What Happened to Selling Apple Products on Amazon?
Many people turn to Amazon to purchase products because of so many reasons. The fast and free shipping, the cheaper price, and numerous products on there. Amazon is the largest online marketplace in the world, and as a marketplace, it offers options for people who would like to sell on its platforms.
On the other hand, Apple is a brand that focuses on making tech products and gadgets. Known widely for their iPhones and MacBooks, this company also produces other tech products. You can only get Apple products from approved retail shops. So what could be the connection between Apple and Amazon?
The answer is retailers.
In the past, Apple did not recognize Amazon as an official retailer. However, this does not mean people were not looking for Apple products on Amazon. It is, after all, the largest online marketplace, so there were always people searching for apple products on this platform.
These gave a few retailers some ideas. They studied the Amazon guide for retailers and discovered they could sell refurbished Apple products on Amazon.
So the booming market started. People started selling Apple products on Amazon. Thus, if you had asked us a few years ago if you could sell Apple products on Amazon, the answer would have been an unequivocal yes. However, the answer is not so straightforward anymore.
What changed, and is there any way you can still sell Apple merchandise on Amazon?
Keep reading to find out.
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The Guillotine Fell
This is an apt description of what happened to retailers carrying Apple products. In November 2018, the retailers carrying Apple products on Amazon received an email. We can’t include the email in this article, but the gist was that Apple and Amazon got into some sort of agreement.
In this agreement, it was decided that only a select few resellers would be authorized to sell Apple products on Amazon. This agreement also included the new releases the brand might be making. While this was an attempt by Amazon to enhance customer experience, it spelled doom for many people who were making a living from selling Apple products as Amazon advised them to sell or place removal orders for the Apple products still in their Catalog.
The news shocked a lot of these retailers/third-party sellers who had gotten used to being the only source of Apple products on Amazon. This shock could be seen in the number of frantic threads generated by these retailers on the Amazon platform. In the end, they had to surrender to their fate. They had less than two months to clear out their products and find ways to navigate the system if they wanted to continue selling on Amazon.
Why Make Such A Decision
Most people wonder why the two brands would come to this agreement and throw the many small business owners under the bus. The answer is that they were doing what they felt was best for both brands.
Apple didn’t sell products directly on Amazon, but they did sell through other retailers like Best Buy, Target, and Walmart. They also made sales from their retail website. Up until the agreement, the only way Amazon could sell Apple products was through third-party retailers.
This agreement allowed Apple to sell its products on amazon but on the terms that were best for them. They had control of the pricing and the products that could be on Amazon.
But if there were retailers on Amazon already selling Apple products, what would Amazon gain by striking an agreement with Apple and losing all these investors. The answer is simple. Amazon would rather work with brands directly.
When people search for products on Amazon, they usually include the brand name, so Amazon is always looking to get access to these big brands and their products. They might use third-party retailers for a while but always prefer working directly with the brands.
The agreement with Apple means that Amazon can say they have products in their store that are certified by Apple. This agreement also makes them privy to some business information from Apple.
And since Apple and Amazon are competitors of some sort, this information is very useful.
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What Did The Agreement Mean For Apple Product Retailers On Amazon?
Simply put, the agreement states that you can not sell Apple products as a retailer unless Apple approves you as one of their retailers.
If you remember, we said that the people affected were mostly retailers.
These retailers made their profit from arbitrage. They look for Apple products that they can buy at a low cost. Then they sell these products at a higher price on Amazon.
The implication is that in most cases, these people are selling refurbished products. They get Apple products that have gone through some use at a lower price and then sell them on Amazon. This isn’t a big deal as the people who are buying these products already know they are getting refurbished products.
However, retail arbitrage on Amazon cannot prevent the sale of fake products, and in the case of Apple, this is a problem. They are a huge brand, so retailers could be selling knock-offs without realizing it. In fact, in 2016, more than 90% of Apple products, especially accessories, sold on Amazon were knock-offs of some kind.
To prevent issues like this, Apple decided to stop the flow of their products into Amazon through these unapproved retailers. That is why they went into this agreement with Apple. The agreement, however, means that retailers must stop selling Apple products or rethink their strategy.
Or do they have to stop selling? Read more to find out the answer to your question “Can I Sell Apple Products On Amazon?“
