We just sent out our end of 2020 newsletter which contains the Store Policy update (that we blogged about a few weeks ago) as well as a summary of other updates.

Read the Newsletter Here.

In 2020, over 6,400 sellers listed ads on MorphMarket. We love what we do. Thank you for supporting us as we support the herp community!

We hope you able to enjoy your time (in some capacity) with your loved ones.

All sellers need to read about the MorphMarket's Default Store Policy that will take effect January 15, 2021. This update does not necessitate any changes to your business policies PROVIDED THAT you have overridden the Default Policy in the terms of your own custom Store Policy.

The Default Store Policy page both explains the purpose and the terms of the Default Policy.

As written there:

"This Default Store Policy defines a minimum set of expectations which will be applicable for Sellers who do not otherwise override them in their own Store Policy and/or communicate them in writing before the sale. These terms are subject to change, and it is therefore recommended that a Seller override them in their own Policy.

Note that while a custom Store Policy can and should override the following, it cannot override MorphMarket's Rules or provide immunity from the rules."

You can find and edit your own policy under the Seller Profile page.

The purpose is to provide a more uniform and predictable experience for both buyers and sellers on the site. Many sellers historically have had gaps in their store policy if it is defined at all, which creates a divergence of expectations between buyer and seller and challenges for MorphMarket in providing moderation.

Block User is a feature in our messaging system. This action is similar to Decline Inquiry but stronger. When a seller blocks an inquiring buyer, it will close that inquiry and prevent any future inquiries from the user.

Block User is a quick reply action that is found on your messages page with the other quick reply actions. Blocking will send a decline message and close this inquiry thread along with any others from the user. In addition, it prevents any new inquiries from the user.

To undo, re-open a thread, and click reply and use the unblock button. This will not, however, re-open all the threads.

Currently Block User is only available to a sellers receiving an inquiry. In the future it may be available more broadly, but the main purpose for now is to block repeated inquiries and this is only applicable to sellers. Last week, we added Block Store for buyers, a feature that excludes ads from a seller from search results.

In this feature we also repositioned the quick action buttons to reduce accidental presses.

In the marketplace, we have Terms of Service which apply to all users, but also a set of much more specific rules for sellers, which is now posted here: Rules and Guidelines.

We're making the following updates to selling rules today:

1. These rules have always been located within the Seller Guide. Because of their significance and length we’ve finally moved these rules to their own top level page.
2. The rules are have been updated with more detail, clarifications, and examples to leave less ambiguity about what we’re enforcing, to the extent that it is possible.
3. Finally, the rules are numbered. While the numbering isn’t permanent, it is unlikely to change within the timespan of a conversation and should be useful for reference in conversations.

All sellers should become familiar with this latest set of rules as this is the current standard. Clarity around these expectations helps our support team keep buying and selling running smoothly.

Thanks for your support in making this marketplace excellent!

Now you can follow your favorite member stores. To follow a store, use the button on the upper right corner of their store page. This feature will be available for stores who have a MorphMarket membership.

Having followed some stores, you can access the full list of stores you're following from the menu on the Followed Store page. From the Followed Stores page use the button in the upper right corner to access a feed of the newest stuff they have posted.

Coming soon -- a long time and highly requested complimentary feature: Ignore Store. This will exclude stores from any search results.

We've just added another convenient way to create new ads for animals which are similar to ones you have already listed. This is useful when entering in a whole clutch, whose members share properties like species, maturity, date of birth, clutch #, genes, description, etc.

1. Click the new copy icon on the inventory screen (in the left column). This creates a new ad with most of the properties of the old one.
2. Update any field values and add photos. Make sure you provide a unique serial ID for this animal.

That's it!

(And while it might be tempting, please do not use this to create new ads of the same animal. Our rules only allow creating a single ad for an item, which should be renewed thereafter. Thanks!)

Sellers can now disable the auto-renewal feature.

Ads are eligible for renewal every several weeks depending on your plan level. When renewed, they jump to the front of some listings and are reshared in the MorphReport. Standard and Premium level members also have an auto-renew feature that will automatically renew as soon possible. You can always see the last time that your ad last renewed by checking the date posted on the ad page.

Some sellers have requested the ability to disable auto-renewal to be able to manually control when their ads renew. As a result, we've added this new option near the bottom of your Seller Profile options which will do exactly that.

We are excited to announce that memberships and their benefits are now available worldwide, including in Europe and South Africa.

Membership unlocks about two dozen highly valuable and requested features such as:

• Multiple Photos on Ads
• Branding (Logo) in Store Directory
• Faster Ad Renewals
• Testimonials
• Membership Badge
• Inquire for Price

To see the full list of features only available through memberships (even in our developing markets), check out the items highlighted in blue on the pricing page. Make sure to hover over or tap items for more explanation.

We've just rolled out an automatic process for managing unresponsive seller accounts. This is only applicable to the bottom 2% of our 2,000 sellers, who are not responding to a majority of their inquiries. (This is also in addition to the reminder emails which go out for inquiries several days after no response.)

• After becoming unresponsive, the seller will get a private warning notice on their inventory page. This should be highly visible to them and is useful in case they are not seeing our emails for some reason.
• After one week, they will be sent an email notice.
• After two weeks, the ads will be automatically expired.

Read the full article and respond on the MRC.

We've just added a few Premium feature which lets sellers customize a message display when buyers click "inquire".