In this video, our trainer talks through and demonstrates step by step how to create a variation from scratch.


Session #1: How To Create A Variation For A Listing blurred

 

Session #2: Understanding Variations.

 

Variations

A variation is the same product with a different feature, such as colour weight or size. Variations have to be a variance on a product and not an unrelated product e.g. a baby dummy is not a variation of a baby swaddle they are entirely different products.

Creating Variations In Amazon Seller Central

You can add variations in two ways:

  1. When building your main product listing 
  2. You can add variations later to an existing listing that has already been built

To add variations, you will need to have a few things ready

  1. Extra EAN/UPC barcodes – Each variation needs a fresh backend barcode for the Amazon build
  2. Finalised product images of all  your variations – Example: If you have already created a listing for your product in black and now wish to add a blue version you will need to have the  finalised images of the product in blue.

The Variation Process Is Simple

In the variations tab within Seller Central you will need to select your ‘variation theme’. Amazon wants to organise their catalogue appropriately by identifying the type of variation. Common examples include colour, weight, size, width.


Remember in Seller Central only the fields marked with and asterisks * are mandatory

Under the ‘Variations’ tab

  1. Choose your theme e.g. Colour, Size
  2. Create a new line for each variation e.g. Blue, Black, Red or Small Medium Large
  3. Create your own seller SKU
  4. Add your fresh EAN/UPC code into the product ID field
  5. Identify the type of product ID e.g. EAN or UPC
  6. Indicate the price for each variation – you can change this later if you want
  7. Quantity – just set the quantity to 0 if you are not ready to complete a shipping plan yet

Under the ‘Images’ tab

  1. Upload your variation product images here.

Under the toggle option ‘Advanced View’


While all the fields in these expanded tabs are optional we highly recommend customising the description tab for each variation. Example: your product comes in differing sizes you may want each  product description to have the correct size shown in your listing text.


Within this Advanced View area with more optional tabs such offer, compliance, description, keywords and more details will appear. You may choose to add extra information in  here, most sellers only complete the mandatory sections.


What Happens If I See An Error “Not Available In This Category”

Sometimes Amazon locks down categories and does not allow a variation within that category. This is usually done to protect customers and Amazon do not publish a list of categories that are excluded as these are opened and closed within their algorithm. This is particularly common with products that involve electronic components.

Sometimes you can log a case within the help section of Amazon Seller Central to create a variation. Success rates for case logs in getting permission to add a variation to a category that is not allowed is often quite low.


The simple workaround solution is to create a new listing from scratch.