Selling toys on Amazon - but no EAN

mdonaldson

I have been selling on Ebay for a while now and I am considering listing items on Amazon due to poor sales recently. If I was to sell on Amazon, I would need the £25 subscription as I list a lot of items and almost all of my items will not be in Amazon’s catalogue so I will need to add them myself. Almost all of my items are second hand toys.

I was reading up on how to create a new item for Amazons catalogue and I noticed it says that UPCs or EANs are required for new products in the toy category. Most of the items I sell where made in the 1980s and are not boxed so I don’t think I would be able to get any codes for these. Looking up Amazon though I have found many old unboxed toys from the 1980’s listed in the toys category so I assume there must be a way to list them. How do I go about this? Do they have to be listed a certain way for it to work?

Also, can you put in your own postage values for these items or does Amazon fix the postage cost for different items?

soolin

I can't help with the technical stuff as I only list catalogue items or books where I can make up a listing (or at least I could as a pro seller) however some words of warning. Firstly, toys are limited to certain sellers with a high sales volume and a good history on Amazon. For the past three years I hae qualified as a toy seller for Christmas, this year as the market died for me on Amazon and despite still showing as a good seller I am no longer eligible to sell toys.

Secondly watch the fees- they are much higher than Ebay. Lastly Amazon enforce the DSRs much stricter than ebay- so be prepared for returns and cancellations. Wirth remembering that each return or cancellation under the DSRs still counts against you on Amazon and is a mark on your seller dashboard.

There is a good seller forum on Amazon where I am sure people will be able to help with the EAN numbers and such like.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

How do I go about this? Do they have to be listed a certain way for it to work?

Just nick the barcode off a tin of beans or such in the cupboard, but run it through Amazon's normal search bar first (just type the barcode in and if no results it hasn't been used) as you might others got there before you....

lovinituk

You can purchase your own bar codes but probably only worth it if you have lots of the same item to sell. I recently started selling on Amazon and purchased a few barcodes in bulk from a re-seller.

forgotmyname

I just created this for free took seconds from google search







Is this what you need to do?

forgotmyname

Or this..

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

OP needs a valid EAN number which is the number running across the bottom of the barcode.

johnnyboyrebel

ludovico wrote: »

OP needs a valid EAN number which is the number running across the bottom of the barcode.

This is true, images of a barcode are not much help!

The EAN can be anything as long as it isn't already recognised by Amazon, you could use 0012345678765 as this is not recognised by Amazon (a random number I just made up)

Generally an EAN is 13 digits long, a UPC is 12 digits long. For example a CD barcode may look like 0886978673220 (Britney's album but 886978673220 is also recognised by Amazon as a UPC therefore as long as it is 12 or 13 digits long and not already related to another product you can use it.

Barcode issues are the bane of selling software so I have learnt a lot over the years about getting them right

soolin

I still think that before OP gets tied up in the barcode issue that he checks whether he is eligible to sell toys this side of Christmas.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=help_search_1-1?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200505890&qid=1317849799&sr=1-1

To maintain buyer confidence in Amazon this festive season, we are implementing Christmas Selling Guidelines for the Toys & Games store.
With effect from 15 November 2011, only those sellers who meet the following performance criteria will be eligible* to sell in Toys & Games from 15 November 2011 through to the first week in January 2012:

• Seller's first sale on Amazon.co.uk must be prior to 19/09/11 (sale does not need to be Toy-specific)
• Seller must have processed and shipped at least 25 orders (do not need to be Toy-specific) during the 60 consecutive days preceding 1/11/2011
• No greater than 1% short-term order defect rate as of 1/11/2011
• No greater than 2.5% pre-fulfilment cancellation rate for the 30 days preceding 1/11/2011
• No greater than 5% late shipment rate for the 30 days preceding 1/11/2011

lovinituk

johnnyboyrebel wrote: »

This is true, images of a barcode are not much help!

The EAN can be anything as long as it isn't already recognised by Amazon, you could use 0012345678765 as this is not recognised by Amazon (a random number I just made up)

Generally an EAN is 13 digits long, a UPC is 12 digits long. For example a CD barcode may look like 0886978673220 (Britney's album but 886978673220 is also recognised by Amazon as a UPC therefore as long as it is 12 or 13 digits long and not already related to another product you can use it.

Barcode issues are the bane of selling software so I have learnt a lot over the years about getting them right

I don't think you can just make any number up. The last digit(s) I believe is/are a check sum that validate whether the number is correct or not. Unless Amazon don't bother checkng and will accept any number.

kevinyork

Yes there is a check digit at the end of the EAN so making a number up wont do. There are online EAN checkers you can use to get the check digit.


I think I am right in saying that even if you register as a Pro Seller and create product pages on Amazon for your items, because they are second hand you wont be shown in the buy box. People will have to click on the small link to show used items. I am not convinced Amazon is the best place for used Toys. Ebay would be much better. You can describe the condition and include more photos so people know exactly what they are getting. Finally, as has been said, you are unlikely to be approved to sell toys over this Christmas being a new seller.