Assortment policy

Bamboo & Melamine tableware

Be careful when offering children’s crockery or camping crockery. Dinnerware made of bamboo or corn fibers can be harmful in combination with the plastic melamine. The Dutch and Belgian regulators, the NVWA and the FAVV, advised to stop selling these items immediately. You can only continue to offer items that consist entirely of bamboo or entirely of melamine.

> You can find the investigation report on the NVWA website

Tobacco & Drugs

Bol chooses not to encourage the use of tobacco or soft and hard drugs; therefore, it is not allowed to sell the following products on bol:

• Tobacco and other smoking products covered by the Tobacco and Tobacco Products Act. In addition, bol goes beyond the law as it is neither allowed to sell cigarette makers or accessories with aroma, such as aroma cards, aroma filters, aroma cigarette papers and aroma liquids.
• Products covered by the Opium Act.
• E-cigarettes, vaporisers and any other products that can be used to consume nicotine (or a nicotine-free substance), which release vapour through a mouthpiece. Parts of and accessories for these products, including refills, cartridges, tanks and kits, are also prohibited from carrying on bol.
• Pipes, bongs, cannabis pipes and bongs. Parts of and accessories for these products are also prohibited from carrying on bol.
• Items associated with the production and consumption of soft and hard drugs. These include (electric) grinders, joint casings & rollers, rolling trays & boxes and cannabis seeds.
• Whipped cream cartridges.

However, the following items are allowed:

• Ashtrays
• Lighters
• CBD products, provided they comply with applicable laws and regulations in the Netherlands and Belgium

The following articles are allowed, provided they do not contain references to cannabis:

• Electric spice grinders
• Cigarette & cigarette boxes

Currently, selling rolling papers & tips is still allowed provided they do not contain references to cannabis. From July 1, 2024, these may no longer be sold on bol because we do not want to encourage the use of tobacco or soft and hard drugs.

Smoking accessories are also not allowed to display pictures of cigarettes or cigars.

Second-hand & Refurbished

Second-hand 

Second-hand items or margin goods can only be offered in the book, music and film categories. You cannot apply for selling rights for the other categories. It is therefore not possible to offer second-hand items other than books, music and films at bol. 

Refurbished 

The sale of refurbished range at bol has unfortunately been discontinued for the time being. This is because it is our responsibility to clearly show customers whether an item is refurbished, which is currently not technically possible. And we cannot solve this in the short term either. Refurbished items were allowed in a closed group until January 2022. It is not allowed to offer refurbished items.

Precursors for explosives

European regulation on explosives precursors 

Home-explosives are weapons commonly used by terrorists and other criminals. This is due to the accessibility of some raw materials for explosives. The availability of these substances is restricted by European regulations. As of February 1, 2021, the new European Regulation 2019/1148 applies for explosives precursors. This may have implications for you as an entrepreneur and partner of bol. 

The implications for you as an entrepreneur 

The regulation brings new obligations for sellers of assortment that may contain raw materials for explosives, so possibly also for you as a business owner. These obligations are described in European Regulation 2019/1148. You can read more information on the website of the NCTV (note: this website has not yet been updated to the new regulation). Bol, as an online platform, is legally obliged under the Regulation, among other things, to report suspicious transactions, disappearance and theft of items containing certain raw materials to the Suspicious Transactions Chemicals Disclosure Office. Please note that this reporting obligation does not only apply to online platforms like bol, but also to you as an entrepreneur. 

The implications for your offer on bol – provide additional information 

Bol will only allow the sales of items in which concentrations of the specific raw materials are below the limit for (license-free) sales as specified in the regulation. To make this possible, from February 1, 2021, it will be compulsory at bol to fill in the concentrations of the specific raw materials at product attributes. If you do not fill in this information before 1 February, the relevant article will be taken offline. This will also happen if the concentrations of the specific raw materials are above the limit mentioned above. The annexes of the European Regulation 2019/1148 describe the specific limit values of the raw materials. You can find the regulation here. 

Which product attributes are mandatory? 

Below you can find the raw materials that are mandatory to add to your product attributes, depending on the type of assortment:

These items, among others, may contain these raw materials:

Gas connection gas cookers and hobs 

To avoid unsafe situations, we only want to offer on our platform gas cookers and hobs that have been made specifically suitable for the Netherlands or Belgium through the factory setting. Gas cookers and hobs suitable for connection in a specific country (the Netherlands or Belgium) may be dangerous if they are connected in the country for which they are not intended.