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Verified Merchant Program rejection

OfficialZorket
Just visiting

Please help. The Verified Merchant program was disapproved unexpectedly. Problem "Merchant does not meet minimum website quality requirements". Please help me someone to understand what do I need to fix on my site: zorket.com

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1 Solution

Accepted Solutions
bodymindmood
Pinterest Pioneer
Pinterest Pioneer

@OfficialZorket 

Hi welcome to the PBC!

I read your post and I took a look at your website - I have posted below the current Merchant Requirements for your review.

There were a couple of things that might be an issue for you:

- Your site has the appearance of a 'marketplace' which Pinterest does not allow.

- There are a lot of Stock Images which again Pinterest does not allow.

- I noticed you use a gmail account as a contact - I have seen this become an issue for other applicants as Pinterest truly doesn't like gmail accounts when it comes to the Verified Merchant Program so you may want to consider changing this to a .com.

- I also noticed on the Tracking of a shipment you are using a company that is not in the United States or a country that is not on Pinterest List for Countries where you can become a Verified Merchant - I copied the below statement from Pinterest Help Website.

If you’re a merchant in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, the UK or the US, apply to join the Verified Merchant Program.

If you’re not based in these countries, stay tuned! We'll announce when the Verified Merchant Program is available in additional countries.

While I cannot guarantee that the things I have noted are in fact the issues for Pinterest and the reason they removed your VM Status I would suggest addressing these issues and making sure that you have met all the guidelines before reapplying.

Merchant Guidelines

  • Merchants must meet the following criteria:

    • Merchants must not be resale or consignment marketplaces.⬅️
    • Merchants must not be affiliate marketers.
    • The merchant must have an easy to find and clear shipping policy that displays expected shipping time.
    • The merchant must have an easy to find and clear return policy, that displays whether the merchant accepts returns, the process and time expectations for returns (if applicable), and contact information.
    • The merchant must have a dedicated “about us” page detailing their business offering or relevant social media links.
    • Merchants must have a high-quality website and product pages. We don’t allow websites that:
      • Have poor editorial content, including:
        • Improper grammar, excessive or glaring spelling or typos
        • Fuzzy or grainy images
        • Broken links or incomplete pages
      • Have unoriginal content, including:
        • Unoriginal content within the “about us” section or product descriptions
        • Stock images⬅️
      • Force users to visit another page that is not original to the brand
      • Force users to register to view the products
      • Are unsafe or deceptive
      • Have multiple ads or pop-ups
      • Have pop-ups you cannot close
      • Have out of date content or out-of-stock products


    I know that this can be frustrating and concerning but unfortunately Pinterest has the right to do this at their discretion:

    We reserve the right to remove product Pins for violating these guidelines and to shut down feed access from any merchant based on poor third-party ratings or a record of complaints. We may remove anything for any reason, including Pins, boards or your access to Pinterest. 

    I hope this will help you - please share how you have made out.

    Lisa

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36 Replies
OfficialZorket
Just visiting

Please help. The Verified Merchant program was suddenly disapproved. The issue is "Merchant does not meet minimum website quality requirements". I had the only one appeal submission instead of two. Please help me to understand what issue I need to fix. My website is: zorket.com

0 Kudos
bodymindmood
Pinterest Pioneer
Pinterest Pioneer

@OfficialZorket 

Hi welcome to the PBC!

I read your post and I took a look at your website - I have posted below the current Merchant Requirements for your review.

There were a couple of things that might be an issue for you:

- Your site has the appearance of a 'marketplace' which Pinterest does not allow.

- There are a lot of Stock Images which again Pinterest does not allow.

- I noticed you use a gmail account as a contact - I have seen this become an issue for other applicants as Pinterest truly doesn't like gmail accounts when it comes to the Verified Merchant Program so you may want to consider changing this to a .com.

- I also noticed on the Tracking of a shipment you are using a company that is not in the United States or a country that is not on Pinterest List for Countries where you can become a Verified Merchant - I copied the below statement from Pinterest Help Website.

If you’re a merchant in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, the UK or the US, apply to join the Verified Merchant Program.

If you’re not based in these countries, stay tuned! We'll announce when the Verified Merchant Program is available in additional countries.

While I cannot guarantee that the things I have noted are in fact the issues for Pinterest and the reason they removed your VM Status I would suggest addressing these issues and making sure that you have met all the guidelines before reapplying.

Merchant Guidelines

  • Merchants must meet the following criteria:

    • Merchants must not be resale or consignment marketplaces.⬅️
    • Merchants must not be affiliate marketers.
    • The merchant must have an easy to find and clear shipping policy that displays expected shipping time.
    • The merchant must have an easy to find and clear return policy, that displays whether the merchant accepts returns, the process and time expectations for returns (if applicable), and contact information.
    • The merchant must have a dedicated “about us” page detailing their business offering or relevant social media links.
    • Merchants must have a high-quality website and product pages. We don’t allow websites that:
      • Have poor editorial content, including:
        • Improper grammar, excessive or glaring spelling or typos
        • Fuzzy or grainy images
        • Broken links or incomplete pages
      • Have unoriginal content, including:
        • Unoriginal content within the “about us” section or product descriptions
        • Stock images⬅️
      • Force users to visit another page that is not original to the brand
      • Force users to register to view the products
      • Are unsafe or deceptive
      • Have multiple ads or pop-ups
      • Have pop-ups you cannot close
      • Have out of date content or out-of-stock products


    I know that this can be frustrating and concerning but unfortunately Pinterest has the right to do this at their discretion:

    We reserve the right to remove product Pins for violating these guidelines and to shut down feed access from any merchant based on poor third-party ratings or a record of complaints. We may remove anything for any reason, including Pins, boards or your access to Pinterest. 

    I hope this will help you - please share how you have made out.

    Lisa

4 Kudos
OfficialZorket
Just visiting

Hi Lisa,

Thank you very much for your comments. I appreciate your help. The remark with gmail makes sense.

-We are not a marketplace and have no signs of a marketplace or resale and the images we use are the same images used by many other verified sellers on Pinterest that are still verified.

- We use a universal tracking company that can track any shipment for the convenience of our customers. Unfortunately, we did not know that this should be a company only from the list of allowed countries. This is a very strange requirement.

Thank you very much for your help. We will do our best to fix the issues and submit a new appeal.

Sincerely,
Alex

1 Kudo
bodymindmood
Pinterest Pioneer
Pinterest Pioneer

Hi Alex

I’m glad that the info was helpful.

With respect to the shipment company - its not a requirement in terms of shipping but I can’t be certain, there are other requirements I’m sure that are not listed and so I am looking at the most obvious things or things that stood out to me when I viewed your site. My suggestion to use companies that are on the list of countries that currently have the Verified Merchant Program available is so that Pinterest doesn’t flag it for any reason.

I do know that many Verified Merchants are being evaluated as there have been a number of similar posts in the last week with the same issue. There are many merchants who were verified and then lost verification because they were in violation, when I looked at their sites it was very clear.

On the point of gmail I remember there was one business that was trying to get verified and it ended up being the email address …. she was using a gmail vs. a .com and that was flagged but once she changed her email her application was accepted.

Just make sure everything is ready to go and review the guidelines before doing your Appeal.

If you need anything else please let us know.

Lisa

 

 

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OfficialZorket
Just visiting

Hi Lisa,

 

I appreciate your help. I will make changes as you suggested and submit a new appeal. I will let you know the result anyway.

 

Thank you very much for your help once again.

 

Alex

1 Kudo
OfficialZorket
Just visiting

Hi Lisa,

 

I received a response from Pinterest.

 

Your business was not approved to be a merchant on Pinterest. Please, check out our Merchant Guidelines to learn more about our criteria.
 
To keep shopping inspirational and actionable, we set high standards for our Merchants. Your website was not approved for the following reasons: 
 
- Merchant does not meet minimum website quality requirements.

If you’d like to appeal this decision, review our guidelines for more detailed information on how you can get your products on Pinterest. Please, try again after updating your information.
___________________

We have changed the email address to .com and removed a tracking company from the site at all. Could you tell us what else we can do? Do you really think we look like a marketplace or resale? We are not a marketplace or resale actually. We are an online retail store. How can we prove it? Please help us to understand what we can do to get the verified status again.

 

Kind Regards,

Alex

1 Kudo
bodymindmood
Pinterest Pioneer
Pinterest Pioneer

@OfficialZorket 

Hi Alex

Sorry to hear that - but process of elimination.

I am pasting below the Merchant Requirements and I think with the response you received you can narrow it down to what Pinterest is looking for - see the section below on website requirements and then look at your site - it might be Stock Images you have on your site or what Pinterest perceives to be Stock Images. Yes, your site has a feel of Marketplace and of course I am not suggesting it is but there is a possibility that Pinterest is seeing it as a Marketplace.

I would go through your site and review it for any potential errors including checking links, check your ratings online eg. 5 Star, ensure your Shipping | Return Policies are visable and accessable on all pages include as much information on your contact form and so on. Go down the list of requirements and check your site against it.

  • Merchants must meet the following criteria:

    • Merchants must not be resale or consignment marketplaces.
    • Merchants must not be affiliate marketers.
    • The merchant must have an easy to find and clear shipping policy that displays expected shipping time.
    • The merchant must have an easy to find and clear return policy, that displays whether the merchant accepts returns, the process and time expectations for returns (if applicable), and contact information.
    • The merchant must have a dedicated “about us” page detailing their business offering or relevant social media links.
    • 👉🏻Merchants must have a high-quality website and product pages. We don’t allow websites that:
      • Have poor editorial content, including:
        • Improper grammar, excessive or glaring spelling or typos
        • Fuzzy or grainy images
        • Broken links or incomplete pages
      • Have unoriginal content, including:
        • Unoriginal content within the “about us” section or product descriptions
        • Stock images
      • Force users to visit another page that is not original to the brand
      • Force users to register to view the products
      • Are unsafe or deceptive
      • Have multiple ads or pop-ups
      • Have pop-ups you cannot close
      • Have out of date content or out-of-stock products

     

    Please let me know how you are making out and if I can help in anyway.

    Lisa

2 Kudos
OfficialZorket
Just visiting

Hi Lisa,

 

Thank you very much for your response.

 

-Can you tell me please what I can do if Pinterest thinks we are resale or consignment marketplace? Is there a procedure or something we can do to prove Pinterest we are not resale or consignment marketplace?

-What we can do if the reason of VM status disapproval are "Stock Images"? Is there something we can do with this? We would remove the images if we could know what images are considered Pinterest as Stock Images.

 

Alex

1 Kudo
bodymindmood
Pinterest Pioneer
Pinterest Pioneer

Hi there

I am going to check and I will come back to you with a response - I don't want to give you the wrong information.

So, let me review and I will post a response for you.

Lisa

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