Yesterday, I got ungated for the two categories I needed on Amazon! As some of you know I am working towards making a living from my computer so that my girlfriend and I can travel for the next few years. This is why the fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) business makes so much sense for us. The other reason is that we are manufacturing our own health and beauty product and plan on using Amazon for a big part of our sales and warehousing. (We will soon be unveiling the product and website to the world on Steemit!)
For the last few weeks, I have been obsessively watching youtube videos and and searching through websites and facebook groups to learn everything I can about making a business out of selling on Amazon and using the FBA service that they provide. The bulk of my research recently has been devoted to getting ungated and sourcing product. It has been time consuming but worth the effort as I have already seen increasing profits. There are tons of useful youtube videos to see how others are making FBA work for them. Here is one from Michael Pierce's youtube channel you might find helpful to get started:
Getting Ungated
Not all categories are gated on Amazon. You can sell many categories like cellphones and accessories and consumer electronics without having to apply. However for some categories (including the ones I need for my business) you have to submit an application to sell. The big 3 categories that are most often written about are Health, Beauty, and Grocery.
I am glad that I was able to get ungated in the categories that I wanted, but to be honest, from all of the information I have seen recently, I am still not sure how much of it was luck. I have read so many stories of people getting denied 20 and 30 times, even when supposedly submitting very similar applications to mine. This was only my second attempt, but there was a lot of researching between the first and second attempt.
My focus was on the people that had been successful and shared their knowledge in facebook groups or their own websites. I particularly appreciated the "Amazon Ungating Community" facebook group and the "FBA Master" website/ facebook group. I basically followed the best sounding advice from those two sources and added my own diligence.
Q: Why am I selling on Amazon? A: Sales - Over 100 million monthly visitors
After reading articles from Bloomberg and ZeroHedge (among others) in the last few years about Amazon's financial success, I started to consider the opportunity to invest in one way or another. Having already used Amazon to buy almost anything my heart desired and even sell a few text books in college, I was already familiar with buying and selling on the platform. Not until recently though, did I finally take the step of buying products just to turn around and sell them on Amazon.
from ZeroHedge July 2016
For me, this is just the first step. The next step is selling my own private labeled product on Amazon. I have seen many youtube videos and articles about private label selling on Amazon, but I am doing it a bit different. The common approach is to use sites like Alibaba to source unbranded products from China and then add value with your own branding. My main supplier is actually in the U.S and I will be setting up my own manufacturing facility eventually, but more about that in my next article.
If you've been following along on my articles you know I have been increasingly using Bitcoin in my business as I continue my crypto trading strategies. In my last article, I outlined a way that Steemit users can cash out with great profits using Bitcoin/Purse.io for buying and selling on Amazon
What is Needed to get Ungated
When applying to get ungated on Amazon there are varying levels of requirements for getting approved to sell in the various categories. Some categories require you to submit documents that can include: 1 to 3 invoices, tax documents, and business licenses. It's pretty simple really, just read the information in the application and give them what they want.
On the "Amazon Ungating Community" facebook group, I noticed several posts about successful ungating by using an invoice from PriceMasters.com I ended up using a different wholesale website, but it was also one that required applying for an account and getting accepted so that I could log in for wholesale pricing.
There is a lot of conflicting information out there about what is required for the invoice that you submit to Amazon, but the only thing Amazon asks for is the distributors name, address, and phone number or email on an invoice that is dated within the last 3 months. but apparently they are looking at a few particular things when reviewing the invoice:
A quantity not for personal use - I have read that you need quantities of 10 to 30 per ASIN depending on the source. I used a quantity of 30 just to be safe.
Products that have corresponding ASIN numbers and already selling on Amazon in that category For me it was also important to find products that I could actually sell for a profit and that had a good Best Sellers Rank. I spent a lot of time looking at different manufacturers and wholesalers. Personally, I care about quality products that I can verify the quality myself. It took some time, but I finally found some products that I love from a great wholesaler.
How I got Ungated for the "Health and Personal Care" and "Beauty" Categories on Amazon
Taking the advice of a particularly helpful member of the "Amazon Ungating Community" facebook group, I edited my invoice image file with an editor. I highlighted the wholesaler company information and my business information and the products and quantity. Then, blacked out the prices and the other products I bought. Lastly I added a red text that included the ASIN and UPC number for the product I wanted to sell in the category I was applying for.
I used the same invoice to get ungated for both categories which had a quantity of 30 of a Health and Personal Care product and 30 of a Beauty product. I also used my sales tax permit. Both applications were accepted with 2 hours.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1Hy2xE0pa42r_owgeXDGww
http://www.fbamaster.com/ungate-health-beauty-grocery/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/271450/monthly-unique-visitors-to-us-retail-websites/