Knowledge Base
1. Creating a seller account
Bakersby is open to both Sole Traders and Businesses. In order to get started you need to be registered with your local food authority and have a Food Standards Agency page. You also need a few documents to prove your identity so we can avoid fraudulent sign ups. Here’s everything what you need to get started:
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- You need to be registered with your local food authority. Signing with your local food authority is a straightforward process and in most cases it can be done exclusively online. You can learn more about it on www.gov.uk/food-business-registration
- You will also need a link to your Food Standards Agency page to prove you are legally allowed to trade food items.
- You need to protect yourself or your business with Public and Products Liability Insurance. Generally this won’t cost you more than £100 a year and it is a good way to protect yourself or your business. You can ask for a free quote on www.moneysupermarket.com/business-insurance/
- You need a copy of your ID. This can be the first page of your passport, your National ID card, your Driver’s License or your Biometric Residence Card. You need this to prove your identity and we need it to control fraudulent registrations. If you’re concerned how we use your information, please visit our Privacy Policy page. We take privacy seriously and as soon as we verify your identity, your documents will be stored offline on an encrypted hard-drive until you choose to stop trading with us. This information is virtually impossible to access.
- We need a copy of a Recent Utility Bill. We need this for the same reasons as above and this document will be treated with the same confidentiality.
- Even though this isn’t mandatory, we advise you to send us a copy of your Bank Statement where we can clearly see your name, your account number and your sort-code. We need this to pay you your earnings on a regular basis. Alternatively, you can input this information on the My Account section of our website. If you choose this option, please make sure there are no typos as we can’t be responsible for earnings paid to a wrong bank account.
The registration process on Bakersby is pretty simple, but just to make sure you have no issues registering on our website we made a step-by-step video tutorial to guide you through this process.
You can view it here: Create a Seller Account Tutorial Video
2. Setting up your storefront
It’s important that you set up your account correctly to enjoy all the powerful features we offer on our website. We have made a step-by-step video tutorial to guide you through the process of setting everything up to get your storefront up and running. If you still find it confusing please get in touch with us so we can help you.
You can view it here: Setting up your storefront tutorial video
3. Adding your own Terms and Conditions
It’s important that you add your own Terms and Conditions so you can clearly show your customers what they can expect from your store when they buy products from you. We have made a step-by-step tutorial video to guide you through the process of adding your own Terms and Conditions to your storefront.
You can view the step-by-step tutorial video here: https://www.youtube.com/
4. Adding a simple product to your storefront
You can view it here: Adding a simple product to your storefront tutorial video
5. Adding a variable product to your storefront
Variable products are identical products offered with different variations (e.g. size, weight, quantity, colour, etc.). Let’s suppose you’re selling cupcake boxes and want to offer your customers the option to buy a box of 6 or a box of 12. You should create these cupcake boxes as a variable product, because, even though they are the exact same cupcakes, you are offering your customer two different quantities. The process of adding a variable product is slightly different, but as usual, we’ll be here to help. We have made a step-by-step tutorial video to guide you through the process of adding a new variable product to your storefront. If you still find it confusing please get in touch with us so we can help you.
You can view the step-by-step tutorial video here: https://www.youtube.com/
6. Using Artificial Intelligence to write beautiful descriptions
We live in a day and age where Artificial Intelligence can greatly improve our workflow and maximise returns. We will show how to leverage AI to write beautiful descriptions for your products and get the most out of Search Engine Optimisation. We have made a step-by-step tutorial video to guide you through the process of using ChatGPT to create content that helps your products sell.
You can view the step-by-step tutorial video here: https://www.youtube.com/
7. Carefully stating allergens present in your products
The food industry’s weakness lies in allergens. It’s crucial to explicitly list all ingredients and allergens in your products, regardless of the quantity, so that customers are fully informed. To guide you in this process, we’ve created a tutorial video that outlines the steps for adding ingredients and allergens to your products. For additional information on best practices and allergens, please visit the Food Standards Agency website at www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/allergen-guidance-for-food-businesses.
You can view the step-by-step tutorial video here: https://www.youtube.com/
8. Adding shipping options to your products
At Bakersby you can add three different types of delivery. You can add Shipping by Distance, which will allow you to set up a delivery radius with incremented prices. You can add Third-party shipping, where you can hire third-party shipping companies to deliver your products to your customer. And Pick up in store, which allows your customer to pick up their order from your trading address. We have made a step-by-step tutorial video to guide you through the process of adding different delivery options to products individually, or by default.
You can view the step-by-step tutorial video here: https://www.youtube.com/
9. Photographing your products to maximise sales
Having a good looking storefront isn’t enough if you want to increase your conversion rate. Displaying your products clearly and professionally is paramount to turn visitors into customers. We have made a step-by-step tutorial video to guide you through the process of taking professional looking photos to showcase your products.
You can view the step-by-step tutorial video here: https://www.youtube.com/
10. Adding bank details to your account
One of two ways to get paid on Bakersby is through Bank Transfer. In order to do this you’ll need to visit your Storefront Manager, click Settings, click Bank details and add them on the respective fields. Don’t forget to double check all digits as we can not be responsible for money paid into a wrong bank account. Once you add your bank account number and your sort-code to their respective fields don’t forget to click Save. We’ve made a step-by-step tutorial video to show you how to do this.
You can view the step-by-step tutorial video here: https://www.youtube.com/
11. Connect your account to stripe for faster payments
Another way to get paid is via Stripe. This type of payment is only available for bakers who have been selling with us for more than 6 months and have overall positive reviews. This is because we want to treat both sellers and buyers fairly, and the only way we can do that is to hold their money in escrow until we have a positive history track for our bakers. Connecting a Stripe account is fairly easy and allows you to get paid instantly (as soon as a customer places an order). Connecting your storefront to Stripe is a simple process but you’ll have to create a Stripe account if you don’t have one already. To do this go to www.stripe.com. Check this step-by-step tutorial video to show you how to connect your storefront to stripe.
You can view the step-by-step tutorial video here: https://www.youtube.com/
12. Processing orders and communicating with customers
Once you get an order from a customer you will get a notification and an email from our website. Please make sure you check our website daily as we can not guarantee that our email will reach your inbox (always check your spam folder!). Once you get a new order it’s important to communicate clearly with your customer and let them know about the status of their order. At Bakersby you can mark orders as Pending Payment; Processing; On Hold; Completed; Cancelled; Refunded; or Failed. You will be able to manage your orders on your storefront. We have made a step-by-step tutorial video to guide you through the process of managing new and old orders on your storefront.
You can view the step-by-step tutorial video here: https://www.youtube.com/
13. Upgrading your subscription
Once you’ve been selling for a while and you build a solid customer base it’s time to think if a commission based plan is the best for you. Our monthly prices start at £23.90 (if you buy an yearly subscription) or £29.99 (if you buy a monthly subscription). This can easily become far cheaper in the long run, as your commissions in sales can easily top this after a few orders. We’ve said it once and we say it again: Your success is our success and we want you to do good. If you consistently sell more than £150 pounds every month, a recurring subscription plan is the best for you. We have made a step-by-step tutorial video to guide you through the process of upgrading your account from a Commission Based plan to one of our paid plans.
You can view the step-by-step tutorial video here: https://www.youtube.com/
14. Closing your account and deleting your data
We would be sad to see you go but we understand that you may not have the time to manage your Bakersby storefront; or perhaps your business grew so much that you don’t need our services anymore! Whatever the reason you have to close your account, you can count on us to help you. Closing your account and cancelling your membership is easy, but before you get started, please download all your sales reports and save everything you want to keep (including photos and clients list) before deleting your account. Once you close your account and delete your data, there is no turning back. As per our Terms & Conditions we will keep a record of your sales data for a year after account deletion, in case we are legally required to show your reports to HMRC, but this data will no longer be accessible on your storefront. You can always come back in the future but you’ll have to rebuild your storefront. We have made a step-by-step tutorial video to guide you through the process of closing your account and deleting your data.
You can view the step-by-step tutorial video here: https://www.youtube.com/