Assortment policy

Rejected items

We put the safety and health of customers above commercial interests. In some cases, we anticipate legislation if an item is known to be in question or potentially harmful to users or their environment. Items on the Safety Gate list for rejected items are potentially harmful and should not be offered at bol. Pay extra close attention to this when selling eyelash serums or eye shadow.

Animal materials

As animal welfare is important to us, it is not allowed to sell articles containing real fur, angora, mohair or kangaroo via bol. Real fur means animal skin, or parts thereof, with hair or fur in processed or unprocessed form, or fur of an animal. It is also not allowed to sell real animals, such as frozen chicks, via bol.

However, the following materials are allowed:

• Synthetic materials resembling fur
• Animal skins (or parts thereof) of sheep, cows, goats and reindeer (except the angora goat)
• Wool (excluding angora and mohair wool)

Protected species

Via our platform, we do not allow items or materials made of species that are threatened with extinction. These species are on the lists of CITES. Items containing (materials of) protected animals, are also not allowed to offer via bol.com. Not even if you have a valid permit, declaration or license to do so.

For example, the following materials are not allowed:

• Ivory
• Exotic leather (e.g. snakeskin and crocodile leather)

> Discover protected species with the CITES checklist (English & French)

Foreign/imported items

The sale of certain items is regulated in accordance with legal requirements and laws. As a seller, you are always responsible for ensuring that your offer complies with these. Pay extra attention when you want to offer cosmetics, especially when you import the items from abroad and offer them on the Dutch or Belgian market. Among other things, all cosmetics must comply with the European  Cosmetics Regulation.

Products for the Dutch market must have a Dutch packaging language. Products for the Belgian market should have at least a Dutch and a French packaging language.

More information on the Dutch guidelines can be found on the website of the Dutch  Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). More information on the Belgian guidelines can be found at the Federal Public Service for Health .

Fairtrade

Fairtrade is a non-protected term used to describe items that: 

• Are produced under proper working conditions. 
• Are locally sustainable.
• Have fair trade agreements with farmers and workers.

Bol tries to ensure this definition by only recommending items as ‘Fairtrade’ if they bear a label that meets the stated requirements:

• Fairtrade
• World Fair Trade Organization 
• Cotton Made in Africa
• Fair for Life (clothing) 

If you offer an item that may carry one of these labels, you can let us know via this link. 

For items classified as Fairtrade that do not have a seal of approval from one of these authorities, bol removes this claim from the product information. 

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. 

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:

Teeth whitening products 

The safety and health of our customers is paramount. It is important not to exceed the legal maximum of hydrogen peroxide in teeth whitening products. Therefore, it is mandatory to indicate the percentage of hydrogen peroxide (H202) in the product information attribute ‘percentage of hydrogen peroxide’ for that item. 

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.

CLP Safety warnings

Some consumer products hold safety information on its packaging. To ensure the safety and quality of our collective range and to comply with European directives, this safety information must also be displayed on the product page. This obligation is stated in European Regulations. More information on these regulations can be found here: CLP.

Mandatory safety information can be found on the item’s packaging. Comprehensive safety information can be found on the Safety Data Sheet (SDS). You can request the SDS from the supplier of the item.

This applies to product groups with items containing hazardous substances. Examples include items such as superglue, detergent and washing-up liquid. For your assortment, make sure the following attributes provide information, corresponding with the safety information on the product packaging’s label:

• SIGNALING WORD: ‘Danger’ or ‘Warning’.
• DANGER INDICATIONS: on the label, these can be found under the heading hazard statements. They can be identified by the h-codes on the SDS.
• PRECAUTIONS: these are the recommended precautions. They can be identified by the p-codes on the SDS.

Cosmetics

To ensure that we offer safe cosmetic items to our joint customers, it is mandatory to comply with the applicable legislation for cosmetic products in EU, NL and BE. To comply with this, we have prepared the information and guidelines below. Please make sure you are aware of the legal requirements that apply to selling cosmetics.

What is a cosmetic?

“Any substances or mixtures intended to be brought into contact with the parts of the human body surface (epidermis, hair, hair, nails, lips and external genital organs) or with the teeth and the mucous membranes of the mouth, with the sole or principal purpose of cleaning them, perfuming them, changing their appearance and/or protecting or keeping the aforementioned parts of the body in good condition or correcting body odours” (Article 2.1a of the Cosmetics Regulation EC 1223/2009.).

Product safety and regulated ingredients

To ensure customer safety, the Cosmetics Regulation EC 1223/2009 requires every product to be assessed and found safe by a qualified safety assessor before it is sold. The responsible party (also called the Responsible Person/Responsible Person) is a person or company and must be able to make available a valid Cosmetic Product Safety Report (CPSR) from the safety assessor at all times. This must show that the product has been found safe by an authorised assessor and that the product meets all legal safety requirements. For confirmation, we can request this safety assessment from you, among other things. Cosmetics must be made and packaged according to certain hygiene standards (ISO 22716), this cannot just be done in the kitchen.

Once there is a serious suspicion that the range is dangerous for the customer, your range may be (temporarily) offline while we assess the (potentially) dangerous items. Responsible party of the article ensures that the correct documentation is available, when notification/assessment is involved.

Of course, it is not allowed to offer items containing banned ingredients, such as Lilial (BUTYLPHENYL METHYLPROPIONAL). Some substances are allowed in limited quantities. Cosmetics regulation EC 1223/2009 contains lists of:

• Prohibited substances (Annex II)
• Substances allowed in cosmetic products with set restrictions (Annexes III, IV, V and VI)

These lists and their restrictions change regularly. Make sure that the safety assessment (CPSR) remains up to date with changes in the product and with changes in legislation and thus that your products do not contain a recently banned substance or exceed recently (updated) restrictions. Also ensure that labels and online information are updated to the latest requirements regarding mandatory product information, instructions for use and warnings. Use the DIY Compliance manager to check whether ingredients comply with the latest legal restrictions and conditions.

Maximum concentrations for the substances Octocrylene and Benzophenone-3

Maximum concentrations for the substances Octocrylene and Benzophenone-3 apply. This means:

• Benzophenone-3 may be used up to a maximum concentration of 6% as a UV filter in products for face, hands and lips, excluding products in aerosols and spray pumps.
• Benzophenone-3 may be used up to a maximum concentration of 2% as a Uv filter in body products, including products in aerosols or spray pumps.
• In other products, Benzophenone-3 may be used as a Uv filter up to a maximum concentration of 0.5%.
• The use of Octocrylene as a Uv filter in products in aerosols is limited to a maximum concentration of 9%.
• The use of Octocrylene as a Uv filter in other products is limited to a maximum concentration of 10%.

In addition, products containing Benzophenone will be required to carry a warning label that reads, “Contains Benzophenone-3.”

Do you have any questions about the maximum concentrations of substances in your items? Please ask your supplier those questions. You can find more information on the EU-website.

Information on labels and online sales pages

For any cosmetic product, mandatory information about the product and its safe use must be available to consumers on the product itself and on the outer packaging and, in the case of online sales, also on the product’s sales page. If it is not possible to label the packaging, the option is to add a card with information.

Consumers (and authorities) should be able to see the following minimum mandatory information on the item, packaging and online sales page:

1. Name and cosmetic function of the product (e.g. body lotion, baby shampoo, etc.)
2. Ingredient list (in INCI nomenclature)
3. Name and contact details of the Responsible Person in the EU
4. Instructions and warnings for safe use (e.g. For hair colouring)
5. Country of origin (if non-EU)
6. Content (in g or ml)
7. Period after opening (in months)
8. In addition, the batch/lot code for traceability and shelf life should be mandatory on the label (but not online)

Make sure at least the mandatory product information (ingredient list, contents, period after opening and country of origin) is filled on the product page for your cosmetics range.

The list of ingredients must be displayed according to the international INCI naming standard. You must state the other information and instructions for use at least in the language(s) of the region where you market the product, i.e. in Dutch for products on the Dutch market and in Dutch and French for products on the Belgian market. More information can be found on Cosmetics Europe‘s website here. In addition, please ensure that the information is easy to read for our customers.

Ingredients obligation in INCI nomenclature

With cosmetics, it is compulsory to list the ingredients, for this you use the attribute ingredients. A clear and correct list of ingredients is compulsory, so that the composition of the cosmetic product is clear to everyone. The list should be drawn up in order of decreasing weight at the time of addition to the cosmetic product.

Ingredients must be listed with the correct INCI (International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient) names. The European ingredient database Cosmile provides information on cosmetic ingredients.

Consumers with ingredient-specific allergies can therefore easily recognise ingredients, for example.

Cosmetic products registration

To sell a cosmetic product in the EU, it must have a responsible party (aka the Responsible Person/Responsible Person) with an address within the EU and the product must have been notified by the Responsible Person in the central EU system (Cosmetic Product Notification Portal, CPNP).

Do you make cosmetic products yourself? Or are you the person/company importing the products from outside into the European Union? Then according to the law, you are automatically the responsible party, unless this responsibility has already been taken over by another person/company (notifying party and indication on the label). If you are responsible yourself, make sure your products meet all the requirements AND that your products have been correctly notified (notified) in the CPNP. Non-notified cosmetic products may not be sold in the EU. To confirm that your items comply with the guidelines, we can request confirmation of CPNP registration from you, among other things.

Claims and advertising

For cosmetics products, both on the label and on online sales pages, no claims and advertisements may be made that violate the basic criteria described in Regulation 655/2013 and related directives.

This regulation states that claims must comply with all legal requirements and claims must not mislead the consumer or any other end user.

Basically, claims must meet the following criteria:

• Compliance with legal requirements
  Failure to claim that a product complies with legal requirements
• Correctness
  If it is claimed that a product contains a particular ingredient, that ingredient must also be in the product.
  Claims about the properties of a specific ingredient must not give the impression that the finished product also has those properties when it does not.
• Evidence
  Claims must be supported by sufficient and testable evidence
• Fairness
  It is not allowed to claim specific characteristics when similar products have the same characteristics.
  When the effect of a product depends on its use in combination with another product, this must be clearly stated.
  Claims must not go beyond what can be substantiated.
• Biliqueness
  Claims should be objective and should not be derogatory to ingredients or competition.
• Making informed decisions
  Claims should be clearly accurate, relevant and understandable to the average end-user.
  Claims should also contain information that enables end-users to make an informed choice.

Instructions for completing the product information in your seller dashboard

Go to your sales account. Choose “Artikelen” and set a filter:

• on the above product groups at Productgroep/label and on
• Product information Zwak (offline) and Zwak (online)