OnBuy: marketplace guide

About this guide

This is a ChannelEngine guide on the Bournemouth-based marketplace OnBuy. Here you can find information on how to request an OnBuy account, how to configure this marketplace on ChannelEngine, and what the specific requirements are.

Table of contents

Commercial information

How to request an account

Associated costs

Marketplace features

Settings and configuration

Marketplace-specific requirements and exceptions

• Setup
• Categorization
• Mappings
• Pricing
• Listed products

Additional information

FAQs

Commercial information

How to request an account

To start selling on OnBuy, register on its website.

The following requirements apply:

• A proven sales record to demonstrate your online sales experience.
• GTINs for your products, except for products that are not typically barcoded.
• A UK bank account, as well as a WorldFirst or Payoneer account.
• Business registration information.
• A UK VAT registration.
• A UK-based returns address.

Associated costs

OnBuy charges a monthly fee of GBP 19 (standard) or GBP 39 (partners), as well as a fixed 15% commission on sales within most product categories.

Marketplace features

* A marketplace that supports sales channels allows merchants to list and sell products across multiple markets (e.g.: countries, regions, and states), all from the same connection.

** OnBuy supports parent-child relationships. To create product variation (i.e.: size or color), provide values for the feature attributes marked with (f).

Settings and configuration

Setting up each channel on ChannelEngine follows the same flow, though not every channel includes the steps listed below.

1. Go through the Setup.
2. Create a Product selection.
3. Complete the Categorization.
4. Set up the Mappings: content, offers, and carriers.
5. Configure the Pricing: rules and currency conversion.
6. Fill in the Stock settings.
7. Finish the Activation.
8. Check the Listed products overview.

Marketplace-specific requirements and exceptions

Setup

On ChannelEngine

OnBuy requires two credentials for the connection between it and ChannelEngine to be established: the Secret key and the Consumer key. You can copy these credentials from the OnBuy Support website.

1. Go to the Setup page of your OnBuy marketplace.
2. Enter your Secret key and Consumer key in the Connection section.
3. Click Save.

Categorization

The categorization on OnBuy is straightforward, and all categories are listed in English.

Mappings

Content

You can only update product content on OnBuy if you created the product. If not, you see one of the following errors "Product belongs to another seller" or "Another seller lists this product".

All products (required)

• Brand - the product's manufacturer or brand. Make sure to spell it exactly as the brand owner spells it. 
• Default image URL - the URL to the product's main image. The following requirements apply:
  • Shape - square.
  • Background - white.
  • Minimum resolution - 500x500 px.
  • Maximum resolution - 1,000x1,000 px.
  • File size - 10 MB at most.
  • No promotional text, watermarks, or placeholder images.
  • File format - JPEG, JPG, PNG, or GIF.
• Product name - the product's name. The maximum number of characters allowed is 150, and the recommended length is 70 characters.

All products (optional)

• Description - the product's main description. Basic HTML is supported. The following requirements apply:
  • Maximum character length - 50,000.
  • Neutral and impartial tone.
  • No warranty or shipping information.
• Document 1-3 - the link to the product's documentation (e.g.: user manual, safety information, technical specifications, warranty). The accepted file formats are DOC, DOCX, HTML, PDF, TXT, XLS, XLSX, and CSV.
• Image URL 1-10 - the URL to the product's additional image. The following requirements apply:
  • Minimum resolution - 500x500 px.
  • Maximum resolution - 1,000x1,000 px.
  • File size - 10 MB at most.
  • No promotional text, watermarks, or placeholder images.
  • File format - JPEG, JPG, PNG, or GIF.
• MPN - the product's manufacturer part number (MPN).
• Published - set this attribute to 0 to remove the product from the product listing.
• RRP - the product's recommended retail price in GBP.
• Summary point - the product's unique selling points, displayed as bullet points on the product's page. The following requirements apply:
  • Maximum character length - 500.
  • Neutral and impartial tone.
  • No warranty or shipping information.
  • Format - separated by a vertical bar. E.g.: '12 MP camera | 256 GB internal storage | Available in red and white'
• Video label 1-3 - a short title or description for the product's video. The label identifies the video's purpose, e.g.: Product demonstration, Installation guide. Required for mapping if the related Video URL 1-3 is mapped.
• Video URL 1-3 - the URL to the product's video.

Category-specific

Product variations

OnBuy organizes products into variations based on feature attributes, which are indicated with an (F) before the attributes' names. These feature attributes are mapped within your category-specific Content mappings.

To map variations on OnBuy, map the pair of attributes that represents the variation type and value:

1. Map the variation type. Locate the attribute ending in variant field, and choose a value from the list, each corresponding to one of OnBuy's standard variation types: Capacity, Colour, Length, Material, Pack quantity, Size, Style, and Width. 

2. Map the variation value. Locate the corresponding variation and choose a value from the list. E.g.: 

   • (F) Colour variant field - Colour

   • (F) Colour - Blue

     

     If you do not map the variant field attribute, then ChannelEngine tries to automatically determine the variation type based on the variation's name. As a fail-safe measure, aim to manually map the variant field attributes. 

   NB: if these parent-child relationships are configured incorrectly, your products are exported to OnBuy as standalone listings.

Offer

All products (required)

• Condition - the product's condition. If the product does not work as new, set the value to Used.
• Price - the desired price for the product in GBP. Provide only a numeric value, without currency symbols. The decimal separator should be a period. If using pricing v2, the Price attribute is configured at Pricing, Price rules.

All products (optional)

• Condition notes - additional information about the product's condition. The notes should be separated by a vertical bar (|). Only provide a value for this attribute if your product's Condition is average, good, or new.
• Delivery weight - the product's weight in kilograms. Provide only a numeric value, without the unit of measurement. E.g.: 25, instead of 25 kg.
• Free returns - set it to Yes to offer a free return for this product. Otherwise, set it to No.
• Handling time - the number of working days it takes to process and ship the order. The following requirements apply:
  • Maximum number of days - 10.
  • Should be a whole number.
  • Excludes weekends.
• Sale end date - the date until when the product's sale price is valid, if applicable. The date format is YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS. E.g.: 2023-12-31 23:59:59.
• Sale price - the product's sale price, if applicable. This attribute must have a lower value than the Price attribute. If using pricing v2, the Sale price attribute is configured at Pricing, Price rules.

• Sale start date - the date from when the product's sale price is valid, if applicable. The date format is YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS. E.g.: 2023-12-31 23:59:59.

  NB: to submit sale prices to OnBuy, provide values for all three related attributes (i.e.: Sale end date, Sale price, Sale start date).
• Warranty - the product's warranty period in months.

In Mappings, Offer mappings, the following offer attribute may appear on this channel, if this channel uses pricing v2:

• Allow promotion below min price - set it to ‘true’ to allow the promotion price to drop below your product's minimum price. 

In Mappings, Fee group mappings, map the marketplace fee group ID of the product.

Carrier

Carrier mapping is not required on OnBuy.

Pricing

OnBuy requires the prices to be submitted in GBP. If you do not have pricing attributes in GBP, you need to set a currency conversion.

Listed products

If you have problems with products not appearing on OnBuy (especially if you are trying to add products that do not exist yet), check the Listed products page for more information.

You can either filter on Channel status (Invalid for all products that ChannelEngine has not exported, such as products with an empty GTIN or products that currently do not exist on OnBuy) or use the Validation and feedback tab to see all known validation/feedback errors for specific products.

If your listings have been approved by OnBuy but fail to get published, please contact OnBuy's support to facilitate the publishing process.

Additional information

Order extra data items

When an order is imported to ChannelEngine, ChannelEngine also fetches extra data items related to the order itself – or to order lines. This extra data is specific to this marketplace. An explanation of each can be found below: 

Order extra data

Order line extra data

* Conditional fields only display if the channel provided a value. 

FAQs

How often does each task run on OnBuy?
OnBuy follows the schedule below:

How can I add a new product variation to the existing family on OnBuy?
If you have an existing product family on OnBuy, and would like to add a new product variation to it, this will cause an error on OnBuy. You can either ask OnBuy support to merge the new product with the existing family, or create a new standalone product on ChannelEngine with no connection to the product family.