What is the Conrad Marketplace?
Selling your products on our marketplace makes you part of an exciting and fast-growing B2B platform that already comprises over 6 million products. Benefit from our existing customer base, our promotional activities, our quality assurance policy, and expand the reach of your business by making the most of the Conrad Sourcing Platform.

Who can buy and sell on our marketplace?

Anyone selling on our marketplace needs to be both VAT-registered and operate out of a warehouse in Germany.  
Currently, buying is limited to business customers (companies/educational institutions/public services) based in Germany. However, the plan is to launch the marketplace in all the other European countries.

Who are the parties entering into a contract when buying products on our marketplace?

Marketplace transactions are governed by contracts entered into by buyers and sellers. Our sourcing platform is simply a means to fulfil the contractual obligation. We are a mere mediator, and not one of the contractual parties.

Who can place orders on the marketplace?

If you want to place an order, you need to be a registered B2B customer.

How much do you charge sellers for using the marketplace?

Fees include a monthly subscription fee and commission deducted from each sale. How much commission you’ll be charged depends on the type of product you sold.

How to become a Conrad Marketplace seller?
If you want to join us as a seller, please get in touch with us using the Seller Contact form. A member of our Business Development team will get back to you and talk you through the onboarding process.

How long does it take to open a Marketplace shop?

A couple of days. Your shop goes online as soon as you’ve provided the required details and documents.
Sign-up -> Onboarding -> Shop set-up -> Product data upload -> Selling

What exactly is onboarding?

The process involves the following steps:

1. Seller/supplier/manufacturer applies
2. Application to be assessed by Business Development team
3. Seller to be contacted by Conrad for first briefing
4. Seller vetting completed, activation of seller account
5. Seller creates supplier master data and the according documentation
6. Shop goes online after being approved by Webhelp

-> Product master data may already be created while waiting for Webhelp approval.

What documents do I have to provide before I can start selling?

You’ll need to submit standard proof of identity and the usual documentation, such as a copy of the company owners/director’s passport/ID card, proof of VAT registration, a German VAT identification number (USt-IDNr.) and the General Terms & Conditions of your business. Full details will be provided during the onboarding process.

Signing up
During onboarding, your contact here at Conrad will give you access to our gateway.
The first step involves choosing the language settings and entering user details.
Choose a valid email address and choose a password consisting of a minimum of eight characters that must include at least one lowercase and one numeric character.
Confirm the password. You’ll be directed to the Account Information page.

-> Choose a shop name. This will be the name under which you will sell your products.
-> Tick the “Commercial” box
-> Enter the name of your business and the company registration number.
-> Confirm, and provide your German VAT identification number
-> Provide any other information you are asked for on the page, and upload the required documents

Creating additional user accounts

If you want to give other people access to your shop account, you need to create additional user accounts.
To do so, log in to “My Account”, select “User Admin” and add another user (top right-hand corner). Enter the email address of the user and choose a password. Specify the extent of access you want to grant. Click “Save”.
You can also change the user language if necessary. 
o to “User Admin” to change above settings at any time. 

How can I promote my products/brand on the platform?
As a Conrad Marketplace seller, you can choose from a range of ready-made or personalizable marketing packages. 
For instance, an individualised marketing plan may look like this:
B2B newsletter integration, banners, special offers displayed on the landing page, search promotion, sponsored products, brand shop placement and posting flyers with your parcels.
Please get in touch with your contact here at Conrad who will talk you through the options.

As a seller, how visible am I going to be on the Conrad Marketplace?

Customers who view a product detail page will see a list of sellers offering this product. The list states seller names, prices, shipping costs, and delivery estimates. 
Moreover, both product detail pages and checkout prominently display a “Sold and shipped by” badge.

What quality standards apply to product data?

Over all, when it comes to product data, the provided information needs to include at least the product category, product name, brand, product ID, MPN, delivery content, product images and a description.
In addition, there is some information that is required by law which includes energy efficiency ratings, to be provided when choosing the product category. As rule, more details make your product more attractive to customers. Which is why we recommend reviewing optional field content and filter attributes regularly. Moreover, you need to provide the item price, stock availability, delivery estimate, shipping costs etc.

How do buyers find the products they need?

The search algorithm is centred around relevance. Means, the more accurate the chosen category and description, the better the product findability. 
Also, as a seller, you can influence the search results if you provide keywords, product names, descriptions, images, file names, prices, availability brand and the use of upper and lowercase.

What is your seller contract cancellation policy?

You can cancel your contract at any time giving one month notice.

What about sales reporting?

As a seller, you get access to our comprehensive reporting tool.

Reporting tool comprising:

• Commission

• Sales numbers

• Price analysis

• Sales analysis 

• Sales history

• Product page views

• Customer monitoring

• Essential seller KPIs such as order delivery times, your response time to customer requests etc.

Can I scale my business operations on the Conrad Marketplace?

As a seller, it’s up to you what range and versions of products you sell. If you want to add more products, just get in touch with us. And if you are planning to expand your business to cater for private customers, too, you can do so by using our Re-In subsidiary who operate a marketplace at voelkner.de.

How do I confirm orders?

– Manual confirmation:

Log in to your seller account, and choose My Orders > All Orders > Select Order. The order detail page displays the ordered product and any related information. Click the green button to confirm the orders.

– Automated confirmation via API

When do I get the buyer contact details?

Invoiced orders: Buyer contact details will be displayed after you have sent out the order confirmation. Use the order page to download the order details.
Prepayment: Processing this type of order requires you confirming the order, and proof that payment has been received (automated notification).
Afterwards, you get an automated message that contains the details of the payment flow, and gives you the green light to ship the item(s).

Can I change order details?

Product types and order quantities cannot be changed. Please make sure you stock the required amount before you confirm an order. If you have confirmed an order you cannot fulfil, the only thing you can do is to cancel it.

How do I enable tracking?

To enable buyers to track their orders, you need to provide a tracking ID and a tracking URL respectively. To do this, click the “Order Tracking” button and select a parcel delivery service. Buyers will receive a message containing a link (or be told to log in to their customer accounts) to track the order.
Multi shipment tracking: in the event of a shipment consisting of multiple parcels, provide a tracking ID for each parcel.

How can I contact buyers?

If you need to get in touch with a buyer, select the relevant order. All order pages display the “Messages” tab.  
Please contact buyers or the Marketplace team only in this way.

Where can I find messages from buyers?

Log into your shop account, select “My Messages” and click “Unread Messages”.
Use the form on the page to reply. Select the recipient, choose the appropriate subject line and click “Send”.

I’ve received a complaint. What do I do?

When a customer makes a complaint, you’ll get notified per email. Then log in to Mirakl and select the Order tab. Any events including complaints are displayed there.

Select Manage orders to retrieve the order details.
To track down the relevant order, use a filter (“Status” – “Include events”). 
The complaint is shown next to the exclamation mark on the right-hand side. 
Now view the order and check the product. 
This page also displays the complaint and the date it was made.  
Click “Messages” and get in touch with the buyer, to resolve the issue.
Events need to be closed by the customers. If the customer does not renew the claim, the event will be automatically closed after 15 days.

To view your invoices, go to My Account > My Statements.
Customer invoices generated by Webhelp are available in the “Documents” section of the order page.

Where can I find my invoices?
To view your invoices, go to My Account > My Statements.
Customer invoices generated by Webhelp are available in the “Documents” section of the order page.

Who needs to pay the item returns postage?
Unless it concerns the delivery of faulty items, B2B customers do not have the right to return items.
However, if you would provide extra services by granting customers the right to cancel, you may do so applying the item returns policy of your business. Please make sure you explain the procedures in your General T&Cs.

How do I cancel a customer order?

– Cancelling prepaid orders:

You can refund any prepaid money as soon as the order enters the “Shipping in progress” status.
Use the Refund button to issue a credit note. You may refund the amount in full, or in part. 
If the buyer hasn’t paid yet, you can cancel the order. 
The customer will be able to close the event as soon as the issue has been resolved.
Important: if you do not issue a refund, the customer will receive payment reminders and you’ll be charged commission for this sale.

Please keep in mind that once you’ve refunded a customer, this cannot be reversed.

– Cancelling invoiced orders

Paid invoiced amounts can be refunded by issuing a credit note using the Refund button on the relevant order page. 
You may refund the amount in full, or in part, depending on the nature of the customer request. 
Use the dropdown list to select the reason for refunding the buyer. 
Partial refunds refer to the order quantity, the total amount, VAT, shipping costs, VAT on shipping, and the reason why you are returning the money. 

Enter the required details and click “Confirm”. Our payment service provider will credit the refunded amount to the buyer’s account.
Please keep in mind that once you’ve refunded a customer, this cannot be reversed.

What payment methods are available on Conrad Marketplace?
We offer two options, namely customer invoicing and prepayment. 
The plan is to add more payment options soon.

How can I edit shipping costs?

Log in to your seller account. Select
My Account -> Settings -> Shipping Costs.
Now choose your shipping cost preferences.

Can I change the shipping weight categories?

No. You need to use the shipping weight categories set by the Marketplace team.

Who do buyers sent their payment to when placing an order?
Buyers receive an invoice issued under your name. 

Buyers send the money to Webhelp, our payment service provider. 
Once a transaction is completed, you receive the according payment information.
Money due will be credited to your account on three paydays each month.

When do I dispatch a prepaid order?

As soon as Webhelp, our payment service provider, have received the money, you will be notified. Delivery time will be calculated from this time onwards.

Orders with pending events

When it comes to orders with pending events, no money will be paid out to you until the issues are resolved. 

How do you handle shipping?

As a rule, items are dispatched from the seller’s Germany-based warehouses. 
Alternatively, sellers can sign up to the Fulfilment by Conrad scheme which allows them to hand over shipping their goods to the teams at Conrad Logistics & Distribution.

How can I get in touch with the Conrad Marketplace team?
If you’ve got more questions, just ask your contact here at Conrad who is happy to help you any time. 

How do I know whether a product is being sold via the marketplace?

Each product sold via our marketplace is clearly labelled as such. The respective product page displays a badge reading “Only available to businesses customers”. Orders are placed with the seller of the product who also ships the item.

It is illegal to sell products with an 18+ age rating, media that contain violent and graphic content, and any type of military toy. This also applies to any items governed by section 10 of Germany’s Battery Act. 

• Uploading product data using our template – (PDF)
  
• Uploading product data by creating a product data file/mapping – (PDF)
• CSV
• API 
• FTP 
• Bme.Cat 
• Aggregators

Join our team of experts for a series of webinars. Short yet highly informative episodes tell you everything you need to know about the Conrad Marketplace, and help you develop and implement your business model successfully.