As everyone has said, you need to be able to demonstrate where you get your products from.

Amazon have strict rules on arbitrage.

So the first is that if you want to sell as NEW then the items MUST be obtained from the Wholesaler, not a shop or independent, but like a wholesaler, think cash and carry or direct from manufacturer.

You might think you can list an item as new if you just walked out of tesco with it and its brand new in its packaging, strictly speaking its new. However, Amazon will treat that item now as USED, and to list it, you should under Amazons terms and conditions as Used Like New.

If you choose NEW ? then they can and will ask for Wholesaler documents, if you cant produce them ? then you will get defects and can lose your account.

You I and everyone may go, but its still new ? its in its packaging ? never removed, never opened ? so whats the issue.

The first issue will be, its Amazons platform and their rules. If they say NO, then its NO.

The second is, just because something is in brand new packagaging, does NOT mean its new, it just means unopened. There is a huge difference. People can and do buy items and put them away and never open them, they can sit in a cupboard for years. Would they still be new ? arguably not. Like new ? yes.

But products deteriorate over time, all of them pretty much.

So Amazon put in place a policy to prevent something being left in a cupboard for years and then sold as new.

So whether we agree or not, Amazons rules are, NEW is considered for brand owners selling new items or for items from wholesalers or distributors. For everything else there is Used Like New.

There is also the issue around brand control, some brands gate their items, so only allow authorised sellers to sell their items. This is often framed as "quality control", they want to know who is selling their items, that they are authentic and have control over it. This can cause issues, if your not brand authorised and are selling as NEW, it can trigger letters from these companies asking for proof of purchase and authenticity.

For the required documents, your best option is to ask the wholesaler or manufacturer for them.

But here is the rub, most companies will test their items when made, they will draw up a technical file of details, including all test reports. Legally, unless the manufacturing changes, the packaging or product ? they 99.9 per cent of the time will NOT retest every year, to them its an unecessary expense as they have already confirmed their products are compliant.

However, Amazons new demands are that you test the products you sell or can prove compliance every 12 months.

So you will more than likely find that you will contact them and they wont respond or if they do they will confirm their certs are over 12 months old.

That then leaves you two options

1, you pay to test the items yourself every 12 months

2, you stop selling the item on amazon.

Sadly I think Amazon will see a mass exodus of products, as simply put most companies are not going to pay 250 Dollars to test someone elses product.

It does in fact get worse than this.

So we sell a product which is an LED Toy.

We had it tested EN71-1, RohS, ENC 62115 and also EMC. It passed everything and cost us nearly 800 USD

However, as the tests are over 12 months old Amazons rules apparently according to the testing facilities is that if older than 12 months ? reject it.

So we have now to either restest every 12 months just for amazon or take it off site and sell elsewhere.

The product has variations, which are Pack sized, so pack of 1 2 4 8 12.

So common sense says, if the one pack is compliant by virtue the 2 4 8 12 pack is right ?

Wrong, the testing facilities are then demanding more money for each one just to approve it.

So we offer discounts for customers on the more they buy the cheaper it gets. So now we would have to pay an additional sum just to offer the same product in multi packs for the customers benefit ?

So we are pulling all multi packs from Amazon as its absurd.

If a customer want a multi pack ? they can buy them elsewhere with the discounts.

Its not something we have done lightly, but we are not paying thousands of pounds just because its a 2 pack or a 4 pack of the same item that passed testing.

Its absolutely absurd.

We raised it with seller support, who literally said "tough", if the system says you need it you have to pay the labs, just to confirm the ASIN. So Amazon will soon lose thousandsof perfectly fine products.

Customers can and will look for your company elsewhere and buy multi packs at cheaper rates and Amazon will lose revenue.

By the time they sort it out, it will be too late as products will be gone and if they think everyone will just relist ? they are mistaken.

A Hasbro star wars figure can be perfectly safe and fine, but who realistically as a small seller is going to pay over 200 USD every year to test HASBROs products ? no one.

In itself its not a bad idea to ensure products are tested and safe. In reality Amazon are stuffing thousands of pounds of tests onto sellers who are already crippled by a poor economy, rising costs and that often are fine, the burden of products safety is now on every individual seller.

So unless you can get certificates from within the past 12 months the SKU will go. Will Hasbro still be able to sell on it ? I dont know, but I would not bet against it and just all the smaller sellers being removed.

The other thing is, even if you can get certificates you still have to pay to validate them. Which is around 100 USD per item.

So you have four charectar figures ? thats 400 USD to validate the certificates if you can get them off the main company and they are inside 12 months old.

And thats every single year.

As many people have said, they are closing down thousands of lines of products and or looking to even close their businesses. So come next year, Amazons product catalogue I suspect is going to lose a quarter of all toys and games as a start