Never sell these products on Amazon (avoid the risks!)
In our last blog post, we discussed how to find the right products to sell on Amazon and guided you through the first steps. In this one, we will cover the list of products you should avoid selling. Knowing what to cross off the list, you can scout for the perfect product more effectively and mitigate unnecessary risks.
Eight types of products that you should not sell on Amazon—unless you have considered the risks thoroughly
1. Amazon restricted and FBA prohibited products
It is never a good idea to start off your Amazon journey by violating the rules. There may be times that you can’t find a specific kind of product available on Amazon and think that you can be the first to launch it and capture the market instantly. You might want to hold your thoughts and make sure the products are not included in these lists first.
Amazon provides clear and detailed information about products that are not allowed to be sold in each category. The main reason would be that they are illegal or unsafe to use, which can affect customers’ trust. If you are unsure whether the product you plan to sell follow Amazon’s policies or not, you should consider reviewing the Amazon Restricted Products before publishing on Amazon.
Amazon FBA prohibited products
The items on this list are allowed on Amazon; however, they are prohibited in Amazon’s warehouses. Examples are substances regulated by the Narcotics Act and hazardous materials. There are also additional conditions that the products have to follow to be able to use FBA services. The reason is to avoid unnecessary problems and improve Amazon’s warehouse efficiency.
2. Trademarked products and counterfeits
Never forget to make sure the goods you intend to import into the US are not protected by trademarks. Even if something can be purchased legally in China, once it enters the United States, it has the possibility of violating trademarks. It is always better to avoid that risk unless you want to deal with US customs.
Another point is to refrain from selling pirated goods. Amazon has the right to immediately destroy any products that have been unlawfully copied, reproduced, or manufactured. Not only that, any inventory that has been found to be counterfeit has the right to have removal requests rejected by Amazon. Not only could you lose potential customers, but also all of your products.
3. Cosmetic and ingestible items
Because they deal with the human body, creams, ointments, and supplements are products that are strictly regulated by various governmental organizations. Although these products must abide by strict laws and regulations, unexpected accidents can still occur and cause harmful effects on the users. You would never want to put yourself in danger of facing a lawsuit if that happened, especially for the products that you didn’t manufacture yourself.
4. Over-saturated products
You probably don’t want to go into a market that has higher supplies than demands. When conducting product research, if you notice that many sellers already have hundreds or thousands of product reviews, it will be extremely difficult to succeed in that market. Your Amazon selling journey will not be smooth with that many competitors.
A good example is phone accessories. There are simply too many listings on Amazon with a large amount of variations. It is almost impossible to stand out in that market unless you have a really unique product or the lowest price to offer.
Furthermore, Amazon advertising costs are much higher in markets with a high concentration of established and successful sellers than in less competitive markets. Driving customers to your Amazon store with sponsored products in an unsaturated market can save you a lot of money compared to investing in saturated product ads.
5. Fads and seasonal products
Even though these products have high demands, the hype never last that long. Fads are not the same as trends; they come and go faster, which creates opportunities for the fastest sellers who catch them. When investing in fad items, there is a high chance that the demand dies before you manage to sell out your whole inventory.
Seasonal products are a little better since they come back every year. However, you have to carefully consider if it is worth spending time and effort stocking products that will only sell for two or three months per year. Especially if you just started your Amazon selling journey, cash flow and consistency are better for you to build your business foundations. You can always come back to these items later for extra money if you are really interested.
6. Fragile items
You probably know why. There is a high risk of the items being broken before reaching the customers’ hands, which will affect your product reviews. The longer the transportation process, the higher the risk, especially for items imported from another country.
Although it can be pricey, you could take extra precautions by investing more in better packaging for your product. Another option is to rely on the logistics professionals such as myFBAprep to handle your delivery. Since your margins are likely to be thin, to begin with, it is safer to stay away from these types of products to avoid spending extra on broken units.
7. Wearable products with many sizes or colors
Have you ever ordered clothes online and they didn’t fit? You will, of course, want to return it, and that is what you have to face as a clothes seller. There are also people who select the wrong size or color, which leads to many return orders and customer service troubles.
Additionally, paying for multiple samples and ensuring that each variation is of acceptable quality are costs associated with manufacturing products with multiple variations. Therefore, it is better to avoid this product category to save time and effort.
8. Cheap products
How cheap? We are talking about items with a price lower than $10. In general, Amazon FBA is not recommended for products with that low a price because it is challenging to make a profit. After deducting all of the FBA fees (storage fee, fulfillment fee, and commission), there is almost nothing left.
You will also run the risk of having add-on only products. Low-cost “add-on” items are available only as part of larger orders of $25 or more, which you won’t be selling much of.
Conclusion
It’s not easy to start selling on Amazon. Nevertheless, a lot of people continue to do it and achieve incredible success, particularly with Amazon FBA. One thing you should remember is that your product is the key to your success on Amazon.
Understanding what not to sell can help you protect your private label brand and make money over the long term. It is crucial to conduct data-driven product research to improve your product decisions by learning more about a product’s sales potential.
The best and easiest method for finding your winning products is to use Revam’s specialized product finding tool. Our platform can assist you in mitigating the risk of violating Amazon’s rules by providing only customer-verified products. You can start sourcing and deciding with ease right away.
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