Walmart Marketplace Product Compliance Requirements: An Overview

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Walmart Marketplace Product Compliance Requirements

The Walmart Marketplace can be an attractive alternative to Amazon for e-commerce businesses looking to diversify their sales channels. In this guide, we explain what third-party sellers must know about product safety, labeling, and certification requirements when selling on Walmart Marketplace.

This guide is largely based on seller requirements on their page titled Supplier Expectations Compliance Areas. We help you understand these requirements from a more practical perspective. Keep in mind that their requirements may have been updated since the date of publication. Further, these guidelines are not specifically targeting Walmart Marketplace sellers, but to Walmart’s suppliers in general.
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eBay Product Compliance & Safety Requirements for Sellers: An Overview

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eBay Product ComplianceRequirements for Sellers

Selling products on eBay in the US, EU, UK, and Australia requires that your products are safe and compliant. In practice, this means that you need to arrange lab testing, create label files and certain documentation – before you list your items on eBay.

In this guide, we take a closer look at the eBay Product Safety Policy, and what it means for sellers. We also cover recalls, actions against non-compliant products, and seller pre-approvals. Continue reading eBay Product Compliance & Safety Requirements for Sellers: An Overview

Etsy Product Compliance & Safety Requirements for Sellers: An Overview

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Etsy Product Compliance

In 2021 we started receiving reports from Etsy sellers having their products removed from the marketplace. We have recently studied Etsy’s seller and product compliance policies, and their reasoning for removing certain items.

In this article, we share our findings to help Etsy sellers better understand their product safety obligations – and why it can be challenging to make the numbers work when it comes to lab testing and certifying handicrafts, and limited production runs. Continue reading Etsy Product Compliance & Safety Requirements for Sellers: An Overview

Test Reports and Product Certificates on Alibaba: A Complete Guide

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Alibaba suppliers often upload lab test reports and product certificates on their company pages. Some buyers assume that this indicates that the supplier in question is by default “compliant” or “certified” in the sense that they exclusively make products in compliance with safety standards and regulations in the US, EU, and other countries.

However, this is far from the truth – and misunderstanding what test documents mean spells disaster for importers that are less experienced with product compliance. Continue reading Test Reports and Product Certificates on Alibaba: A Complete Guide

ISO 17025 Accreditation for Product Testing Labs: A Complete Guide

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ISO 17025

ISO 17025 is a globally recognized standard aiming at determining the capability of testing and calibration laboratories. It serves the purpose of demonstrating the competency of lab activities, such as providing accurate and timely results.

Using an ISO 17025 accredited laboratory can also help importers and manufacturers to ensure that their products’ testing results are reliable. Also, some marketplaces such as Amazon only accept ISO 17025 accredited labs, for certain product listings.

In this guide, we introduce the scope of ISO 17025, the accreditation process, and list some ISO 17025 accredited laboratories.
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Plastic Product Regulations and Safety Standards in the European Union

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Plastic Products

Plastics and consumer products made of plastics are subject to chemical restrictions, bans, labeling, and lab testing requirements. In this guide, we explain how REACH, RoHS Directive, and many other regulations apply to plastic materials and consumer products.

Further, we also look into plastic food contact materials regulations, and regulations concerning single-use plastics in the European Union.

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Dropshipping Product Safety and Compliance Risks: An Overview

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If you’re reading this article you’re likely a dropshipping seller worried about the prospect of unknowingly selling unsafe and non-compliant products. If you ask me, you have reason to be.

There’s are far more questions than answers when it comes to product safety and compliance when it comes to dropshipping. As such, I wrote this article as a reflection on my experience with both sellers and suppliers in the dropshipping world.

Important: This article is not aimed at any particular dropshipping supplier, online marketplace, or service. This article only raises broad and general issues related to product compliance and dropshipping. Continue reading Dropshipping Product Safety and Compliance Risks: An Overview

Selling Unsafe and Non-Compliant Products: 7 Potential Outcomes

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Broken cable

Product testing and certification may seem overly expensive and bothersome for some importers. That said, selling unsafe and non-compliant products is not only a severe risk for the consumers in your target market but also something that can massively backfire on your own business.

Keep reading, and learn what can happen if you fail to ensure compliance with all relevant safety standards, certification requirements, and labeling rules. Continue reading Selling Unsafe and Non-Compliant Products: 7 Potential Outcomes

How to Send Product Samples for Lab Testing: A Complete Guide

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Product sample parcel

Product testing is often required when importing products to the United States, European Union, Australia, Canada, and other countries. However, many importers struggle to understand how and when to submit product samples to the testing company.

In this guide, I explain how this process works and whether you should submit pre-production samples or batch samples or testing. Continue reading How to Send Product Samples for Lab Testing: A Complete Guide

Product Safety Lab Testing Costs: An Overview

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When it comes to product compliance, one of the biggest obstacles facing importers and exports is the cost of lab testing. Third-party lab testing can cost a hundred dollars, or tens of thousands, depending on the number of applicable regulations, required tests, number of products, materials, and colors.

That said, there are ways to keep costs under control, but only if you have a basic understanding of how the lab test costs are structured.

In this article, you will learn how testing companies price their testing services, and what you can do to keep them down to a certain extent. Continue reading Product Safety Lab Testing Costs: An Overview