It’s illegal to operate a business without a business license. The same is true even as an online seller. To make the eCommerce space remain open to sprouting online sellers, welcomes non-licensed people to start an online business through its platform. Not independently, of course. Due to the lack of legal business requirements, you can only join Lazada as a microseller.
What Is A Lazada Microseller?
A Lazada microseller is someone who operates an online selling business on the Lazada platform without having to submit his business documents to Lazada.
Why Do You Need To Become A Lazada Microseller?
As part of Lazada’s commitment to keeping the platform a legitimate space for online buying and selling, Lazada requires that to become a seller one must have a business license (among other Lazada requirements).
At the same time, Lazada also wants to expand its platform to people who may not have previous business experience but wants to slowly venture into eCommerce. And so, Lazada coined the term microseller to pertain to people who sell online through the Lazada platform through the means of The Online Microsellers Cooperative.
In other words, if you don’t have a business license but want to sell online through Lazada, you can do so by becoming a member of the Online Microsellers Cooperative.
How Does Being A Lazada Microseller Differ From The Regular Sellers?
Upon accessing the signup page of Lazada, you’ll see that there’s an option to become an individual seller or a corporate seller (other than the global selling feature on the platform).
Being an individual seller is synonymous with being a microseller.
If you choose to create an individual seller account, you will be able to do so without having to submit a business license.
But after creating your account, you must immediately sign up with The Online Microsellers Cooperative.
Otherwise, the Coop will submit a report to Lazada that you are a non-member after that your shop will be deleted.
A corporate seller (or regular seller), on the other hand, is an independent Lazada seller who submitted all the required documents and therefore has no need to cooperate with the Coop.
The Online Microsellers Cooperative
The Online Microsellers Cooperative is basically what links you to Lazada while you don’t have your business documents yet.
What happens is that when you sell an item, the Coop will be the one to issue a sales invoice to the buyer on your behalf.
The Online Microsellers Cooperative is duly registered under the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) that enables it to bridge the gap between unlicensed online sellers to the eCommerce platform.
How To Join The Microsellers Cooperative
Here are the basic requirements:
- Any government-provided ID with Filipino Citizenship
If you don’t have that then any valid ID will do as long as you can pair it with a birth certificate, marriage certificate, or baptismal certificate.
- TIN
- Personal Photo (ID Size)
Upon securing the said requirements, you can fill out The Microsellers Cooperative Sign Up Form.
You then have to attend a Pre-Membership Education Training which will be done online. You can schedule the training here.
The last step would be to pay your minimum capital share requirement of 400 PHP. The settlement is divided into two payment schedules:
- The first payment schedule will be automatically deducted on your first payment; a fee of 100 PHP
- Deposit the final payment of 300 PHP directly to the Coop. To make the payment, you can follow this form.
Difference Between A Microseller Cooperative And A Corporate Account
A microseller cooperative is a middleman that connects the bridge between unlicensed online sellers and the Lazada platform.
Meanwhile, a corporate account on Lazada is synonymous with a regular seller account wherein the seller is able to provide all the necessary requirements for online business including a business license. The bearer of the corporate account is an independent seller on the platform. Hence, he can operate his business without a middleman.
We all need to start somewhere. And as far as online selling goes, becoming a microseller can be a stepping stone to expanding your brand.
Were you a licensed business owner when you started selling on Lazada? Let us know in the comment section.
