Selling Basics #
Keep in mind these basic requirements will set you up for success on Sommly.
What can be sold on Sommly #
Sommly is a wine marketplace. Buyers come here to purchase wines that they might not find anywhere else. Everything listed for sale on Sommly must be wine or wine-related merchandise, subject to the absolute discretion of Sommly.
By selling wine you agree that
A. All wines are made or sourced by you. If you work with a production partner, you must disclose that production partner in your relevant listings.
B. You are using your own photographs or video content —not stock photos, artistic renderings, or photos used by other sellers or sites.
C. All listings are available for purchase at a set price.
What can’t be sold on Sommly #
Even if they otherwise meet our marketplace criteria, prohibited items are not allowed to be sold on Sommly. All listings must offer an item for sale (which includes digitally delivered items, and can also include reserved listings). You may not create an Sommly listing for the purpose of sharing a referral code, posting a want ad, or similar activity that does not offer a physical or digital item for sale.
Reselling is not allowed on Sommly. Reselling refers to listing an item when you were not involved in designing or making that item.
Keep in mind that members may flag listings that appear to violate our policies for Sommly’s review. Sommly may remove any listings that violate our policies. Note that subscription fees are non-refundable. Sommly may also suspend or terminate your account for any violations. You’ll still be on the hook to pay any outstanding fees on your Sommly statement
Managing your Sommly Shop #
Your shop represents you and your business to the Sommly community. It’s important that you, your items and your shop are honestly and accurately represented.
By selling on Sommly, you agree that you will:
1. Provide honest, accurate information to Sommly and in your About section.
2. Honor your Shop Policies.
3. Ensure your shop content, such as any text, photos or videos used to represent yourself, your shop or your listings, abide by Sommly’s policies, including our Anti-Discrimination Policy.
4. Accurately represent your items in listings and listing photos.
5. Respect the intellectual property of others. If you feel someone has violated your intellectual property rights, you can report it to Sommly.
6. Not engage in fee avoidance.
7. Not create duplicate shops or take any other action (such as manipulating clicks, carts or sales) for the purpose of shilling, manipulating search or circumventing Sommly’s policies.
8. Not coordinate pricing with other sellers.
Seller Standards #
By listing a product for sale on Sommly you understand and agree that you are responsible for complying with all applicable laws and regulations for the products you list for sale, including any required labels and warnings. Sommly assumes no responsibility for the accuracy, labeling, or content of your listings.
Meeting Service Level Standards #
As a seller, you must provide great customer service and maintain trust with your buyers. These requirements are called our Seller Service Level Standards. Sommly may reach out to you if your shop fails to meet Sommly’s Seller Service Level Standards. Read more here.
By selling on Sommly, you agree to:
1. Honor your shipping and processing times. Sellers are obligated to ship an item or otherwise complete a transaction with a buyer in a prompt manner, unless there is an exceptional circumstance. Please be aware that legal requirements for shipping times vary by country. Read more in our Shipping Policy.
2. Respond to Messages in a timely manner.
3. Honor the commitments you make in your shop policies.
4. Resolve disagreements or disputes directly with the buyer. In the unlikely event that you can’t reach a resolution, Sommly can help through our case system. Read about your rights and responsibilities regarding cases here.
5. If you are unable to complete an order, you must notify the buyer and cancel the order. Read about how to cancel an order in this Help article.
Selling Fees #
Sellers may be charged for using some of Sommly’s services. There are fees associated with listing, selling, advertising, and certain other Sommly products and features.
Being a Member of the Sommly Community #
At Sommly, everyone is expected to treat fellow members of the Sommly community with respect. As a seller, you have additional responsibilities to safeguard personal information and communicate promptly with buyers in order to provide a great customer experience.
Creating and Upholding Content #
As a member of Sommly, you have the opportunity to create and upload a variety of content, like listings, Messages, text, photos, and videos. In order to keep our community safe and respectful, you agree that you will not upload content that is:
1. Contains hateful or derogatory language or imagery
2. Contains threats, harassment, extortion, or violates our rules about interference;
3. Violates someone else’s intellectual property rights;
4. Is false, deceptive, or misleading;
5. Contains unsolicited advertising or promotions, requests for donations, or spam;
6. Contains private information, whether it is your own, or someone else’s;
7. Encourages or facilitates a transaction that evades the Sommly checkout process;
8. Contains prohibited medical drug claims;
9. Violates any of the rules described in our Prohibited Items Policy.
Some content on Sommly is subject to additional requirements. Please see below for more details.
Read more about how Sommly search works, what factors impact search ranking, and how you can help optimize your listings and shop here and in The Ultimate Guide to Sommly Search.
Privacy and Protecting Personal Information #
You are responsible for protecting members’ personal information you receive or process, and you must comply with all relevant legal requirements. This includes applicable data protection and privacy laws that govern the ways in which you can use Sommly user information. These laws may require that you post and comply with your own privacy policy, which must be accessible to Sommly users with whom you interact. Your privacy policy must be compatible with this policy and Sommly’s Terms of Use, and Sommly’s Privacy Policy.
In particular, when you sell using our Services (subject to this Policy) or use Sommly’s API, you may receive and determine what to do with certain personal information, such as when communicating with users and entering into transactions with buyers. This means you process personal information (for example, buyer name, email address, and shipping address) and, to the extent you do so, under EU law, you are an independent controller of data relating to other users that you may have obtained through the Services. For more information on the General Data Protection Regulation, see more resources at https://gdpr-info.eu and http://gdprandyou.ie. As a data controller (that is someone who decides what personal data is collected and the purpose you’ll use the data for) to the extent that you process user personal information outside of the Services, you may be required under applicable data protection and privacy laws to honor requests received from such users for data access, portability, correction, deletion, and objections to processing. Also, if you disclose personal information without the buyer’s proper consent, you are responsible for that unauthorized disclosure. This includes, for example, disclosures you make or unintentional data breaches. For example, you may receive a buyer’s email address or other information as a result of entering into a transaction with that buyer. This information may only be used for Sommly-related communications or for Sommly-facilitated transactions. You may not use this information for unsolicited commercial messages or unauthorized transactions. Without the buyer’s consent, and subject to other applicable Sommly policies and laws, you may not add any Sommly member to your email or physical mailing list, use that buyer’s identity for marketing, or obtain or retain any payment information. Please bear in mind that you’re responsible for knowing the standard of consent required in any given instance. If Sommly and you are found to be joint data controllers of personal information, and if Sommly is sued, fined, or otherwise incurs expenses because of something that you did in your capacity as a joint data controller of buyer personal information, you agree to indemnify Sommly for the expenses it occurs in connection with your processing of buyer personal information.
For more information, please see our Privacy Policy.
Communication Standards #
Messages #
With Sommly’s “Messages”, you have the ability to communicate directly with your buyers or other Sommly members. Messages are a great way for buyers to ask you questions about an item or an order.
Messages may not be used for the following activities:
1. Sending unsolicited advertising or promotions, requests for donations, or spam;
2. Harassing or abusing another member or violating our Anti-Discrimination Policy;
3. Contacting someone after they have explicitly asked you not to; or
4. Interfering with a transaction or the business of another member.
5. Exchanging personal contact, financial or other information for the purposes of evading the checkout process on Sommly, including phone number, address, email, social media handles, external URLs, instructions for money transfer, etc.
Interference #
Interference occurs when a member intentionally interferes with another member’s shop in order to drive away their business. Interference is strictly prohibited on Sommly. Examples of interference include:
1. Contacting another member via Messages to warn them away from a particular member, shop, or item
2. Posting in public areas to demonstrate or discuss a dispute with another member
3. Purchasing from a seller for the sole purpose of leaving a negative review
4. Maliciously clicking on a competitor’s Promoted Listings ads in order to drain that member’s advertising budget, also known as “click fraud.”
5. Creating or using an independent buyer account to maliciously upvote another shop’s negative reviews in order to position those reviews more prominently.
Harassment and Discrimination #
Any use of Messages to harass other members is strictly prohibited. Similarly, Messages may not be used to support or glorify hatred or otherwise violate our Anti-Discrimination Policy. If you receive a Message that violates this policy, please let us know right away.
Forums/Teams #
Forums and Teams are public spaces provided by Sommly where sellers can connect, but there are communication standards that must be followed. More information can be found in the Sommly Community Policy.
Any use of Messages to harass other members is strictly prohibited. Similarly, Messages may not be used to support or glorify hatred or otherwise violate our Anti-Discrimination Policy. If you receive a Message that violates this policy, please let us know right away.
Communicating Cancellations #
If you are unable to complete a transaction, you must notify the buyer via Messages and cancel the transaction. If the buyer already submitted payment, you must issue a full refund. You are encouraged to keep proof of any refunds in the event a dispute arises. All cancellations are subject to our Cancellation Policy.
European Union Right of Withdrawal Buyers in the European Union (EU) may be entitled to a 14-day “right of withdrawal” after receiving an item, during which they may return an item for any reason. The details of this right vary by EU member state. The right of withdrawal may not apply to certain items like custom items or perishable goods. Rights with respect to digital items vary by EU member state. Read more about the EU Right of Withdrawal in this Help article.
Please be aware that in addition to this policy, each country has its own laws surrounding shipping, cancellations, returns, and exchanges. Please familiarize yourself with the laws of your own country and those of your buyers’ countries.
Feedback, Disputes, and Your Success #
Reviews #
Reviews are a great way for you to build a reputation on Sommly. Buyers can leave a review, including a one to five star rating and a photograph of their purchase, within 100 days after the latter date of their item’s estimated delivery date. If an estimated delivery date is not available, the review window opens after the order’s processing time and shipping time have elapsed. Buyers can edit their review, including the photograph, any number of times during that 100 day period.
On the rare occasion you receive an unfavorable review, you can reach out to the buyer or, if the review is less than 3 stars, leave a response.
In addition to our rules for Creating and Uploading Content in Section 2a, reviews and your response to reviews may not:
1.Contain graphic, mature, or obscene language or imagery
2. Be about things outside the seller’s control, such as a shipping carrier, Sommly or a third party
3. Include shilling or otherwise falsely inflate a shop’s review score
4. Undermine the integrity of the Reviews system.
Sommly’s Case System #
The Case system is how a buyer notifies Sommly of an order issue or dispute, in order for Sommly to help them reach a resolution. Buyers must contact sellers directly via the Help with Order link and attempt to resolve any outstanding issues before opening a case on Sommly. For this reason, it is important that you fill out your shop policies and regularly respond to Messages from your buyers. Once a buyer contacts you to notify you of a problem with an order, you will have 48 hours to resolve the issue. If the issue is unresolved in this time frame, a case may be opened by the buyer. Once a case has been opened, Sommly will assist in the resolution of the case between the buyer and seller. This may include, but is not limited to, automatically closing the case and issuing a refund to the buyer, or reviewing the case further to help the buyer and seller resolve it as quickly as possible.
Sommly reserves the right to resolve an order issue before the 48-hour window for circumstances including, but not limited to, seller inactivity, harassment, refusal of service, manipulation, and undermining the integrity of the case system.
Buyers may file a case for a non-delivery or a not-as-described item (for more information on how we define these terms, and other criteria to open a case, click here). Sommly may request your assistance in resolving a case opened against your shop. By using Sommly’s case system, you understand that Sommly may use your personal information for the purpose of resolving disputes with other members. For more information on our privacy policy, click here.
If Sommly determines that an item is not as described, you will be required to refund the order, including original shipping and return shipping. Sommly reserves the right to issue a refund to the buyer and recoup funds from your account, including your payment account reserve, if payment was made via Sommly Payments.
Your Seller Account and Sommly’s Terms #
In order to keep Sommly safe and improve our Services, we may take actions that limit the visibility of your shop, listings or ads, or that impact your payment account. In the event a shop sees unusual order activity, or we otherwise believe that your actions or shop may result in buyer disputes, chargebacks, increased risk of fraud, counterfeiting, or other claims, Sommly may take actions such as limiting visibility of your account, or placing restrictions or reserves on your payments account, in accordance with our Terms of Use, including this Policy and our Sommly Payments Policy. When appropriate and permitted by law, Sommly will communicate information to the affected seller about the issue.
In the event a shop sees an unusual spike in orders, particularly in a high demand category, a shop may see an increase or decrease in its search ranking. Often, if a shop sees an increase in fulfilled orders and good reviews, this may result in higher visibility and search rank. However, sometimes a rapid increase in orders can reduce visibility.
In addition, we may limit the visibility of listings or ads in the interest of keeping Sommly safe, and improving our Services. For example, listings or ads may have decreased visibility because they include terms that represent a prohibited item or based on third party policies. These listings or ads may also be restricted from appearing in one or more features of the Services. While these listings or ads may have limited visibility, they are still discoverable in search.
Sommly may make changes to onboarding or authentication processes for sellers at our sole discretion. Completion of these processes may be required for seller account activation or continued access and usage.
If Sommly has reason to believe you, Your Content, or your use of the Services violate our Terms, including this Seller Policy, we may deactivate Your Content to some or all users or suspend or terminate your account (and any account Sommly determines is related to your account) and your access to the Services. Sellers in the European Union can see more information here. Generally, Sommly will notify you that your content or account has been suspended or terminated, unless you’ve repeatedly violated our Terms or we have legal or regulatory reasons preventing us from notifying you.
Seller Protection #
Sommly also provides limited protection to sellers who meet the requirements of our Seller Protection Program. Read more about Sommly’s Seller Protection Program here.