Everyone wants to look beautiful and that’s where you can make some serious money selling online.
Tap into Amazon’s success in selling beauty and cosmetic products online. Selling beauty products on Amazon can be very profitable if you know what the best-sellers are and how to get your listings noticed to make sure people buy all of your inventory.
Let’s talk about some great tips on everything you need to know about selling beauty products on Amazon.
We will also discuss how software like Tactical Arbitrage can help you with sourcing products to get the most profit from your third-party beauty business or cosmetic business.
Is Selling Beauty Products On Amazon Profitable?
Yes, selling under Amazon’s Beauty and Personal Care category is always a popular and profitable option if you do it right.
As of 2018, this category had started to transition from the traditional retail sale in brick and mortar stores to online selling as the third fastest-growing category on Amazon.
Think about it!
Amazon is already the top online site for selling everything from clothing to toys, gadgets, furniture, groceries, and beauty and personal care items.
Search Amazon for cosmetics, and you will see more than 90,000 search results. Some examples of beauty products include:
- False Lash Effect Mascara
- Volumizer Hot Air Brush
- Acne Scars Cream
- Makeup Bag Bundles
- Fine Hairs Combs
Imagine if you start sourcing and selling items that are on the best-selling Amazon beauty product list.
Selling cosmetics or any beauty product on Amazon is a big business! There are some things to understand, however, that will help you achieve the most profit.
How to Get Started Selling Cosmetics on Amazon?
Of course, before you start selling cosmetics or beauty products on Amazon, you first need to be established as an Amazon seller.
The Amazon Seller page will walk you through this process.
But that is only the first hurdle to start selling beauty items on Amazon. You have to jump through some extra hoops in order to be “allowed” to sell these types of items.
This process is called ungating and can be a little confusing to those who aren’t familiar with it. By going through the ungating process, you can unlock additional sub categories under the parent beauty category.
You will need to do this even if you want to establish your own beauty brand to sell cosmetics.
Getting Ungated in Beauty & Cosmetics
Amazon used to gate the beauty category, but as of 2017, it was ungated with no huge announcement. It just kinda happened. Everyone could start selling beauty without having to apply or having to get approved.
However, there are still a few brands within this category, like L’Oreal, as well as subcategories that require an application process before you will be allowed to sell them on Amazon.
These subcategories include:
- Luxury Beauty
- Professional Beauty
- Indie Beauty
These three subcategories are exclusive.
The Luxury Beauty subcategory includes top brands like Elizabeth Arden or Butter London as well as any brand associated with luxury or high quality.
Professional Beauty includes a selection of high-quality products that are found in professional settings like salons, spas, or dermatology offices.
Indie Beauty includes all emerging beauty brands that are independently owned and not stocked by major retailers.
Like other gated categories, Amazon wants to keep their customers safe and protected from dangerous or counterfeit products. To unlock the gate so to speak, you will need to first get approval.
For some great tips on being ungated, check out this video below:
The exact approval process may be slightly different depending on the specific product you want to sell. However, the end result will be that you will be able to sell the product.
The process is the same as with any restricted category. From Amazon Seller Central, click on Add a Product, search for the item you want to sell.
Click on Listing Limitations Apply, and continue to Request Approval. Now, you will be able to submit the required documents.
These steps to get approved to sell in these subcategories might include providing proof of a valid FDA registration, supplying a manufacturer invoice from the last 180 days, providing your GMP Good Manufacturing Practices certificate, or providing a COA Certificate of Analysis.
Don’t let a gated category or brand stop you from selling beauty or cosmetic items online. Get started selling by identifying and then focusing on the kind of beauty and cosmetics products you want to sell. Include on your list specific ingredients that you do or do not want.
For instance, do you want to only sell items with only organic ingredients or cruelty-free products? Some find success by concentrating on products made specifically for sensitive skin or for specific skin tones or skin type.
Make sure the product is FDA approved. To be sure your product complies with FDA regulations, stay up to date by researching new bills introduced to Congress.
Beauty and Health Category
Beauty products fall under the Beauty & Health category on Amazon. This encompasses a wide array of items that are not limited to beauty or cosmetics products alone.
The category also includes:
- skin care products and professional skin care
- men’s grooming products
- hair care products
- salon & spa
- oral care
- fragrance
- vitamins and supplements
- household items
- health items
- baby care items
- tools & makeup brushes
Why does Amazon have so many requirements for cosmetics?
Cosmetics are an item that comes into direct contact with skin when it is used. This is the main reason why the large online retailer feels pressure to Amazon regulate cosmetics.
If these products are not formulated or regulated well, they may cause problems ranging from slight skin irritation discomfort or worse.
To maintain its reputation online and to make sure its customers are safe, Amazon puts restrictions in place to make sure the health and beauty products on their site adhere to high safety standards.
The good news for sellers who are third-party sellers of an already established beauty or cosmetic brand is that you will not need to register with the FDA to sell. All FDA registration is up to the manufacturer to provide.
However, you will want to make sure any product you choose to sell is FDA approved. To be completely safe, avoid international products from areas like China.
Some sellers opt to register through the VCRP, Voluntary Cosmetics Registration Program which will often help you get approved to sell in gated subcategories.
The VCRP is a reporting system used by manufacturers, packers, and distributors of cosmetics within the United States.
Amazon Selling Fees For Cosmetics
At a minimum, expect to pay the $39.99 per month fee to become a professional seller. Alternatively, you can opt out of the professional seller fee and pay a $0.99 price on each item you sell.
On top of the monthly professional selling fee or per item fee, Amazon charges a fee on each item you sell. This is called a referral fee. For the beauty category in general, this amounts to 8% with a total sell price of $10 or less.
This percentage goes up to 15% for the remaining amount.
Some sellers choose to invest in advertising on Amazon to promote their listings as sponsored listings. The benefit of this is that your item will get noticed.
The downside is that it could get lost in the algorithms leaving you out the ad campaign money with no sales. Typically, you pay a variable amount every time someone clicks on your ad.
If you use FBA Fulfillment by Amazon, which is a service that gives you the opportunity to use Amazon warehouses to pack and ship your products, there will be specific fees that apply depending on various factors such as dimensions and weight of the product.
For instance, Amazon referral fee is higher if you use FBA.
Helpful Top-Ranking Beauty And Cosmetic Amazon Seller Tips
The next step is choosing the best products to sell.
Before you get started selling cosmetics on Amazon, it is important to understand what the online site considers to be cosmetics. Amazon defines cosmetics as:
products that are usually rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed onto the body for cleansing, beautifying, or changing the appearance of the body. Cosmetics are products like skin creams, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail polishes, eye and facial makeup, shampoos, hair colors, toothpaste, and deodorants.
Amazon sellers find success in selling cosmetics on Amazon by first finding the right already established brands.
Since Amazon introduced its own private label skincare line in March 2019, retailers began turning to a detailed strategy of selling existing products brands by retail or online arbitrage and not creating their own unknown brand.
Adhering to Amazon’s rules and regulations is always a must for sellers. Among other requirements, these regulations require that the product be new.
When you start listing your beauty products, you will want to do everything you can to get them noticed in a vast sea of online product choices.
These are also things to look for in an existing product listing if you purchase these online to resell them.
Use Amazon’s algorithms to your advantage so that your items start showing up on the first search page that potential buyers see.
Do this by filling as many Amazon Ranking Factors boxes as you can, such as the following:
Image Quality
One of the most important listing features to focus on is the pictures of your product. Customers often buy based on the image alone. If there isn’t a good image, they are going to move right on to the next item.
Keywords and Listing Title
Keywords are descriptive words that customers will type into a search bar on Amazon. When you list your product, make sure the title contains keywords that a buyer will look for, but do so naturally without stuffing in too many awkwardly placed keywords.
Quantity and Quality of Reviews
Try to get a minimum of ten verified reviews on a product. If you’re not already established as a seller, ask friends or family to buy your product and review it. Aim for 5-star honest reviews.
Fulfilled by Amazon
By using FBA, your products rank higher because they are eligible for Prime buyers.
Sales Volume
Your sales volume is based on how many units of product you sell each day. For instance, if you sell 10 units a day, and your sales suddenly plummet, you will lose your ranking fast.
Because of this, it’s always a good idea to inactivate your listings if you run out of stock.
Product Description and Details
Never discredit the importance of a well-written product description. Many buyers purchase items based only on the pictures, but there are others who will read every last detail that you put in your description.
Or, they are looking for one specific detail. Make sure all of your product descriptions are well written and include all the important details about the product.
Prepping Beauty & Cosmetic Products
Once you find your items, you need to prep them for shipping and storage at an Amazon warehouse.
Prep your beauty and cosmetic products to be sent to be fulfilled by Amazon by making sure it is labeled and packaged properly. The FBA product label will need to be visible on the outside of the product package.
If an item you are shipping needs to be kept cool or anything is liquid, be sure to follow the specific packaging prep steps, so it doesn’t leak or spoil in transit.
When you prepare the item to ship to the warehouse or distribution center, Amazon will show you how they require it to be packed.
Follow the steps for prepping all products from your Amazon Seller Central.
Using Tactical Arbitrage To Find Beauty Products To Sell
Using Tactical Arbitrage as a software tool to help find beauty products to sell makes your job as a seller so much easier. To use the software, you will first need to be a professional Amazon seller.
Set the parameters on the software, and let Tactical Arbitrage go to work to source beauty products from Walmart, Target, Ulta, or other popular sites.
Search and scan hundreds of sites online.
Check prices and match prices with Amazon to look for the most profitable items to sell. Ultimately, you are in control to decide what specific parameters you are looking for. Use the data that Tactical Arbitrage reports for making more detailed seller decisions.
Final Thoughts
Start selling beauty or cosmetic products on Amazon, or gain more profits from those you are already selling. It’s a great category and it is a great opportunity to make some serious cash if you take the steps needed to start selling.
Once you are all signed up, use Tactical Arbitrage software to scrape online stores like Walmart or Target and compare prices based on certain criteria. It’s one of the best software out there to help you source beauty products to sell on Amazon.
Once you find a deal, you can buy products at an affordable price and sell for large profits.
After that, you can start customizing what you want to look for, and get ready to make great profits by selling beauty products on Amazon today.