In some cases Amazon may restrict you from selling dietary supplements or require you obtain approval before listing in certain categories.

One of the requirements may be to obtain a certificate of analysis (COA)

Certificate of analysis

An overview

A document attesting that specific goods have undergone specified testing with specified results. In international trade, is usually the result of an agreement between the seller and the buyer, or a requirement of one of their governments.

The certificate of analysis is mostly used for food products, wines and spirits, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. T

his certificate can be issued by a certification authority  or at the manufacturer's laboratories.  Usually the analysis is done on samples representing a certain percentage of the total of the goods sold.

Obtaining a COA

While a request for a Certificate of Analysis is routine within the Amazon Marketplace it is not a standard practice for distributors, wholesalers or merchants to have on file for every SKU they sell. To complicate matters even further, the brand itself may not have a certificate of analysis on file and the results of the analysis may not even make any mention of the specific brand.

Collecting a COA may be a painstaking process for an Amazon Marketplace Reseller. Under the circumstances, the reseller should find an alternative to providing this kind of documentation. If no alternative exists, here's what you can do:

1. Contact the brand. Reach out to the brand directly and ask them if they have one on file.

2. If the brand doesn't carry one on file, ask if they can refer you to the lab that performed the analysis. The lab may keep an open database of certificates which you can then download and submit to Amazon.

GreenDropShip supports Amazon Sellers. However, when it comes to providing a COA, it is not within the practice of distributors to have one on file. This is a standard that is unique to the Amazon marketplace. Sellers should ensure that they are in compliance with Amazon COA requirements and part of the compliance measures may mean having to research the laboratory for the brand in which they must offer documentation.