restricted products amazon fba

FBA Product Restrictions: How to Know If a Product is Restricted on Amazon

I consistently get asked questions about Amazon FBA restrictions. Many want to know how to tell if products are restricted to sell on Amazon.  I get asked these questions via email, and see the topic discussed in Facebook groups regularly as well.  There are even lists out there detailing Amazon restricted brands. I have nothing against these lists, but it’s virtually impossible to remember every brand or product that shows up on these lists.  As a result of that I have a process that is much simpler for identifying FBA product restrictions. I’ve outlined this process below.

Amazon FBA Restrictions: Just Ask Amazon

If I am in stores, then I will scan with the Amazon Seller App to determine if it is restricted.  If the product is restricted, the app is going to let me know.  See this image for an example:

Screenshot_2016-05-13-10-03-10

As you can see the app makes it very clear that this particular product has an Amazon FBA restriction and cannot be sold on Amazon by me.  If I’m in retail stores, that’s literally it.  If I think the product might be restricted, I scan with the Amazon seller app and let it tell me if I can sell it or not.  The app will also tell you what condition you can list the items in, which is helpful as there are some items where only the new condition is restricted.

If I am sourcing online or am evaluating an online / wholesale buy, then I will do a very similar process.  I will login to my Amazon seller account, hover over inventory at the top of the screen, and then click “add a product.”  Then I will enter the UPC of the product to determine if I am eligible to sell the product in new condition.  Here’s a screenshot of the screen that you will see once you have searched for your desired UPC:

Restricted product

As you can see the screen that appears clearly tells me that I am not currently eligible to sell this product in new condition.

That’s really it for how I determine if a product is restricted for me to sell or not.  I scan it with the Amazon seller app, or check within my Amazon seller account.

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Rather than use any list of restricted brands, I go direct to the source (Amazon) and see if they will allow me to sell the item in new condition or not. If Amazon ever publishes their own list of restricted brands, I would definitely reference that, but until that day comes I don’t plan on using any restricted brands lists.

The reason for this is that there will inevitably products that are restricted that do not show up on any restricted product list, and there will inevitably be products that are sellable that show up on a restricted product list.  Amazon’s info from the app and seller account will occasionally have inconsistencies regarding restrictions, but it’s the best info available at any given point in time.

My recommendation the next time you are looking to determine if you are eligible to sell a product on Amazon or not is to go straight to the source.

If you have any questions or comments, let me know below.

24 thoughts on “FBA Product Restrictions: How to Know If a Product is Restricted on Amazon”

    1. Hi James,

      Amazon will provide the address to ship your products to as you go through the FBA shipment creation process.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

  1. I am trying to sell a product the most of them said that this is restricted but i found one that allow me. I dont know if i can or not sell this product. how can i figure out it?

    1. Hi Johanna,

      Thanks for your comment. Can you provide any other information? I’m not sure I’m following 100%.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

  2. Hi Ryan,
    My specific item is not in Amazon’s catalog, so I would be creating my product listing. I believe the brand may have listing restrictions though. How do I find out for sure – do I have to list my product first and have it rejected? Can I find out before I list? As a new seller, are odds against me that I would be approved to sell the brand?
    Thanks,
    Corrina

  3. Hi! This a great post I ran into it after searching for something for something to help me. I just got ungated to sell hazmat and its really a pain in the butt. Has anyone found an easier way to do this?

  4. Do you know of an app that will allow me to scan barcode on products and check if I already have that product in my amazon store inventory ?

    1. Hi Alicia,

      I believe Scanpower’s scanning app will allow you to do that. There might be others as well too.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

  5. Dear Ryan, what can you tell me about restrictions on food products from Peru, which are ORGANIC, like for ex. quinoa grains (per pound or Kg) with a specific brand (unknown), chocolates, precooked quinoa, canned foods, etc

  6. you should confirm that the product is listed in the correct category though, i came across a product that was miscategorized so it wasn’t showing as restricted, but if it was posted in the correct category, it would have been restricted

    1. Hi Aaron,

      The UPC is the number that displays on the bar code of the product. So if you have the physical product you should be able to find it right by the bar code.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

  7. Pingback: 10 Tips for Sellers Just Getting Started Selling On Amazon - Online Selling Experiment

  8. Hashem Beitvashahi

    Hello, Is there any way other than the App to know what items are restricted. for example any website or any where in amazon.com?
    the reason i ask is because I list items from computer and it is faster to if the item is restricted or not via copy and pest. if there is any website exist please let me know.

    1. Hello Hashem,

      It is possible to see the restrictions directly from your Amazon account as shown above in this post.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

  9. Curious if inventory lab also shows us we are restricted when adding inventory to a shipment via IL directly?

    1. Hi Jana,

      It’s been awhile since I’ve tried to list a product that is restricted, but I’m almost positive it will give you an error message and not allow you to submit it.

      Best Regards,
      Ryan

      1. Thanks for getting back, actually I contacted IL about it and they said their software does NOT currently have the ability to identify a seller’s restrictions. So IL will have not ability to let you know if something is restricted. (kind of a bummer for us newbies as we need to then first check on amazon directly before buying or uploading inventory)

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