If you’re an Amazon seller—especially a reseller or a seller who specializes in used goods—it’s important to familiarize yourself with Amazon’s condition guidelines. That’s because condition guidelines are a key part of accurately representing products to potential customers.
Whether you’re matching offers to existing pages in the Amazon store or building new product detail pages, you’ll want to make sure you’re picking the right condition for each item you sell. Read on to learn more about Amazon condition guidelines, why they’re important, the types of conditions you can sell products under, and more.
What are product conditions, and why is it important to use them correctly in the Amazon store?
Conditions are exactly what they sound like—the condition of an item you intend to sell with Amazon. In general, this can range from New, in which an item has never been out of its factory packaging, to Used, of which there are varying degrees depending on the wear and tear on the item.
Amazon’s general condition guidelines were created with both sellers and customers in mind. They help support transparency and clarity around the use and quality of specific items. Before you select a condition for an item, it’s important to thoroughly inspect it for signs of use. Along with accurate product descriptions, clear photos, and useful bullet points, item conditions help customers make informed purchasing decisions.
The more accurate your conditions, the better chances you have of avoiding returns and negative feedback. And if you sell multiple versions of the same product with varying conditions, informing customers about each condition can help give them more opportunities to buy. Ultimately, conditions support a more satisfying customer experience.
Review Amazon’s general condition guidelines
What types of conditions can be used to sell products with Amazon?
There are eight types of conditions included in Amazon’s general condition guidelines:
- New: For a product to be considered New, it should be as if you walked into a store and bought it right off the shelf in its factory packaging. If applicable, the product should include warranty details too. Think kitchen appliances that have never been unboxed or unsealed. Note that some products are required to be in New condition when their sold in the Amazon store, and that it’s a requirement for becoming the Featured Offer.
- Renewed: By now you’ve probably heard the term “pre-owned,” where a product may have been owned by someone else, but still works like new. Renewed products need to have been inspected and tested by an Amazon-qualified supplier, have minimal to no signs of wear and tear, and no visible cosmetic imperfections that can be seen from 12 inches away. Any exceptions to these rules should appear on the product detail page. An example product may be a vacuum cleaner that has had some light use but is still perfectly functional.
- Rental: Products that qualify as rentals may have previously been used by other customers, but after inspection and grading by a qualified supplier, the product is deemed to be in working condition and thereby sellable. This could include musical instruments, so long as they have a carrying case and no functional imperfections that impact playability.
- Used - Like New or Open Box: Have you ever bought a product, opened the box, looked at it and maybe tested it out once, then decided it wasn’t right for you? This is the category for items like that. It’s in perfect working condition and may be missing its original shrink wrap, but overall it’s intact and fully functional. For example, a personal gaming console case that comes in its original packaging and looks and functions like new.
- Used - Very Good: Despite showing a little wear and tear, these are items that are still in good working condition despite the odd blemish. An example may be a portable puzzle table that has moderate damage to its packaging, but for the most part it’s in good condition.
- Used - Good: Generally, the kinds of items you’d find at a thrift store are the ones considered in good condition. It may show some wear from consistent use, like minor cosmetic damage, but it’s still functional—even if it had to be repackaged. Think a pair of Bluetooth headphones that only come with a charging cable, and no other accessories or original packaging.
- Used - Acceptable: These items may be pretty worn with damaged packaging, if they’re not fully repackaged. Signs of wear can include worn corners, scratches, and dents—like a graphing calculator that has moderate cosmetic damage to its casing.
- Collectible: To be categorized as collectible, the item has to share some additional value. Think vintage comic books that may have some wear and tear, but still have some cultural significance, like originating from an imprint’s golden era. Just make sure to detail the item’s significance on its product detail page.
What types of conditions can be used to sell books with Amazon?
Books are an expansive category of ecommerce that come with their own set of condition guidelines alongside Amazon’s general condition guidelines. Amazon’s book condition guidelines are:
- New: These are the books that arrive fresh off the printer with a cover, all their pages and protective wrapping. Books with markings, additional labels, or that are considered “remaindered” don’t count as New.
- Used - Like New: Books with light cosmetic issues can be considered Like New even with minor marks or bends on the cover, spine, pages or dust cover, as long as the dust cover is intact and the pages aren’t marred with notes or tears.
- Used - Very Good: This category builds on the Like New category with room for minor cosmetic damage like regular wear and tear, with additional allowances like missing shrink wrap, dust covers, or boxed set cases.
- Used - Good: Books in this category should still have all their pages and the cover should be intact. But it’s okay if the spine is showing some wear and tear, and if pages have limited notes or highlighting.
- Used - Acceptable: Include the wear and tear highlighted from all the previous categories to books that fall under Acceptable, and add in minor water damage that doesn’t impact the readability of the text.
- Unacceptable: Books that fall under this category are basically impossible to read—think books that have missing pages, obscured text, or unreadable text. Other books that fall under this category include advance reading copies or uncorrected proofs of in-print or not-yet-published books.
Collectible books have an additional layer of guidelines:
- Collectible - Like New: Books in this condition can have very small flaws as long as they’re mostly unnoticeable. But for the most part, the pages and cover must be intact (along with the dust cover, if applicable). The spine should also not be creased.
- Collectible - Very Good: These books have pages that are intact and don’t include notes or highlighting, and the spine shouldn’t show signs of wear. However, if the book has a dust cover, it’s okay if it shows signs of some rubbing or chipping.
- Collectible - Good: The pages and covers of these books should be intact, as well as the dust cover, if there is one. The spine may look worn, but generally, Good condition books aren’t collectible grade.
- Collectible - Acceptable: Basically, these books are readable but have significant signs of wear, and if they had a dust jacket, it may be missing. Unless it’s incredibly rare, a book in Acceptable condition isn’t collectible grade.
Learn more about book condition guidelines
What other products have conditions guidelines?
In addition to books, there are other categories of products that have specific condition guidelines. They include:
- Rentals: Think textbooks and musical instruments, which shouldn’t have odors, functional impairments, and more.
- Music: This includes vinyl, magnetic tape and discs, along with collectible items.
- Electronics, Camera & Photo, and PC: You may need to obtain approval to list certain products in this category.
- Software & Computer Games: This is another category where you may need to obtain approval to list certain products, and only full retail versions of software can be sold in the Amazon store.
- Cell Phones & Accessories: Follow these requirements to sell used or renewed cell phones and accessories to customers.
- Personal Computers: In addition to restoring the computer’s hard drive and any software, there are other important steps to take to sell used or renewed computers.
- Consumer Electronics: This is another category where you may need to obtain approval before listing certain products.
- Toys & Games: There are special requirements for collectibles under this category.
- Home & Garden: This can include kitchen and other large appliances, and there are restrictions on certain items.
- Ink and Toner Cartridges: Among other guidelines, renewed or used cartridges aren’t suitable for sale in the Amazon store.
- Video, DVD & Blu-ray Discs: New, used, and collectible items all have specific condition requirements that must be met.
- Video Games: Select games may require approval to list, and there are additional condition guidelines for video games.
- Tools & Hardware: Whether new or used, tools and hardware have specific condition guidelines.
- Watches: Before meeting the condition guidelines for selling watches, your products will need to be pre-approved for sale.
- Consumable, Ingestible, and/or Topical Products: This covers products in categories such as Beauty, Food & Grocery, Health Care, and Vitamins & Dietary Supplements.
- Medical Devices: Think instruments, apparatuses, machines, or related objects used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent diseases in people or animals.
What conditions are unacceptable to sell products under?
- They’re dirty, corroded, heavily stained or moldy
- They’re damaged to the point where they can’t be used, or they’re difficult to use, like a guitar with no back or strings
- They’re missing essential parts or materials, like a video game console with no controllers
- They need repair or service, such as a vacuum cleaner that makes a horrible noise when you run it (even though it works)
- They’re fake, copied, or don’t come from the original manufacturer
- They’re a promotional or advanced copy, or a sample, like galley copies of books that haven’t been proofed
- They’re at or near their expiration date, or the expiration date has been altered or removed, such as supplements with the expiry date blacked out on the bottle
- They’re marked unsellable or marked for destruction or disposal, like an unauthorized version of a designer handbag that has been slashed across the front to prevent reselling
- They’re prohibited for sale in the Amazon store
Read more about restricted products
How do you select a product condition when listing?
It’s important to pick the appropriate condition for your item when you’re listing. First, log into Seller Central, select Catalog, then Add Products from the main menu.
If you’re matching an offer to an existing listing, select the condition that best matches your item from the drop-down menu in the search results.
If you’re creating a new listing, select the condition for your item on the Offer tab.
How do you sell a product in more than one condition?
To offer a product in more than one condition, log into Seller Central and from the main menu, select Inventory, then Manage All Inventory. From there, find the product on the Manage All inventory page and use the options at the end of the row to select Add another condition.
Tips for selecting the right condition for your product
Now that you’re up to speed on the types of conditions and how to select them when listing a product, here’s some tips to follow to help you select the right conditions to represent your items in the most accurate light:
- Do a thorough inspection of your products: Go beyond just eyeballing your units when they come in—give them a really good going over to make sure you know exactly what kind of shape they’re in. If you miss something in your inspection and list your product incorrectly, that could have a negative effect on a customer’s shopping experience.
- Don’t forget about product recalls: Before you list your product, make sure it hasn’t been subject to a recall. Not only could this be a safety violation, but customers could leave negative feedback if they find out the product they just bought has been recalled.
- Be detailed in your descriptions: If an item you’re selling has a scratch in it, try to offer a measurement. If there’s a ding, explain where the ding is. Try to paint a complete picture of the item and where customers can expect to see blemishes so they know exactly what they’re purchasing.
- Honesty is the best policy: Telling the truth about the condition of your item is important—especially since the customer is going to see its condition when you ship it to them. If the condition they get doesn’t match the condition described in the listing, that could result in negative feedback.
- Package and ship with care: Once you’ve made the sale, ensure that your product is well packaged to guard against any damage. This could mean using special boxes or packing materials like bubble wrap, and if you have a particularly fragile or large product, consider going with a specialty shipper who is skilled at handling delicate or oversized items.
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