Help

Important Info

Guide to Selling

Setting Up a Shop

To set up a shop on NYLVI, you must first register an account (please note: your username will also be your shop's URL). Then click the Sell link at the top of the page. Follow the steps to enter some basic contact info.

All the links we'll talk about in this guide are found in the left-hand sidebar of Your NYLVI.

1. Shop Appearance

Go to Your NYLVI > Appearance to determine how your shop will look.

Shop Title: a name or description of your shop.
Banner: an image representing your shop. (For more info see Image help).
Shop Annoncement: for important shop info.
Message to buyers: automatically sent to buyers with their receipt.

Click Save Changes when you are done.

2. Shop Policies

Go to Your NYLVI > Policies to insert your policies information.

Required information concerns shipping, returns & refunds, backorders and any other general policies.

Remember your Shop Policies may not contradict NYLVI's site-wide policies. Be sure to familiarize yourself with NYLVI's Guidelines and our Terms of Use before detailing your shop policies.

3. Shipping Options

Go to Your NYLVI > Shipping Options to set your shipping information.

Click on Create A New Shipping Profile.

1. Under 'To', enter a country (most people start with their own), continent or worldwide.
2. List all the shipping methods and costs you offer to this area.
3. Click Save.

This list will appear as a drop down menu on your shipping options page for the buyer.

Example:
Germany:
1 Record shipped to Germany - Euro 4.60
2 Records shipped to Germany - Euro 4.90
3-4 Records shipped to Germany - Euro 5.40
4-9 Records shipped to Germany - Euro 6.40

Europe
1 Record shipped to Europe (AIRMAIL) - Euro 8.90
2-6 Records shipped to Europe (AIRMAIL) - Euro 10.90

Worldwide
1 Record shipped worldwide (AIRMAIL) - Euro 12.90
2-6 Records shipped worldwide (AIRMAIL) - Euro 15.90


To edit a shipping profile, go to Shipping Options and click the Edit box next to the shipping profile you want to edit. Make your changes and click Save Changes.

Note: This list should be as accurate as possible, but you'll still be able to finalise the exact shipping price at the time of purchase.

4. Payment Methods

Go to Your NYLVI > Payment Methods to set the payment method you offer.

Available payment methods on NYLVI are PayPal, Money Order/Check and Wire Transfer. Select the methods you accept and follow the on-screen instructions.

Click Save Changes when you are done.

Uploading and Managing Inventory

1.Uploading a Spreadsheet

The upload system accepts files prepared in "Unicode Text" from a wide variety of spreadsheet, database, word processor, and text editor applications. Your file should be a text file with ".txt" or ".csv" extension, and use Tab as the field delimiter (ie. Artist Name [Tab] Record Title). "Unicode Text" is an industry standard allowing computers to consistently represent text expressed in most of the world's writing systems.

For Microsoft's Excel follow these instructions to save your file in the right format:
- Go to the "File" menu, click "Save As".
- A dialog opens. In the File type drop-down menu choose "Unicode Text" (NOT "Text Tab delimited").
- Click OK.

For Openoffice.org's Calc follow these instructions to save your file in the correct format:
- Go to the "File" menu, click "Save As".
- A dialog opens. In the File type drop-down menu choose Text CSV (.csv).
- Select Edit filter settings
- Give your document a name and choose the location where you want save it. Click Save.
- In the Export of text files window, choose the Character set Unicode, and the Field delimiter {Tab}.
- Click OK.

When you create your file, it is necessary to separate the information for each vinyl record into separate columns/fields so that your file is easily readable by our system. Your inventory file can contain any of the following columns/fields:

Artist, Title, Format, Price, Quantity, Label, Release Nr, Release Country, Release Date, Condition, Genre, Image URL, Thumbnail URL, Description, Shop Reference Number.

If you have other columns in your data file, they can be left in, as they will be ignored by our system.

The column order of your original upload file is up to you. You specify the column order of your file when you upload to NYLVI, in order for the system to be able to read it.

Our Inventory Upload System is in real time, so your inventory will be instantly available on the website.

If you don't have an inventory upload file to use yet, or are not sure what one would look like, download a sample Excel spreadsheet containing the above column headers and a sample listing. This sample file is only one example of how your database file can appear. The number of columns is up to you.

To save upload bandwidth, we accept files compressed in Zip format, with a .zip extension. Zipping your file can make it 4 times smaller.

2. Uploading via FTP

There's a 10 MB file size limit on NYLVI's upload system. If your inventory file is over 10 MB, first try compressing it in Zip format. If it is still too big, you can either split it up into more files and upload the files one by one using the add import mode or you can FTP your inventory to us and we will help you upload it. To request FTP access please send an email with the subject line 'FTP Access' and we will email you access information and file specifications.

3. Uploading Records One by One

If you've just got a small number of records you want to upload to NYLVI, then you might want to upload them one by one. Simply fill out the necessary information, add a picture if you wish to, and the record is immediately added to your inventory on NYLVI.

4. How to keep your Stock Level Updated

You do not have to state the quantity of each item in your inventory, but if you don't then you are responsible for removing items from your catalogue once they are out of stock.

If you do set the quantity, then the count of items is reduced each time an item is ordered from the system. Once the quantity count reaches zero, that item will no longer be visible to buyers.

If you sell an item elsewhere, you can login, go to Your NYLVI > Inventory and manually delete the item from the system so that your inventory is accurate.

It is also possible to do a routine Inventory Upload and/or select to replace your entire inventory list with a new one. Both serve the purpose of keeping your stock up to date.

5. Grading Records

NYLVI strongly recommends that all sellers follow the Goldmine standard for grading records. See here for an explanation of the Goldmine Standard.

Vinyl Grading

Please indicate a grade that accurately reflects the condition of your product, i.e. "New, M, NM, VG+, VG, G, F,or P". Use the description area if you want to add more information about a specific record.

6. Featured Records

Go to Your NYLVI > Inventory and click edit next to the record you would like to feature at the top of your shop page. Then choose Y (yes) in the box next to Featured. You may select up to 10 items. Remember that you need to add images to the records you want to feature.

Go to Your NYLVI > Featured Records to see a list of your featured items or to remove items from the list.

Transactions

1. Sales Notification

When you sell an item, you are sent a sales notification email containing all the relevant information for the sale (item, buyer, payment method, etc.). The order will show up in Your NYLVI > Orders. If you accept PayPal, we'll include a link to PayPal that the buyer can follow for quick payment. Add orders@www.nylvi.com to your email address book to make sure your sales notifications won't be sent to your spam folder.

2. Processing Orders

To process orders, you simply log into Your NYLVI and click on Orders. Here you'll see any new orders waiting to be processed. Click on the order you want to process, then you can update the status of the order.

When an order comes in, you should update the status of the order and send the buyer a message with relevant information. Once you receive payment for the order, you return to Your NYLVI > Orders and update the status again. Every time you update the status of an order, the buyer will also be sent a status update message letting them know of status changes regarding their order. This lets the buyer easily check order status and NYLVI to keep track of orders. NYLVI require that all sellers update the status of orders on NYLVI right through until shipped or cancelled, so that NYLVI can calculate commission and seller statistics.

3. Order Statuses Explained

New > Awaiting confirmation on availability, shipping and payment details.
Confirmation > Availability, shipping and payment details confirmed (by seller), awaiting (buyer´s) response/payment
Payment Sent > Confirmation on payment sent, either manually updated by buyer or automatically generated by PayPal (when returning to NYLVI after completing PayPal's payment process).
Payment Received > Received payment confirmed (by seller)
Shipped > The order is shipped
Cancelled > Order have been cancelled (either by buyer or seller)

Payment

1. PayPal

PayPal is an online payment processing company widely used on the Internet to facilitate sales transactions. It allows buyers to securely use a credit card or their bank account to submit payment for NYLVI purchases. NYLVI is not affiliated with or subsidized by PayPal; they are an independent service.

Visit PayPal for more information about their services:

PayPal: Help Center

2. How does PayPal work on NYLVI?

1. Buyer clicks on the Submit Order button and selects PayPal as the Payment Method. As soon this happens, NYLVI will email both seller and buyer a notification of the Order.
2. The Seller responds to the order by updating the status in the Orders-section. The buyer will automatically receive a notification on the updated order
3. NYLVI links the buyer to an automatically generated PayPal invoice at PayPal.com.
4. The buyer can either sign in to their PayPal account, or they can use a credit card without having to register for an account.
5. PayPal will send both buyer and seller email receipts for payment submitted or received.
6. The seller will see money deposited into his or her PayPal account. The seller ships the order and updates the order status to Shipped.

3. Opening a Paypal Account

To open an account, you will need to go to www.paypal.com and register. PayPal requires anyone selling goods on the Web to have a Premier or Business account.

Once you have your account, login to NYLVI and go to Your NYLVI > Payment Methods. You need to check the box for the PayPal option and enter the email address registered to your PayPal account. The PayPal option and logo will automatically be added to your listings.

To check your PayPal settings:

1. Login to PayPal at www.paypal.com
2. Go to My Account > Profile > Shipping calculations (in the Selling Preferences column)
3. Select the Shipping Method and click Edit
4. Select Yes for "Override shipping methods per transaction" and press Save Changes.

Please note that if you have not set up any Shipping Calculations in PayPal, the default is to override shipping methods per transaction (you should not need to change anything). Also note that the above instructions are for www.paypal.com; other country-specific versions of PayPal may differ slightly.

It's not required to have PayPal account to sell on NYLVI, but the majority of sellers offer it and many buyers prefer it. Also buyers can submit payment by credit card through PayPal without having a PayPal account.

4. Check/Money Order

If you offer check/money order as payment option and the buyer chooses this option, he/she will be asked to send payment to the address you enter here, so make sure this is the correct address. Any additional information you want to communicate to the buyer must be added in the message field when you update the order. When payment is received you process the order through the order processing system under Orders in the Your NYLVI section. If you haven't heard from the buyer, you should politely contact them with a reminder.

5. Wire Transfer

If you offer wire transfer as payment option, be sure to inform potential customers about prospective conditions or costs related to choosing this payment option. This is done under policies in the Your NYLVI section. All bank details you provide directly to the buyer in the message field when you update the order. When payment is received you process the order through the order processing system under Orders in the Your NYLVI section. If you haven't heard from the buyer, you should politely contact them with a reminder.

Billing

1. Commission

Commission is paid to NYLVI once a month when your commission balance goes above €5.00 Euros.

We do our billing on the first of each month. If you go above €5.00 Euros in commission for previous months of selling on NYLVI, you will be emailed a detailed report stating what you sold through NYLVI and the commission owed for each item sold.

To pay your bill, simply go to Your NYLVI > Bill. Here you can make your transaction securely using a valid credit card.