Product listing policy

We have a few important requirements when it comes to listing products on the Yumbles marketplace, to ensure that the marketplace functions successfully for customers and sellers alike.

At our own discretion we may refuse to publish any listings not meeting this policy, but we'll always let you know why and help you get a listing corrected.

 

1. What to List:

• We can only accept listings for items are food and drink related:  food, drinks, edible gifts, food hampers, kitchenware.
• We cannot currently accept products containing CBD due to restrictions on such items by services that we rely on.
• Only list items that are free of artificial ingredients. (Exceptions made for nitrates in charcuterie and giftable items with artificial colours, albeit we do encourage makers to seek natural alternatives to these wherever possible).  Refer to this article for more information on this policy.
• Items under £5 in unit value and with reasonably high frequency consumption (or a long shelf life) should be listed for sale in quantity. For example snack bars and chocolate bars. Buyer behaviour in an online marketplace is different to offline (where shipping charges and delivery wait time doesn't apply and more spontaneous buying occurs) and also different to behaviour on your own website (where customers will be there to solely explore and discover your range).  Each listing on Yumbles must make sense (including the economics) as a purchase.  

Also note:

• We particularly look for items that are: high in quality, original, not widely available, produced by hand/ in small batches.

 

2. Product Titles:

• Do make sure it is clear from the title what the product is.  Be descriptive.
• Don't include your brand name in the title unless it is an inherent part of the product name e.g. The Doisy & Dam Chocolate Collection.  Remember your brand name is always shown alongside the product name already.
• Don't include promotional content in the title e.g. "20 % off" or "Free Shipping" or "Free Gift Wrapping"
• Don't use all capital letters.

We also strongly recommend that you:

• Include the most important keyword(s) in the title. Keywords are the search terms that customers would use to search for a product like yours.
• State that quantity in the title e.g. Box of 6, if you are selling your product in quantity
• The first 75 characters (with spaces) are what most customers will see when seeing your products on the category pages on the site so stick to that as a title length.

 

3. Pricing:

As the seller you set your prices however we do require that you ahere to our Fair Pricing Policy.

 

4. Categorisation:

• When categorising your products choose the most directly relevant category that best describes what your product is.
• Always choose the lowest level category in a particular category "tree" using the expand (+).  It will then be seen in all levels above that. For example, don't categorise a listing in Snacks, use the + expander to drill down to the type of snack.

Yumbles will review categorisation and reseve the right to change the main category. Yumbles will also consider your product listings for inclusion in additional categories.

 

5. Descriptions:

• Make sure that  you have a complete description of the product. Listings with just a few words will typically be rejected.
• Make sure that all information entered is accurate.
• For all perishable items, always include the minimum shelf life on dispatch.

We also recommend that you

• keep descriptions succinct while letting customers know what they need to know about your product and ordering information. 
• Structure the information into logical paragraphs and use formatting like bolded text for distinct sub-sections and use bullet points for lists so that the information is easily scannable .

See our tips for effective product descriptions.

 

 

6. Images 

The main image on your listings must be:

• A realistic photo clearly showing the specific product that you are selling. (This includes the quantity of that product you are selling e.g. a box of 6 doughnuts should show 6 doughnuts).
• The images should be of a high quality with attractive compositions showing off your produce to their best effect.  Yumbles reserves the right to disapprove listings that have main product photos that don't meet the visual standards on the marketplace.
• No black or very dark backgrounds for the main images.
• The main image should not be artwork, nor label images, nor a collage of images.
• There should not be any graphics or text or award badges etc overlaid on the main product photo (you can have these as additional images on your listing).  The only exception is a Great Taste Award badge overlay as long is it is displayed only in one corner of the image and the product remains the majority focus of the image. 
• If other items are included in the main image as accessories it should be clear in the description that these are not part of the sale price.
• The main image should not have any special effects/ tinting that make it appear unnatural.

We also strongly recommend:

• The product should be shown in a lifestyle setting.  This means on a real world background with natural lighting. Not a cut out image on a plain white background (or any cutout on any block colour background).
• That you add additional images to your listing. Listings with multiple images see higher sales conversion.

See our Product Photography Guide for more.  

 

Technical requirements:

• Upload your product images in square dimensions - otherwise our system will automatically crop them to fit and it may not crop them in the best composition.
• The minimum resolution size needed for images is 350 x 350 pixels however we recommend 700 x 700 pixels.  To avoid any quality issues we recommend that you re-size down your highest available resolution images, rather than re-size up.
• Maximum image size is 2MB.

 

7. Ingredients & Dietary Information

• Ensure that you are fully compliant with EU directives that require full disclosure of ingredients using the fields provided.
• All food additives must be clearly labelled along with their E number.
• Indicate any allergens present in your product using the field for Allergy Advice provided.
• If your product makes any nutritional or health claims also complete the Nutritional Information field.

 

8. Values

• Select all Values that apply to your produce accurately and correctly.  This is key data that will limit the exposure of your products if not completed.
• Allergen free values must ONLY be selected if you are self certifying that your production space is free of that contaminant.

Refer to the Values Glossary for definitions.