If you’re looking to do retail arbitrage or online arbitrage on Amazon, then one of the first things you’ll need is to get approval to sell various brands. The approval process is called “ungating”.

Once you’re “ungated” in a brand, Amazon will allow you to list products from that brand.

Keep in mind that while not all brands are gated on Amazon, most of the big ones (Nike, Lego, Apple etc.) are gated. The reason for this is that Amazon wants to maintain high quality sellers, and ensure that the customer has a good buying experience.

Getting Ungated on Amazon

The process for getting ungated is the same for every gated brand. You will either need to obtain a letter of authorization from the brand (which is not likely), or you will need to provide an invoice that meets the following criteria.

  • Are dated on within the last 180 days
  • Includes your name and address, matching the information in your selling account
  • Includes the name and address of the manufacturer or distributor
  • Show the combined purchase of at least 10 units
Amazon Ungating Invoice Requirements

Note: an invoice is different from a receipt you would get from a retail store like Walmart. Retail receipts will not work.

The game now becomes finding an authorized supplier to buy from in order to get the required invoice. Once you have the invoice, you can upload it to Amazon for approval. Once approved, you can then list any products under that brand on Amazon.

Tips for Getting Ungated on Amazon

Here are some tips to help you be successful when ungating a brand on Amazon.

  • Your application will likely get denied – don’t get frustrated. If you’re certain that your documentation is correct, then just start a new application and keep trying.
  • Don’t try to create a fake invoice. Amazon will catch this.
  • You shouldn’t edit a real invoice (e.g. buy quantity 1 and then change the quantity to 10). If you decide to do this anyways, at least print the PDF file to an image and submit that as it will be harder to detect edits.
  • If your invoice has multiple items on it, highlight the specific line item that you want them to review.
  • Amazon may verify your submitted documentation by contacting product vendors you identify in your application. They’re not joking.

If you’re just starting on your Amazon retail/online arbitrage journey, then you might also want to consider selling non-gated brands. You can find out if a particular brand is gated by trying to add a product of that brand in Amazon Seller Central.

Should You Use an Amazon Ungating Service?

In most cases, an ungating service is a waste of money. The only value they’re offering is that they know which suppliers can provide invoices that Amazon will accept. In most cases you can find these suppliers with a bit of work on Google.

However, if you just don’t want to deal with the hassle of ungating brands then there’s nothing wrong with using these services. We would just recommend you buy the service from a legitimate company rather than someone on Facebook or Kijiji.

If you don’t want to deal with ungating brands, then you can also consider doing private label products and sell them under your own brand. For more ways to sell on Amazon, check out our other article Amazon: How to Sell.

We are not financial advisors, and no content on this site should not be taken as financial advice. No guarantee can be made if you invest based on the information provided on this blog. We make no warranty of any kind regarding the blog and/or any content, data, materials, information, products or services provided on the blog.