Amazon Renewed: All Sellers Need to Know

Nowadays, many shoppers consider buying renewed products because the price difference between the item in the “new” condition and the refurbished one can be huge. Renewed means that a product that was non-functional was serviced by a qualified technician to working order.

Amazon offers sellers a lot of options to earn money. Amazon Renewed is one of such option. With this program, merchants can sell high-quality like-new products. These products can be either refurbished or pre-owned.

For a buyer, purchasing renewed items can be a hit or miss. However, considering Amazon’s awesome return policies, it can pay off due to the difference in price combined with low risk.

In addition, Amazon inspects and tests the products to look and work like new and offers a special Renewed Guarantee.

For a seller, Amazon Renewed is a chance to join an exclusive program, sell to millions of Amazon customers, leverage great Amazon’s reputation and fulfilment capabilities, and grow business.

Read further to find out what “renewed” mean on Amazon and how to sell renewed products on Amazon.

What is Amazon Renewed?

Amazon Renewed is a program that enables merchants to sell items “like new.” It’s one of the latest Amazon initiatives offering sellers additional options to make money. In turn, Amazon customers can benefit from buying expensive products at considerably lower prices.

Amazon Renewed products are those that you can repair or refurbish so that they look and work like new. This means that products must have electrical or mechanical spare parts that professionals can replace in new or like-new conditions.

Products should include all relevant accessories as expected for a new product. Often, these devices have been displaying models.

What does the refurbishment of a renewed product mean?

Refurbishment process includes

• diagnostic test;
• replacement of defective spare parts;
• thorough cleaning;
• inspection;
• repackaging.

What Are the Categories to Sell under the Amazon Renewed Program?

You can sell three categories of products under the Amazon Renewed program.

Product categories eligible for Amazon Renewed

• refurbished;
• pre-owned;
• open-box.

Refurbished

These are used items that customers returned it either because they’ve stopped working or they didn’t want them anymore.

Pre-owned

In the same way, as refurbished products, customers also used these items. However, usually, they appear to be in better condition than refurbished products when customers return them.

Open-box

These products are actually “like new.” They were unpackaged, as the name prompts, but the product itself wasn’t used by the customer.

Amazon Renewed page

What Are the Conditions of the Items Amazon Sells as Renewed?

The products on Amazon are in one of three conditions: Excellent, Good, or Acceptable.

Excellent Condition

Cosmetic Condition: Excellent

Screen: No scratches

Body: No signs of cosmetic damage (scratches, dents, etc.) are visible when the product is held 12 inches away.

Functional Condition: Fully Functional

Battery: >80% of original battery life

Accessories: Generic or original equipment manufacturer accessories and packaging provided.

Guarantee: 90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee

Good Condition

Cosmetic Condition: Good

Screen: No scratches

Body: Light scratches, barely visible when holding the product 12 inches away, and imperceptible to touch

Functional Condition: Fully Functional

Battery: >80% of original battery life

Accessories: Generic or original equipment manufacturer accessories and packaging provided

Guarantee: 90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee

Acceptable Condition

Cosmetic Condition: Acceptable

Screen: It may have several shallow scratches that are invisible when the screen is turned on.

Body: Light scratches, clearly visible when holding the product 12 inches away, and perceptible to touch

Functional Condition: Fully Functional

Battery: >80% of original battery life

Accessories: Generic or original equipment manufacturer accessories and packaging provided

Guarantee: 90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee

What Can You Sell as Amazon Renewed Products?

Categories to sell as Amazon Renewed product

• Phones
• Cameras
• Headphones
• Kitchen Appliances
• Power Tools
• Personal Computers
• Tablets
• Television
• Video Game Consoles.

Is It Safe to Buy Renewed Products on Amazon?

Before Amazon sells the product, qualified Amazon Renewed sellers have inspected, tested, and cleaned the product before repackaging and reselling. They are required to ensure that the items look and work like new products.

As a rule, Amazon Renewed products lack their original packaging. The buyers must remember that some of these items may have minor defects like a scratch or mark. However, they should function like new. In most cases, this may mean that it is difficult to see the difference between a renewed product and a brand new one.

Amazon Renewed products come with Amazon Renewed Guarantee. Amazon Renewed Guarantee is a limited warranty that guarantees the renewed product should function without any faults until 90 days after purchase. If the product stops working during this period, the shopper can ask for a free refund or replacement.

How does Amazon ensure the quality of Renewed products?

Renewed products should

• come with a guarantee from Amazon;
• be inspected and tested by an Amazon employee or contractor;
• be tested and certified to work and look like new by a professional technician or a qualified third-party refurbisher;
• not have big scratches or dents;
• not have visible cosmetic imperfections when held 12 inches away;
• meet quality standards by an Amazon-qualified and performance-managed supplier;
• all suppliers are either qualified manufacturers or specialized third-party refurbishers;
• suppliers meet strict criteria and performance requirements to sell on Amazon Renewed;
• the inspection and testing include a full diagnostic test;
• have all faulty parts replaced;
• undergo a thorough cleaning process.

Amazon Renewed Guarantee

All Amazon renews come with the Amazon Renewed Guarantee. However, Amazon devices that are subject to the same one-year limited Warranty as a new Amazon device don’t come with Amazon Renewed Guarantee.

If a shopper is unhappy with a purchase, they can return the product within 90 days of receipt for a full refund or replacement.

Returns for Renewed Premium products are accepted within one year of receipt.

Why Selling on Amazon Renewed?

For qualified Amazon merchants, participation in the Amazon Renewed program is a lucrative opportunity.

Benefits of Amazon Renewed program

Qualified sellers:

• can join an exclusive Amazon program;
• should meet Amazon’s quality criteria;
• can consistently supply like-new products;
• sell to millions of Amazon’s loyal buyers;
• enjoy high customer trust;
• leverage Amazon’s trusted e-commerce capabilities;
• use Amazon’s selling tools and fulfilment capabilities;
• sell products across Amazon’s global marketplaces;
• grow your refurbished business;
• scale sales by selling refurbished and pre-owned products.

Benefits of selling on Amazon Renewed

How to Sell Refurbished Products on Amazon Renewed?

Selling products on Amazon Renewed step by step

Step 1. Registering an Amazon seller account

Step 2. Finding a product

Step 3. Sourcing the products

Step 4. Applying and qualifying to be eligible to sell on Amazon Renewed

Step 5. Starting sales and growing your business

Registering an Amazon seller account

Selecting a selling plan

There are two types of Amazon seller accounts. You can choose between two subscription plans: Individual and Professional.

Individual selling plan

If you go for the Individual plan, there is no monthly payment. However, Amazon will charge you $0.99 for every item you sell. Select this plan if you’re going to sell less than 40 products in a month.

Professional selling plan

As a professional seller, you’ll pay $39.99 per month. Select this plan if you’re going to sell more than 40 products in a month.

To create an Amazon Seller Central account, you should provide:

• business email address or Amazon customer account;
• valid credit card;
• government ID;
• tax information;
• phone number;
• a bank account where Amazon can transfer the money you earned from sales.

To register an Amazon seller account, go to the «Become an Amazon seller» sign-in page to create your account and follow Amazon’s registration instructions.

Finding a product for Amazon renewed store

The rule of thumb on Amazon is to do product research before you list a product on Amazon. The product should be in demand; otherwise, you’ll lose money.

Criteria to find the right product for Amazon Renewed

• high demand and low competition;
• not an item sold by Amazon;
• not a private label product;
• a product where you can set competitive price;
• not a restricted product;
• not an adult product;
• not an extremely niche item;
• not an oversize or fragile product.

Sourcing the Amazon Renewed products

You’ll need to select a product supplier when you choose a product.

Where to find Amazon Renewed products?

• liquidation companies;
• manufacturers;
• distributors;
• wholesale certified-refurbished goods Alibaba.

Applying and qualifying to be eligible to sell on Amazon Renewed

Not all sellers are eligible to sell on Amazon Renewed. You’ll need to apply and qualify to sell in this program.

Requirements to sell on Amazon Renewed

To sell on Amazon Renewed, merchants must:

• be able to supply invoices showing you’ve met Amazon’s minimum order number ($50,000 in qualifying refurbished products, or a minimum of 500 refurbished units within 90 days);
• items with a selling price of $15 or less don’t count;
• an existing seller on Amazon should maintain an order defect rate (ODR) of 0.8% or less in 90 days;
• provide a minimum 90-day warranty on all of your Certified Refurbished products.

Note 1. If you want to list factory-refurbished items that have no manufacturer warranty, you’ll need to get permission. To do that, you must submit a minimum of eight images of a sample unit so that Amazon can perform a product and packaging review. You’ll need to show them the box in which the product will ship, the inside packaging and padding, a view of the product from the top and the bottom, and images of all four sides of the item.

Note 2. If you want to sell refurbished Apple products, you must get approval first. To get approved, you must supply Amazon with invoices totalling $2.5 million in Apple refurbished products and dated from a trailing 90 days.

Starting sales and growing your business

Once you pass the application process, you can start listing refurbished, pre-owned, and open-box products or adding offers to existing listings.

Once your application is approved, you can start selling.

When customers order, you can either fulfil them on Fulfillment by Merchant or use Fulfilment by Amazon.

Wrap Up

Amazon Renewed for a buyer

Today’s Amazon buyers consider purchasing renewed products because the price difference between the item in the “new” condition and the refurbished one can be huge. You would sell Amazon renewed, meaning that it is a non-functional product serviced by a qualified technician to working order. Also, this can be a pre-owned product that was used by a customer. In addition, it can be an unpackaged item but wasn’t used by the customer.

For a buyer, purchasing renewed items can be a hit or miss. However, on top of Amazon’s simplified return policies, they ensure that the product comes with a 90-day Renewed Guarantee. It is inspected and tested by an Amazon-certified team member or contractor. Also, it shouldn’t have visible cosmetic imperfections when held 12 inches away. All products undergo inspection and testing, including a full diagnostic test. All faulty are verified to be parts replaced. A product undergoes a thorough cleaning process. Products are inspected and tested to look and work like new.

Amazon Renewed for a seller

Sellers on Amazon are offered a lot of options to earn money. Amazon Renewed is one of such option. With this program, merchants can sell high-quality like-new products. These products can be either refurbished or pre-owned.

Amazon Renewed is a chance to join an exclusive program, sell to millions of Amazon customers, leverage great Amazon’s reputation and fulfilment capabilities, and grow business.

Sellers should also remember that they can’t sell just whatever product on Amazon. The rule of thumb on Amazon is to do product research before you list a product on Amazon. The product should be in demand; otherwise, you’ll lose money.

Finding a profitable item to sell on Amazon is vital, but merchants shouldn’t forget about their product performance. Amazon monitoring software is an efficient way to stay on top of your sales. SellerSonar offers instant Amazon alerts to protect your sales. You are aware of listing changes, Buy Box hijackers, new/deleted reviews, keyword rank history, and product suppressions with us.

Try SellerSonar now. Register for our 29-day trial and boost your incredible journey of running your business on the platform.