How to sell on bol.com? A complete step-by-step guide for successful selling

Curious about how to sell on bol.com? Selling on bol comes with multiple advantages: you can tap into the millions of visitors that bol attracts daily in both the Netherlands and Belgium, and you don't need your own webshop. Additionally, you can leverage the data bol shares with sellers, advertising opportunities, and more.

In 2023, bol achieved a revenue of 2.9 billion euros, with almost half generated by its tens of thousands of affiliated partners. In this article, we share our step-by-step plan to sell your products through the most well-known and largest online store in the Netherlands, allowing you to benefit from a share of this revenue.

Why sell on bol.com?

Selling on a marketplace like bol.com gives you access to a large and established customer base, making it easier to reach potential buyers without building your own audience or spending money on, for example, Google Shopping. Bol provides a trusted platform known by people in the Netherlands and Belgium. Additionally, Bol offers logistical support, advertising opportunities, and valuable data insights. The main benefits of selling on bol are:

• Huge customer base

• Trusted brand name

• Support with shipping and storage

• Marketing and visibility

• Data insights into search behavior

What do you need to sell on Bol?

To start selling on Bol.com, you need at least the following:

• A valid Chamber of Commerce registration

• VAT identification number

• Items with an EAN, GTIN, or ISBN barcode

• Offerings that comply with the assortment policy and meet the laws and regulations in the Netherlands and Belgium

Don't have products or your own brand yet? Also read our article about what sells well on bol to get inspired on what you can offer.

Step-by-step plan to sell on bol

Step 1: Create a sales account

To create a business sales account, you need a bol account. This can be an existing personal account, or you can create a new bol account specifically for business sales. With this account, you can create a sales account on this page. Fill in the necessary business details and proceed.

Step 2: Verify your account

Once you have completed all the steps and filled in the required information, your account will be verified. You will receive a letter by post with a verification code at the address where your company is registered. This is the address known to the Chamber of Commerce or the Belgian Trade Register. After entering the code, your store will be active, and you can start selling.

Step 3: Add products

You can now manage your store and add products. Products on bol are added based on EAN codes. Don't have them yet? Read our article about EAN codes on bol. Once you have added products and your offer is online, you can receive orders.

Step 4: Optimize products

If you are selling products of your own brand, chances are they weren't previously available on bol.com before you offered them. To ensure your products are discoverable and actually purchased, it's important to optimize your product information. You can do this best with a bol content optimization tool. This helps you write texts that perform well in search results and contain all the important keywords for your product.

Step 5: Shipping

Received your first order? Then it's time to ship your product! Make sure to deliver your product on time within the promised delivery window. Your first completed order is now a fact.

What does it cost to sell via bol.com?

With bol, you only pay a commission when you sell something. There are no monthly fees, unlike with Amazon.nl, for example. The commission consists of a fixed and a variable component:

• A fixed fee per sold item, where the amount depends on the type of product and the selling price, including VAT.

• A variable percentage of the selling price, also including VAT, which varies per product category and sometimes also based on the selling price.

If you use other services like advertising or one of bol's logistical solutions, additional costs may apply. In this article, we assume you are a starting seller, so we leave these costs out.

How to calculate your profit on bol?

Because the commission to bol consists of two components and depends on the product category, it can sometimes be difficult to calculate your exact profit margin. We have developed a bol profit calculator. With this calculator, you can easily calculate the profit per product.

How do you ensure your products are purchased on bol?

Your products will only be purchased if they are found. Bol uses various criteria to determine how products are ranked in search results. Products that perform better on these criteria appear higher in the search results, increasing their visibility and chances of being sold. Some of the most important ranking factors are:

• Relevance of keywords in titles and descriptions

• Number of reviews and review score

• Availability and delivery time (products that can be delivered quickly receive a higher preference)

• Sales history and customer satisfaction

In addition, keywords play a crucial role in the findability of your products. Bol.com's algorithm looks for relevant terms that match users' search queries. To ensure potential customers can find your product, you should use the right keywords in your title and description. You can use bol's own search trends tool for this, or use a writing tool specifically developed for bol.

The last important factor often overlooked is collecting reviews. Reviews have a huge impact on the visibility of your product because the bol algorithm favors products with reviews. Additionally, it increases trust with potential customers, leading to more visitors making a purchase. You can start collecting reviews from day one with a review tool for bol.

The disadvantages of selling on bol

Selling on bol is not without its drawbacks. Bol charges commissions per sale, which, depending on the product category, often range between 10% and 15%. This can reduce profitability compared to selling through your own webshop. Moreover, the customer relationship is essentially in the hands of bol itself. Your customer often associates their order more with bol than with your brand or webshop, making it challenging to build brand loyalty and encourage repeat purchases at your own brand.

Another common disadvantage is the constant need to sell as cheaply as possible. On a marketplace like Bol, you are surrounded by competition, allowing customers to easily compare products. If you don't sell your own brand, there is also the chance that multiple sellers try to sell your product. In this case, you must win the buy box to be able to sell anything at all. Here you can read more about how the buy box on bol works.

Common mistakes by bol sellers

When starting as an online store owner on marketplaces, you can easily encounter a number of common mistakes that may hinder your success. Be well-prepared and avoid these frequently encountered mistakes:

• Ignoring Bol’s service standards
  All sellers must adhere to certain service standards set by bol. These standards are deemed important by bol, such as ensuring you deliver your goods within the promised delivery timeframe, being available by phone at least 40 hours per week, and responding to all customer queries promptly. Your scores are calculated every week. If you do not meet one of the important service standards, you can receive a strike. Too many strikes can temporarily inactivate your account. Familiarize yourself with the service standards and ensure you comply with them.

• Skipping price research Marketplaces are highly price-sensitive; even small price differences can be decisive for a purchase decision. Compare your prices with those of competitors to stay attractive and competitive.

• Selling at a loss
  Many new sellers are eager to start on bol and want to make the first sales. This may lead you to set your price as low as possible, even if it doesn't result in a profit. In the long run, this is not beneficial, so thoroughly analyze your pricing and profits.

• Not optimizing product titles and descriptions Products often have little visibility if their titles and descriptions are not optimized for bol's search algorithms. Using relevant keywords can make the difference between well-visible and barely visible products. On your own webshop, you might spend less effort on this, possibly because you already have a lot of returning traffic.

• Neglecting inventory management Not keeping your inventory up to date can lead to having to cancel orders or failing to deliver on time. This results in poor reviews and potential strikes. Ensure your inventory management is in order.

• Becoming too reliant on one marketplace Being entirely reliant on one platform can leave you vulnerable to changes in bol's policies or temporary suspensions of your account. Diversify your sales channels and don't neglect your focus on your own webshop to reduce dependency on a single marketplace.

Summary

Selling on bol.com offers attractive benefits, such as access to a large customer base in the Netherlands and Belgium, a trusted platform known to consumers, and support for shipping and advertising opportunities. To start, you'll need a business sales account, where you add products based on EAN codes and optimize your product information for better discoverability. Ensure your titles and descriptions are keyword-focused, as keywords play a crucial role in ranking products on bol.com.

As a starting seller, keep bol.com's service standards in mind, and adjust your pricing strategically to stay competitive. Remember that your profit per product can vary due to bol's commission structure, consisting of a fixed fee and a percentage. Diversify your sales channels to avoid relying too much on one platform. By applying these strategies well, you enhance your chances for a successful selling experience on bol.com.