Add a seller

View and manage sellers from the Sellers page. You can either create a seller manually or through a sign-up form. By default, all new sellers are created in the Pending state until you approve them.

Permissions

You must have the Manage marketplace permission to create, approve, and manage sellers, and the Manage staff permission to add seller staff members.

How to add sellers to your marketplace

Add sellers through a sign-up form

You can invite sellers to your marketplace. This process involves sharing an invite form's link with a seller. When the form is completed and submitted, you can review and approve their application. The following steps describe how to invite a seller to your marketplace.

Step 1

In the dashboard, navigate to Storefront -> Onboarding. This page lets you edit your welcome message to sellers. When you are done, select Save.

Step 2

Navigate to Sellers -> Accounts and select the Invite Seller button. A pop up with a link will appear on your screen. Copy this link and share it with your seller.

Step 3

Your seller will be redirected to a page where they will create a seller account and answer a few questions about themselves and their business. should see a series of forms where they will create a seller account and answer a few questions about themselves and their business.

Step 4

When your seller is done with the sign up process, they are redirected to sign in to their store.

Step 5

At this stage, your seller’s store is still in review. You can view and accept their application through your email.

Step 6

Clicking the link in the email opens up the seller’s store. When you are satisfied with their listed items, navigate to your dashboard. In the Sellers section, you should see their details.

Step 7

Click the seller's name and approve them. Also select the agreement you want to apply on your marketplace so they can view your terms and accept them. When you are done, select Save.

Step 8

On the seller’s end, they will get a notification asking them to review the agreement you shared. When they view the agreement and accept your terms, they can start adding products and taking orders.

Add sellers manually

You can also manually add sellers to your marketplace. The entire process is done on the dashboard and requires less input from your sellers. The following steps describe how to manually add a seller to your marketplace.

Step 1: Create the seller

1. From your dashboard, navigate to the Sellers section.
2. On the Sellers list page, click the Create Seller button.
3. In the Create Seller window, enter the Legal Name of the seller, and then select Create.
   When you select Create, the seller is added in the Pending state and the window closes.

note

The only information for the seller at the time of creation is the Legal Name. As a next step before activating the seller, add more information including their Primary contact and Plan.

Step 2: Assign a marketplace agreement

The marketplace agreement is required, assigned through the Plan field. When the seller is first created, the Plan field will be empty.

Before you start

Make sure the agreement you want to assign this seller exists with the appropriate commission rate you want to collect from transactions.

1. In the dashboard, navigate to Sellers -> Accounts.
2. Open the recently created seller.
3. In the Account segment, select Edit.
4. In the Plan dropdown field, select the agreement you want to assign to this seller.
5. Select Confirm.
6. Select Save.

note

A seller's staff members cannot access the dashboard until the seller account has a marketplace agreement and is approved. Even then, only the primary contact can access the dashboard until that agreement is acknowledged.

Step 3: Assign a primary contact

A staff member can only be a primary contact for one seller account. A seller's primary contact is significant for the following reasons:

• The primary contact must acknowledge the marketplace agreement before getting access to your platform.
• Typically, the primary contact will be responsible for adding the other staff members for that seller.
• The default phone number and email address on the primary contact's staff member account will be used as the seller's contact information.

Before you start

If the staff member doesn't yet exist, create the staff member, and then return to this task.

1. In the dashboard, navigate to Sellers -> Accounts.
2. Open the recently created seller.
3. In the Details segment, select Edit.
4. In the Primary Contact field, select the staff member to assign as the primary contact. Note that the list of available staff members is filtered to those not already assigned as a primary contact in another seller account.
5. Select Confirm.
6. Select Save.
   When you save the seller, the Phone number and Email address are populated using the default address on the primary contact's account.

Step 4: Approve the seller

New sellers enter the Pending state by default, marked by the Pending badge in the dashboard. Staff members linked with a pending seller account cannot log in.

When you've reviewed the seller and conducted any applicable know-your-seller (KYS) checks, set the seller status to Approved to grant them access to log in.

note

After approving, you can pause a seller account any time.

1. In the dashboard, navigate to Sellers -> Accounts.
2. Open the recently created seller.
3. In the Account segment, select Edit.
4. In the Status dropdown, select Approved.
5. Select Confirm.
6. Select Save. The seller's status badge is updated to Approved and the activity log on the seller logs a record of the status change.

Result

When the seller is approved, the primary contact on the seller account receives an email notification that their account status was updated and the seller will be able to log in.

Acknowledging the seller agreement

On the primary contact's first login, or anytime the marketplace agreement changes, they will be prompted to acknowledge the terms of selling on the platform.

When they select Accept, their seller account agreement acknowledgement status is updated to Signed.

When the primary contact acknowledges the agreement, they will have access to the dashboard. The features and capabilities they can access will depend on their permission group.

View seller details

To view a seller account details, navigate to Sellers -> Accounts in the dashboard and select the seller account. A seller account information has the following tabs:

Tab	Description
Overview	View and edit basic seller identity and contact information, activity log, and high-level summaries of sales, orders, and commissions from the current month.
Addresses	View and edit the seller's address information - including shipping, billing, and other addresses.
Agreements	Manage and assign seller agreements.
Financials	View payout history, seller payout statements, and high-level summaries of sales, earnings, and commissions for all time.
Catalog	View the seller's product catalog.
Orders	View the seller's orders.
Users	View the staff members under the seller account.
Documents	Manage documents such as notes, incorporation documents, etc.
Settings	Access to shipping accrual configuration, Stripe payout onboarding link, and currency configuration.

Learn more

How to create sellers with Nautical's GraphQL API.