The How and Why of Amazon's New Restricted Listing Program

As of September 15, 2014, Amazon started restricting the listing of most Blu-Ray and DVD titles.  They claim that they are starting this program to reduce fraudulent or inaccurate listings.  The main reason this can happen is when sellers knowingly or unknowingly list movie titles that are either not region coded to play in the United States/North America/South America, or they are similar, but not that exact same UPC/ASIN code. "We are implementing this restriction because these products may have a higher risk of authenticity issues." (Read the full article on Amazon Seller Central)

Houston, we have a problem...

I went to list several items, and they were restricted (meaning a seller must re-apply to sell these items).  They could avoid discouraging good sellers by automatically approving sellers with 100% feedback ratings.  I occasionally list DVDs, Blu-Rays, and video games from my private collection, or single items aquired from other collections that are in Very Good to New Condition.  These items had blocked pages where little information was given, except " Sorry, the ability to create a listing for this item is restricted." Let's do better next time Amazon.  The least they could have done was provide a link for this generic page letting sellers know about their new policy.  I had to go hunting for this page to find out the new restrictions for video products. 

The following are items that I was not able to list, as of December 2014:
- Thor 2 Dark World (2-Disc 3D Blu-ray + Blu-ray)
- Frozen [Blu-ray] - no link to list the item
- Yojimbo Criteron DVD - restricted item
- Lion King (2-disc Platinum Edition) - restricted item
- Howl's Moving Castle (no link to list the item)
- Spirited Away (no link to list the item)
- My Neighbor Totoro (no link to list the item)


From Amazon.com's Seller Help:

As part of our ongoing efforts to provide a great shopping experience, beginning September 15, 2014, sellers who have not sold any items in the Video, DVD, & Blu-ray category between September 6, 2013 and September 15, 2014 will be required to apply to sell in the category.

Additionally, sellers who have sold one or more items in the category between September 6, 2013 and September 15, 2014 will be required to apply to sell DVDs with Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Prices (MSRP) of $25 or greater. All sellers in this group may continue to list DVDs with MSRPs below $25 and Blu-rays at any MSRP without further action.

source: Amazon Seller Central

Suggested Retail Price Clause 

Almost every recent blu-ray release is going to have an MSRP of $25 or greater.  This means that unless you want to list bargain-bin DVDs and Blu-Rays, you're going to have to reapply to list almost any recent movie title.

Bad for Small/Micro sized, Legitimate Home Based Sellers

Most of the minimum seller requirements are perfect because they block-out bad or deceptive sellers.  The only problem is that Amazon has added a premium account requirement just to sell movies, which crosses the line; because it prevents small, home-based businesses who occasionally sell privately owned items if they don't want to shell out cash for a professional account.
"If you do not have a Professional seller account, you must agree to upgrade to a Professional selling plan within 30 days after your application is approved" [Read more at the Amazon Seller Central article]

Discouraging at first, but eventually helpful for people who sell on Amazon for living.

For reputable sellers this is going to benefit their business and avoid competitors trying to sell knock-offs or items that are not exactly matching the movie title listing.  Where this really benefits the consumer is when buying products like cell phones that need to match the correct product.

If I want to buy a used iPhone 5 on Amazon and someone ships me anything else, it would really discourage me from purchasing used cell phones on Amazon unless I feel very comfortable purchasing from a seller than has an extremely high feedback rating and gives a detailed enough description of the product that I know they are inspecting items individually before listing them.

Selling Your DVDs and Blu-Rays Elsewhere

If you already sell on eBay, it's pretty simple to start listing items on Half.com, which is the main competitor to Amazon's used marketplace.  Since Amazon is restricting the sale of Thor: The Dark World on Blu-Ray, I will probably list my copy on Half.com

Share Your Thoughts in the Comments Below

How do you feel about Amazon's new policy?

Could they improve the page that says an item is "restricted"?

Will their new policy help or hinder your selling on Amazon?