How To Get Approval For Selling Beauty Products On Amazon

In this article, we will discuss how to get approval for selling beauty products on Amazon and a few must-follow steps to guarantee consistency and long-term success. This can be a very lucrative business when done correctly.

Did you know? According to eMarketer, Cosmetics (a sub-category under Amazon’s Beauty and Personal Care category) was the third fastest-growing category on Amazon after food/beverage, and apparel/accessories in 2018.

The Cosmetics sub-category, which was once very limited in online retailing, has shown massive growth in gaining traction and has received an increase in demand in a short period of time.

This is mostly due to the recent growth of social media marketing, website, blog personalization, and e-commerce platforms.

What Products Are Classified As Beauty Products On Amazon?

Amazon has separated beauty products into the following subcategories:

• Skin Care
• Cosmetics
• Makeup
• Hair Care
• Oral Care
• Fragrance
• Tools & Brushes
• Men’s Grooming
• Luxury Beauty
• Salon & Spa
• Professional Skin Care

These particular sub-categories really help both the buyers and sellers in being specific about what they are buying or selling and make the searching process a lot easier for the sellers.

Why Sell Beauty Products on Amazon?

As we mentioned earlier in the article, beauty products, specifically cosmetics, have shown a massive rise in popularity over the last few overs, it is no secret that the scope of Beauty Products on Amazon would only increase from now on.

With that being said, it is not that easy to get into selling Beauty Products on Amazon since, generally, more than 90% of cosmetics sold are branded. The reason is, cosmetics are something that involves chemicals and other laboratory substances.

Research Is Key

This requires years of research and development. Companies with a lot of capital can afford this, and hence they spend a lot of money on marketing these products.

Promote Well, Sell Well

Products that are promoted well always sell well. People overall will purchase tried and tested beauty care products that these big brands sell. No one would like to risk their skin with some obscure brands.

But if you have a private label, you are likely to sell beauty products well and earn a lot of money from them.

Additionally, since it is your private label, you need to ensure you sell well to earn well. In conclusion, it can be assumed that one is more likely to sell well if you have a private label and have experience with selling beauty products in the past.

However, if you want to do retail arbitrage, considering the cost and other expenses involved with Amazon, you will be left with very litter margins to even consider it as a business.

If you want to check out more ways to make money on Amazon effectively, check out this article from us.

Requirements For Selling Beauty Products on Amazon

Let’s get one thing straight right away! Amazon is really strict when it comes to its requirements and restrictions for selling beauty products.

Here are the requirements that you must fulfill in order to sell the cosmetic products on Amazon:

1. You must ensure that the cosmetic products must be sealed in the original manufacturer’s packaging.
2. Make sure the products are new and unused.
3. Cosmetic products must clearly display identifying codes on the packaging by the manufacturer or distributor, i.e., matrix codes, lot numbers, and serial numbers.

Labeled Information Needed On The Products:

Cosmetics labels and detail pages should be labeled in English with the below-mentioned data:

• The Name Of The Product
• The Purpose Of The product
• The Amount Of Content Of The Cosmetic, In Terms Of Weight, Measure, Count, Or A Combination
• The Ingredient List
• The Name and Address Of The Manufacturer, Packer, Or Distributor
• Any Necessary Label Warnings
• Cosmetic Labels and Detail Pages Must Not State That The Products Cure, Mitigate, Treat, Or Prevent A Disease In Humans Unless The FDA Approves That Statement.
• Must Not State That The Cosmetics Are “FDA Approved” If They Are Not FDA Approved Or Use The FDA Logo

Prohibited Cosmetic Products on Amazon:

There are some cosmetic products that Amazon specifically prohibits such as, Corrective and cosmetic contact lenses, Latisse, Obagi Nu-Derm Sunfader, Obagi Nu-Derm Clear, Obagi Nu-Derm Blender, Obagi Nu-Derm, and more.

How To Get Approval For Selling Beauty Products On Amazon?

Criteria for Selling Beauty Products:

Before you apply to get approval to sell in the Beauty products category, Amazon will need to see that you meet the following criteria:

• Pro-Merchant Status: This one’s as simple as paying $39/month for your seller account so you can be listed as a Pro Merchant.
• Your Order Defect Rate must be below 1% otherwise, you won’t be able to put your application in.
• If your Pre-Fulfillment Cancel Rate scores less than 2.5%, you are good to go.
• Your Order’s Late Shipment Rate must not be higher than 4%

Best Tips To Get Approved:

Now that we have discussed the criteria required to enter the program let us get into some tips and general steps to help you get approval.

• After meeting the criteria, you must show Amazon that you are a legit business that can assist itself, and one of the best ways of doing that is to provide invoices, and as proof, you need three commercial invoices. When you’re gathering your invoices, make sure you check off every item here: If you sell sellable quantities, each category must have a sellable amount of more than 10.
• You can try category ungating approval as a brand new seller on Amazon, but you are bound to be approved on the off chance that you have experience selling on Amazon. If you are a new seller applying for approval in a gated category, Amazon will expect you to have an established free eCommerce site that they can audit as part of their approval decision. So if you are new to selling on Amazon, it is best to start selling items in ungated classes to develop your validity and history.
• Always source products in the US for use in your category ungating application. Amazon barely accepts statements from international manufacturers as part of their category ungating application. To avoid any further issues, it is best to always source products from within the United States.
• Use branded products already available for sale on Amazon when applying for category or subcategory approval. Once you successfully ungate, then you can sell your own products, but the application process will be much more flawless and less tricky if you sell products that are already being sold on Amazon.
• Make sure your invoices are dated within the recent 90 days—the later the invoice date, the better.
• After submitting your category ungating application, you should include a copy of the actual invoice that came with your order. Write the ASIN next to each item you are submitting as part of your application. Do not submit digital copies of invoices that are emailed to you after you place your order. Be sure you are giving a “commercial invoice” because you need to provide a legit invoice. Your company’s relevant data (name, address, phone number, website) listed on the invoice should be complete.
• And make sure, it is identical to what is listed in your Amazon Seller Central account. If there are any mistakes or differences between the two, you may get issues with your application.