Badge Regulations

Verified E-Merchant Badge Regulations

Last updated 02/29/2024

This Verified E-Merchant Badge Policy contains the conditions for acquiring and using the Verified E-Merchant Badge. By applying for the Verified E-Merchant Badge, you expressly acknowledge that you have read and agree to the terms and conditions set forth in this Policy (listed below). You also agree that you will occasionally visit this Policy posted at the link https://ecommerce.mk/badge/pravilnik-za-bedj/ so that you are up to date if it undergoes changes.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ANY PART OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS RULE, PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT AN APPLICATION TO OBTAIN A VERIFIED E-MERCHANT BADGE.

The Verified E-Merchant Badge Rulebook is organized as follows:

• Description and meaning of the Verification Badge
• Benefits of using the Verified E-Merchant Badge
• Procedure for obtaining the Verified E-Merchant Badge
• Annual Fee (Cost) of the Verified E-Merchant Badge
• Rights and obligations of AETM
• Rights and obligations of the verified E-merchant

1. DESCRIPTION AND MEANING OF THE VERIFICATION BADGE

The need to increase trust in online stores on the one hand, but also the need to increase awareness among buyers and distinguish between registered e-traders and unregistered entities that participate in online sales (as part of the gray economy) and represent unfair competition for registered ones e-stores, is getting bigger at a time when e-commerce is booming and people are increasingly encouraged to shop online.

In order to bring closer to the citizens, online stores that meet the necessary regulations and rules for operating in e-commerce and to motivate existing e-merchants to implement them in their operations, AETM introduced the Badge for a verified e-merchant, which enables clear distinction of online stores that are registered entities and meet the basic legal conditions according to the knowledge of AETM and in accordance with the rules provided by this Rulebook from other online stores that do not meet the basic legal conditions, or are not registered at all and are part of the gray economy .

The badge is a visual mark that will be placed on the web pages of domestic e-stores, which will help buyers to more easily assess that it is a registered legal entity that, during the inspection period before issuing the Verification Badge, meets the basic legal requirements for performance of the e-commerce activity in accordance with the rules provided by this Rulebook.

The badge will be placed only among e-merchants who will independently apply for such a verification badge, and at the same time have passed the appropriate checks by AETM for necessary regulations and obligations for the operation in e-commerce.

2. BENEFITS OF USING THE VERIFIED E-MERCHANT BADGE

Benefits for e-merchants:

• Your e-store is part of The registry of verified E-merchants
• Increasing visits to your web store through AETM’s promotional activities for verified e-merchants
• Increased trust among existing and new customers
• Increased recognition and trust in your store

Benefits for buyers:

• Increased trust when buying from a verified e-merchant
• Certainty that the e-merchant is a registered legal entity
• Assurance that the e-merchant has a product return policy and the buyer is protected under the Consumer Protection Act

The badge for a verified e-merchant does not guarantee the quality of the established product return policy, nor the monitoring of the subjects in the trade during the realization of their obligations and exercise of rights, as well as the need to follow the changes to the legal regulations and the compliance with them.

The verified e-merchant badge guarantees that it is a registered legal entity in accordance with the legal regulations of North Macedonia.

3. PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING A VERIFIED E-MERCHANT BADGE

The verified e-merchant badge is intended for e-merchants, i.e. all companies (legal entities) engaged in online sales and billing of products and services. In order to acquire the Badge for a verified e-trader, it is necessary for the legal entity to submit an application or request to the Association for E-Trade of Macedonia through the published application form on the website. To acquire the Badge for a verified e-trader, it is necessary is the legal entity to submit an application or request to the Association for e-commerce of Macedonia through the published application form on the site.

The procedure for obtaining the Verified E-Merchant Badge is as follows:

1. An online application is submitted to the AETM through which the e-merchant answers a questionnaire consisting of 3 parts: regulation and general information, e-payment and delivery (the delivery part applies only to companies that sell physical products and carry out delivery)

Upon submission of the application there is a charge for verification of criteria for the Verified e-Merchant Badge

After successful checkout the verification criteria for the Verified E-Merchant Badge starts the e-shop check in order to determine whether the answers from the application correspond to the publicly published data and whether the requirements for the Verified E-Merchant Badge are met.

4. After completing the check, the AETM reports the e-merchant who applied for the status on his application whether he has fulfilled the conditions for acquiring a verified e-merchant badge defined in this regulation or if changes/corrections are required.

4.1. If the e-merchant is a registered legal entity and meets the mandatory conditions, it will be able to acquire the Verified E-merchant Badge

4.2. If the e-merchant does not fulfill the conditions that must be met in order to acquire the Badge for a verified e-merchant, corrective instructions are sent to him, and if he fulfills them within 30 days, he will be able to acquire the Badge.

4.3 If the e-merchant does not implement the requested changes within 30 days, the validity of the application for the Verified e-merchant Badge expires, and the applicant is not entitled to a refund of the funds paid. Before the expiration of the term, the e-merchant can request an extension of the term with an explanation of the reasons for such withdrawal, for which he must send an email and a request for the extension of the term before it expires. Additional requests for extension of the term after the expiration of the stipulated period of 30 days will not be accepted.

5. Upon fulfillment of the requirements for the Verified E-Merchant Badge an annual fee amount is charged for the Verified E-Merchant Badge and after recorded payment, AETM accordingly sends instructions for placing the Badge on the respective e-shop

6. The rejected e-merchant has the right to submit a new request.

IMPORTANT: The Macedonian E-commerce Association makes a formal check on the website, i.e. whether the e-merchant possesses the necessary basic legal conditions for carrying out the activity, without valuing the quality, i.e. whether the content thereof is adequate, meets all the prescribed norms and is respected by of the e-merchant to the end users.

In order to be able to acquire a Badge, the e-merchant must have met the basic legal conditions and be a registered legal entity. Only in this case the e-merchant will be able to acquire the Verified e-merchant Badge and will be sent the badge for setting up his e-store.

Mandatory conditions to be met by the e-merchant:

SECTION 1: REGULATION AND GENERAL INFORMATION

• Contact information, i.e. legal entity, address, e-mail must be set and clearly visible to the users of the e-shop
• The unique tax number (EDB) of the company should be set and clearly visible to the users of the e-shop
• A link to the Privacy and Personal Data Protection Policy has been posted
• A link with the Terms of Use has been posted
• A link to the Cookie Policy has been set up

PART 2: Е-payment

• The e-store accepts payment with a payment card
• To clearly highlight the prices of the products / services offered (do the prices include taxes or other costs)
• The buyer receives a confirmation to his email address for the online order

ДЕЛ 3: DELIVERY
Only eligible if the e-merchant sells products and delivers*

• All costs to which the buyer is subject must be publicly announced, including the costs of delivery of the order
• That the term of delivery of the products is publicly announced
• To publicly announce the methods of product delivery / pick-up (delivery by courier service, own delivery, pick-up from a store, etc.)
• A publicly announced Product Return Policy

Optional / additional conditions

Although according to the current legal solutions, these conditions are not mandatory, Macedonian E-commerce Association recommends their establishment in the direction of increasing the trust of the users, and with this Rulebook, it provides that in fulfilling these conditions, it will act in an advisory capacity.

SECTION 1: REGULATION AND GENERAL INFORMATION

• In the user registration section / at checkout, the separate policies (without a pre-ticked checkbox) with which the buyer must agree must be clearly highlighted
• To have an SSL certificate (https) in the URL of your e-store ie. in the web address of the web store

PART 2: Е-payment

• To highlight the card organizations with which e-payment can be made (Mastercard, Visa, etc.)
• The confirmation of order receipt contains all the following information: Order number, Date, Information about the seller (name, address, contact), Name of the purchased product/service, The price charged

PART 3: DELIVERY

• Buyers should be able to clearly write their shipping information

4. VERIFIED E-MERCHANT BADGE ANNUAL FEE (COST) AND PAYMENT METHOD

4.1 VERIFIED E-MERCHANT BADGE FEE

The fee for the Verified E-Merchant Badge is defined as follows:

• Badge Application – Criteria Check Verified E-Merchant Badge Application Criteria Check Fee, which is charged when the application is submitted, and
• Annual Verified E-Merchant Badge Fee – which is charged annually for renewal. During the first acquisition, the annual fee is charged after an inspection has been carried out and the status of “verified e-merchant” has been successfully acquired, and then it is renewed on an annual basis.

The prices for Badge Application – Criteria Check and Annual Fee for Verified E-Merchant Badge, starting from 02/29/2024, are:

FOR LEGAL ENTITY MEMBER OF AETM

–Badge Application – Criteria Check: 5.990 denars + 18% TAX
–Annual Verified E-Merchant Badge Fee: 3.990 denars + 18% TAX

FOR A LEGAL ENTITY THAT IS NOT A MEMBER OF AETM

– Badge Application – Criteria Check: 10.990 denars + 18% TAX
–Annual Fee for Verified E-Merchant Badge: 6.990 denars + 18% TAX

The annual fee applies for a period of one year from the day of the sent notification of fulfilled criteria and sent instructions for setting up a badge for a verified e-merchant.

AETM reserves the right to revise/change the price for the Badge on an annual basis, whereby it will notify the verified e-merchant of such a decision 30 days before issuing an invoice / charging for the Badge for the next 12 months. After this, the verified e-merchant has the right to declare within 15 days whether to continue using the Verified e-merchant Badge or not. If the e-merchant does not declare, the new price of the Badge will be considered accepted and the AETM will issue an invoice for the use of the verified e-merchant Badge for the next 12 months.

4.2 METHOD OF PAYMENT

Payment for the Verified e-Merchant Badge service is made according to the prices displayed at the time of their application. The prices are indicated with TAX and are valid for all payment methods. Verified e-merchant badge service can be paid for via bank transfer and online through the website ecommerce.mk with a credit or debit payment card, with the possibility of saving the card in order to enable self-renewable subscription. A self-renewing subscription is a type of subscription that the User can activate with a payment card and which is automatically renewed every year with the possibility of cancellation at any time. The self-renewable subscription is activated on the website ecommerce.mk in the User’s basket (checkout), where the User is enabled to save his payment card in order to realize a self-renewable subscription of one year which is automatically extended for a period of another one year until the User or AETM cancels the subscription. If the User wants to deactivate the annual self-renewing subscription, he can do so through his user account on ecommerce.mk. Upon deactivation, the User cancels any of the services for which he previously subscribed, but which are still active until their expiration date.

5. RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF AETM

• If the e-merchant fulfills the conditions for acquiring the Verified e-Merchant Badge according to this Regulation, AETM is obliged to deliver the Verified E-Merchant Badge together with instructions for its installation within 7 days after a successful verification of the criteria
• AETM has an obligation to add the e-merchant to The register of verified e-merchants
• AETM has the right to make random periodic checks on the websites of e-merchants who have acquired the Badge and the fulfillment of the conditions.
• AETM has the right to send remarks to the e-merchant to make necessary corrections if it finds that the e-merchant does not comply with the rules as per the Verified E-merchant Badge rulebook and to request corrections accordingly
• AETM has the right to revoke the Badge if the e-merchant does not act on the requested corrections within 15 days In this case, the e-merchant who paid the annual fee has no right to a refund of part of the funds paid because the cost price is determined on an annual basis, and the withdrawal of the Badge in such a case is the fault of the e-merchant.

• The e-merchant has the right to promote the Badge to its customers, in order to increase trust in its brand.
• E-Merchant agrees to abide by the terms and meet the criteria for the Verified E-Merchant Badge in accordance with this policy.
• The e-merchant has the obligation to regularly pay the annual fee for the badge according to an invoice issued by AETM, if it has not been canceled in a timely manner (within 30 days before the expiration of the 12 months for which the e-merchant paid the annual fee) The Verified E-Merchant Badge.
• To act on requested corrections by the AETM if, after a periodic inspection of the AETM, it is established that some of the rules defined in the Badge regulations are not respected.
• The e-merchant who will not make corrections after the instructions given by AETM and will be informed by AETM about the withdrawal of the Badge is obliged to immediately remove the Badge from its website and all places where it has been placed and to comply with the guidelines given by AETM.
• The e-merchant has the obligation to regularly inform himself of the rights and obligations arising from the installation of the verified e-merchant Badge, which are specified in this regulation.
• The e-merchant has the right to stop using the verified e-merchant badge without requesting a refund of the funds already paid for the use of the badge, and he is obliged to notify the AETM at info@ecommerce.mk within 15 days of this procedure. from the termination of use of the Badge.