"what to focus on. "

Focus on studying the site, starting with Seller U/ Read it for a month or more BEFORE you do anything. Read the Forum for an hour a day to see the creative ways sellers get suspended so you don't fall into the same traps. Amazon is FULL of potholes and landmines!

Starting with FBA is a questionable decision for rookies since you have no idea if any products you eventually find to sell will actually sell on Amazon or sit in warehouses costing you storage fees that INCREASE if they age without selling.

Before you do anything on here, spend days/weeks studying Seller U and reading the Forum to see some of the creative ways sellers get suspended.

https://sell.amazon.com/learn

If you have watched any YouTube or TikTok videos FORGET everything you saw there.

CORRECT ORDER FOR LISTING ITEMS ON AMAZON

While it is not always the case these are the steps you need to follow more and more frequently on Amazon --

1. Contact the brand and get an LOA that specifically says you are permitted to sell ON AMAZON. While you are in contact with the brand DO STEP 2!!

2. Source from AUTHORIZED wholesale sources that your rep at the brand says are OK. You will have a sales rep at the brand after you contact them and get permission to sell here.

3. Ask your sales rep if they have a whitelist on Amazon and if so can they PLEASE add your seller name (must match what your account registration is) to a seller role on their list in BR!

4. THEN, and only then, add your listing to existing ASINs. More and more only the BRAND is allowed to create an ASIN and trying to create one can get you suspended.

If you got sucked in because of all the experts and gurus on the 'web' be sure to send a nice note thanking the YouTube and TikTok producers that got you into this mess. The 'easy money' that they promised you ended ten years ago!

For any other rookies reading this --

HINT #1 -- VACATION MODE – NOW! Stay in that condition until you have spent a month or more studying #2!

HINT #2 -- SELLER U – NOW!

https://sell.amazon.com/learn

HINT #3 – If you don’t want to do the above, start writing your "please help with my Section 3 suspension' letter NOW. It will save you time when you get it.

IF you happen to "get lucky" and are actually ungated for an ASIN, you are increasingly likely to get SUSPENDED for not having the items listed above!

DO NOT CONFUSE AMAZON allowing you to list (or at least "ungate") an item or category and actually being APPROVED to sell a product. Amazon might ungate you for a CATEGORY, but there can be 100's of brands in the category and they ALL have their own restrictions.

For any other sellers out there that read this post, take it as a warning -- DO NOT come here unprepared for the realities of selling on Amazon.