Learn How To Get Approved to Sell Beauty Products on Amazon
Amazon is arguably the largest online retailer. Given the high traffic the site tends to attract, there isn’t a marketplace you would want to set up shop.
Selling your beauty products on Amazon can significantly increase your volume of sales, translating into more revenue. Selling on Amazon involves a process that begins by applying to join their sellers’ team. After joining their Seller Central portal, you then apply to sell certain products under categories. You will only start selling after approval. Amazon beauty products are considered gated. This means you can only sell them if you prove to have met set guidelines and rules.
Selling on Amazon is highly lucrative, and given how diverse and in-demand beauty products are, you can only grow your business exponentially.
Let’s learn how to get approved to sell beauty products on Amazon.
What Products Are Classified as Beauty Products on Amazon?
Different products on Amazon are listed in categories for easy cataloging. Hence, beauty products consist of various subcategories listed below;
- Skin Care
- Tools & Brushes
- Hair Care
- Professional Skin Care
- Facial makeup
- Oral Care
- Cosmetics
- Luxury Beauty
- Salon & Spa
- Fragrance
You can only become eligible to enlist under the beauty category if your products fall under the above subcategories.
Is Selling Beauty Products on Amazon Profitable?
The cosmetics and beauty products category is popular on Amazon and attracts considerable traffic. This presents a lucrative opportunity for entrepreneurs on Amazon to attract thousands of customers to their shops daily. You can easily grow your business from small inventory requirements to bulk stocking. Amazon has powerful tools and resources that can help you grow and scale your business.
Why Selling Beauty Products Needs Approval on Amazon?
All sellers wanting to sell beauty products on Amazon are required to seek approval first. Since cosmetics come in contact with the skin, you will expect strict scrutiny of the products sold on Amazon. Sellers need to ensure that the commodities on sale uphold quality and safety standards.
Requirements for Selling Beauty Products on Amazon
Here are Amazon’s provisions for qualification to sell your beauty products on the site.
Packaging Requirements
- Goods should remain sealed in their original manufacturer’s packaging.
- The merchandise must be new and unused.
- The packaging should prominently display identifying codes, such as serial numbers, lot numbers, or matrix codes.
Labeling and Product Detail Page Requirements
- Must be labeled in English
- The following information must be visible: name of the item, what it is used for, amount of ingredients present, a list of ingredients, name of manufacturer or distributor and address, and any additional warning labels.
Detail page labels MUST NOT:
- Report that the product treats, cures prevents or heals conditions unless it is approved by FDA for such claims.
- Declare that products are FDA-approved if they are not.
- Use the FDA logo in their listing if they are not FDA-approved.
- Indicate that the product is not for resale or a tester. Amazon may not allow such items to be listed.
Product and Ingredient Requirements
- The product must not be listed as an FDA safety alert or be recalled.
- Must not contain banned substances.
- They should not need a doctor’s prescription or supervision to be used.
- The ingredients should not be among substances listed in Schedules I, II, III, IV, or V of the USA Controlled Substances Act, or part of a chemical or its derivative listed in DEA’s List I.
- Should not have plastic microbeads in them.
- Antiperspirants, hairspray, and deodorants sold in California and New York must not contain toxic air contaminants
- They must be risk-free. They must not be considered to have a disproportionate risk of harm or illness. The following are examples of such compounds:
- 1. Compounds with methylene glycol. When heated, methylene glycol releases formaldehyde into the atmosphere.
- 2. Eyelashes or brow dyes that are tough to get rid of.
- 3. Eye make-up with kohl, kajal, al-kahal, or surma.
- 4. Skin creams with mercury.
- 5. Henna decorating products.
Beauty products must adhere to all of Amazon’s policies and guidelines, such as:
- It is prohibited to sell cosmetics whose ingredients are derived from sharks, whales, dolphins, or porpoises.
- It is prohibited to sell products containing more than 12% hydrogen peroxide.
- Cosmetics with acetone such as fingernail polish remover cannot be sold in quantities higher than 16oz.
- The sale of InStyler rotating irons is prohibited.
- Cosmetics under Claire’s brand are forbidden.
How To Get Approval for Selling Beauty Products on Amazon
Below is a step-by-step process on how you can submit your request for approval to sell beauty products on Amazon.
- Log in to your Amazon Seller Central account.
- Select Inventory from the menu.
- Choose Add a Product from the resultant window.
- Locate the item you want to sell.
- If it comes back under a restricted category, as you would expect with beauty products, click on Listing Limitations Apply.
- Select Request Approval.
You can submit various products by sending mass SKUs or selecting a product individually. Regardless, the process is pretty much standard. You can only get that approval if you supplied the necessary documentation required by Amazon.
Here are some documents required:
- Good Manufacturing Practices certificate (GMP).
- An invoice from a producer or supplier which is at most 180 days old.
- Certificate of Analysis (COA).
These are some of the evidence forms that Amazon may request to help process your application for approval to sell beauty products on Amazon. There might be more or less acceptable documents based on particular products. Sometimes, the applications get denied without explanation. You can resubmit after revision or try sending it to a different agent. This time, ensure you send during the United States working hours and be available to answer or provide more information or documentation whenever required.
Tips For Finding Profitable Beauty Products to Sell On Amazon
Finding merchandise to sell on Amazon is not at all difficult. You can even get favorable pricing given the volume of sellers on the platform. The secret is in trading on items that easily convert. You have to look out for products that sell fast to improve your Inventory Performance Index – An Amazon metric that measures the performance of your inventory based on your sales. Here’s what to consider while choosing stock for your shop:
Demand For the Product
It would be counterproductive stocking goods that are slow-moving. It is important that you only go for products in demand. Consider the following ways of looking out for that popular product on Amazon with customers.
- Look at the product’s number of reviews in the customer review section of the product. Increased reviews may mean that the product is popular and hence, highly in demand.
- Secondly, check the prices of similar products listed for different sellers. Usually, if the product is in demand, sellers are likely to quote higher prices and would be popular with many sellers. On the other hand, if a few sellers have listed the product, and the prices quoted for it are considerably low, then all indicators are that its demand is pretty low.
- Use Amazon’s search function to evaluate a product’s popularity. The more the product is sought after the higher the demand it commands.
- Staying in the know by observing trends, especially in beauty blogs, magazines, YouTube, and social media is a good way of knowing which product is likely to do well in the marketplace. Staying on top of trending topics in the beauty and cosmetics industry will come in handy when choosing what product to sell on Amazon.
- Use amazon data analysis tools such as the Best Seller Rank (BSR). The BSR can be used as an indicator of product demand. You can find this functionality in the product description. Scroll through to find the Best Sellers Rank section. A lower number indicates high demand.
Do Your Research
This involves doing your due diligence on the respective products that you intend to list. For instance, you have to go through the ingredients to establish their safety, and if those users are allowed on Amazon. Amazon banned products made from compounds obtained from marine life. This makes it necessary to read through every detail about the beauty product you want to list on Amazon. Furthermore, doing your research beyond the customer reviews of the product online helps you to know important customer demographics, which will help you to choose a product that addresses customer needs. Knowing how an item is used better equips you to sell it. Furthermore, it helps you to address customer concerns in a more knowledgeable way, which is necessary for building credibility with your customers. This boosts customer return rates.
To successfully maneuver the marketplace, you need to have studied your competition. You should know how they package, price, and offer after-sales service to give yourself an edge. Also, studying your competition is somewhat beneficial as it helps you to know what other sellers are stocking.
Pick The Right Category
Choosing your category is particularly important for two primary reasons. Firstly, some categories offer stiff competition. As a beginner, it wouldn’t suit you much. Secondly, it is not easy to get approved into certain categories. And if you do, some take time to process. Therefore, your choice of the product category is crucial. The Beauty products category is perfect because, unlike others like electronics and fashion, this offers less competition and fewer regulations. This means you don’t take long to have your merchandise approved for selling here.
Consider Your Target Audience
Who is your ideal customer? You should first answer this to inform your choice of products. What you settle for should speak to your audience and hence, help to drive impressions and sales. A wrong choice of product results in bad performance; thus, a lower IPI score. For example, if you chose to sell skincare products, then your audience is likely to be made up of women between the ages of 20 and 50. Here, you are looking to sell products that address acne, spotting, skin dryness, and aging solutions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I Need Insurance to Sell Cosmetics?
Whether you need insurance depends on the circumstances. You might not always need to have insurance to sell beauty products on Amazon. However, when dealing with such products, which people apply or wear, may result in complications such as an allergy reaction, and you need some form of protection.
For instance, say your customer gets rushed from wearing one of your cosmetics, insurance will come in handy here if you are held liable. You will have protected yourself financially when it comes to compensatory damages.
Differences to policies may change depending on whether the products are your own brand or whether they are from well-known established brands.Can I Sell Homemade Cosmetics on Amazon?
Yes, there’s no rule preventing you from selling homemade cosmetic items on Amazon. However, the products you intend to sell must meet some standard quality requirements. For instance, you need to prove that homemade cosmetic products meet safety standards.
Additionally, you have to obtain the necessary permits and licenses to produce your cosmetic products and make professional packaging for your cosmetics. Also, you must have approval from Amazon to set up a shop on the site with homemade cosmetic items.
Can I Sell Branded Beauty Products on Amazon?
Yes. The first step is to get permission from the brand owner to sell the brand items in question. Once that is done, you need to submit your application to Amazon for approval. Your chances of getting approved can be significantly enhanced if you had a professional seller account and if you supplied accurate information in your application form.
Final Thought when Learning How To Get Approval To Sell Beauty Products on Amazon
Setting up a shop on Amazon can be highly rewarding. Take away the competition and a few challenges, and you are assured of a huge global market and Amazon’s powerful tools to help you crack the market and rack up sales.
Beauty and cosmetics products are classified as gated. To sell these products, you need to apply for approval. Before then, you need to ensure your products are of amazon’s safety and quality standards. This guide called How To Get Approval To Sell Beauty Products on Amazon highlights these rules and guidelines in detail for your benefit.
