When you first get the idea that you want to sell on Amazon, all the terminology can feel a little overwhelming. You may have many questions such as what does renewed mean on Amazon, our blog has been created to help you with these sorts of questions.
My name is Nick, and i’m one of the founders here at eBusiness Boss, when I first got started, I had just as many questions. The good news is that once you get the basics down, being an Amazon seller becomes a lot easier.
This article is intended to be an Amazon renewed review, by the end of it you’ll know everything you need to know about the program.
What Does Renewed Mean on Amazon?
Renewed refers to the pre-owned and refurbished products sold on Amazon.
In the past, I’ve been asked what is the difference between renewed and refurbished on Amazon? The answer to this is; nothing at all. They are actually exactly the same thing, people just use different words to describe these pre-owned products.
The Amazon renewed program is designed for sellers who would prefer to appeal to thrifty customers who want to buy used items for less.
The problem that often arises with buying pre-owned goods is the risk.
Nobody wants to buy an item only to discover it doesn’t work. This is where Amazon Renewed is trying to change things.
The program guidelines ensure that the products sold by sellers are still high quality.
As a seller, signing up for the Amazon Renewed program places your refurbished products in front of A LOT of people…
These people already trust the Amazon brand, as a third party seller you can benefit from that.
This for me is Amazons way of trying to compete against eBay when it comes to the used product market.
What is Amazon Renewed For?
The Amazon Renewed program is for products sold by qualified manufacturers or third-party refurbishing companies.
Here are the types of products that can be sold under the Renewed umbrella:
- Smartphones and other wireless devices
- Televisions
- Gaming consoles
- Personal computers
- Cameras
- Printers
- Headphones
- Home and kitchen appliances
- Power tools and garden equipment
If you choose to sell your refurbished products using Amazon Renewed, you’re going to need a way to inspect and test them.
Let’s take a look at the other qualifying criteria.
How to Qualify for Amazon Renewed
There are a few requirements you’ll need to meet to start selling via Amazon Renewed.
Product Inspection Process
Quality is a top priority for Amazon, which is why Renewed sellers need to prove that their products have been inspected.
Your product inspection process should produce a full diagnostic report and prove the product was cleaned. Should the report uncover any defective parts during inspection, they need to be replaced before you can list the product.
Any products you choose to sell also need to look like new. This means no visible imperfections.
Product Warranties
Amazon Renewed needs sellers to provide a solid 90-day product warranty that covers any defects a buyer might encounter. The warranty excludes faulty installation or poor maintenance on the customer’s part.
If you want to list items with no manufacturer warranty, you’ll need additional permissions.
This requires a submission of at least 8 images of the sample unit so that Amazon can review it. They need to see the box that the product will be shipped in, the inside of the packaging, and views of the product from the top, bottom, and all sides.
Discounted Price
Even though you need to prove your pre-owned products are high-quality, they’re still pre-owned.
Amazon states that any refurbished or pre-owned product prices need to reflect a discount of at least 5%.
Naturally, this means knowing what the product costs new, out of the box.
Business History
Along with listing quality products, Amazon Renewed also only works with trustworthy brands. To sign up for this program, you need to prove that your business is established.
One way to prove this is to produce invoices showing at least $50,000 worth of pre-owned product purchases within the last 3 months. Or a minimum of 500 refurbished units. Keep in mind that any products that sell for $15 or less won’t count towards the 500 units.
The only way to include lower-priced items is to blackout the required unit amount and submit invoices with dollar amounts instead.
If you’re an existing Amazon seller, your order defect rate needs to be under 0.8% over the last 3 months to qualify for this program.
Planning to sell Apple products? This requires invoices totalling $2.5 million in refurbished Apply products from the last 3 months.
Start Selling Refurbished Products On Amazon
Next, let’s look at the steps you need to take to start selling via the Amazon Renewed program.
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Register as an Amazon Seller
Interested in selling pre-owned, refurbished or open-box products? The natural first step is to be a registered Amazon seller. To do this, head to Amazon Seller Central and create an account.
As a new Amazon seller, you might be interested to know about how they pay their sellers – read more here.
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Source Product Opportunities
I am an avid believer in product research and selling pre-owned products is no different. If you already have the necessary inventory to sell via Amazon Renewed, I would still suggest doing some research to evaluate opportunities and the competition.
If you haven’t purchased the necessary inventory just yet, make product and competitor research your first order of business.
When researching products, you first want to look for items with high demand and low competition – this is where the opportunities lie. In the video below i explain how we usually find low competition product ideas.
Lastly, find products that you can price within 5% of the product’s current price if purchased new. Tools such as Helium 10 are excellent for product research, making it easier to find that happy medium between high demand and low competition.
Many people choose to use virtual assistants to help them with this process. Not sure if you need one? Here’s what you need to know.
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Buy Inventory
Now that you know what you should and shouldn’t be selling, you can start sourcing your inventory. If you haven’t done this before, there are a few sources that I would recommend for pre-owned and refurbished items.
The first is liquidation companies who buy excess merchandise from manufacturers. They take care of the refurbishment and sell them to sellers like yourself.
When working with a liquidation company, you need to take their prices into consideration to ensure you can still make a profit. Don’t forget to find out about their testing processes and what reports they can provide you with.
The second option is to purchase goods directly from a manufacturer. Not all manufacturers refurbish the products themselves though – something to keep in mind when evaluating options.
There is also Alibaba, a platform that’s often used by Amazon sellers. This is my top choice for purchasing refurbished goods that are of good quality. Just be sure that you vet the manufacturers to avoid scams.
Here’s my guide to what Amazon sellers need to know about using Alibaba.
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Apply to Sell on Amazon Renewed
Once your inventory’s ready to go, you need to apply to sell on Amazon Renewed. This means meeting the necessary requirements mentioned earlier, including minimum inventory, a warranty, and a clear product testing process.
Most sellers can expect to receive approval in 14 business days.
Once you’re approved, you can start listing your certified refurbished or pre-owned products.
Why Choose Amazon Renewed?
There are a number of excellent reasons to consider becoming an Amazon Renewed seller.
The first being that you get to join an exclusive program and avoid some competition. As you can see, the application process for Amazon Renewed is stringent – not just anyone can start selling.
This alone leaves you with a lot more room to succeed than if you chose to sell new products.
As a Renewed seller, you also benefit from high customer trust due to Amazon’s quality requirements. Not to mention the fact that Amazon receives millions of visitors every month.
Amazon’s eCommerce solutions make selling to a global marketplace that much easier, regardless of whether your products are new or not.
If you’re planning to add Amazon Renewed to your current business model, you have the opportunity to grow both your brand and sales.
In closing, Amazon Renewed is the ideal option for anyone who wants to try a slightly different route to market, while still taking advantage of Amazon’s giant marketplace.
Selling pre-owned and refurbished products does come with its own effort and challenges, but overall, when done correctly, it’s highly rewarding.
If you’re wondering whether eBay might be a better marketplace for your pre-owned goods, here’s my full review on Amazon vs eBay.
