As a new Amazon seller, you’ll quickly come to the realization that you can’t sell jack shit.
While that’s not entirely a true statement, its what it seems like to most people.
You won’t be able to sell most name brands until you get ungated.
What is getting ungated?
Gating is the procedure that Amazon uses to prevent new sellers from selling counterfeit goods on their platform.
How do you know if you’re gated or not?
When you try to add a product, you will either be able to sell it, or you will be prompted to apply for approval.
Amazon does this to maintain quality control and to make sure that you are legit before you can sell certain name brands.
If they didn’t do this, new sellers could enter the platform, sell counterfeit goods from brands such as Nike and Adidas, exit scam people and run away with all the money.
In fact, these things have happened before in the past, which is why Amazon is so strict regarding these rules.
You’re not gated in brands because Amazon doesn’t like you or because you are a loser.
Everyone starts out like that.
Losers say “I’m gated in everything. Amazon oppresses me and it’s not as easy as you make it seem. I guess I’ll give up on my dreams and continue living a mediocre existence.”
Winners realize that because the best categories and brands are locked, there are more opportunities for them if they find out how to get ungated.
They love it when losers quit selling on Amazon because they are gated in everything.
They do their due diligence and find out how to get ungated by any means necessary.
Selling name brands can be very profitable because they have strong brand recognition and are used by millions of people in this country every single day.
As a beginner, you have to start from the bottom and work your way up to the top.
Getting ungated is not as hard as people think, but it can cost you money.
Do not pay someone to get you ungated.
People who sell ungating services are scam artists.
How can you get ungated then?
Auto-Ungating
The first step is to try getting auto-ungated.
In fact, you’d be surprised at how many brands will unlock you if you simply request approval.
You’ll get a message that says “Congratulations! Your selling application for [brand name] has been approved based on your performance history.”
Once you see that message, you can sell that brand.
If you do it on your phone, it might not update immediately to show that you are approved.
You’ll have to request approval again on a computer, but just know that once you see that message you are now ungated in that brand/category.
If you get a screen that requests an invoice, you won’t be able to get auto-ungated.
You’ll have to submit an invoice.
More on that subject later.
When you are a beginner, you’ll want to focus on brands that you can sell as opposed to brands that you cannot sell.
Losers focus on what they don’t have while ignoring what they do have.
Winners focus on what they already have and dominate it until they get everything they want.
They have a can-do attitude, as opposed to a weak, defeatist attitude.
There are many name brands that auto-ungate new sellers, meaning that you can make money on Amazon even as a beginner.
There are also name brands that aren’t even gated.
I know this because I was selling name brands right off the bat.
I kept scanning items in stores and requested approval for every product that I could.
You don’t need to waste your time doing that because I’ve already done it and compiled a list of 350+ brands that 100% auto-ungate.
Whether or not you get auto-ungated right now will depend on your performance history.
There are brands on that list that will work even if you have 0 sales and just opened your seller account.
Other brands may request an invoice from you now, but after you sell more they may automatically ungate you.
Bookmark that page and revisit it from time to time, especially after you achieve higher sales.
Submitting Invoices
There are certain brands that do not auto-ungate for the most part.
There’s a possibility that these brands will auto-ungate you when you make a lot of sales, but sometimes you just want to get approved now.
You might find a ton of profitable Nike products in your area and just want to sell that brand.
You might find some Dove soap that brings in huge profits and you don’t want to miss out on the opportunity.
If that’s the case, you can utilize distributors.
Unfortunately, most distributors do not sell to individuals.
You’ll need an EIN number.
An EIN number is like a SSN number for an incorporated business (LLC).
Once you get an LLC, you can sign up for distributors.
That being said, most beginners won’t have an LLC and to be frank, do not even need one.
In that case, you can check out these distributors that do not require an LLC, sell to individuals and provide invoices that Amazon accepts.
Update 8/4/23: I’ve been told by some of my followers that Kohls.com no longer works for getting ungated. One of them recommended soccer.com and asos.com instead. I haven’t tried either site so that’s up to you to try out. You can still try Kohls and return it if it doesn’t work. I recommend you try buying 10 profitable units that you can sell to get ungated.
Update 10/03/23: I’ve been hearing that this Q4 season, people have been having a lot of difficulty getting ungated in brands even with a legitimate invoice. This actually happened last Q4 too, where it seemed as if Amazon was limiting the people who could get ungated. This is likely due to the influx of people who want to start selling on Amazon during the holiday craze to try and earn quick money. If you can’t get ungated with these methods, it isn’t that these methods no longer work, but it may mean that you will have to try again a later time during a less busier season. It is what it is. The key to success is to adapt and overcome when problems are thrown your way and find alternative ways to win. Be persistent and in due time you will be able to sell every brand you want. As for now, try utilizing my Auto-Ungate ASINS list to its fullest potential.
Walmart (not sure if it works)
Notes:
-You need to order 10 units of the same item
-The item has to have an Amazon listing that you can request approval and takes you to the invoice submission page
-Wait for the package to come in the mail and retrieve the invoice
-Take 5 pictures: (Product Front, Product Back, Product Barcode, Product With Invoice, Invoice)
-Submit the 5 pictures
-Enter your email address
-Wait 2-4 days
-You’ll hear back from Amazon
-If you get rejected, resubmit your invoice immediately
-Continue resubmitting until you are ungated
-You may need to do this many times to get approved
-Receipts and packing slips won’t work
Keep in mind: Amazon can do whatever they want. Sometimes they accept retail receipts. Other times, they do not even accept formal invoices. You will have to do your own research and search for anecdotal reports from other people who have gotten ungated in the brands you want. I’ve found that during Q4, they tighten up on ungating significantly and people have trouble getting ungated even with an actual invoice. In that case, you’ll want to focus on brands that you can get auto-ungated in and go hard on those.
How To Get Ungated Without Becoming Poor
While you can go ahead and obtain invoices for every brand you want to sell, I don’t recommend it.
The first reason is because it can cost you anywhere from $20 to $200 to get ungated in a single brand.
You have to buy 10 units, and depending on what you are trying to get ungated in, this can add up pretty quick.
I recommend buying the cheapest possible items for a brand that has an Amazon listing and that you can buy 10 units of.
I got ungated in Nike for around $50 because I bought 10 pairs of Nike socks from Eastbay for $5 each.
That $50 investment was well worth the money and has generated me a lot of profit to this day.
I believe Eastbay is now called Champs Sports.
I am not 100% sure if it still works because I haven’t used their new website but I have heard that it does.
You can get ungated in Nike and other similar brands using Kohls.com.
Kohl’s invoices work on Amazon and they sell a wide range of brands of clothing, beauty, home goods, toys and electronics.
While I said packing slips do not work, I have gotten ungated in Squishmallows by using an order confirmation slip that I received from an in-store online order pickup at Kohls.
Use your creativity and experiment with different websites to see if they work.
You don’t want to pay to get ungated in every brand, because chances are that you won’t even sell all the brands you think you will sell.
You want to focus on brands that are widely available, have widespread appeal and can be easily found at the stores you prefer to source at.
That is why I recommend you go scan 100+ products a day to get a feel for what you want to sell, even if you are gated.
Find profitable brands first, and then make it your goal to get ungated in them.
Once you invest into getting ungated, you’ll then be able to sell brands you encounter frequently in store.
My advice is to focus on 3-5 excellent brands that are hugely profitable and go all in on those brands.
Make it your goal to get as many sales as possible using my auto-ungate list and those 3-5 brands.
You’ll then start to get auto-approved for more and more brands as you make more sales.
Be patient, and it will pay off.
In the beginning you will have to grind much harder to find inventory than you will later on in your journey.
That should inspire you because you know other people will get discouraged and give up, which means more opportunities for you.
Conclusion
To get ungated, you just need to do your own research and experiment.
Start off with my auto-ungate ASINS list and plug every single one of them into your seller central account.
Watch this video to see how to do that:
When you get auto-approved, keep note of those brands the next time you go out.
If you get auto-approved for Dentyne or Power Rangers, make sure you go scan Dentyne and Power Rangers products when you go sourcing.
Let me know what other topics you want me to cover.
My goal is to teach you everything regarding Amazon FBA for free that internet marketing gurus would create a $1000 course for.
Best regards,
Alex Chung
Thank you a lot! This is gold! I have the list on my cellphone and take screenshots already of this.
Love the content bro, I’ve been going over the whole thing the past week. I think I’m ready, you putting us on for free ????
Thanks Mauro,
Yeah, I’m going to teach everything I know on this blog for free. Stay tuned
3rd Blog I’ve read today. I tried to get the auto-I hate ASINS list, it doesn’t work. Tried to pay via Apple Pay, no luck. Is there another way I can get it? I would appreciate it. Thanks in advance
Hello,
You don’t need to pay to receive the list, you just have to enter your email address and the download link will be sent to you.
Thanks for reading