Vendor program and standards

• There are only two access types: Marketplace Vendor and Dedicated Vendor.
• A Marketplace Vendor uses one approved account and normally maintains one main brand thread for routine information, questions, ordering details, policies, test information, and updates.
• A Dedicated Vendor has its own forum. Staff may designate multiple accounts as the brand's Official Representatives. Those accounts may start threads and reply in that forum, but they receive no posting rights in another Dedicated Vendor's forum.
• Use approved accounts only for the brand, representative, and activities described during review. Report ownership, representative, domain, product, or contact changes before continuing commercial activity.
• A separate promotion thread may be created no more than once in 14 days unless staff approves a different schedule for a Dedicated Vendor forum.
• Do not post a low-value bump more than once in 24 hours. Genuine answers to member questions are not treated as promotional bumps.
• Do not initiate promotional direct messages. You may answer a member who contacts you first, unless the member or staff asks you to stop.

• State promotion start and end dates, eligibility, location limits, minimum order or quantity, exclusions, expected fulfillment time, payment methods, and material shipping, seizure, replacement, refund, or reship conditions.
• Do not silently rewrite a material price, guarantee, deadline, test claim, or transaction term after members may have relied on it. Post a dated correction and ask staff to annotate the earlier statement when needed.
• Do not guarantee health, safety, purity, delivery, or financial outcomes beyond a specific written policy you are prepared and able to honor.

• Test reports and certificates must be authentic and identify the relevant product or batch, test date, laboratory or method, and any material limitations. Personal contact details may be redacted; results, dates, batch identifiers, or qualifications must not be altered or hidden in a misleading way.
• Do not publish customer names, addresses, contact details, payment data, tracking details, order records, or private communications without the customer's informed permission.
• Do not offer compensation, discounts, free products, credit, priority service, or other benefits in exchange for a review or for changing or removing one.

Respond to criticism with relevant facts, proposed resolution, and professional language. Do not threaten, dox, shame, mobilize others against, or retaliate against a customer or competing Vendor. Do not enter another Vendor's thread to advertise or provoke a dispute; factual corrections should be reported to staff.

Members post reviews in Vendor Reviews. An approved Marketplace Vendor account or Dedicated Vendor Official Representative may reply in the same review thread. Follow reviews, disputes, and evidence.

Staff may warn a Vendor, remove a post or link, limit posting, suspend an Official Representative or brand, or withdraw Vendor access. Severity, repetition, cooperation, member risk, and attempts to evade a restriction will affect the response. Fraud, fabricated evidence, privacy abuse, undisclosed coordinated promotion, or retaliation may justify immediate suspension.

A Vendor may submit one private appeal through Contact us with the relevant facts and requested outcome. Public campaigns, alternate accounts, or pressure on members are not an appeal.