Sell with us

 

Join our museum community marketplace

Are you looking to put your gift shop and/or bookings system online to maximum effect quickly and at minimum cost? Do you want your online costs to be related directly to what you sell instead of a fixed monthly bill  which charges you on the basis of what you actually sell instead of sending you a monthly bill? Your museum could be selling online within 24 hours on a platform with an annual conversion rate of 19.3% in 2020. MuseumShops can deliver this and more for your organisation and all at an upfront cost of £0.

Our service includes:

  • No joining or listing fees.
  • A 10% commission (includes 2% payment gateway fee and VAT) is payable on the value of retail products only when you make a sale. Special offers may apply, commission does not apply to shipping charges.
  • No fixed contract period.
  • Calendarised bookings system for time slot based admissions, guided tours and room hire.
  • Customers will only see your products when entering via your website, or will be introduced to your products and organisation whilst browsing the MuseumShops index.
  • Easy-to-use listing process minimises time spent managing your shop, allowing you more time to build your sales strategy.
  • Coupon codes for special offers.
  • Stock and sales control system with Google Analytics CRM data.
  • MuseumShops will actively market your products to our customer database and to social media.
  • Secure purchasing and refund system, to ensure smooth transactions and customer satisfaction.
  • Full compliance with UK ecommerce law automatically included.
  • Vendor Vacation mode to temporarily close your shop for stock-take or during staff absence.
  • Continually updated software with new features rolled out regularly.

NEW- MuseumShops Bookings

‘We’ve had our first visitors through, and without any prompting they said that booking online was really easy. Perfect!’ – The Green Howards Museum.

MuseumShops Bookings is now live! All MuseumShops partners now receive access to the Bookings facility which has been launched in response to the sector’s Covid19 requirements. MuseumShops Bookings is an extremely flexible system which includes:

  • Booking variable priced individual tickets by time slot for general admission or special exhibitions.
  • Optional extras such as Gift Aid or catering for tours.
  • FREE use for Free Admissions & Tours
  • Group visit bookings.
  • Booking of room hire, weddings, birthday parties and holiday accommodation.
  • Link in retail products such as a guidebook or audio tour guides.
  • Manage all your bookings using our adaptive calendar.
  • Optional confirmation of bookings before payment acceptance.
  • Automatic storage of customer data for Covid19 track and trace.

Pricing for MuseumShops Bookings is based on a flexible rate commission, with Admissions charged at 5% per transaction. Please enquire for other Bookings rates. Partners who do not charge for entry qualify for free use of MuseumShops Bookings for admissions providing they sell retail products or other paid bookings via the platform.

If you’d like further information, a discussion about your requirements, or a demonstration of the back office system, please fill out the form and we’ll be in touch.

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MuseumShops is open to Museums, Historic Houses, Libraries, Art Galleries and Science Centres based in the United Kingdom or Crown Dependencies. However if your organisation is not in the UK and would be interested in listing with us then please get in touch to see how we can help you in future.

What MuseumShops Can Do For You

 

MuseumShops principal objective is to reduce the cost of creating and operating an online shop, letting you focus on presenting your products to potential customers. We do not charge upfront or ongoing monthly fees, instead taking a 12% commission only when our partners make a sale. This incentivises us to help you sell, as opposed to other online platforms which charge regardless of sales performance.

By providing a marketplace website with a wide range of choice, MuseumShops provides an attractive destination for online shoppers, helping our partners match and exceed the UK-wide average of 31% (and growing) as the online share of overall retail revenues.

Every organisation that partners with MuseumShops gets a unique shopfront page to display their products, customisable to match branding and with our own branding kept to a minimum. Customers on the site can browse all products on the site or just those in an individual shop, using browsing features such as the Search Bar and Price Slider, or narrowing down options through the use of selectable Categories.

Special offers, membership discount codes for Friends groups, back office sales charts, SKU inventory management,  MuseumShops offers all these features and more!

MuseumShops is happy to help if you need any assistance setting up an online shop. We can introduce you to retail photographers at a specially discounted rate and provide tailored advice about which products to upload and packaging and postal options.

Contact clientservices@museumshops.uk for a brochure and further details, or review some of our key terms below before making an application.

Key terms:

To list products on MuseumShops we ask that you be open to the public on a regular basis, with at least ten products ready to list and the capacity to dispatch within three working days. Exceptions will be considered on a case by case basis.

Individuals and commercial companies unaffiliated with Museums, Galleries, etc, are not permitted to sell through MuseumShops.

Website

  • All partners will be provided with a Partner account and unique homepage on the MuseumShops website.
  • Social media accounts may be linked, as may main museum websites and visitor information pages. Links to other online shops are not permitted.
  • Our general website service is offered with a zero-upfront fee. However certain optional service extras incur charges, as agreed between the Partner and MuseumShops.
  • Optional homepage design services are available for a fee.
  • The sales contract is directly between the Partner and the Customer with MuseumShops acting as an agent.
  • There is no limit to the number of products you can upload. However we would recommend items that are either branded or unique to you (or not likely to be listed by another on the site) so as to best stand out in a marketplace environment.
  • May not function properly if your office browser is no longer supported.

Partner Terms

  • All products and images must be to a good standard, see our Product Policy annex of the full Terms and Conditions for further details.
  • Shipping rates are set by the partner, but all items ordered must be dispatched within three (3) working days following order receipt. Repeated failure to dispatch within this time frame may incur an overdue charge from MuseumShops of £5 per working day.
  • Partners maintain full control of their product listing and undertake to manage their homepage. However MuseumShops maintains full discretion over the appearance of the site.
  • VAT registration is recommended for Partners.
  • Partners are to ensure that they adhere to all regulations and customs requirements regarding the sale of products including food stuffs in the country to which they are selling and or dispatching items.
  • If dispatching products with electrical components designated with the WEEE recycling emblem (a crossed out bin), partners are to ensure that they have a system in place to allow for recycling returns as envisioned by the WEEE directive.

Commission

  • MuseumShops charges a 10% commission on the value of retail products listed, not inclusive of Shipping fees.
  • Commission on bookable products is charged at 5% of transaction value.
  • Commission is deducted immediately upon Customer payment and the balance forwarded to the Partner account.

Payment

  • It is preferred that all partners create an account with Stripe, this being the payment gateway used for MuseumShops, and ensure that they meet all the relevant terms and conditions for Stripe Connect as set out here https://stripe.com/gb/connect-account/legal.
  • In the event of a customer being unsatisfied with their order and requesting a refund, the Partner undertakes to reimburse the Customer the full amount. The Stripe transaction charge (2% of the commission) cannot be reclaimed, but no secondary charge is made for refunds processed.
  • MuseumShops does not store customer or client financial information on its servers.
  • In the event of Stripe not being usable for your organisation, MuseumShops undertakes to provide a backup option in which the funds from Customer purchases shall be deposited into its account, and the Partner shall receive a sales statement from MuseumShops every three months.

Marketing & Promotions

  • Logos and images provided by Partners are licensed for use by MuseumShops for marketing purposes.
  • From time to time MuseumShops will run special promotions and discounts across the site.

Data Protection

  • Partners shall undertake not to retain the personal data of customers, nor use it for any purpose except for the dispatch of ordered items.
  • From time to time and in compliance with data protection regulations MuseumShops may grant access to Mailing lists for Marketing purposes, any and all data provided must be deleted on request by MuseumShops.

If you are interested in our service and meet these terms, please get in contact via clientservices@museumshops.uk to see how we can help you.

If you are ready to join, please review our full terms and conditions then click the Apply Now button. On receipt of your completed form we will contact you directly to discuss your application before issuing you with an account. 

Apply Now