Accessing Restricted Categories On Amazon

These categories are generally restricted as they are particularly vulnerable to counterfeiting and Amazon wish to protect their customers by limiting the sellers able to sell products in these categories. As you search through the products on SourceMogul we will notify you of products which are in restricted categories so you can make sure you are able to sell the products you invest in.

As a new seller you will be unable to sell products in these categories but getting permission to sell is relatively easy. To sell in a restricted category you will need to contact Seller Support through the link at the bottom of any page in Seller Central.

Please note that you will need to already have stock for the category ready to sell in order to receive approval. Amazon is looking for serious sellers in these categories and will not grant permission to somebody who is simply considering selling in the given category somewhere down the line.

Select “Inventory” from the list of topics and then choose “Permission to sell new products” from the choices which appear. As you can see on the right you will be presented with a list of all restricted categories to choose from. Select the category you wish to sell in, we will use Clothing as an example but you will find all categories to be very similar in the approval process.

If you are selling on multiple marketplaces through Amazon Global you will be asked to select which markets you wish to sell the restricted products on. Click the tick boxes and answer the two questions which appear.

To sell in the restricted categories you will need to be able to provide customer support in the native language for the marketplace and you will need an address within the given country for customers to send returns to. If you can provide both of these you can move on to the next step.

You will next be asked how many products you wish to sell in the category. You will need at least two to be given approval and you must confirm that your products are new as used products are not permitted for these categories.

To be approved you will need to provide images of the products you wish to sell, these images must meet the requirements for images shown on Amazon listings. The next steps of the process are Amazon reminding you of these requirements and asking you to confirm that your images meet these requirements.

If you can answer yes to each of the questions regarding your images you will be asked to upload five images. These five images must include at least two products within the category, these don’t necessarily need to be the products you are intending to sell immediately as they are simply to demonstrate you can adhere to the requirements set out. These can be images from different angles or of different aspects of the product as long as they each meet all the requirements.
Each image must be:

• On a pure white background.
• At least 1001 pixels on its longest side.
• Devoid of any borders, watermarks, text or other decoration.
• Without accessories, only showing the product alone or on a model.
• Showing the entire product, occupying at least 85% of the image area.
• Showing a single view of the product – no alternate angles or close-ups.
• Devoid of nudity, pornographic or obscene content.
• A colour photograph.
• Once you have submitted your photographs you will be asked to input contact details for Seller Support to contact you regarding your application. At this stage you simply need to wait. Amazon will get back to you regarding your application within 24 hours usually.

Amazon may ask for further information regarding the items you want to sell. You can see your messages with seller support though your case log which can be found on the right hand side of the Seller Central homepage.

If you follow the instructions from Seller Support and follow all the guidelines given you shouldn’t have any issues getting approval. There is no guarantee, however, so make sure you don’t invest in a huge amount of stock before you are approved.

If you want to reduce the time it takes to source profitable products for Amazon resale – get started today with a 7 day free trial and find out how SourceMogul can help you to grow a protibale business!