Amazon gated products now include Marvel

Amazon gated products now appear to include Marvel, at least on the US site. Gating is not an official term, but the name merchants use when Amazon dictates that a seller must be pre-approved to sell in a certain category or to sell a particular product selection.

From the 27th of June 2018, sellers will need pre-approval to sell Marvel products on Amazon.com and if they already have offers for Marvel products these will be removed if approval isn’t applied for and granted.

If you have Marvel products in FBA, sales will continue until the 27th of June at which point you either need to apply for approval or request that the products be returned to you. You also have the option to request that they are destroyed.

Amazon are contacting sellers who have sold Marvel products in the past, but if you are potentially likely to sell them in the future then it will be advisable to apply for pre-approval prior to placing large orders for inventory.

Whilst Amazon have stated as much, it’s likely that they are tightening up on Marvel products due to the huge fan interest from cinema releases of the Marvel films. Amazon will have no problem with merchants supplying legitimate stock, but the market will be flooded with unauthorised replica products much of which will originate from the Far East, and Amazon are likely to have ensuring consumers aren’t hoodwinked into thinking these are genuine authorised products.

One interesting side effect has come from the gating of Marvel products, it also affects older collectibles. It’s unlikely that a merchant will apply for pre-approval to sell just a couple of products that come into their possession, so if you’re looking for Marvel collectibles after the end of June your best bet is probably to search on eBay.