Let’s see if anyone here has been here before. There is a problem with a restricted category on Amazon that stops you from moving forward with your killer selling idea. In this article, you will learn how to get ungated on Amazon in 2024 so you can really rock it.
How Does Being “Ungated On Amazon” Work?
There’s a phrase you’ve probably heard everywhere: ungated on Amazon. Why is that? What if you’re a seller and this gets in your way?
This simply means that Amazon restricts certain brands, categories, or subcategories from being sold. By doing so, new sellers are prevented from jumping into the marketplace without being approved.
So, when we refer to your goods as “ungated on Amazon”, we just mean that they have been approved for sale.
If the gate is closed (gated), then it isn’t possible to sell anything. You can sell everything if the gate is up (ungated).
All Amazon sellers are subject to gating and ungating, regardless of whether you dropship on Amazon or sell through Amazon FBA. Plus, ungating allows you to expand your selling opportunities, especially in less competitive categories.
There may be fewer sellers competing for sales in some categories since not everyone gets ungated. A low level of competition increases your chances of capturing online shoppers!
If you are looking for the best Amazon FBA seller tool, try the Helium 10 Review and see if its worth
What Is The Reason For Amazon’s Gated And Ungated Categories?
There might be a question in your mind as to why Amazon has an ungated policy rather than a gated one. I find the whole process of being an Amazon seller very confusing, to put it mildly!
Amazon imposes its restrictions for a variety of reasons, including:
- Safety – ensuring a product is safe to consume.
- Liability – protects the consumer, seller, and even Amazon from any legal or health issues.
- Brand Integrity – maintaining a brand’s integrity and controlling the supply chain.
- Consumer Confidence – ensuring high quality standards and a positive user experience (UX).
- Fair Pricing – protects consumers in times of product shortages or extraordinary circumstances from unscrupulous sellers.
These two reasons tend to cause the most stringent restrictions – safety and liability. If products are mishandled or mislabeled, they can be unsafe for consumers. As discussed in the last section, Health & Personal Care falls under this category.
Furthermore, brands that are frequently counterfeited are usually subject to Brand Integrity restrictions or Consumer Confidence restrictions. There’s unfortunately no shortage of dishonest sellers who purchase knockoff products and then resell them as genuine products. Most commonly, counterfeit electronic and clothing products are sold.
Therefore, Amazon restricts access to these categories, subcategories, or brands. Selling these items requires that you “prove” that you are a responsible, trustworthy, and legitimate seller. The gated versus ungated categories are a result of this.
What is the procedure for becoming ungated on Amazon?
Fortunately, the Amazon ungating application process is fairly straightforward. Here are the basic steps to follow.
- Set up an Amazon Professional Seller account, which costs $39.99 a month.
- Select Add A Product under Inventory in Seller Central.
- If you decide not to sell that particular product after the ungating, then find a product in a category, subcategory, or brand you want to sell. If you look for products by their names, brands, or ASINs (Amazon Standard Identification Numbers) you can do so.
- The Click Listing Limitations appear next to the search result.
- Click the Request Approval button. There are certain subcategories for which Amazon does not accept ungating applications.
It depends on which category or subcategory you’re trying to unregister for. Although most of them will require further documentation, some are more difficult and involved than others.
Included in this are:
- A detailed invoice (with your supplier’s contact information)
- If you are purchasing wholesale, ask the manufacturer/brand owner to send you a letter.
- There is a monetary fee
- Documentation or additional information
There may be additional requirements as well. An ungated position in the Fine Arts category requires three years of experience. Medical Products must be FDA-approved, and strict seller guidelines must be followed.
Applicants for ungating in some categories aren’t always accepted by Amazon.
At any given time, Amazon doesn’t state why it isn’t accepting applications. The Amazon ungating process can be extremely secretive at times, so they might have a backup of applications or may be revamping requirements.
As a whole, ungating for Amazon sellers is a bit mysterious – the Amazon agents who handle your application don’t explain in detail what they look for. There will be general instructions, but no tips on increasing your chances will be given to you. You may not even receive a reason in some cases! Then you will be told it’s “proprietary information” and you will be instructed to apply again. Keeping that in mind, we have compiled some helpful tips on how to ungate Amazon. If you run a dropshipping store or sell through Amazon FBA, you should always include your supplier’s contact information. It’s much better if you only deal with one person because you’ll develop a personal bond with them. Because Amazon calls suppliers more frequently, they are effectively treated as seller references. You must pay your supplier on time as a seller in order for Amazon to establish your reliability, dependability, and trustworthiness! Make sure to provide the following contact information for your supplier or sales representative in the Optional Comments area of the application: In most cases, invoices are required to gain access to Amazon. While some categories and brands with stricter restrictions may demand additional information in the application, practically every ungating application will require an invoice. Once invoices have been prepared, they should be sent out. Because the invoice is a document that establishes when an order was fulfilled, it must include a fulfilled order. As a result, you should not utilise the order confirmation that you receive when you initially place your transaction. The official, finalised invoice is normally included within the final shipment and lists what you ordered, not what the provider sold you. Furthermore, once the package is dispatched, the finished invoice will differ from the packing slip in the package. We often lose track of paperwork when we have so much! The following will typically appear on an invoice: Consider how Amazon prevents dishonest vendors by using gated categories rather than ungated ones. All components of the application procedure should be preserved in order to make it as legitimate as feasible. Before delivering your invoice to Amazon’s customer service employees, be sure it can’t be readily changed or doctored. As a result, PDF files are preferred over Word (PC), Note (Mac), and Open Office (Linux) files. If you receive a hard copy of the invoice, scan it and submit it to your application. You should save it as a PDF or a JPEG or PNG image file. Invoices can also be photographed and sent, as some sellers have reported. An application can be tripped up by this technicality. You should ensure that the Ship To address matches the Bill To address in order to increase your chances of being ungated on Amazon. The addresses must also match those on your Amazon Seller account. You should always check your account for up-to-date contact information even before beginning the ungating application. It is these seemingly insignificant details that can bog down the process, and the service agents may not even point out what is missing or not correct. As we previously explained, the entire process of ungating is a little mysterious. If you frequent Amazon seller discussion boards or social media groups, you’ll notice that ungating and how to best manage this procedure are regularly addressed. Applicants try to forecast what service agents could be looking for in an application as a consequence of these ads. In certain circumstances, the service agent does not specify why the seller was not ungated; rejected applicants do not always receive an explanation. Experts appear to have come to the conclusion that some Amazon agents are more difficult to decode when it comes to the ungating procedure than others. Before Amazon opens your account, you must be able to sell in these prohibited categories. To do so, you’ll need to establish a solid reputation and a good track record with clients. Your overall goal should be as follows: The Order Defect Rate (ODR) is less than 1%. The number of orders with a problem is referred to as the negative feedback rate. Maintaining good metrics can aid your ungating process while also keeping your store lucrative and healthy. For some gated categories, specific measurements are necessary. To submit an ungating application, you must submit an ASIN. Authorization is required for all types of categories, including subcategories and brands. To get approval in the category, you need to receive approval for the product. The best companies to choose are the ones with a good reputation. Imagine, for example, that you want to get unrestricted from the Topical Treatments subcategory. If possible, you should apply Lancome products rather than private label products, for example. Even if you decide not to sell that particular brand, the brand name will still play an important role in ungating. If you want to be on Amazon’s good side, take the time to convert the EAN, ISBN, and/or UPC numbers on your invoices to ASINs. Cross-referencing gated items, brands, and categories has never been easier. You can use this UPC to ASIN converter to convert huge lists in addition to this handy EAN to ASIN converter. If you have an Amazon bookshop, you may utilise this bulk ISBN to ASIN conversion tool. In no way should the final invoice be changed or doctored. The application will be automatically rejected as a result of this. Instead, attach a separate document with the ASIN numbers and keep the EAN/UPC numbers on the invoice. You can apply to have your GTIN exempted in this case. Amazon does however have a list of brands that require GTINs – if your product lacks a GTIN from one of these brands, you are automatically disqualified from applying for ungating. During regular business hours, if you want to speed up the application process, you can submit your application. It’s possible to get a response from a service agent on the same business day, if you’re lucky. Don’t put off getting additional documentation when the agent asks for it! Your application may be inadvertently pushed back if you do so, as the agent deals with more applications flooding in. There is no way around this unless the application is fairly fast. You can always hire an un-gating service if you don’t want to go through the hassle of un-gating yourself. If you’d like to expand into other categories or subcategories, these companies can handle all the logistics for you and – in some cases – even advise you on how to develop a superior “ungating strategy.” These services are, of course, chargeable. Those who use them report that they can be quite pricey. It is certainly valid to justify such an expense if, in the long run, you are ungated in a lucrative category. There are a number of things you can do to ungate your Amazon account, including: 10 Tips To Help You Get Ungated On Amazon
1. Indicate your supplier’s or sales representative’s contact information
2. Send a finalized invoice
3. Invoices should not be edited
4. Pay attention to the address
5. Change your Amazon service agent
6. Measure performance well
Pre-Fulfillment Cancellation Rate is less than 5%. The amount of orders that have been cancelled before dispatch has been confirmed.
A LSR of less than 4% is considered low. Late Dispatch Rate is the percentage of orders dispatched after the intended shipping date.7. Choose recognizable brands
8. Convert product ID numbers to ASIN
9. During regular business hours in the US, submit the application
10. Take advantage of Amazon’s ungating service
When does Amazon ungate products?
This question does not have a simple answer: it depends.
Depending on the conditions, ungating on Amazon can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Some categories are easier to obtain approval for than others. Furthermore, if you’re a seasoned vendor with a good track record, it will expedite the approval procedure.
In categories with Automatic Approvals, approvals can be almost quick. As a result of your seller record and performance indicators, you were able to receive quick access to the seller portal.
When this happens, an email with the subject line “Congratulations” is normally sent out. According to your performance history, your application for selling [brand/category name] has been approved.
However, depending on the category and the amount of paperwork required, the approval procedure can take two to four weeks. If there is a big flood of applications, there may not be enough Amazon service agents to process all incoming applications, and you may have to wait much longer.
If your ungating application is not accepted, it will be refused. The majority of the time, service agents give a justification for their conduct. However, the application may be refused without explanation on occasion, and this is not always the case. It’s fairly uncommon for an agent to just tell you that the information is “private” and that you should reapply.
If your application is rejected, you have 14 days to appeal or submit whatever documentation they require.
