Assortment policy

Our assortment policy contains all the conditions that apply to the offer of bol. Let's make it a shared effort to ensure that bol stands for reliability and quality. Only then will customers order from us with peace of mind.

Discrimination

On this page, you will read everything you need to know about the Discrimination assortment policy. Bol is the store of everyone. It is our joint responsibility to make everyone feel welcome and to make sure no one ever feels discriminated.

Discrimination in books

Being a store for everyone, means that everyone should be able to visit our store and feel welcome there. Feeling welcome is not compatible with a product range that incites discrimination or hate and, therefore, is perceived as offensive. In order to properly assess what is perceived as controversial, discriminatory or offensive, we listen to feedback from our customers and partners on a daily basis and engage in dialogue with authorities and external experts. 

We remain of the view to be careful with freedom of expression and so we strive to make as many books available as possible. Nevertheless, on rare occasions we may decide not to sell certain books or take them offline. This applies to books that incite discrimination or hate. For other controversial books, we may decide to label them with a special label with additional information to educate and inform. 

Black Pete

It is important that everyone can visit our store without ever feeling discriminated by our assortment. We do not want to hurt people unnecessarily by stereotyping. We therefore ask you to take this into account in the way you advertise your items.

  • Use the term ‘Piet’ instead of ‘Zwarte Piet’/’Black Pete’
  • Do not post images of people who are covered in dark paint and instead use models that are not painted, partially painted or patterned.
  • Do not offer items that contain a stereotypical caricature emphasizing skin color or ethnicity, such as Black Pete.

Skin colour

Through bol, items are sold in all kinds of sizes, styles and colours. The more specific the description of the item is, the faster our collective customers can find what suits them. Instead of the term ‘skin colour’, use a more specific description for the colour of your item. For example, beige, brown or light pink. 

Hoops & Slave bracelets

Within the jewellery category, you will find ‘Oorringen’ (earrings) and bangles. No ‘creolen’ or ‘slavenarmbanden’ (creoles or slave bracelets). So don’t use those terms either.