Understanding Amazon’s gated product categories
Editor’s Note: Originally published on Mar. 5, 2014, last updated on Sep. 5, 2022. For buyers, Amazon is a one-stop shop. For sellers, not so much. Thanks to a growing list of Amazon gated categories, it’s becoming harder for merchants to peddle their wares. As the winter sales season draws near, let’s talk about Amazon’s gated product categories and how sellers can lift their restrictions. Table of Contents People call Amazon the “everything store”. You can buy just about anything here, from medicine to groceries, and maybe someday even cars . But for sellers, it’s more of a “next-to-nothing store”. That’s because most items belong to Amazon’s ‘gated’ product categories, and these come with restrictions. So, sellers usually need Amazon’s permission to list something. Gating 101. Category vs. Brand It wasn’t always like this. To begin with, until 1997, Amazo...