Starting to sell on bol: what do you need?
Lars HurkmansCo-founder16 February 2026Temps de lecture 5 minutesSelling on bol is easy to get into, but not simple to succeed at. Anyone who wants to sell successfully has to master four areas: market research, findability, performance and profitability. On bol you compete directly with other sellers, and algorithms determine your visibility.
Getting started is easy: no monthly costs and no costs to list products. You only pay commission when you actually sell something. With 14 million customers shopping on bol monthly and total revenue of 5.9 billion euros in 2024, it's the largest online marketplace in the Netherlands and Belgium. We'll walk through those four areas below. If you want to see how the market itself is structured before choosing a product, our product research series starts with how the bol market works.
Why do you start with market research?
Before you invest in stock, you need to know whether there's demand for your product. You don't determine that on gut feeling, but based on data about what consumers search for, how many competitors are active, and how big the market is.
During your research you want answers to questions like: how many consumers search for this type of product? How many sellers already offer it? What is the market size per product group? Which categories are growing, and which are saturated? What are the return rates in this category?
The difference between choosing on gut feeling and choosing based on data is the difference between gambling and building a case. Sellers who start without data often only find out afterwards that there was too little demand, the competition too fierce, or the margins too thin.
MarktMentor offers three connected perspectives on the market: categories (market size, conversion, returns, seasonal patterns), keywords (search volume, competition, advertising costs) and products (sales, price development, reviews, visibility). This lets you work from a broad market overview to a concrete product choice.
You can read how you go through this process step by step, from first idea to sourcing decision, in market research on bol.
How do you get found by consumers on bol?
On bol, consumers search via the search bar, just like on Google. The algorithm determines which products they see. 80% doesn't look beyond the first page. That means you have to understand which keywords consumers search for, your product title and specifications need to match those, and you need to track your positions.
bol uses three different algorithms that determine your visibility. Organic search results determine where your product appears when consumers search. Google Shopping determines whether your product is findable externally. And Sponsored Products are paid ads within bol.
Findability isn't a one-off action. It needs ongoing attention: optimising your listing for the right keywords, monitoring how your positions develop, and determining where advertising is worthwhile.
You can read exactly how findability on bol works and how you improve it step by step in findability on bol.
How do you track your performance on bol?
On a marketplace you don't automatically see what's happening. You have to actively track: what's your market share in your categories? Which products perform, which don't? Are you growing or losing ground? Which keywords drive traffic?
Without this insight you respond too late to changes or miss opportunities to grow. A product whose conversion is dropping relative to the category benchmark probably has a listing that needs improvement, or a price that's no longer competitive. But you only see that if you compare your own performance against the market.
Reviews also play a role here. Products with better review scores sell better. But reviews are more than a number. They tell you what customers appreciate and what they run into. That feedback helps you improve your products and sharpen your listing.
What do you actually keep from a sale on bol?
Revenue isn't the same as profit. On bol you pay five cost components per product: purchase costs and shipping costs (which vary strongly by package type and whether you use LVB, VVB or your own shipping), bol commission (which differs enormously per category), advertising costs, storage costs, and return costs.
Return costs in particular are underestimated. It's not just about the return label. Refunds to customers, replacement products, and restocking all count. In categories with high return rates, these costs can wipe out your margin completely.
Many sellers overestimate their profitability because they don't include all the costs. They look at revenue in their dashboard and assume they're making a profit. Knowing per product what you keep net after all costs is the foundation for every sound decision about your range.
You can read how you calculate this per product, all costs against your sale price, in calculating profitability on bol.
Do you sell through the buy box or through your own listing?
On bol you sell through the buy box or through your own listing.
With buy box selling you offer products under an existing product page. You compete with other sellers on price, delivery promise and sales performance. The advantage: the product page already has findability, reviews and traffic. Interesting for well-known brands or unbranded products that already have demand.
With your own listing you fully own your product page. You determine title, description, images and positioning. No competition on the product page, full control. This approach requires more investment in findability, but offers the best growth opportunities for anyone who wants to build a private label brand.
Private label brands perform especially well on products where the purchase decision is based on functionality and specifications, not on brand experience. Think of accessories, functional products with clear specifications, and products where consumers choose based on reviews and product information.
What's possible if you take bol seriously?
Selling on bol isn't a trick and isn't a fast route to profit. It's a craft you have to learn. But sellers who approach the process seriously, with data, structure and discipline, achieve results that show what's possible.
In our documentary on TLS Commerce you follow Lars and Tim, the founders of the brand Nuvance, from their start in 2020 to a top 50 brand on bol with 5 million euros in revenue. You see the office where data decides which products they launch, the photo studio where listings are made, and the warehouse where 33,000 orders per month are processed.
No shortcuts. But a systematic approach you can learn from, wherever you stand right now.