Procedures and Guidelines

Last Updated: 19 Mar 2020

Listing your items for sale

Once you have determined the items you want to list, login to your account to add your product. First, enter a name for your product as you want your customers to see it. Enter a product description using the Rich Text Editor. The more content you provide here will improve your ability to be found by customers. Describing your products in detail will help your customers decide to buy your product.

Product Types

When adding a product, the first thing to decide is what type of product it is.

Product data

This is where the majority of important data is added for your products. Product data include how the product is organised, its price, inventory details, and shipping information. Filling in the product data is an important step in creating a product.

General section

Price – The currency SHOPPES@DOGSACTUALLY uses is Singapore Dollar (SGD).

Tax

Inventory section

The inventory section allows you to manage stock for the product individually and define whether to allow back orders and more. It enables you to sell products and allow customers to add them to the cart to buy.

Enable Stock Management must be selected in Products Inventory Settings; otherwise, only the ‘Stock status’ option is visible in the Product Data Inventory box.

Options when stock management at product level is disabled. You are responsible for updating the Stock Status.

Options when stock management at product level is enabled.

Shipping section

Linked Products section

Using up-sells and cross-sells, you can cross promote your products. They can be added by searching for a particular product and selecting the product from the dropdown list:

After adding, they are listed in the input field:

Up-sells are displayed on the product details page. These are products that you may wish to encourage users to upgrade, based on the product they are currently viewing. For example, if the user is viewing the coffee product listing page, you may want to display tea kettles on that same page as an up-sell.

Cross-sells are products that are displayed with the cart and related to the user’s cart contents. As an example, if the user adds a Nintendo DS to their cart, you may want to suggest they purchase a spare stylus when they arrive at the cart page.

Grouping – Used to make a product part of a grouped product. More info below at: Grouped Products.

Attributes section
On the Attributes tab, you can assign details to a product. You will see a select box containing global attribute sets you created (e.g., platform). More at: Managing Product Categories, Tags and Attributes.

Once you have chosen an attribute from the select box, click add and apply the terms attached to that attribute (e.g., Nintendo DS) to the product. You can hide the attribute on the frontend by leaving the Visible checkbox unticked.

Custom attributes can also be applied by choosing Custom product attribute from the select box. These are added at the product level and won’t be available in layered navigation or other products.

Advanced section

Product short description

Add an excerpt. This typically appears next to product imagery on the listing page, and the long description appears in the Product Description tab.

Product Categories and Product Tags

On the right-hand side of the Add New Product panel, there are product categories in which you can place your product. You can also assign product tags in the same way.

Product images

Add a main product image and a gallery of images.

Good product images are vitally important, as they provide the first impression of the product, and are key in the customer’s purchase decision.

We request that your product images be of 1:1 aspect ratio (square), be of any size up to 2048 by 2048 pixels, or 4 megapixels.

Higher resolution photos will look more polished and professional to your customers, and we typically suggest 1024 by 1024 pixels as a guideline for product images. If your uploaded product images are not in the correct aspect ratio, we may edit them, or when we cannot, we will delist the affected products and inform you.

Adding a virtual product

When adding a Simple product, you can tick the Virtual checkbox box in the product type panel.

With Variable products this checkbox is moved to each variation.

Enabling this, disables all shipping related fields such as shipping dimensions. A virtual product will also not trigger the shipping calculator in cart and checkout.

Adding a downloadable product

When adding a simple product, you can tick the Downloadable checkbox box in the product type panel. This adds two new fields:

For maximum flexibility, downloadable products also incur a shipping cost (if, for example, you were offering both a packaged and a downloadable version of a product, this would be ideal). You can also check the Virtual box if the downloadable product is not shippable.

Adding a variable product

Variable products are arguably the most complex of product types. They let you define variations of a single product where each variation may have a different SKU, price or stock level. They can be used for a product like a shampoo, where you can offer different bottle sizes and in different scents.

Return Policy. Again, if customers are unsure about a purchase – whether a collar or apparel is the right size for instance – then a clear and flexible return policy can influence that decision.

We ask that you provide a return policy for each of your product description when they differ from Unleashed’s Return Policy. When not stated, you agree that the Unleashed Return Policy will apply to your listed products.

Receiving orders

SHOPPES@DOGSACTUALLY sends you an e-mail notification when an item sells and posts the order in your seller account. In case you don’t get the e-mail (or it is filtered as spam), make sure to check for orders in your seller account regularly.

Ship items to your buyers

Get the shipping information from the order details in your seller account. Ship your item(s) within 2 business days of the order date. Remember to provide a return address within Singapore or a prepaid return shipping label (international) to the buyer. Return to your seller account to confirm shipment. When the shipper confirms the delivery, return to your seller account to update the order status to ‘delivered’.

Get paid

Once you have confirmed shipment, SHOPPES@DOGSACTUALLY charges the buyer’s credit card and, after deducting fees, transfers money directly into your Seller’s account, and in turn to your nominated bank account (or agreed mode of payment) on the scheduled payment dates.

Returns, Refunds and Order Cancellations

Here are some situations when you may need to refund, accept returns or cancel orders:

You can’t fulfil an order.

Sellers are required to have their items on hand and ready to ship. That said, if you sell often enough, it’s inevitable that at some point you’ll sell an item only to discover it’s out of stock. If you will not be able to ship an item within 2 business days, you should inform us using the functionality for contacting Unleashed provided in our Vendors’ Corner and we will cancel the order.

The buyer doesn’t receive your order.

Work with the buyer to reach a mutually agreeable solution in regard to this transaction. How you decide to proceed is ultimately determined by you and your customer service policy, but all sellers are expected to demonstrate a high level of customer service.

Your options include:

The buyer decides to return an item.

If you described and listed the item accurately, but the buyer simply no longer wants it, you have the option to refund the item price but not refund the shipping costs. Please see Restocking Fees below.

In cases where you are not responsible for the return, where no defect has been reported and the buyer simply no longer wants the item, the return shipping costs should be borne by the buyer. Upon receipt, you must evaluate the return and notify us of the outcome within five days. If you did not provide a return address within Singapore or a prepaid return shipping label (international) to the buyer, the refund to the buyer should also include their international return shipping costs.

Software: Software is a unique product category and has some specific return guidelines.

Electronics: Electronics products can be returned if postmarked within 14 days of the delivery.

Note: If a buyer returns a product with non-volatile internal memory, such as a digital camera, you are required to clear those devices of any customer data or information immediately. Non-volatile memory is any computerised memory that can retain stored information even when not powered.

Note: If you refuse to accept the return of an item that had a purchase price less than $300 and SHOPPES@DOGSACTUALLY determines that it is materially different, you may be held responsible for any chargeback dispute filed for the transaction.

As with the Unleashed Return Policy, there are no returns of hazardous items that are gas-powered or contain flammable liquids, or of Electronic Devices more than 14 days after delivery to the buyer.

The buyer files a credit card chargeback.

When a buyer files a chargeback with their credit card company, SHOPPES@DOGSACTUALLY will contact the seller to request additional information about the transaction. Though these claims may appear similar, there are several key differences between guarantee claims and chargebacks.

For instance, buyers are working directly with their credit card companies when they file a chargeback. Buyers can file chargebacks with their credit card companies at any time, from one day after the transaction has taken place to months later. Sellers are responsible for service chargebacks. Though SHOPPES@DOGSACTUALLY does request information in the process of investigating a chargeback, the final outcome of a chargeback request will be determined by the buyer’s financial institution.

When a buyer files a claim at SHOPPES@DOGSACTUALLY, they are dealing directly with Unleashed. Buyers can only file claims within a specific time frame, and the decision about whether to approve a claim is made by Unleashed. We encourage buyers to file claims rather than chargebacks, but ultimately it is the buyer’s decision how to proceed.

The buyer requests you cancel an order.

There is no mechanism available for buyers to cancel their orders once they have been completed. In those cases, the buyer will sometimes contact you directly to request that the order be cancelled. If you haven’t shipped the item, simply inform us using the functionality for contacting Unleashed provided in our Vendors’ Corner and we will cancel the order. If buyers contact SHOPPES@DOGSACTUALLY directly for a cancellation, and we noted that you have not fulfilled the order, we may cancel the order. If you have already shipped, request that the buyer return the item, and issue a refund if you had confirmed the shipment.

The buyer is unable to receive the order at the address provided.

If the buyer cannot receive the item at the address submitted (or if the address is obviously invalid), please inform us using the functionality for contacting Unleashed provided in our Vendors’ corner and we will cancel the order.

You may want to contact the buyer to inform them of this situation, but you should not ship to another address if they ask you to. For reasons of account security, we cannot permit buyers to change their shipping addresses after an order is placed. Feel free to ask the buyer to place a new order with a valid shipping address. The order should be cancelled even if you are not able to reach the buyer by e-mail.

Out-of-policy return requests

Occasionally a buyer’s return request does not fit within the parameters of Unleashed’s or your Return Policies. This can include return requests submitted after the return time-frame has passed, items that are not eligible for return, and items with issues related to a manufacturer’s warranty.

It is up to you to decide how to proceed with these requests, either to approve or decline them. If you decide to decline a request, we encourage you to tell the buyer the reason, providing as much detail as possible.

Keep in mind that the buyer may decide to post a review to SHOPPES@DOGSATCTUALLY. The buyer’s review will be evaluated, and you will be asked to provide additional information before further actions are taken on these customer reviews.

For most items, the return request must be submitted within 14 days after the order is delivered. Learn more about category-specific returns.

Restocking fees

In some cases, a reasonable restocking fee may be charged to a buyer for returned items.

A restocking fee is a percentage of the item’s price, depending on the type of item and the condition in which it is returned.

Note: You are not required to accept returns beyond the return window, but if you do, you may charge a restocking fee following the guidelines outlined in the table below.

Issuing a Refund

A return requested may be made directly to you or through SHOPPES@DOGSACTUALLY. If is it made directly to you, we ask that you inform us via the ‘Contact Us’ link found at the Vendors’ Corner. When it is routed through SHOPPES@DOGSACTUALLY, we will inform you and await your decision – preferably within 5 days of receiving the returned item(s) – to issue a full refund, a partial refund, offer an exchange or decline the return.

Before you issue a refund, consider the following:

If you decide to issue a refund, contact us via the ‘Issue a Refund’ link at the Vendors’ Corner, specifying the Order ID (e.g. #SDA9999), the product(s) being returned and the refund amount. We will process the refund and inform you and the buyer when the refund is completed.

In the event you are replacing the item(s), simply inform us when you have shipped the replacement item(s).

In the unlikely event that you decide to decline a return, and Unleashed determines that it is a legitimate return, you may be held responsible for any chargeback dispute filed for the transaction.

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