Seller Best Practices¶
Particl Marketplace is a trustless marketplace, meaning that no single party controls it. Instead, the marketplace runs autonomously on a decentralized network that shifts the balance of responsibilities on the users rather than on a platform’s company. That means you’ll be interacting, directly and with no other party in between, with the seller of a product.
For this reason, it is well-advised for you to follow a range of best practices to fully enjoy all the benefits that Particl Marketplace and the free market have to offer while avoiding any bump.
Seller’s General¶
Understanding Particl Marketplace as a seller¶
Make sure you know how Particl Marketplace and its various features work. The best way to do just that is to read the documentation contained here on the Particl Academy.
When first launching Particl Marketplace, it can take several minutes for it to sync with the Particl Blockchain and SMSG Network. If you don’t see any listing, it’s most likely because your client is still syncing. Just give it some more minutes to complete the process.
Because you can’t decipher new orders or updates on active orders when your Particl Desktop client is locked, make sure to unlock it before you start processing and working on orders. If you don’t unlock your client, you won’t see new orders or updates until you do.
After accepting an order from a buyer, keep in mind that you still have two additional steps that you need to take. These extra steps are there to protect you from fraud.
Seller’s Customer Care¶
Dispute management as a seller¶
Because there is no internal messaging feature on Particl Marketplace yet, it is recommended to provide your customers with an external means of communication (i.e., your email address) to resolve any potential issue. This is, however, completely optional and up to you.
Remain neutral, comprehensive, and show your customer you are willing to work through the issue. You need your customer to be satisfied with the proposed resolution(s) for funds locked in escrow to be released.
Dispute prevention as a seller¶
Respond in a timely manner to Comments and Reviews
Be as clear and straightforward as possible in your product description. Avoid hyperboles and misrepresentations.
Provide accurate and realistic shipping time estimates.
Put in place a solid and unambiguous after-sale policy with clear return and refund policies.
Because there is no internal messaging feature on Particl Marketplace yet, it is recommended to provide your customers with an external and secure means of communication (i.e., your email address) to discuss any issue or matter that could lead to a conflict. This is, however, completely optional and up to you.
Recommend to your customers that they leave a phone number so that a shipping service provider can contact them if required.
Customer’s article not received/broken¶
Always verify the tracking number when a customer claims they have not received a product.
Call the shipping service provider to determine whether there has been an error in shipping the package or its processing.
Put your phone number and return address on the package when shipping. If there’s an issue with the package, it can then safely be returned to you, or the shipping service provider will call you to resolve the matter.
Tracking numbers as a seller¶
When marking an order has “shipping”, you have an option to send your customer a note. This is where you can put the tracking number of the delivery. You can also type in any other information relevant to the order.
It is recommended to keep a copy of the tracking number until the buyer confirms that they have received the delivery. That will help you in case a dispute arises.
Because the customer expects a secure and private e-commerce experience from Particl Marketplace, please keep any information or data you save about your customers or orders secured and confidential.