Chapter 24: Product compliance

What you'll learn: how to spot dangerous goods (hazmat), what Amazon requires for products with expiration dates, and the basic product safety duties of a US reseller.

Dangerous goods (hazmat)

Dangerous goods, usually called hazmat, are products that could be a risk in storage or transport because they contain something flammable, pressurized, corrosive or otherwise harmful. Many are everyday items: aerosols, perfumes, nail polish, some cleaning products and anything with a lithium battery can all fall into this group.

What matters is the specific product, not its type, so two similar products can be classified differently. Amazon reviews each product using information such as its safety data sheet (SDS), and decides whether it can be stored in its fulfillment centers.

• Some dangerous goods can't be sent to FBA at all, such as explosives, toxic gases and radioactive materials.
• Others are allowed in limited quantities, and some only for sellers in Amazon's FBA Dangerous Goods program.
• Lithium batteries have their own conditions.
• Storage costs more. Dangerous goods have their own, higher monthly storage rates (Chapter 5.2).

The simple approach while you're learning: use ArbiSource's hazmat warning and exclude hazmat results in your filters (Chapter 13). If you do want to sell a product that may be dangerous goods, check its status under Manage dangerous goods classification in Seller Central before you buy. Units sent in before their classification is confirmed may have to be disposed of without reimbursement.

Read Amazon's guide: Dangerous goods identification guide (hazmat).

Expiration-dated products

Amazon treats any product with a shelf life, or that loses effectiveness over time, as expiration-dated, even if no date is printed on it. That includes:

• food, beverages, pet food, supplements and other consumables;
• lotions, soaps, shampoos, cosmetics and sunscreen;
• cleaning products such as wipes, sprays and detergents;
• some outdoor products, such as pest control and lawn care;
• safety products with a manufacturing date, such as car seats and fire extinguishers.

How much shelf life is needed? When it's checked in at Amazon, a product needs enough shelf life left to be used up in full, plus another 90 days. A bottle of supplements with 240 daily servings needs at least 330 days. Amazon also gives guide times for common products:

Product	Minimum time before expiration on arrival at Amazon
Chips and other snacks	90 days
Dried fruit; cereal and granola bars; pet food and treats; baby formula	180 days
Beverages such as coffee, tea, soda and juice; salad dressings and oils; flour, spices and baking supplies	270 days
Pasta; peanut butter, jams and preserves; condiments	365 days
Candy; canned food	540 days
Herbal or mineral supplements	730 days
Cleaning supplies; personal care and beauty products	900 days

This is a guide, not a complete list; check Amazon's page for anything else.

Labeling expiration dates:

• Show the date as MM-DD-YYYY or MM-YYYY (Amazon reads a month-only date as the first day of that month). If the printed date uses a different format, apply a sticker in the right format over it.
• Ingestible products must show an expiration or manufacturing date; a lot number alone isn't enough. A "best by" or "sell by" date counts as an expiration date.
• Case packs, multipacks and display boxes need the date on the outer packaging and on each item inside. On the outer box, Amazon asks for the date in 36-point type or larger.
• If a product needs extra prep, such as a poly bag or bubble wrap, put the expiration date label on the outside.
• Don't cover other product information, such as ingredients, drug facts or net contents.
• One expiration date per ASIN in each box: units of the same product with different dates go in separate boxes.

Items that have already expired when they arrive are disposed of, and Amazon can't return them. Unsold stock that nears its expiration is set to unsellable, so turn on automatic removals in your inventory settings if you'd like it sent back.

In practice: check the date before you buy, especially on clearance stock, and think about how long your units will take to sell (Chapter 8). A short-dated bargain only works if it sells well before its date.

Read Amazon's guides: Expiration-dated products and Packaging and prep requirements.

A carton printed with its batch number, manufacture date and expiration date. Photo: Corn cheese, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).

Product safety basics

Every consumer product sold in the US must be safe. When you buy products from US stores and websites and resell them, you're a reseller. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is clear that resellers must not sell recalled products or products that don't meet federal safety rules. Certificates such as a Children's Product Certificate (CPC) are issued by manufacturers and importers, not by resellers, but you're still responsible for what you sell.

In practice:

• Buy from reputable retailers, and sell products only in their original, unopened packaging, with all the original warnings, instructions and labels. Leave any existing warnings in place, including state-specific ones such as California Proposition 65 labels.
• Check for recalls. The CPSC publishes recalls, and you can also search SaferProducts.gov. If a product you hold is recalled, stop selling it.
• Take extra care with products that have their own rules, such as children's products, electrical goods, cosmetics and anything you swallow or apply to skin. Amazon may ask for documents before you can list some of these (Chapter 22).
• Act on any safety concern. If a customer reports a safety problem, stop selling the product and look into it.

For more detail, read the CPSC's Resellers Guide and its business education pages.

Checklist

• I exclude hazmat results while I'm learning
• I check expiration dates before buying, and allow time to sell
• I know the MM-DD-YYYY format and the one-date-per-box rule
• I sell products only in their original packaging, with all warnings and instructions
• I know where to check for product recalls