademark, to a product to establish the origin of such product or service, and the application of such sign has been conducted without consent of the proprietor for the registered trademark.
  • Vendor reproduces, publishes or distributes creative works which are subject to copyright and offer such works for sale on the platform without the express or implied consent of the owner of the copyright.
  •  
  • Sample Case 2
  • Infringing Content
  • Unfair or unauthorized use of trademark rights in product descriptions or other information.
  • Use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder
  •  
  • Other types
  • Infringement of a registered design includes listing a product that is identical or substantially similar in overall impression to the registered design
  • Listing a patented concept or invention within the duration of the patent hence, violating the rights of the patent owner
  • Sellers who have been verified to have infringed the Intellectual Property Rights Policy will have the corresponding product removed and may suffer termination of their account.
  •  

Vendor’s Responsibility

It is recommended that you know the source of the supplier’s purchase before you purchase the goods. If your products have been identified to be not authentic, your product will be subjected up to 2 warnings and it will be locked. Mustbuy.ph has zero tolerance on counterfeits.

If you have identified other sellers using your images on their product information page, you can file a complaint through our Support Team. In order to have the rights to raise the complaint, you will need proof that you are the creator or originator of these images.

IX. PROHIBITED & CONTROLLED PRODUCTS POLICY

Any breach of the Prohibited and Controlled Products Policy may result in the removal of your product listing and/or issuance of a non-compliance warning. Mustbuy.ph shall remove the product listings, issue non-compliance warnings or take other any action that it deems necessary as its sole and absolute discretion. If you have received a notification that you violated our policy, and you would like to file appeal request, you may do so by emailing our Support Team.

  • a. Here is the list of Prohibited and Controlled products:
  • Obscenity
  • Adult Materials (ex. sex toys, pornography, adult video game, adult service, child pornography, etc.)
  • Weapons (ex. Dagger, sword, knives, weapons disguised as common objects, toys or cosplay knives, etc.)
  • Firearms & Ammunitions (ex. Stun gun/tasers, axe, tear gas, flares, bows & arrows, etc.)
  • Human parts, Human Remains, and Protected Flora and Fauna
  • Collection, artifacts and precious metals (ex. Gold bar, virtual currencies like Bitcoin, currency in circulation, currency collectibles and paraphernalia, counterfeit financial instruments)
  • Tobacco and Alcohol (ex. Electronic cigarette, e-liquid, beer)
  • Illicit Drugs, precursors and drug paraphernalia (ex. Marijuana, steroids, etc., drug packaging)
  • Circumvention devices and other equipment used for illicit purposes (IP box, mobile booster, mobile signal, signal jammer, spy equipment, hacking tools/software, streaming media box)
  • Flammable, Explosive and Hazardous Chemicals (ex. Explosives, detonation materials, toxic pesticides)
  • Gambling (ex. Slot machine, scratch cards and lottery, online gambling)
  • Gambling (ex. Slot machine, scratch cards and lottery, online gambling)
  • Illegal Services (ex. Falsification of government issued documents)
  • Medical Devices (ex. Cosmetic needles, medical devices like laser tattoo removal machine, contact lenses, dental or medical services, Xray machine)
  • Medical Drugs (ex. Over the counter drugs, prescription drugs, regulated poisonous herbal medicines, illegal health products)
  • Offensive material and information detrimental to National Security (ex. Terrorism, communism related, political figures, royalty and related symbols, racist materials, religious/culture related, etc.)
  • Sanctions (ex. Iran petroleum, North Korea and seafood and minerals)
  • Government, law enforcement and military issued items (ex. Police equipment, police vehicles, handcuffs, etc.)
  • Controlled products and other provisions and supplementary policies to the Philippine Market (ex. Milk products, telecommunication equipment, recalled goods etc.)

X. FAIR TRADING POLICY

There are fraudulent activities that vendors are not allowed to participate in. Vendors that are found to have participated in fraudulent activities may be issued up to 2 non-compliance warnings.

  • a. Fraudulent Dealing
  • Defrauding other people’s property by implementing fraudulent acts through third-party accounts.
  • Sending a phishing link or Trojan virus information to defraud other people’s property.
  • Fraudulently using the name of Mustbuy.ph and its affiliates or the Mustbuy.ph customer service.
  •  
  • b. Off Platform Transactions
  • A vendor posts his/her contact information asking the buyer to directly contact him/her instead of through the Mustbuy.ph platform.
  • A vendor entices the buyer to purchase from his store on another platform that comes with a discount or selling price that is lower than the advertised price on Mustbuy.ph.
  •  
  • c. Anti-Competitive Behavior
  • Vendors who have been found engaging in such anti-competitive practices are deemed to be non-compliant with the Fair Trading Policy and may receive a per incident. If you received a notification for violating our policy and would like to file an appeal request, you may email our Support Team.
  • Vendor uses member accounts to place orders for other vendors and not paying for the stocks, affecting the normal operations of other vendors.
  • Vendor uses member accounts to place orders for other vendors and maliciously giving bad reviews or evaluating the content does not match the facts.
  • Vendor uses his own account to deliberately damage the other vendors.
  • Self-promotion / Vendor buys own products

    • a. A vendor collaborates with someone else to order own products to intentionally increase performance on Mustbuy.ph
    • b. A vendor orders his/her products and submit positive reviews for own products and/or to improve rankings
    • c. A vendor orders his/her products to increase total order volume or ranking
  •  
  • d. Voucher and Subsidies Abuse
  • Vendors who are found to the below mentioned unlawful profit-making activities are deemed to be non-compliant with Fair Trading Policy and will receive a non-compliance warning per incident.
  • Using illegal means to defraud the platform voucher, subsidies etc
  • The vendor violates the Mustbuy.ph platform policies and illegally profits through other means.
  •  
  • e. Fulfillment Fraud
  • Refers to the situations where vendors deliberately create false shipments to cheat buyers. Those who are found to have participated in fraudulent behavior will receive a non-compliance warning. If you receive a notification for violating this policy and would like to appeal a request, you may do so by emailing our Support Team.
  •  
  • What kinds of actions are considered as fulfillment fraud?
  • Invalid shipping and tracking reference number.
  • The vendor and buyer maliciously connived and in the absence of the real order transactions, mislead the platform through misappropriation of false shipments.
  • Giving out valid shipping tracking reference number but given the tracking number has no obvious relationship to the transaction.
  • The vendor forces the buyer to confirm the receipt of the parcel even if it is not yet received.
  • Creating an order in Mustbuy.ph on behalf of the offline customer.
  • Sending an empty parcel to buyers.
  • Sending of items that are different to the Product Display.
  • Sending of items that are different to the Product Display however, it is of lower value (such as faulty, no brand, previous models of a product, lesser units as advertised).
  • For digital goods, a buyer orders a digital good from the vendor and the order is shown as delivered but the vendor did not send anything to the buyer.
  • For digital goods, buyer purchases a promo code from the vendor. Vendor sent a code to the buyer, however, the code is either expired or invalid.
  • If a vendor ships the wrong item unintentionally, Mustbuy.ph still reserves the right to decide whether the vendor’s behavior of shipping the wrong item is unintentional or deliberate, and based on the severity of the incident

XI. ORDER MANAGEMENT POLICY

  • a. Ship on Time
  • Standard for a vendor to ship an item is 2 working days
  •  
  • b. Vendor Cancellation Policy
  • Cancellations lead to unhappy customer experience; hence, cancellation rate is monitored. Vendors who have high cancellation rate may be put in Holiday Mode.
  • Cancellations initiated by the vendor
  • Cancellations initiated by Mustbuy.ph (Mustbuy.ph will cancel an order when a seller does not fulfill order within the agreed shipping time)
  • Products with high cancellation rate may be set to offline mode. Vendors will need to update the content and stock level for the product listing accurately before reactivating the product listing again
  •  
  • c. Package Dimension & Rule Weight
  • Wrong input of dimensions and weight will result in unnecessary additional costs. If the weight of the product is greater than the actual weight, the product loses competitiveness (due to higher shipping), as well as resulting in poor customer experience and customer complaints. If the weight of the product is lower than the actual weight, the vendor may lose money for the charges.
  •  
  • Under this policy, we require that the dimension and/or weight of the package declared matches the actual size of the package. We deserve the right to deactivate products for packages that are not in adherence in this policy. If you receive a notification about your policy violation and you would like to file appeal request, you may do so by emailing our Support Team.
  • Vendor is required to edit the content of the weight and/or dimensions in order to reactivate the product listing.
  • Vendors who have been identified to repeatedly declare incorrect dimensions and/or weight of the package(s), resulting in overcharging will be issued a non-compliance warning per incident. The product will also be locked.
  •  
  • d. Unresolved Buyer Dispute (by Vendor’s Fault)
  • This applies to all return requests made directly to the vendor. All vendors are required to respond to buyers within the agreed time frame as part of their commitment to be trustworthy and reliable. The seller may receive up to 2 non-compliance warnings. If you have received a notification that you had violated our policy and want to appeal for a request, you may email our Support Team.
  • If a vendor has been reported and verified to be unresponsive to a buyer’s return and/or does not display any effort to resolve the dispute meaningfully, Mustbuy.ph deem this as an unresolved Buyer Dispute as Vendor’s Fault.
  • If the vendor has been reported and verified to have rejected a buyer’s return request despite valid return reasons, Mustbuy.ph will deem this as an Unresolved Buyer Dispute (by Vendor Fault).

XII. MUSTBUY.PH COMMUNITY POLICIES

Products sold on Mustbuy.ph and interactions within the platform are subjected to existing Mustbuy.ph Vendor Policies. Mustbuy.ph reserves the right to edit or delete posts that violate our community policies. Users violating our community policies will be subject to various consequences (including issuance of non-compliance warnings, restricted communication access, and disabling of your account) depending on the severity of the violation.

  • a. Respectful Engagement
  • If product is available in different options, such as color or size, those options should be listed as variations under the same listing.
  • Willful Product Duplication is defined as a vendor observed to have engaged in activities to duplicate or spam product listings. Action will be taken when a vendor engages in duplication activities. They may receive a non-compliance warning or account may be locked. Depending on severity, vendors may experience account termination.
  •  
  • b. Promotions or spam
  • No duplication of content and messages in all channels of the platform (ex. Sharing URLs, apps, QR codes that do not belong to Mustbuy.ph.
  • Vendors are not to send spam messages via any communication space within or out of Mustbuy.ph platform (ex. Unsolicited email, adding them to mailing lists, or group chats, etc.).
  • Do not attempt to drown out other people’s opinions, by posting from multiple accounts or coordinating with others.
  • Do not post content containing software viruses, pests or other harmful/malicious code.
  •  
  • c. Respect the Privacy of Others
  • Users must comply with the Data Privacy Act of 2012 from the National Privacy Commission and ensure all personal data obtained is deleted and destroyed as soon as reasonably possibly after any relevant use.
  • No sensitive information or personal information of other users should be shared on the platform.
  • Vendors are not allowed to use contact information obtained from Mustbuy.ph (whether directly or through a third party) in other non-Mustbuy.ph communication channels (ex. Using bots, group chats).
  •  
  • d. Follow the law
  • Any posts (in any form of content) found to be in violation of the law will immediately be removed (ex. Violence, fraud, illegal drug use, child or animal abuse, terrorism, pyramid schemes, false luck draws).
  • Do not post content that will infringe the intellectual property or other propriety rights of others.
  • Do not post content that encourages dangerous misuse of a product, content that are intentionally made to mislead users into thinking it is an official Mustbuy.ph event or message, or content that exaggerates the description of product effectiveness.
  •  
  • e. Be honest
  • Provide honest feedback about products and services. This includes both positive and negative comments.
  • No false advertisement or misrepresentation of information (ex. Inauthentic or misleading products).
  • Do not pretend to be someone else.
  • Do not teach or advise others to circumvent systems for gain.
  •  
  • f. Keep transactions within Mustbuy.ph
  • All transactions originating from Mustbuy.ph should be completed within the Mustbuy.ph platform (ex. No redirecting to another e-commerce platform).
  • Vendors and buyers should not be engaging in offline payments or transactions.

XIII. DATA PROTECTION POLICY

Personal data refers to the data about an individual who can be identified from that data on its own, or from that data and other information to which the organization has or likely have access. For example, personal data will include names, personal contact numbers, email addresses and mailing addresses.

Vendors are granted access to customer’s personal data for the fulfillment of customer’s orders. Violation of this Policy may result in account restrictions, up 2 non-compliance warnings and immediate store termination. Each violation is evaluated on a case to case basis by our Support Team. Vendors may file for an appeal, but Mustbuy.ph reserves the right to a final decision.

  • i. Vendors are not permitted to use the personal data of customers for any other purpose apart from the fulfillment of customer orders. Examples of inappropriate and non-permitted use include:
  • Adding customers to instant messaging (Viber, Messenger, Whatsapp) or social media groups without the customer’s consent.
  • Sending mass emails or calling customers for marketing and other purposes not authorized by Mustbuy.ph.
  • Mailing unsolicited packages or items to customers.
  •  
  • ii. It is the Vendor’s responsibility to ensure that customer lists are password protected.
  •  
  • iii. Vendors are not permitted to share, transfer or disclose customer’s personal data to unauthorized third parties without the prior written consent of customers and Mustbuy.ph.
  •  
  • iv. Vendors are to delete customers’ personal data as soon as reasonably possible after the fulfillment of the customer’s order.
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