Hello Developers,
Tonight I received what looks like an approval email to sell on the themes store. My status on the Galaxy Themes portal page still shows “requested” which may simply be because I haven’t uploaded the Security Pledge yet.
I wasn’t expecting a request for a printed, signed then scanned page either which is ready to be uploaded. I just wanted to make sure none of this sounded off. I also had questions about the two year commitment to keep theme store products updated on any new OS patches, which I fully appreciate.
Also, I want to confirm that I need Corporate Commercial Distribution Seller status to sell on the Samsung theme store.
I am excited to get started but want to do so properly. Thanks!
2 Likes
Congratulations on your selection, that is a significant accomplishment! And welcome to the program 
It’s been a while since I was new, however this is how it was… You should now have email contact with the Theme team, and will need to request access for adding themes in the Seller portal, and the GTS tool. This will probably take a few days.
If you are an individual seller, you will become a “Private Seller” and “Commercial Distribution Seller”. You can apply for Corporate Commercial Seller but you do not need to be a corporation with DUNS number to sell themes.
The Theme Pledge is valid, and needs to be signed, scanned and emailed back. The two year commitment is to keep your content updated for current Android releases (once a year), or if there are significant bugs with the tool. Currently the tool can create themes for Android 12 and 13. Later on in the year, the tool will be updated to create A13 and A14 themes. They just want to make sure you update your A13 themes to A14 (a manual process). I have no clue how they are going to enforce this because the spam sellers have thousands of themes so I can’t see how they will be able to update them all. Time will tell. For you, no need to really worry.
A large number of new theme sellers drop out because it is actually hard to get a theme approved. I’ve been doing this for 5 years and I still had 4 themes rejected overnight 
It can be frustrating because the theme testing process is a joke, there are a lot of bugs on the phones and with the GTS tool, and often times depends on the testers indivdual preferences. Hang in there! And feel free to join the private FB group and ask as many questions as you want! Congrats again and I hope this all helps.
Private FB Group
2 Likes
Thank you for all the info! I’ll definitely join the group. So I need both the Private Seller and Commercial Distribution Seller statuses?
I’m guessing if there wasn’t any money to be made that you and others wouldn’t press on with all the theme rejections. I appreciate a good filter for bad content but get the impression it goes beyond this. I’ll have to try and fail until I succeed 
1 Like
You’re welcome! “Private Seller and Commercial Distribution Seller” are what will be displayed on your account when you sign into the portal, next to the button to apply for Corporate Seller. Once you provide all the financial information to them, you’ll get both at the same time.
There’s money to be made eventually… market well and utilize the available promotions will get you moving. Use the Badges to generate links for your content. The Follower counts on your store page don’t really mean much because there are no push notifications, buyers still have to find your stuff.
1 Like
Thanks Again for your help!
Quick question on the Commercial Distribution application. After I submitted I saw the message about my address, phone number and birthday possibly being shared with store users and am hoping I can change this later to something else.
I wish they would have posted this message on the application page. If they did I missed it.
Edit: I think I’m just seeing my profile page which I was sent to after submitting my application. And I assume that we can change our address and other info at will here.
If you are a corporate seller, customers can see company name, representative name and address and phone number!
Individual sellers… customers only see your name on your Seller Profile, and you can’t change that.
However, when adding themes, you can put something in the Copyright Holder field and that’s what most people will see. Your actual name will always be on your Seller page though.
1 Like
Just a plug here. I wrote a blog on how to increase sales in the Galaxy Store you might find it useful. Selling is as important as designing.
also learn to design for upcoming seasons and events and submit content to be features See this Seller Portal Notice (updated quarterly.)
Ron
Samsung Developer Relations
1 Like
Great. So they won’t see my address and phone number. Thanks!
I don’t mind being accessible but I have a business address and phone number for the public. I get enough junk mail and spam calls as it is. 
Great. Thanks Ron! The three themes I submitted for acceptance into the theme seller clique were very different and one had autumnal colors. I’ve been watching the theme store closely for some time and plan to be seasonally appropriate with my offerings.
I will jump into three resources.
Hopefully this is my final noob question today, but where or how do I access the theme builder site? Do I get a personalized link after registration is complete? 
Email them nicely to push them along
They need to give you access so when you add an app in the Seller Portal you have an option to add themes. They will provide the link to GTS. Don’t get too excited, it can take weeks to get a theme approved so you really have to plan ahead for promotions.
1 Like
I have access now. But the transfer to Commercial Distribution from free seems to be taking a while. Is this normal? The info they requested was minimal.
Also, I see a plethora of options on the Theme builder. Do you typically customize every last one? I’m not being lazy, but wonder if it’s better to leave some of it alone.
Thanks!
They have to check your banking info so it’s probably taking a while.
You don’t need to change every option however I recommend checking every option. And make sure you check the screens where there are multiple views. Make sure you run the Visibility Check in the menu, it doesn’t catch a lot but will help with the basics.
1 Like
I received a “friendly reminder” email about registering apps. I have seen the Add App button on the seller portal but it looked like the way you add a theme when you’re ready to have it reviewed.
I had to email support to get “Themes” added in the first place.
So I added a theme “app” which has nothing in it which I assume I can adjust later with my first theme.
I’m still waiting on Commercial status approval but will email support today. It should have taken 10 seconds to approve me. All they have is basically banking info. I can’t imagine what might be taking so long.
Yes you can leave that empty app for later or cancel. You will add theme binaries first, then add all the details. I believe all theme administration is done in Korea so it can take a week.
1 Like
They are probably waiting on the Bank to verify and not all banks are cooperative.
Ron
Samsung Developer Relations
1 Like
I finally got approved. I assume I don’t need Corporate Distribution license for any reason since I’m just selling themes (for now.) I don’t know much about Android vs Samsung content but am guessing it’s vanilla OS product not vetted through Samsung.
I’m also trying to update my profile info but only see that’s possible on my personal Samsung account. Is an email required to now update profile information like address on the seller portal?
Thanks!
The information is retrieved from the Samsung account so changing it there should change it in your Seller Profile . It may take a day to sync up. Did that not work?
Ron
1 Like
I didn’t realize it took a couple days to update. I tried it already but changed it back after an hour assuming it wasn’t the proper method.
I’ll let you know if I have further issues. Thanks Ron!