Whether you’re an existing Amazon seller or just someone who wants to sell products on Amazon with little to no prior investment, you can explore Amazon renewed. Selling on Amazon Renewed doesn’t require you to have a brand-new product launch in order to start selling on this platform.
With more consumers leaning toward affordable, sustainable options, Amazon Renewed is a prime opportunity to reach an audience that values quality, budget-friendly alternatives to new products, all being sold under a trusted global marketplace like Amazon.
Sellers are given the opportunity to sell refurbished products on Amazon renewed and also giving shoppers the opportunity to buy refurbished items and pre-owned products from brands at lucrative prices so why not explore the opportunity of building a profitable business around this unique business model?
Let’s dive into what Amazon Renewed is all about, who qualifies to sell on it, and how you can leverage this program to expand your business while saving perfectly good products from going to waste.
Why sell on Amazon Renewed? How can you benefit?
With more and more people being open to buying a refurbished product for a cheaper price or just wanting to experience a high-end product without having to purchase it for a full price, selling on Amazon Renewed can be a win-win situation for both parties.
Every product being sold on it is rigorously tested and gives buyers the confidence to go ahead and make a purchase with warranty and flexible return options.
Returns Management
As an Amazon seller, getting returns is something common all sellers collectively face. As inevitable as it is, this can also open doors to a completely different platform like Amazon Renewed.
For example, lets say you sell handbags and got a return for one of the them you delivered last month because the customer wasn’t satisfied with the colour of it. With the packaging being open, it gets harder to list it back as it wouldn’t look like a fresh piece for the next buyer.
How many of such pieces can you hoard in your warehouse? Products that look and work perfectly fine but are conventionally not the freshest piece.
Here’s when you start listing those products on Amazon renewed.
Low Competition
The competition to sell on Amazon is undoubtedly very high, but Amazon Renewed is quite an exception. The area to grow here is massive, with fewer people selling on the platform, giving your brand a nudge to rank better in the marketplace.
With optimized product listings and abiding by all of Amazon’s guidelines to sell, you have a vast potential to achieve tremendous sales and conversions.
Enhanced Product Discoverability
Anything you sell on Amazon has the scope of getting pushed to a massive audience base. People trying to find an Apple watch might discover your listing and see the same model for a much lower price when sold as a refurbished product.
As more and more people visit your Amazon product listing, the more traffic you will pull towards your Amazon detail page, the more your brand visibility will be drastically increased.
Better Security
Amazon provides an added level of buyer assurance for Amazon Renewed products by offering a 90-day guarantee. If a customer is unhappy with their purchase within this period, Amazon will allow them to return the item, and Amazon will cover the cost of the return. This return policy is in place to make buyers feel more secure when purchasing refurbished products, which might otherwise have a stigma of being less reliable.
By covering these return costs, Amazon aims to maintain high customer satisfaction, which in turn supports its goal of retaining a strong market share by keeping customers coming back to the platform for their purchases.
Powerful Fulfillment System
Being a seller on Amazon Renewed allows sellers to leverage FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon), which functions like partnering with established logistics companies to streamline the shipment and logistics part of your business. FBA manages your brand’s fulfillment procedure and ensures fast and reliable delivery.
What can you sell there?
Refurbished
This category is for those products that are perfectly fine but are sent back as they felt unwanted or faulty after receiving it.
Amazon thoroughly checks for the working and are tested and certified to work along with checking the quality of the products before listing them. They also provide cleaning or fixing services if applied or necessary for the products.
Pre-Owned
As self-explanatory as it is, it means that the product was used previously but is redundant to the user, leading to them selling it. The Item condition of the pre-owned product is certainly good to use but not necessarily new per say.
The product listed is handled with care by the previous owner, and the customer can expect no major downsides to it other than a few minor negligible damages.
Open-Box
In some cases, products might be opened to demonstrate in stores or just opened by customers and not purchased that can’t unfortunately be sold as new products.
If a bulk-box is accidentally opened or the outer packaging is damaged, it will be considered under open-box products to sell.
- Automotive parts
- Cameras
- Headphones and audio
- Home appliances
- Home and industrial tools
- Kitchen appliances
- Laptops and computers
- Musical instruments
- Outdoor and sports
- Office equipment
- Smartphones
- Tablets
- Television sets
- Video game consoles
- Watches
- Electronics
What are the conditional requirements?
| Premium Condition | Excellent Condition | Good Condition | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cosmetic Condition | Premium | Excellent | Good |
| Screen | No scratches | No scratches | No Scratches |
| Body | No signs of cosmetic damage (scratches, dents, etc.) are visible when the product is held 30 centimeters away. | No signs of cosmetic damage (scratches, dents, etc.) are visible when the product is held 30 centimeters away. | Light scratches, barely visible when holding the product 30 centimeters away, and imperceptible to touch. |
| Functional condition | Fully Functional | Fully Functional | Fully Functional |
| Battery | >90% of their original battery life | >80% of their original battery life | >80% of their original battery life |
| Accessories | Original equipment manufacturer accessories and Generic or original packaging provided. | Generic or original equipment manufacturer accessories and packaging provided. | Generic or original equipment manufacturer accessories and packaging provided. |
| Warranty | 1-year Brand Warranty | 6-month Seller Warranty. | 6-month Seller Warranty. |
What is the criteria to be able to sell? Who is an ideal renewed seller
- For new Amazon sellers, the platform requests invoice(s) worth $5000 or more, dated within 90 days prior to the application.
- For existing Amazon sellers, you need to prove an Order Defect Rate (ODR) of less than 0.8% within this 90-day period.
Is there a warranty for customers?
Amazon Renewed products usually come with Amazon Renewed Guarantee. It is a limited warranty that guarantees that the renewed product works absolutely fine until 90 days after purchase. If it fails to do so, the customer is eligible to opt for a free refund or replacement.
Products sold on Amazon Renewed provide a 1-year brand warranty for product condition Premium.
A minimum 6-month seller warranty for product condition, Excellent and Good.
The warranty is provided by the brand or the seller, it is independent to the seller and Amazon is not involved in the warranty.
Return Policy
The Return or Replacement policy differs from category to category but Amazon ensures to provide the customer with at least one option to best suit their needs. This offers customer satisfaction encouraging them to rely on Amazon’s services and pushes them to repurchase in the future, additionally leading to a reduced customer return rate.
Check out Amazon’s detailed return policy
SAFE-T Claim
If you receive false products, you can always apply safe-t claim.
Well, SAFE-T is an acronym that stands for “Seller Assurance For E-commerce Transactions.” SAFE-T claims allows you to appeal full refunds that were issued by Amazon, most often for returns using Amazon-issued prepaid return labels.
If you believe you should not be held financially responsible for a refund decision, you can file a SAFE-T claim for reimbursement and applicable restocking fees.
Who can typically sell
People who sell on Amazon Renewed are typically qualified manufacturers or third-party authorized refurbishers with experience repairing and refurbishing items:
- Manufacturers
Manufacturers may sell excess merchandise to liquidation companies, who then refurbish and resell the items to third-party sellers that meet the refurbishment standards. - Third-party refurbishers
Third-party authorized refurbishers may buy merchandise directly from manufacturers and sell it as refurbished.
How to join the Amazon renewed program
Once you have all the other things in check in order to set up, visit the Amazon Renewed page and find the application there. After completing your Amazon Renewed application, you’ll need to wait 10 business days to hear back from the team about your online business ideas.
Can you sell on Amazon Renewed when you’re already an Amazon seller?
Yes, if you’re already a seller on Amazon, you can definitely still apply to also sell on Amazon Renewed.
- Be a registered Amazon seller
- Meet the Amazon Renewed Quality Policy and Program Terms and Conditions
- Provide a minimum 6-month seller warranty on all products
- Provide invoices for your refurbished purchases
- Meet the ODR requirement of 0.8% or less in the trailing 90 days.
Check out the terms and conditions to apply
Difference between running ads on amazon renewed and regular amazon ads
Running ads are more or less the same, irrespective of whether you are running them for your renewed products or regular products. However, there are still some attributes that set them both apart.
Target Audience
When you sell on Amazon Renewed, note that the “Refurbished” tag will be attached to your listing. This leaves you with a category of shoppers that is budget conscious and thrive on eco-friendly and sustainability practices.
Renewed ads can focus more on affordability, quality and sustainability to resonate with the set of audience who are favourable to your business.
You can also highlight terms like “certified refurbished” or “90-day warranty” that can enhance the appeal, as these details directly address common concerns about buying pre-owned items.
Cost-Effective CPC Ads
As the number of sellers on renewed program are relatively less in comparison to Amazon marketplace, it makes it more affordable to run ads here. With fewer people trying to bid on the kind of keywords you would be targeting, there are high chances of getting to bid on good keywords for a much reasonable price.
A lower CPC for advertising on Renewed can make it a more cost-effective way to reach buyers.
Strategies for Different Ad Types
Sponsored Products are highly effective for Renewed items, as they place products directly in search results or on competitor product pages, helping you capture demand from shoppers looking for similar items at a discount.
Sponsored Display are great way to recommerce as in, retargeting shoppers who viewed your Renewed products but didn’t buy. These ads also appear off-site, which helps re-engage potential customers even after they leave Amazon.
What does it take to turn Amazon renewed into a profitable business?
Stick to high demand products to sell
For better results, make sure to sell products that have previously worked well and have been profitable. Opt for products that are high in demand like Laptops, Tablets, Gaming accessories, Smartwatches, Electronics, Home and Lifestyle, Kitchen Appliances, Gadgets for home/office, etc
When more people want an Apple watch, they don’t mind buying a refurbished one, giving you the leverage to make high conversions.
Source good quality inventory
Although you’re not selling new products, it is importance to take into consideration the quality of the product you are selling. It builds customer trust and encourages repeat purchase when your customer receives his money’s worth.
Maintaining high-quality standards is essential, as Amazon requires that Renewed products pass strict inspections.
Buid Trust with Promt listing details
Be transparent about any imperfections in the product within the product listing. Craft honest and detailed description, title and bullet point that highlight the product features and refurbished status.
Make use of high quality images to showcase all the angles and features for a better understanding of it before making a purchase.
Make use of amazon ads
Don’t hold back on running ads as it will reach the right kind of audience and improve the CTR (Click-throigh-rate) of your ads.
Explore “Best deals” to run deals on your renewed products for added appeal to shoppers.
Focus on running ads on products that are currently running any discounts or have any active coupon codes to attract buyer intent.
Leverage on Amazon’s tools
Amazon Seller Central’s “Profitability Calculator” comes in handy to track metrics like profit margin, ad spend, and return rate in real time.
Regularly review these metrics to make adjustments, such as lowering ad bids or changing suppliers to increase profitability.
You can also make use of third-party profit analysis tools to track these metrics and improve your ad performance.
Is Amazon Renewed Really worth it?
Brand image
Selling renewed products may not be suitable for everyone right for brands that want to maintain a premium image, especially for luxury items.
Return rates
Managing returns can be quite challenging with Amazon’s 90-day guarantee and 1-year limited warranty for customers to return or replace items easily.
Price discounts
Having to offer a 5% or more discount on renewed products compared to new products, may affect your revenue.
Additionally, set the price of your product within 2% of the product’s current Buy Box price. Any higher than that will make it difficult for you to sell.
Application process
Amazon renewed offers quite a complex application process and getting approved for the program can take a long time.
Competition
You will have to compete with brand-new products and other sellers outside of Amazon.
Arbitrage
If the discount on renewed products is too steep, arbitrage sellers may buy them and sell them for a higher price elsewhere.
Less Demand
There may be less demand for refurbished products than new ones but finding the right audience for your brand by targeting them on your ads and doing external advertising on social media can make the process better.
What do do if my listing is under Suppression?
If your products get a high return rate, it is at a risk of going into “Supressed listing”.
Your listing is suppressed when there are high returns or negative reviews, meaning, it will not be eligible to sell temporarily.
Amazon bans products from being sold if they are not being liked by the customers. It suspends your Buy-Box for a period of 7 days so you can make the necessary changes either to you product listing details or to your inventory itself.
Amazon does this so your algorithm is not affected as high returns will slow down your brand visibility and hamper your searchability of other products you have listed as well.
Will high returns result in a poor account health?
If your reviews lack positivity and if your account health is coming at a cost, leverage Amazon’s FBA (Fullfilment by Amazon) where Amazon’s team will take charge of all the shipment and logistics part of your business.
They will ensure the delivery standards are met along with a smooth and fast delivery of your products.
Your account health score should be between 200 to 1,000 to be considered “Healthy.” This will not affect your account and put it at at risk of deactivation.
While as, a score of 100 to 199 is considered “At Risk.” This will include order defect rate, late dispatch rate, order cancellation, return rate etc.
Waste of Shipment charges
Make sure you are always keeping in check the unit and right ASIN/SKU and also do a thorough quality inspection to avoid any unnecessary shipping costs to Amazon on returned items. Steamline your order fulfilment process to have a systematic and organised procedure. You can also check the “Contents” tab for discrepancies before fulfilling any orders.
Conclusion
Amazon Renewed opens up a world of opportunity for sellers looking to tap into a high-demand market for quality, refurbished items. You can position your brand for success by embracing Amazon’s rigorous refurbishment standards, leveraging tools like FBA, and optimizing listings with transparency and precision.
With the right strategies, like using Less Cost-Per-Click (CPC) ads, adhering to Amazon’s quality policies, and focusing on high-demand categories, Amazon Renewed can be a profitable channel that aligns with consumer needs for sustainable and budget-friendly products.
Yes, there are challenges, but by staying proactive and navigating the hurdles along the way, you can turn them into growth opportunities. So, why not dive in and start leveraging the power of Amazon Renewed to build a profitable business?
Alex Kung is the Founder and CEO of Sequence Commerce, with over a decade of hands-on experience in Amazon advertising, marketing, and marketplace strategy. As a certified Amazon Advertising Specialist, Alex has personally managed more than $15M in Amazon ad spend, helping brands achieve an average 40% increase in ROAS across diverse product categories. His expertise spans Amazon DSP programming, inventory optimization, A9 algorithm strategies, and multi-channel e-commerce scaling.
Before founding Sequence Commerce, Alex led e-commerce operations for several 7-figure brands, developing proprietary methodologies for Amazon keyword research and listing optimization now used industry-wide. A regular speaker at e-commerce conferences including SellerCon and Prosper Show, Alex’s data-backed insights have been featured in publications like Entrepreneur and Digital Commerce 360. Through the Sequence Commerce blog, he shares proven, actionable strategies based on current marketplace trends and algorithm updates to help sellers build sustainable Amazon businesses.