Key Points
- Amazon Brand Registry identifies the owners of brands to Amazon and is designed to help you build and protect your brand. However, you do not have to join the brand registry to sell items on Amazon.
- You are only eligible to join the brand registry if you own an active and registered trademark for your products that are active in the relevant country, if you can confirm that you own the rights through the public contact listed on the trademark registration, and if you also have a Seller Central or Vendor Central Amazon account.
- To sell on Amazon without the brand registry, contact Selling Partner Support, quote the error code 5665 before explaining that you require an exemption, and attach pictures of the product and its packaging.
If you have decided you want to sell products on Amazon, perhaps the first question to ask is if you can sell items without joining the brand registry. And, put simply, you definitely can. Of course, things are rarely quite so straightforward, and there are challenges and consequences when selling on Amazon without joining the brand registry. But, before we go any further, what exactly is the brand registry?
What is Brand Registry?
Amazon Brand Registry is a programme that identifies the owners of brands to Amazon. Pretty much anyone can sell products from any brand they like, but the brand registry is your main defence against someone else copying your brand (and also selling it as your brand) with you not seeing a single penny of that money. It is designed to help you build and protect your brand. With the brand registry, you can report any Intellectual Property (IP) infringement issues. For example, if you are Adidas, and someone else on Amazon claims to be selling Adidas tracksuits at half the cost, you can contact the brand registry, and they will assist you in removing fraudulent sellers. On a more relatable level, if you are a small firm and have created a cartoon character for your brand, joining the brand registry means that only you and the people who pay you can sell merchandise with this character on.
This is highly beneficial as it helps to prevent people from stealing brands and ideas. The brand registry came into play due to Amazon getting sued numerous times by companies whose brands were undermined by people selling fake goods on the online marketplace. However, while this is undoubtedly a great step towards protecting companies, this meant that the responsibility shifted from Amazon to the brand owner in terms of spotting scammers and brand thieves.
If you join the brand registry, you are officially viewed as a brand and only the people you register as official resellers are listed as official resellers. This means that if you report infringements of the brand registry, it is easy for Amazon to enforce sanctions on would-be sellers and force them to sell products in Amazon Retail (where they can sell as a vendor) instead of Amazon Marketplace, which is much more visible.
There are two main advantages of this Brand Registry programme. One is that it helps prevent your listings from being hijacked by competition selling knock-off or counterfeit products. The second is that it helps stop low-cost manufacturers from selling a similar product at a reduced price. Both these issues can cause category saturation, meaning that the only way to truly compete is with dramatic price drops.
What Qualifications Are Needed to Join the Brand Registry Program on Amazon?
There are three main requirements to joining the brand registry:
- You must own an active and registered trademark for the products you wish to sell and that it is active in the relevant country.
- You must confirm that you own the rights through the public contact listed on the trademark registration.
- You must have either a Seller Central or Vendor Central Amazon account.
While you can sell on Amazon without joining the brand registry, there is no reason not to join if you own the brand. But, for sellers who do not have a patent or trademark for their product and therefore cannot become brand registered, you can still sell on Amazon without and be successful.
The Primary Con of Amazon Brand Registry
The bottom line is brand registry is irrelevant and cannot be utilised if you do not have a trademark for the products you wish to sell. Therefore, many smaller-scale sellers must sell their products on Amazon without the brand registry. However, this does not mean they cannot be highly efficient Amazon sellers.
How To Sell on Amazon Without Brand Registry
On Amazon, the term ‘unbranded products’ refers to sellers that promote products without being part of the Amazon Brand Registry programme. While it can be more difficult to add products that include your brand name when you’re not in the programme, it is not impossible. In this section, we detail how to list unbranded items on Amazon; in other words, how to sell on Amazon without the brand registry.
What is the 5665 Error Code on Amazon?
This is important to know as you will see this code pop up when trying to list a product under a brand name that has not gone through the Amazon Brand Registry process yet. The 5665 Error Code is an error message that will say something along the lines of:
“Amazon must approve your brand before you can use it to list products. Brands should be registered through Brand Registry, but if your brand is not eligible for Brand Registry, follow the link and complete the form. “
So, you are starting your journey as a seller on Amazon, and while working on uploading your first product, error code 5665 appears because you do not have the brand registry. Follow our next steps to resolve this error code:
- Contact Selling Partner Support and provide the error code 5665.
- Explain that you manufacture a particular product that requires an exemption from the brand registry programme.
- Attach images of the product and its packaging, clearly showing the brand name. Also, mention the brand name used when creating the listing. If using inventory file templates, please give the Batch ID of the inventory file process report.
Bear in mind that if the product in its packaging has no brand name or specific branding, you must list the product as Generic when creating a new listing.
Crushing the Amazon Marketplace Without Brand Registry
You can still bring in some serious revenue without brand registry with the help of PPC ads. An Amazon PPC specialist can make your products stand out from the crowd and even sell better than those with Amazon Brand Registry status. Amazon ad experts dig deep into keyword research, create killer ad copy, and fine-tune your campaigns for maximum ROI. Going at it alone can result in not targeting the right buyers and high ACOS ratios.
Final Thoughts
The point of Amazon Brand Registry is to identify owners of brands and help you build and protect your brand. In theory, this is a fantastic resource. Unfortunately, you cannot join this programme if you do not have all three requirements to join the brand registry (such as an active and registered trademark). It is still possible to sell on Amazon without this registry and be successful, and countless sellers are proof of this on a daily basis. Just be sure to follow the correct steps when selling ‘unbranded products’. Running an Amazon business can be extremely stressful and confusing, and knowing how to scale your brand can be a real challenge. This is where NUOPTIMA step in. Our team of Amazon growth experts are offering a free discovery call to help you evaluate your brand and its potential for growth. Whether you are looking to sell your brand or expand it further, book a call with us today.