Merchant Listing Guidelines

The following guidelines are designed to ensure merchant listing submissions safeguard our community and offer a consistent and expected listing experience.

In essence, this process is the vetting of the merchant. Make sure to visit the merchant's link and investigate the website to ascertain whether it's a safe and honest listing for the community to interact with. Pay particular attention to any URL redirects, as well as the destinations of any links on the website.

  1. MERCHANT ID: This id is generated by our script and should already be unique. Ensure the id doesn't already exist in `merchants.yml`.
  2. MERCHANT NAME: Must be fewer than 35 characters, with no special characters allowed.
  3. MERCHANT DESCRIPTION: The description should concisely and clearly depict the merchant. Check for any vulgar or disparaging language. If the submitted description is insufficient, refine it before approving the listing.
  4. LISTING LINK URL: Visit the provided website. Confirm that the correct URL was used and it does not redirect to an unexpected website. Inspect the website code to ensure it is not malicious and is safe for visitors.
  5. LISTING IMAGE FILENAME and LISTING IMAGE The file name must correspond EXACTLY to the filename of the submitted image. Ensure the image is of good quality and relevant to the listing. Compress large images prior to uploading. If a low-quality image was provided, consider creating a higher quality or more fitting image for the listing from their website.
  6. TAGS: Review the selected tags for relevance. Modify the tag list by removing or adding more suitable tags. While it's possible to add new tags, think carefully before doing so as an excessive number of tags can lead to a suboptimal user experience.

Other Considerations

While the above-mentioned points form the basis of our review process, the following additional factors should also be taken into consideration:

  1. LEGAL COMPLIANCE: While we cannot know the laws of all jurisdictions, check if the merchant generally complies with relevant legal requirements. Obvious illegal activity (drug sales, sex services, etc.) should not be allowed.
  2. SOCIAL: Verify the merchant's social media presence and check the reviews, comments, and ratings from customers. While no social presence is required, it could provide insights into the merchant's reputation.
  3. SECURITY: Assess the security of the merchant's website. Confirm the use of HTTPS and ensure there are no security warnings. Consider using a website security scanning tool for a more comprehensive review.
    1. https://sitecheck.sucuri.net
    2. https://www.urlvoid.com/
    3. https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/
    4. https://observatory.mozilla.org/
    5. https://builtwith.com/
  4. PAYMENT METHODS: Ensure that the merchant accepts ARRR as a payment method.
  5. LEGAL COMPLIANCE: Verify that the merchant complies with relevant legal requirements, such as terms and conditions, privacy policies, and industry-specific regulations.
  6. UNEXPECTED DOWNLOADS: Check for any unexpected or automatic downloads that initiate when visiting the merchant's website.