Taking a decision to start selling goods on Amazon will require you to go through a few testing stages to let the marketplace ensure your merchandise is real and legal and your activities would cause no frauds. This might take some time due to the thorough Amazon’s consideration of your request before its approval.
Product Validity Error
The most common barrier is getting reduced from the obligation to assign unique trade numbers to the inventory (Global Trade Item Numbers). The most common GTINs are EAN, UPC and ISBN:
- European Article Number (EAN) is used for goods sold at Amazon marketplaces within Europe;
- Universal Product Code (UPC) is used to identify items within United States;
- International Standard Book Number (ISBN) identifies books and book-like inventory sold internationally.
If your inventory can be identified by any of these codes, there’s no need to ask for GTIN exemption. In other case, adding items to Amazon without specifying their identification numbers, you will get the following warning message: “The validity of the Product ID is checked against the GS1 GEPIR and ISBN.org databases. If your Product ID is not registered with GS1 then the linked ASIN will be suppressed and it may result in removal of your product creation privileges.”
In addition, you can let Amazon assign your inventory its own identification numbers, that are called ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number). ASIN is given to a newly added item automatically and is used to identify goods within its marketplaces. Enrolling in Fulfilment by Amazon program (FBA), you can store your goods in special fulfillment centers, and have your products picked, packed and shipped by Amazon. In this case during the shipping your items will be assigned unique identifiers either.
Fortunately, Amazon allows to get GTIN exemptions for some types of goods, that are non-branded, virtual, handmade, jewelry, parts of machinery etc. If your merchandize belongs to this list, you can request for GTIN exemption. This procedure is free and takes not so much time.
Sending GTIN Request
The GTIN request approvement signifies the permit to sell items without the unique identifiers. In case your goods are not manufactured by your company, before sending the request you have to supply Amazon with a support letter from your manufacturer containing your name, contact information and the manufacturer’s confirmation of not providing GTIN numbers for the inventory you plan to sell on Amazon. Besides, you have to let Amazon see your inventory. For example, you can provide links to your website with the goods images etc.
Since eMagicOne designs software products, the company sent a GTIN exemption letter. You can find it below and use as an example:
The request was approved in just a few days indicating on the clearity and reliability of eMagicOne’s activities. Here is what Amazon replied to our GTIN exemption letter:
“Amazon
Dec 06, 2017 03:22 AM
Greetings from Amazon Seller Support,
Thank you for your patience while we worked on this issue.
Your request for a GTIN exemption for the below mentioned Brand/Category has been approved.
Brand: eMagicOne
Category: Software
Please wait for 24 hours before you start listing your products.
While listing your products, please ensure that you specify the same Brand : “eMagicOne” for which the GTIN exemption has been approved.
This exemption is valid until 7th March, 2018.
If you do not complete listing your products, before this time frame, the exemption will expire and you will need to re-apply. The expiration of exemptions will not affect your existing listings. You will not be able to create new listings post expiration and you can always contact us again to extend the exemptions for the account.”
The approvement means that eMagicOne’s products are not required to wear the GTIN and are considered as verified and secure.
Brand Registry Program
Another way to reach the opportunity of listing your merchandise on Amazon without a unique identifier is to enroll in Brand Registry Program. This is possible, providing that your trademark is registered making your trade name eligible. A successful enrollment has also another serious advantage, which is ensuring high-level security to your Amazon trademarks and ability to regularly check it.
This month eMagicOne has been successfully enrolled in the Brand Registry Program and started putting the product listings into the store. On the screenshots below you can see that Product ID field left blank stops blinking after specifying trade name registered on Amazon.
Before (the indicated trade name is not registered)
After (the specified trade name is registered on Amazon)
As the result, your customers will have access to your product at Amazon – Store Manager for Magento on Amazon.
Have Magento, PrestaShop, WooCommerce, VirtueMart online store and you need assistance with product submission to Amazon? Drop us a line and our success managers will do their best to assist you with the submission.