Gated Categories and the Ungating Process

Not everything on Amazon can be sold by everyone. Some products need Amazon's approval first. This lesson explains what gets restricted, how to tell before you buy, and what an application involves.

Three levels of restriction

Gating is not one thing. It applies at three different levels, and you can be blocked at any of them:

• A whole category. Categories such as grocery, beauty, health and personal care, jewellery and watches are commonly restricted.
• A subcategory. The parent category is open to you, but part of it is not.
• A brand. The most common case in arbitrage, and the one that catches people out. The category is open, the product is ordinary, and the brand simply does not allow new sellers.

Restrictions are also personal. A product one seller can list freely may be closed to another, because approval depends on your account and your history.

Check before you buy, not after

This is the practical rule of the whole lesson. A restricted product you have already paid for is money sitting in a box you cannot sell from.

Two places tell you:

• The Amazon Seller app. Scan the barcode. A restricted item shows a Requires approval label instead of an eligibility tick. This is the check to run in a shop, before the item reaches the till.
• Seller Central. When you add a product, a restricted one shows an Apply to sell button where the listing option would be.

Always press the button

It costs nothing to apply and it is worth doing even when you expect to be refused, for two reasons.

First, some approvals are automatic. You press Apply to sell, Amazon checks your account, and access is granted immediately with no documents at all. The stronger your selling history, the more often this happens. Sellers routinely assume they are gated from something they would have been let into instantly.

Second, even when it is not automatic, the application shows you exactly what Amazon wants for that product. That tells you whether the barrier is one you could clear with a different supplier, or one you should walk away from.

What Amazon usually asks for

When documents are required, the request is normally an invoice, and the requirements are specific:

• An invoice from a wholesaler, distributor or the manufacturer, not a receipt.
• Issued within a recent window, commonly the last 90 days.
• Showing a meaningful quantity. Amazon has often asked for at least 10 units of the product.
• Carrying the supplier's full contact details, and your business name and address matching what is on your seller account exactly.

Sometimes a letter of authorisation from the brand is asked for instead, or as well.

Why a retail receipt will not work

This is the single most important point in the lesson, and it is the reason gating shapes arbitrage so much. A till receipt or an online order confirmation from a retailer will not get you approved. Amazon is asking you to demonstrate a supply relationship, and buying at retail does not create one.

Which means: gated products are usually not accessible through arbitrage at all. They open up when you move into wholesale, where you buy from a distributor who issues proper invoices. That is one of the real reasons sellers make that move, and it is covered in the Wholesale module.

Ungating services

Services exist that offer to get you approved for a fee. The position taken in this course is to avoid them, and the reason is sound: some of them work by supplying invoices that are not genuine. Submitting a fabricated invoice to Amazon puts your entire account at risk, and a suspended account costs far more than access to one brand is worth.

If you use such a service at all, know exactly where the paperwork comes from.

Finding the current list

Amazon publishes the categories requiring approval and their requirements in Seller Central Help. Search for the category name plus approval, or look up "categories requiring approval" with your marketplace. The list changes, so check it rather than relying on a list from a video or a forum post.

What to do next

Before your next sourcing session, install the Amazon Seller app and get into the habit of scanning first. Then pick two or three brands you keep meeting and press Apply to sell on each, just to see which ones open automatically. That takes a few minutes and often widens what you can buy immediately.

• UK Categories
• US Categories