Product Submission Process & Guidelines
Product Submission Guidelines:
Mellow Monkey offers a mix of innovative manufactured products as well as a highly curated selection of products by designers and regional artisans, at a range of media and price points.
If you are a local or regional artist or a vendor interested in submitting items for possible sale at Mellow Monkey, please review the following guidelines, policies and procedures.
Mission, Product Requirements and Selection Criteria
Mission | Mellow Monkey operates both a global online store and a local brick and mortar shop in Stratford, CT. The mission in both stores is primarily the same - to provide a comprehensive selection of distinctive home décor, furniture, lighting, wall décor and sculpture - as well as handcrafted jewelry and a wide range of unique gifts.
Mediums | We accept handcrafted work in ceramic, wood, glass, mixed media, jewelry, and metal.
Product Assortment Needs | Customer demand, current market trends and our existing product mix are all taken into account when reviewing products.
Sales Potential | Revenue potential and profit margins are thoroughly evaluated.
Quality and Value | Product quality, materials, cost, retail value for comparable products and minimum order quantities are considered. All products must meet Mellow Monkey's quality standards. Examples: jewelry must be hypoallergenic, and be free of nickel, lead and cadmium, reclaimed wood products must be kiln dried, ceramics intended for food use must be certified food safe, items that use electricity such as lamps must be UL certified.
Retail Readiness | Products considered for sale at Mellow Monkey must be retail ready.
- Product information labeling including materials used and source
- Detailed product information about each product
- At least two high quality high resolution images of products both against white background and in appealing, lifestyle settings
- Retail packaging for each item. We do not accept loose jewelry.
Product Data Requirements
Under no circumstances will products be accepted where the maker or vendor does not provide us with a Shopify product import spreadsheet that includes all product attributes, including links to hosted images of products -or- a direct feed to our system (see below). Due to the volume of SKUs we onboard, we can no longer accept products that do not meet this requirement.
Rep Groups and larger vendors: A Shopify data feed can be obtained through MarketTime. In many cases, the lines you represent are required to pay a small fee to enable this feature in MarketTime. If you represent a line that is not willing to do this, that line will not be considered at Mellow Monkey
Smaller vendors: If you join the wholesale marketplace, FAIRE.com, your products will feed directly to our system. Provided your listings on Faire are detailed and meet our image requirements, there would be no additional data feed requirements. To sign up, click HERE.
How to Submit Products
1. If your business and products are Faire.com, send us your Faire direct link to the email address below
2. If your line is represented and can meet the requirement for Shopify data feed, rep should send information to the email address below
3. If you line is not represented but you are sure you can meet the requirement for Shopify data feed, rep should send information to the email address below. Proof of feed will be required.
4. If your business is not on Faire and cannot meet the requirement for Shopify data feed, it will not be considered.
Submission email address: customerservice@mellowmonkey.com | Subject Line: New Product Submission Request
What Happens Next? | Mellow Monkey's Buyer Team meets to review submissions periodically. Items are carefully and thoroughly vetted for their quality, price and appropriateness to our store as outlined above. The selection process is quite competitive, as we receive many inquiries and submissions.
Unfortunately, due to the high volume of interest, we are not able to respond to submission that have not been chosen for the store. Please do not attempt to follow up with repeated phone calls, emails or inquiries in the store. This only serves to annoy the team and will greatly reduce the chances of your product(s) being selected.
If we find that your product is appropriate for our store, you will be contacted. If you do not hear from us, we have not selected your product(s) and there is no need to follow-up. Because of the volume of requests, we are unable to follow-up on submissions not chosen for the store.
Still have questions? Please email us at customerservice@mellowmonkey.com and include in the subject line "Product Review Question." No phone calls or walk-ins please!