Before becoming a marketplace seller, we recommend looking through the list of responsibilities we expect our sellers to adopt and adhere to. These requirements are mainly implemented to provide excellent service to our customers and to avoid any friction between BooksRun, sellers and the end customers.
Accurate listing
As a seller, you must accurately list all book information and descriptions, including but not limited to proper categorization of international editions, instructor editions, sample editions, and annotated instructor's editions; or any differences regarding content (including exercises and problems) in international, instructor's, or annotated editions.
It is also crucial that you don't misrepresent different editions, publication years, or other information with the intent of misleading buyers to a version other than what they are searching for, as incorrect listing information will result in higher volume of return requests and customer dissatisfaction.
Order shipment
Orders have to be confirmed no later than 3 business days (excluding holidays) from the time they are placed. In case orders are not confirmed within this timeframe, cancelation may be processed at BooksRun's discretion. As a seller, it is your responsibility to log in to your account and verify that each order has been confirmed within 3 business days, regardless of the method you use for confirming orders.
Additionally, for all purchase orders, the seller must provide the exact shipping method chosen by the customer directly in the order placed, which means that in the case of Standard Mail, the delivery of the order must be no more than 8 business days, while Expedited Mail must take up to no more than 5 business days.
Commissions, compensations, and payments
By default, a seller account is set up with the following shipping rates: $3.99 for standard and $6.99 for expedited method of shipping. Rest assured that you will have an option to modify these values based on the shipping methods you use in your seller account settings. However, do keep in mind that these shipping fees will be displayed to the potential buyers, so it is up to you to keep these fees competitive and up-to-date.
It is not allowed not assess additional shipping charges for the original shipment of the order.
The shipping compensation, as well as the total products price, are both subject to 15% commission. The seller payment is issued once per 2 weeks via the payment method chosen: either via check or PayPal. Check delivery takes from 3 to 20 business days; PayPal is instant.
Note: An order is eligible for payment only if a valid tracking information is provided in the order details; otherwise, such orders are considered as not complete and are not subject to payment until the tracking number is specified. The payment for such orders will be added to the next scheduled mass payout.
As a seller, you are also obliged to reimburse your customer for any damage to the item, order loss, late shipment or late delivery, or any other issues that occurred with the order. You may be contacted directly by the customers or BooksRun customer support team about any occurred issues.
Returns
While we allow sellers to define their own returns policy in their settings, the policy must allow returns within at least 14 days of delivery. Any buyer who returns a book due to an error on the seller's part (i.e., wrong book shipped, faulty packaging resulting in damage or loss, item not as described, item shipped past deadline, etc.) should not be charged shipping, handling, or restocking fees and will be issued a full refund. Additional shipping fees cannot be charged once the order is returned either.
However, restocking fees up to 15% of item cost may be charged for discretionary returns (i.e., buyer changed his or her mind, buyer ordered an incorrect book, class cancelation, etc.).
Per BooksRun's returns policy, customers must request permission to return a book within 30 calendar days from its receipt, and as the seller, you must respond within 2 business days of the request. Each seller has a return rate attributed to them, which is calculated by dividing the number of returns by the total number of orders placed. Excessively high return rates may negatively impact your seller account status, leading up to account suspension for customer protection.
Fulfillment requirements
We require our marketplace sellers to maintain the order fulfillment rating of at least 80% of the total number of orders received. It is up to sellers to maintain their product listings accurately to avoid excessive cancelations, and in case the established metrics are not met, the seller account may be reviewed at BooksRun's discretion with possible following suspension or deactivation.
Communication requirements
All sellers are required to list a valid customer service email and a valid phone number, and the communication with buyers should be strictly professional and courteous. Any disrespectful remarks to customers and/or BooksRun staff will be taken seriously and may result in a refund/cancelation of an order or escalating measures.
