Every year Amazon put restrictions in place for merchants who wish to sell Toys and Games over the Christmas period. The category becomes gated with only approved sellers able to list and sell – Amazon don’t want a single customer let down because a merchant oversells or delivers late over the holiday season.
First off, some good news – even if you don’t qualify to sell Toys and Games during the purdah period, you can still do so so long as you’re willing to ship your inventory to Amazon under their FBA program. Using FBA removes all restrictions as then Amazon is responsible for the fulfilment and delivery and that’s where they excel.
The gated period for new sellers of Toys and Games on Amazon.com this year will be from the 17th of November 2017 through to the 5th of January 2018. In order to sell Toys and Games during the period you will need to meet the following criteria:
- Your first sale on Amazon must occur prior to September 15, 2017. The sale does not need to be specific to the Toys & Games store.
- You must process and ship at least 25 orders from September 1 through October 31, 2017. The orders do not need to be specific to the Toys & Games store.
- Your pre-fulfillment cancel rate for the period from October 1 through October 31, 2017, must not be greater than 1.75%.
- Your late shipment rate for the period from October 1 through October 31, 2017, must not be greater than 4%.
- Your order defect rate must not be greater than 1% short term as of November 1, 2017.
It’s worth noting that these guidelines are for Amazon.com – each Amazon marketplace sets their own criteria for selling over the Christmas period. Sellers who qualify (or not) to sell Toys and Games on Amazon.com will find out by the 11th of November.
