NOT ON THE HISTREET !! Get approved .

[Ravisteam]

HI Guys ,
I thought to apply for NORTHS (I wanted to for a while ) ..I heard it's bit difficult to get aproved ..Hope some one can help me on this .I heard they need Unique items not selling on any other places .We have some items only sell by us on eBay (I hate eBay customers !!) so thought to put them on NORTHS ..So should I tell NORTHS we sell on eBay and the website .Will it be a disadvantage !! ..Is it better to go as a new business ??......When we show them our product images can we show them our website (They dont want their items to sell anyweare else so I am confused ) ..I know they are looking for amnything ..Showing them we are already running they will have a confident but otherhand they can see we sell them in other places ...Please advice !!.Thanks in advance ,.

[pisquee]

You can sell same products on your own site, and Etsy, not other big sites though.
You can sell different products on Amazon and Ebay, just not the same ones.
To get on have nicely styled product photos - not white cut outs ... look at the products they put in their advert emails (sign up as a customer to get these) and what they promote on the fron page of the site etc for a guide as to the type of photo look they want.
Ideally go to a pitch-up event, as a higher %age of people get accepted at those compared to online - a lot easier to click no, than to say no to someone's face!

[Ravisteam]

You can sell same products on your own site, and Etsy, not other big sites though.
You can sell different products on Amazon and Ebay, just not the same ones.
To get on have nicely styled product photos - not white cut outs ... look at the products they put in their advert emails (sign up as a customer to get these) and what they promote on the fron page of the site etc for a guide as to the type of photo look they want.
Ideally go to a pitch-up event, as a higher %age of people get accepted at those compared to online - a lot easier to click no, than to say no to someone's face!

Thanks Tim for your kind advice ..So its okay to tell them you already running the business ..?.

[pisquee]

Took us 4/5 years worth of rejected applications to get on there, before getting snapped up the first (i think) Pitch-Up event they ran.
Al the while out company and brand was running and growing - that wasn't a problem to them - there's still a lot of small kitchen table mum businesses on there, and a good amount of huge £million+ turnover ones too ... if you have a product that they think is right for their customer demographic then that's essentially what they're looking for.

[GoonerGary]

I hear people say that you should bite their hand off to get accepted, but there are drawbacks. NOTHS are very much in control of your business. So the products you want to sell need to be approved by them. I know of a business who wanted to introduce a more affordable collection of their themed products, but they said no. Leaving the business struggling and figuring out what to do next.

Good to hear that they don't mind Etsy, I'm surprised by that. Most sellers do sell elsewhere regardless, but I guess you don't want to get caught out. If they don't like your face, you'll probably struggle. Photos need to be top class or they too will get rejected.

[pisquee]

If you're the creative type of business who can adapt their products to what sells on NOTHS, then you'll do well, those that don't adpat, and/or don't do personalised designs don't do so well.
They are powerful, and can be arrogant with it, BUT they have a huge audience, and a good budget to throw behind google advertising, printed catalogues, TV advertising, radio advertising, etc etc etc - it is 30% commission, but well worth it, just make sure you factor it into your costings.
They allow the same products on Etsy as when they started this was one of the places they looked for sellers to join to get things started. Sellers are allowed to sell on other big platforms like Ebay and Amazon but not with the same products - NOTHS want to be different in their product offer, and photo styling (in an ideal world!)

[Ravisteam]

I dont mind the 30% commission specially eBay it self seems to be getting 18% or so when u add up paypal in to it and worst customers in the planet with cheap sellers undercutting your products .NORTHS seems better on those ..I know photography is a key point ..Ill try to get apploved ..thanks for you ideas ill update the results ..