3 Easy & Practical Steps to Sell on Meesho and Open a Meesho Seller Account in 2024

Meesho was founded in 2015 as an eCommerce selling platform and is currently headquartered in Bangalore. With a user base of over 2.6 million sellers across India, it is quickly emerging as one of the top online marketplaces in the country, taking on the likes of eBay and Snapdeal. The company’s focus is to provide an affordable alternative to some of the bigger names in the industry and offers a vast variety of categories and pricing options to consumers, as reflected by the more than 50 lakh product options on tap.

In addition, Meesho also offers a relatively simple setup and vetting process compared to competitors, which makes it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to get onboarded and start selling their products to a large audience. In this blog, we take a deep dive into why you should sell on Meesho, how you can set up a Meesho seller account, the challenges faced by becoming a Meesho seller, and how WareIQ can assist with fulfilling Meesho orders.

Why Should You Sell on Meesho?

Least Commission Rates in the Industry

While most large online marketplaces charge a commission rate of anywhere between 5% to 20%, Meesho uniquely charges much lower rates. While the company labels it as 0% commission, it is closer to a spectrum of 1.1% to 1.4% depending on the commodity type and category. However, this is still extremely low compared to industry standards and thus, enables retailers to achieve higher profit margins by pricing their goods accordingly.

High commission fees can often detract from a retailer’s ability to be profitable so the low rates offered by Meesho can be a game-changer, especially for smaller businesses that run on much tighter margins to stay afloat. And, this is the main reason people prefer to sell on meesho.

Lack of Collection Fees

In a similar stance to the collection of a commission on every product sold, most eCommerce selling platforms also impose a collection fee and a set of fixed fees on every product that is sold. By the time all these fees are deducted, sellers are barely left with anything other than the scraps, after doing the hard work of researching and developing a product that ultimately generates the sale. Fortunately for retailers who sell on Meesho, there are no chargeable fixed or collection fees, which assists in them getting more money in their own pockets.

24/7 Operation

Retailers who sell on Meesho can take advantage of the fact that it does not have to abide by the same restrictions and timings that a brick-and-mortar store does. This means that the window to generate interest amongst potential customers and ultimately make a sale, increases exponentially. No longer do sellers have to open their shops and patiently wait for customers to arrive.

Rather, they can be doing something productive in terms of the business or even in their personal lives, knowing full well that orders can be generated, regardless of whether they are physically present at the office or not. eCommerce retail waits for no one as all the infrastructure that is needed to fulfill an order is already in place.

Penalty-Free Returns

One of the biggest eCommerce pain points for retailers who sell online is getting return-to-origin (RTO) requests from customers. Most other online marketplaces penalise sellers in some way or another, regardless of the reason for the return. Returns can often be initiated due to the fault of the retailer, such as when the wrong item is packed or the product is damaged in transit.

However, the majority of returns happen from the customer’s end, such as them finding a better deal elsewhere, having buyer’s remorse or the product not meeting their expectations, so it is generally unfair for the buyer to incur the expenses in these circumstances. Retailers who sell on Meesho can breathe a sigh of relief as they are not penalised for returns, regardless of the reason and all the forward and reverse logistics are handled by Meesho itself.

No Hidden Shipping Fees

Unexpected shipping fees are one of the biggest contributing factors to customers abandoning their carts. Retailers often have to implement various strategies to combat the impact of shipping charges in order to maintain their profit margins. However, Meesho sellers can be reassured that they do not have to pay a single dime in shipping expenses while selling on the platform.

Meesho uses the tactic of bundling the shipping cost into the price of the product. For example, if a seller prices a product at ₹300, Meesho will display the price on the listing page as ₹350, to account for delivery expenses. This means that retailers who sell on Meesho will never have to incur the price of shipping, which can alleviate a very big hurdle.

3 Easy Steps to Setup a Meesho Seller Account and Start Selling on Meesho in 2023

Set Up a Meesho Seller Account

If you want to sell on Meesho, the initial step you need to take is to create a Meesho Seller Account. Go to Meesho.com and click on “Become a Supplier” on the upper right of the page. You will then be redirected to the registration page to fill out your mobile number. After you have done that, select “Start Selling”.

You will then be taken to the Meesho Supplier Panel where you will have to type the OTP that was sent to your phone. You can then enter your preferred email and create a password. You can opt to receive notifications on Whatsapp if you need to. After that, click “Create Account”. The only things you need to sell on Meesho are:

• Active bank account
• GSTIN (only if your sales exceed 40 lakhs)
• PAN card

Begin Listing Your Products

The next step to sell on meesho is to list the products you want to sell, go to the Meesho Seller Panel and click on “Catalogs Upload”. There are 2 methods to upload products listings on Meesho so you can choose the one that suits your requirements:

Bulk Upload Listings

Select the “Add New Catalog in Bulk” option, mention your product category and choose the appropriate one from the list. After doing that, you will get an option to download a template or create your own. If you do not have your own, click “Download Template”. Once it is downloaded, you will get access to an excel-like spreadsheet.

Enter the details in the form, using the instructions mentioned on the first sheet and enter the product descriptions on the second sheet. Once you have filled out all the information, go back to the previous page and select “Upload File”.

Add Single Listings

Select the “Add Single Catalog” option and repeat the same process of selecting your product category. After that, upload the relevant pictures to the website. Then, enter the product details and if there are multiple variations, click the “Copy Input Details to All Products” box and edit them individually from there. Finish providing the remaining details and click on “Submit Catalog”.

Suggested Read: eCommerce Catalog Management

Receive Orders and Deliver Them

Once you have finished setting up your account and listing your products, you will start to receive orders from interested customers. You will get order notifications through your Meesho Supplier Panel and by email, whenever you get a new order. You can then choose to accept or reject it. The order can either be fulfilled by Meesho themselves or through your chosen 3PL fulfillment provider. You have now become a successful Meesho seller.

Suggested Read: How to sell on Snapdeal?

Challenges Faced by Retailers Who Sell on Meesho

Enormous Delivery Expenses

Because Meesho incurs all the burdens and costs associated with shipping and distribution themselves, it results in much higher delivery expenses than other platforms. Sellers are often good at finding ways to evade extensive shipping charges but implementing various strategies in terms of their pricing.

However, Meesho doesn’t have this luxury and just has a standard practice of increasing the listing price by a percentage of what they would pay for the shipping charges. While sellers don’t directly face any of the heat that stems from rising shipping prices, they could be in for a rude awakening if Meesho decides that this policy isn’t feasible and starts to charge sellers for delivery.

Varying Degrees of Quality Control

Meesho doesn’t have very strict quality-checking procedures so oftentimes, customers will order a product, only to find that is damaged or that the materials used are substandard. While this may not be the fault of sellers who take it upon themselves to perform rigid quality checks on their own products, it does damage the reputation of the platform as a whole, including all the retailers that sell on, due to the fact that customers might associate the entire platform as not being reliable. This can result in lower sales and trust in companies that sell on Meesho.

Slow Delivery and Inconsistent Customer Support

Many customers often complain about Meesho products not being delivered on time. This reflects badly on sellers, many of whom rely on Meesho’s delivery service. Customers often associate a bad experience, not just with the selling platform but with the brand itself. If any issue does arise in the delivery process, customers are often greeted by lackluster customer service that doesn’t answer their queries or solve their issues. This can have severe consequences for brands that are trying to attain repeat customers.

Suggested Read: You can also read how to sell on Etsy.

Conclusion: Is it a Good Option to Sell on Meesho in 2023?

Meesho is one of the few eCommerce marketplaces that prioritise the well-being of their sellers, over themselves and at times, even over their own customers. While this may seem like a decision that may not require much thought, retailers who sell on Meesho are also faced with their own unique challenges, just like any other selling platform, while also offering a variety of benefits such as being able to achieve the highest profit margins in the industry.

Ultimately, the decision should come down to the short-term and long-term goals of the company, the nature of its products, the business strategy, and the type of audience they want to target. Retailers would be best suited to sell on Meesho while also selling on other marketplaces, in order to achieve the highest level of visibility and market share. If you are an aspiring eCommerce retailer or you already have an eCommerce business and are looking to expand, you can opt to partner with WareIQ.

WareIQ is one of India’s fastest-growing eCommerce fulfillment providers that uses the most advanced technology in the industry to leverage the performance of our users and help them excel. We help users conveniently sell and manage their orders and inventory across more than 20 of the biggest eCommerce marketplaces, through our custom WMS.

Users can track their inventory across multiple fulfillment centers and get real-time updates as and when any changes occur, manage all their past and present order data across every platform they sell on, forecast demand using historical data to determine the appropriate amount of inventory to store, make use of intelligent inventory placement solutions that are closest to their customers and much more. We also offer services that encompass the entire suite of fulfillment operations to achieve faster delivery speeds at more cost-effective pricing.

Sell on Meesho: FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Supercharge your fulfilment with WareIQ now, contact our team.