Registering to sell alcohol - harder than it should be
I’m currently trying to sell my alcoholic products on Amazon but it’s proving to be a nightmare thanks to the worst customer services department I’ve ever encountered.
For information, I meet all of Amazon’s criteria for selling alcohol i.e. I have the relevant licences, trademarks are registered and my brand has been approved by Amazon etc etc therefore I thought this would be a simple process but it’s far from it.
Amazon have recently changed their process for registering to sell alcoholic products and since late last week, there is a new “request approval” button on the listing alcohol help page which takes you to a form which needs to be completed. This form is very easy to complete and requires you to attach your premises licence and personal licence before being allowed to submit the form. However, I’ve been going around in circles with Amazon customer services since Friday and it’s proving frustrating.
Firstly, all responses from Amazon have been arriving either over the weekend or in the early hours of the morning, UK time, which suggests that they are based abroad, possibly India judging by their names. They do not answer questions posed to them in my responses and keep returning incorrect generic responses, which are no use to me whatsoever. For example, I have provided my premises licence six times over the past three days as they keep rejecting my approval request by stating that I need to provide my premises licence. When questioned as to what seems to be the problem i.e. are they not receiving it or is there a problem with the document, which if I know I could solve it easily enough, their responses ignore my question.
In addition, I’m trying to sell my own alcoholic products and Amazon have told me countless times that to do so I need to go to “add a product” and locate the product I wish to sell and click “sell yours” and then click “request approval”. This is great advice if I’m looking to sell a product already in Amazon’s catalogue (someone else’s product) but I’m not, something I’ve told Amazon countless times but they keep ignoring this and responding with the same instruction. I have my product listed in Amazon’s catalogue but I am not able to list it in an alcohol related category as all these categories are locked until I’m approved to sell alcohol by Amazon. As a result, there is no “request approval” button next to my product. I’m basically going around in a circle and Amazon customer services are proving to be as useful as a chocolate teapot.
Is anyone else currently going through the request approval process for alcohol with Amazon? If so, how is it going and is there any advice which you could give please?
Registering to sell alcohol - harder than it should be
I’m currently trying to sell my alcoholic products on Amazon but it’s proving to be a nightmare thanks to the worst customer services department I’ve ever encountered.
For information, I meet all of Amazon’s criteria for selling alcohol i.e. I have the relevant licences, trademarks are registered and my brand has been approved by Amazon etc etc therefore I thought this would be a simple process but it’s far from it.
Amazon have recently changed their process for registering to sell alcoholic products and since late last week, there is a new “request approval” button on the listing alcohol help page which takes you to a form which needs to be completed. This form is very easy to complete and requires you to attach your premises licence and personal licence before being allowed to submit the form. However, I’ve been going around in circles with Amazon customer services since Friday and it’s proving frustrating.
Firstly, all responses from Amazon have been arriving either over the weekend or in the early hours of the morning, UK time, which suggests that they are based abroad, possibly India judging by their names. They do not answer questions posed to them in my responses and keep returning incorrect generic responses, which are no use to me whatsoever. For example, I have provided my premises licence six times over the past three days as they keep rejecting my approval request by stating that I need to provide my premises licence. When questioned as to what seems to be the problem i.e. are they not receiving it or is there a problem with the document, which if I know I could solve it easily enough, their responses ignore my question.
In addition, I’m trying to sell my own alcoholic products and Amazon have told me countless times that to do so I need to go to “add a product” and locate the product I wish to sell and click “sell yours” and then click “request approval”. This is great advice if I’m looking to sell a product already in Amazon’s catalogue (someone else’s product) but I’m not, something I’ve told Amazon countless times but they keep ignoring this and responding with the same instruction. I have my product listed in Amazon’s catalogue but I am not able to list it in an alcohol related category as all these categories are locked until I’m approved to sell alcohol by Amazon. As a result, there is no “request approval” button next to my product. I’m basically going around in a circle and Amazon customer services are proving to be as useful as a chocolate teapot.
Is anyone else currently going through the request approval process for alcohol with Amazon? If so, how is it going and is there any advice which you could give please?
41 replies
Seller_f5cnodyVjLD4S
You should PM The_Wriggly_Tin_Wine on the thread below - they are having simillar issues. I personally think that Amazon are not giving approval for alcohol products at the moment. But I am not Amazon ( last time I looked) and you will need them to confirm it. (maybe Jessica could do that?)
Good luck
Tracey
https://sellercentral.amazon.fr/forums/t/amazon-is-faceless-and-worse-than-bt/158262
Seller_ejwc84JNL5Uk6
Agree with Anglozone - I don’t believe Amazon are currently accepting new applications in this category.
Seller_nvADPpjZqpzC3
The first posters are correct, its the same in other ‘sensitive’ categories too. Frustratingly they let you apply but have absolutely no intention of approving you.
You will not get approval to sell alcohol sorry.
Seller_GGByEa9ThBuw8
Thank you for your responses.
I started this process at the start of April and right in the middle of trying to get my application approved I was informed by Amazon that they would be changing the way sellers request approval to sell in the alcohol categories and that they would not be accepting new applications until 23rd April. A little frustrating but I guess I was a little unlucky with my timing. A few days after the 23rd April the new process for applying for approval appeared on the alcohol approval help page, exactly as an Amazon customer services rep had informed me a few weeks earlier so I assumed that meant they were accepting applications again.
It may well be that the new process isn’t fully up and running and they’re still not accepting applications as you suggest. Fair enough but over the last 3 days I’ve submitted 2 approval applications via this new method and had numerous emails backwards and forwards based on my applications so I would have thought someone from Amazon would have mentioned it if they weren’t accepting new applications at the moment.
Seller_nvADPpjZqpzC3
The cynic in me thinks that now Amazon are into the food game, they’re going to head into the online drinks game too. I’d be very worried if these were my sectors.
Their current restructuring is probably not to manage sellers of controlled goods, but to prep the marketplace for themselves.
Seller_y85eShwkJ1SUS
I don’t know specifics but more to offer some ‘hope’.
There is a small family run local gin company who I follow after buying their gin at a local event. They’ve literally just launched their gins on Amazon so there must be a way and they must still be accepting some.
Seller_ozG7Y9t2Kk8nk
The_Wriggly_Tin_Wine
Having the same issue now, small producer, we want to sell on Amazon for potential revenue, however, I can’t get approval although we have all the right documents.
Did anyone manage to get in?
Seller_k8gJSeOZkqDxg
Same issue here. Trying to sell organic and biodynamic wines from independent producers but just wont accept the application even though i have everything they need. Greedy from Amazon.
