The Legal Stuff, Simplified
Come on in to learn more about our terms and policies.
This policy is a part of our Terms of Use. By opening a MERCABL shop, you’re agreeing to this policy and our Terms of Use
1. Selling Basics
1.1. Items that can be sold on MERCABL
You may only list items to which you have added value — through creation, customization, thoughtful curation, or a creative twist. Your products must stand out in a meaningful way, offering something special and memorable to buyers. All listings are carefully monitored to ensure quality and compliance. As a seller, you are responsible for ensuring your products adhere to all applicable laws, including copyright regulations. Items must also align with our allowed categories and not be on the prohibited items list.
1.2. Required Listing Information
When selling on MERCABL, you must provide the following details for each product:
- Item Details: A clear and accurate explanation of how you have added value to the item and who was involved in the process.
- Production Partners: If you collaborate with a third-party production partner, you must disclose them in the relevant listings.
- Authentic Visuals: Listings must include original photographs or videos taken by you. Stock images, artistic renderings, or reused photos from other sellers or websites are not permitted. Exceptions may apply for custom items or products created with production partners. Read more about listing image requirements.
- AI-Generated Content: If an item is partially or fully created using artificial intelligence, you must disclose this in the relevant listing.
1.3. Items That Cannot Be Sold on MERCABL
Even if an item meets our general marketplace standards, certain products, services, and listings that violate our intellectual property policies or platform rules are strictly prohibited on MERCABL.
Every listing must offer an actual item for sale, whether physical or digital (including custom items and digital downloads). Listings must not be created for purposes unrelated to selling a product, such as selling gift cards, sharing referral codes, posting want ads, or running crowdfunding campaigns.
Mass reselling of items without adding any value is not permitted.
Policy Enforcement & Consequences
Listings are automatically published on MERCABL marketplace once they are approved by our team.
If a listing is not approved, sellers will be provided with the reason for rejection and, where possible, guidance on how to make the necessary adjustments.
To maintain a safe and compliant marketplace, MERCABL continuously monitors listings using a combination of:
- Automated detection systems
- Manual review processes
- User reports from the community and third parties
MERCABL may remove any listings that violate our policies.
Listing publication fees will be added to your bill after its initial approval. Listing publication period will start to count from its initial approval.
Note that listing publication fees are non-refundable.
- Post-publication edits to a listing title, description and images may automatically unpublish the listing from the marketplace and trigger a reapproval process.
Listing publication period will not get extended to compensate for the time spent in the reapproval process.
You'll still have to pay any outstanding bills even if your listing gets removed after publication, or if your account gets suspend or terminated.
1.4. Managing Your MERCABL Shop
By selling on MERCABL, you agree to:
- Provide truthful and accurate information in your shop details and About section.
- Adhere to your own shop policies as presented to buyers.
- Ensure that all shop content—including text, images, and videos—complies with MERCABL’s policies, including our Discrimination and Hateful Content Policy.
- Accurately represent your items in listings, including descriptions and photos.
- Respect intellectual property rights. If you believe someone has violated your rights, you may report it to MERCABL.
- Conduct all transactions through MERCABL and not direct buyers off-platform.
- Avoid creating duplicate shops, artificially inflating activity (such as clicks or sales), or engaging in behavior designed to manipulate search rankings.
- Set your own prices independently and not engage in price-fixing with other sellers.
1.5. Seller Standards
By listing products on MERCABL, you acknowledge that you are responsible for ensuring your listings comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including any required labeling or safety warnings. MERCABL is not responsible for the accuracy, labeling, or content of seller listings.
Meeting Service Level Standards
To foster a positive shopping experience and maintain trust with buyers, MERCABL sets Seller Service Level Standards that sellers must follow. If a shop fails to meet these standards, MERCABL may reach out to address any concerns.
By selling on MERCABL, you agree to:
- Adhere to your processing and dispatch times. Orders must be fulfilled promptly unless there are exceptional circumstances. Sellers should be aware of country-specific shipping regulations. Read more in our Delivery Policy.
- Respond to buyer messages in a timely manner, ideally within 24 hours.
- Honor the commitments made in your shop policies.
- Work directly with buyers to resolve order issues. If an issue cannot be resolved, MERCABL may provide assistance through its case resolution system. Learn more about case handling [here].
- Cancel an order if fulfillment is not possible and notify the buyer as soon as possible. Learn more about cancellations [here].
1.6. Selling Fees
Sellers may be subject to fees for listing, selling, advertising, or other MERCABL services. Details regarding applicable fees and charges can be found in our Fees & Payments Policy.
2. Being a Member of the MERCABL Community
At MERCABL, we value a safe environment for all members. Sellers have additional responsibilities, including protecting buyers’ personal information and communicating professionally to ensure a positive customer experience.
2.1. Creating and Uploading Content
As a MERCABL member, you may create and share content such as listings, messages, text, photos, and videos. However, all content must be used in a manner that aligns with our policies and community standards.
Members must not misuse MERCABL features (such as Messages, Favourites, or Collections) to manipulate, misrepresent, or engage in inappropriate conduct.
To maintain a safe and inclusive community, you agree not to upload or share content that:
- Contains hateful, discriminatory, or offensive language or imagery in violation of our Discrimination and Hateful Content Policy
- Threatens, harasses, or engages in extortion, or violates our Interference Policy
- Infringes on another party's intellectual property rights
- Is intentionally false, misleading, or deceptive
- Includes spam, unsolicited promotions, or donation requests
- Reveals private or sensitive personal information (either your own or someone else’s)
- Encourages or facilitates transactions outside of MERCABL
- Makes prohibited claims about medical drugs or treatments
- Depicts or sexualizes minors under the age of 18
- Violates any guidelines outlined in our Prohibited Items Policy
2.2. Privacy and Handling of Personal Data
As a seller or user of MERCABL, you are responsible for safeguarding any personal information you receive or process. You must adhere to all applicable privacy and data protection laws, ensuring that user information is handled lawfully, securely, and transparently. Depending on the regulations in your jurisdiction, you may be required to publish and comply with your own privacy policy, which should be easily accessible to MERCABL users you interact with. Any such policy must align with MERCABL’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
When conducting transactions or communicating through our platform, you may gain access to personal data (such as names, email addresses, or delivery details). Under data protection laws like the GDPR, you may be considered an independent data controller regarding the information you collect. This means you are solely responsible for how you use that data and may be legally required to respect user rights related to data access, correction, deletion, or portability requests. If you share or disclose user information without proper authorization, you assume full liability for any unauthorized access, breaches, or misuse.
For example, if you receive a buyer’s contact details through a transaction, you may only use this information for order fulfillment or MERCABL-related communication. You are strictly prohibited from using this data for marketing purposes, sending unsolicited messages, or retaining payment details unless explicitly authorized. It is your responsibility to ensure that any consent obtained meets legal standards.
If MERCABL and a seller are ever deemed joint controllers of personal data, and MERCABL incurs legal or financial consequences due to your handling of user information, you agree to indemnify and defend MERCABL against any resulting claims, penalties, or damages (including legal fees).
For further details, please review our Privacy Policy.
2.3. Communication Standards
2.3.1. Communicating with Other Members on MERCABL
2.3.1.1. Messages
MERCABL’s Messages (or simply, “Messages”) feature allows you to communicate directly with sellers or other members. Using Messages is a great way to inquire about products or orders. However, you must not use Messages to:
Send unsolicited promotions, spam, or requests for donations.
Harass or abuse another member or otherwise violate our policies on discrimination or hateful content.
Contacting someone after they have explicitly asked you to stop.
Disrupt or interfere with another member’s transaction or business.
Exchange personal contact, financial, or other details intended to facilitate an off-platform transaction (such as phone numbers, addresses, emails, social media usernames, external URLs, money transfer instructions, or QR codes).
Always exercise caution when sharing personal information beyond what is strictly necessary to complete an order.
2.4. Interference
Interference refers to any deliberate attempt to disrupt another user’s shops on MERCABL, and it’s strictly prohibited. Examples of interference include:
- Messaging another member to discourage them from buying from a particular shop or seller.
- Discuss a personal dispute with another member in public areas.
- Making a purchase solely for the purpose of leaving negative feedback.
- Maliciously clicking on a competitor’s sponsored listings to deplete their advertising budget (“click fraud”)
2.5. Harassment and Discrimination
Harassment of any kind toward other members is strictly forbidden. Communications must also not endorse hatred or violate our rules regarding hateful or discriminatory content. If you encounter any message that breaches these guidelines, please notify us immediately so we can take the appropriate steps.
2.6. Communicating Cancellations & Buyer Rights
2.6.1. Order Cancellations & Refunds
If you are unable to fulfill an order, you must promptly inform the buyer through MERCABL Messages and proceed with the cancellation. If the buyer has already made a payment, you must issue a full refund. To protect yourself in case of disputes, we recommend keeping proof of any refunds processed. All cancellations must comply with MERCABL’s Cancellation Policy.
- Sellers are permitted to issue refunds for up to 30 days following the date of funds release. After this period, refund requests must be submitted to Mercabl Support and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Right of Withdrawal for EU & UK Buyers
Buyers located in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) may have a 14-day right of withdrawal after receiving an item. This means they can return a product for any reason or no reason at all within this period. However, certain items, such as custom-made goods, digital products, and perishable items, may be exempt from this right depending on local regulations. Since return policies can vary between EU member states and the UK, sellers should be familiar with the specific requirements that may apply.
Country-Specific Laws & Seller Responsibility
Each country has its own rules regarding cancellations, returns, and refunds. As a seller, you are responsible for understanding both your local laws and the laws of the buyer’s country. Your shop policies may allow for additional flexibility when handling cancellations and refunds, but they must always comply with applicable legal requirements and MERCABL’s platform policies.
Sellers may still choose to cancel an order and negotiate a resolution with a buyer, particularly for digital products or custom-made items, in accordance with their shop policies.
3. Feedback, Cases, and Seller Reputation
3.1. Reviews
Reviews help build your reputation on MERCABL and provide valuable insights for future buyers.
Buyers can leave a review with a one to five-star rating and may include a photo or video of their purchase. Reviews can be submitted within 100 days from the item’s estimated fulfillment date.
During this 100-day period, buyers can edit their review, including modifying the rating, text, and any attached media, an unlimited number of times.
If you receive a negative review, you have the option to respond publicly or attempt to resolve the issue directly with the buyer.
Review Guidelines
In addition to complying with our Content Policies (see Section 2a), reviews and responses must not:
- Contain explicit, graphic, or inappropriate language, imagery, or content restricted under our Nudity & Sexual Content Policy
- Criticize elements outside the seller’s control, such as shipping carriers, MERCABL policies, or third-party services
- Involve fake reviews, review manipulation, or fraudulent attempts to artificially boost ratings (shilling)
- Disrupt or undermine the integrity of MERCABL’s review system
3.2. MERCABL's Case System
The Case system is how a buyer notifies MERCABL of an order issue or dispute that they're unable to resolve with a seller, in order for MERCABL 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 MERCABL. 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, MERCABL will assist in the resolution of the case between the buyer and seller.
Resolving a case may include, but is not limited to, automatically closing the case, or reviewing the case further to help the buyer and seller resolve it as quickly as possible. In either way, MERCABL, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to issue a refund, including, when applicable, original postage and return postage, to the buyer (to the original form of payment) and recoup funds from the seller balance, as described in our MERCABL Payments Policy.
Buyers may file a case for items that never arrive, arrive late or, arrive damaged, or do not match the listing description as part of MERCABL's Purchase Protection Programme (for more information on case eligibility, click here). MERCABL may request your assistance in resolving a case opened against your shop.
By using MERCABL's case system, you understand that MERCABL may use your personal information for the purpose of resolving disputes with other members. For more information on our privacy policy, click here.
MERCABL reserves the right to resolve an order issue before the 48-hour window for circumstances including, but not limited to, payment fraud, seller inactivity, harassment, refusal of service, manipulation, and undermining the integrity of the case system. Also in this situation, MERCABL, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to issue a refund, including, when applicable, original postage and return postage, to the buyer (to the original form of payment) and recoup funds from the seller balance, as described in our MERCABL Payments Policy.
3.3. Your Seller Account and MERCABL's Policies
To maintain a secure and reliable platform, MERCABL may take actions that affect the visibility of your shop, listings, or advertisements, as well as impose restrictions on your payment account when necessary. If we detect unusual order activity, non-compliance with minimum customer service standards, or behaviors that may lead to buyer disputes, chargebacks, fraud risks, counterfeiting, or policy violations, we may:
- Limit the visibility of your shop or listings in search results.
- Apply restrictions or reserves on your payments account.
- Temporarily suspend or permanently terminate your MERCABL account, in line with our Terms of Use and Payments Policy.
Whenever possible and permitted by law, we will notify affected sellers about any actions taken against their accounts.
Search Ranking & Account Visibility
MERCABL's search algorithm is influenced by several factors, including order volume, reviews, and listing quality. In certain cases, a sudden surge in orders—particularly in high-demand categories—may cause fluctuations in search ranking. Generally:
- Shops with strong fulfillment rates and positive reviews may see an increase in visibility.
- Unusual spikes in orders can sometimes temporarily decrease visibility, depending on marketplace trends and risk assessments.
- Listings or ads may be restricted or de-prioritized if they contain terms linked to prohibited items or violate third-party policies.
Even if visibility is reduced, restricted listings may still be discoverable through search. You can learn more about search ranking factors and optimization strategies in our Seller Resources.
Authentication & Compliance
To ensure trust and security, MERCABL may modify its onboarding and authentication processes at its sole discretion. Sellers may be required to complete verification steps for account activation and continued access to the platform.
If MERCABL has reason to believe that your content, shop, or activities violate our Terms of Use, including this Seller Policy, we may:
- Remove or restrict access to your content.
- Suspend or terminate your account (including related accounts).
Sellers in the European Union can access further details on applicable policies here. In most cases, we will provide notification before taking action unless there are repeated violations or legal reasons preventing us from doing so.
Read more about how MERCABL search works, what factors impact search ranking, and how you can help optimise your listings and shop here and in The Ultimate Guide to MERCABL Search.
Last updated on Apr 28, 2025