The SIM business is a funny old game. Here is a list of Frequently Asked Questions that we have put together to help you keep it simple. For more detailed information click here for full Terms and Conditions of supply.

Q: Let me get this straight, the SIMs are completely free of charge and you give me £3.00 commission as well!?

A: If you are a retailer selling directly to the consumer, then yes. And you also get the 99p from the sale too... so that's £3.99.

Q: What's the catch?

A: There isn't one. There is no contract to sign, no bond, no 'tie-in' and you certainly don't have to purchase any kind of payment terminal!

Q: How do you know what SIMs you have sent me?

A: Every SIM has a unique identifying number. We scan this number when sending out a SIM card to you, thereby tracking the SIM to your store.

Q: How do you know if the SIMs you have sent me get activated?

A: On a regular basis, normally once a month, the networks report to us all the unique identifying numbers of the SIMs that have been connected. Because we track the SIMs to your store, we can match up this data and see which of your SIMs have actually been activated.

Q: What is an "activation?"

A: A SIM card is deemed activated by the network upon first top-up and first chargeable activity. So your customer (the end user) needs to top-up the SIM card (normally by a minimum of £10.00) and then make a call. Unless this happens we don't get paid and nor will you so the best thing to do is to offer your customer a top-up in store at the point of sale.

Q: So I get £3.00 commission on all networks on first top-up?

A: With the exception of the International SIMs, yes! With Lebara, Lyca and Vectone you receive your £3.00 over the first two (Lebara) or three (Lyca and Vectone) top-ups because that is how we are paid as well.

Q: How long does it take before I know if I am activating my SIMs?

A: Let's take O2 as an example. Say we send you an O2 SIM on 1st July and you sell it on 11th July. Your customer tops it up in store and makes a call on the same day. O2 would provisionally report that activation to us approximately two weeks later, probably around or about the 27th July. However, this is only a provisional report. Some activations are dismissed by the network as fraudulent or immediately disconnected. O2 send us the full, finalised report for July during August for which we will be paid at the very end of that month, sometimes into September. At the point that we get paid we are then able to report to you and credit your account. Some networks do report slightly differently but for the purposes of standardisation of reporting we have to go at the rate of the slowest. So in order to guarantee that all activations are bone fide and paid for, July activations are available for reporting and credit at the end of September.

Q: You sent me SIMs over a month ago, I sold them all and I even got my customers to top-up a lot of them in store but you're still saying I don't have any activations!?

A: We know it's frustrating, we live it everyday! Activations take time to be reported and even longer to be paid by the networks; it can be up to two months on some of the networks (Vodafone for example) to properly report all the activations. To give you an idea, at the time of writing (June) we have just received a Vodafone activation report for April! Patience is the key, you need to continually sell and top-up SIMs to fill your "pipe-line" and keep it filled. Then once the activations start coming through, you should begin to see some consistency and steady flow of profit.

Q: How do I get my money?

A: Once your account is in credit by £30.00 or more (that's just 10 activated SIMs), you will be paid by BACS (so we NEED your bank details!) automatically between the 25th and the end of month. If you need a commission statement just call us up and we will send one by email but you don't need to receive a commission statement to get paid, that happens automatically so long as you account is in credit by £30.00 or more. Remember, commissions are paid two months retro, so July commissions are paid at the end of September.

Q: How do I know how much I am in credit by?

A: Just give a ring or email! Between the 25th and month end, everyone who is registered on "0 and 3" will have a credit statement run. It will be this statement that we will be able to look at when you call up to check the credits on your account. If you have more than £30.00 (ex VAT) you will be paid automatically, if not, it will carry over into the next month and so on. Remember though, if you call us in mid November it will be your connections up to the end of August that will be available for review.

Q: What about my old SIM cards?

A: Any SIM cards supplied to you by NKSupply since October 2010 and connected after the date of your registration on "0 and 3" will all count.

Q: Why have you only just started paying commissions?

A: We admit we have been slightly behind the curve but wanted to make sure that when we did launch our offering would be market leading and would be sustainable in the long-term. Now we have the systems, software and back-office team in place, NKSupply is once again at the forefront of retail SIM card distribution, right where it belongs!