AuctionBytes features an interesting interview with Amazon.com’s Director of Business Solutions Matt Williams about the Pro Merchant program, Gold / Platinum-level requirements, account reinstatements and Amazon’s feedback system.

While it’s not worth arguing over Amazon’s feedback system (only seller ratings really matter), Matt does discuss in some detail what it takes to become a Gold seller:

And clearly if we have trusted sellers that we know are going to ship the product at a level that is at or close to what Amazon.com is known for today, we are going to put those merchants and those products in front of more of our consumers.

Earlier last week I received a question for sales tax collection on Amazon from a Silver merchant in the Toys category. Today only Gold and Platinum-level sellers have the ability to configure what, if any, sales tax to assess by US State (ship-to address) via the Tax Settings option in the Seller Central dashboard. The next question, of course, was how one goes about upgrading to Gold level (which also gives 3P sellers on Amazon.com more branding options and faster payment settlement).

While there’s no clear formula available from Amazon, feedback, fulfillment latency, quantity, sales and account age are definitely part of the equation. So if you stack up pretty well within your category at Amazon, and you’re not a Gold seller today, reach out to Amazon per Matt’s suggestion to request an upgrade.

Note though that an upgrade will also mean incrementally higher seller requirements for your listings (more scrutiny to ensure your images, descriptions and bullets are top-notch) and your account. Gold sellers are generally required to sign a one-year agreement (rumor has it that the monthly Pro Merchant subscription is waived) as well as stricter enforcement of Amazon’s price and selection parity clause (must offer the same selection and prices as your eCommerce site).

Related posts:

1. News Flash: Jewelry still a very hot item on Amazon Continuing its tradition of sharing select category successes, Amazon announced this morning that its Jewelry category has grown over 100% during the holiday season (compared...
2. Diamonds are Amazon’s best friend Unfortunately Amazon.com does not publicize granular category sales data (sales, number of sellers, growth rates) but selectively shares highlights in its earnings announcements. One exception...
3. Amazon Seller Conference 2008 - Summary With the Amazon Seller Conference concluded, here are a few final observations (admittedly a week late) from Day 3 at Amazon's corporate headquarter overlooking downtown...