Question: Getting ungated in a brand is a bit circular in that before Amazon approves your listing it requires paid invoice support for the application process (and, at times, product photos). However, we’d prefer not to pay for the invoice without first receiving listing approval in case we’re ‘flat out rejected’ and have to take delivery to our house for sale on EBAY/Walmart and/or suffer an instant restocking fee on ‘return’ to the supplier. Any best practices for these types of scenarios?
You do need a paid invoice showing at least 10 units purchased to get ungated in most brands.
To help mitigate your risks of being rejected by Amazon for Brand Ungating, you can do the following:
1. Buy only 10 items and/or buy a less expensive product in the same category/brand that you are trying to get ungated in and use that less expensive product invoice for ungating to lower your risk. For example: if you need to get ungated in Rubbermaid because you want to sell Rubbermaid Blenders at $100 each, you can buy 10 Rubbermaid containers for $1 each to get ungated in Rubbermaid. This way, you are only at risk of losing $10 instead of $1,000 if you don't get ungated.
2. Make sure you have fully vetted the supplier and you are confident that they are legit. Thus, if the supplier is legit and authorized, their invoice will work for ungating.
3. Ask your supplier if they've ever gotten people ungated on Amazon in the past. You can also ask if they will hold the product while you get ungated and if they will give you a refund/store credit if you can't get ungated.