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How To Get Approval In The Restricted Categories On Amazon

by The Selling Family

Some of the most desired categories on Amazon.com for FBA sellers require getting approval from Amazon in order to sell in them.  Part of the reason they are so desired, is because not everyone can sell in them off the bat.  That is good news for someone who is approved because there is less competition in these categories, versus the unrestricted categories.

These are the “main” categories on Amazon that currently require approval:

• Shoes & Handbags
• Clothing & Accessories
• Fashion Jewelry
• Watches
• Beauty
• Health & Personal Care
• Grocery

There are a couple other categories on Amazon that require approval.  But we are going to focus on these ones today.  In our experience, these are the ones that the most sellers want to be approved in overall.

Before You Start Your Approval Process

In order to request approval to sell in the restricted categories you must meet the following criteria as an Amazon seller:

• Be a PRO MERCHANT – this means you are paying the $39.00 a month for your seller account.

• Order defect rate:                 < 1%
• Pre-fulfillment cancel rate:   < 2.5%
• Late shipment rate:              < 4%

The only reason you would fall below these as a brand new seller is if you were doing Merchant Fulfilling.  Since you are most likely just getting started, you will meet the above requirements no problem  

Getting Approval In Beauty, Health & Personal Care Or Groceries  

First off, we have the categories of Beauty, Health & Personal Care and Grocery.  These are some of our favorite categories here at The Selling Family and we recommend that all new sellers eventually try to get approved in them as well. Unlike the categories we talked about above, in order to get ungated in these categories, you have to provide Amazon with invoices in order to gain approval in them.  

These 3 categories have become some of the hardest categories to get approval in from Amazon.  The main reason is they aren’t specific on what they are looking for when it comes to documentation.  So, one agent will say one thing, and another says something else.

The most important thing to remember when trying for approval in these categories is to know that patience is required!  You may be doing a lot of back and forth work with Amazon.

As of right now, Amazon is requesting that sellers provide them withcommercial invoices from reputable suppliers.  Retail receipts are not an option for approval in these categories.

The best way to obtain a commercial invoice is to purchase direct from a wholesale company.  I would speak to them before placing an order to see if they will provide a commercial invoice to you at the time of purchase.

The invoice needs to include the following information:

• The suppliers company information:  Name, Address, Phone Number and Website

Note: The suppliers website should have all of this information on the first page as well.  So they are easy to identify as a “legitimate supplier”.  Keep this in mind when you are looking for a wholesale company to use!  If you can’t find all of their contact info on page one, Amazon won’t search further than that.

• Your company information: Company name as it appears on your Amazon seller account, Address you have on file

Note:  We have seen sellers denied simply because the name/address used wasn’t exact as shown on their Amazon file.  So make sure to include your “Official” business contact information.

To start the approval process for Beauty, click here.

To start the approval process for Health & Personal Care, click here.

To start the approval process for Grocery, click here.

Like I said previously, these 3 categories are some of the harder ones to get approved in.  But, they are worth it for those who keep working with Amazon to complete the process 

We have a walkthrough video course that will show you the exact types of invoices required and all of the specific things that Amazon is looking for in order to approve someone in these categories!

Getting Approval In Shoes & Handbags, Clothing & Accessories, Watches Or Jewelry

Recently Amazon has changed the process for gaining approval into the categories of Shoes, Clothing, Watches & Jewelry.  

Sellers no longer need to provide images or flat files for these categories.  There is an application process where you answer multiple choice type of questions and then get an instant approval (or denial) based on your answers.

For the application, Amazon will ask you questions about the products that you intend to sell. questions about your business model and what your intentions are for the category you are applying in.  The questions are pretty basic and are about your plans as a seller.  

One important note is that when you are requesting approval in these categories, Amazon wants you to be purchasing direct from the manufacturer, or be the brand owner.  If you say no to both of these questions, you will get an automatic decline and not be able to move forward in the application process.

To start the approval process for shoes, click here.  

To start the approval process for clothing, click here.

To start the approval process for jewelry, click here.

To start the approval process for watches, click here.

Some sellers have a hard time filling out the application, so we are offering our Category Approval Application Guides for all 4 of these categories for just $25!  I recommend trying it out on your own at first, but I know some of you like to have it laid out in an easy to follow step by step process.

(SOURCE)

- Read this to find out how to get approval on the restricted categories on Amazon!