I’m launching a few new products and I thought I read somewhere you could not use New! in the listing - maybe I’m nuts, but I wanted to check with you guys first. Anyone know if it is prohibited?
-Ana
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Just curious – do you mean new as is somewhat different from previous version or new as in not used?
If the latter, I would not use it even if allowed. There shouldn’t even be a suggestion of a hint that it would be anything other than new.
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There is nothing in the product bullet points page or the general listing restrictions specifically prohibiting it.
I would be careful about using New! in your listings anyway, as “better safe than sorry” goes a long way on Amazon.
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You aren’t nuts - there once was indeed a specific prohibition against this, which appeared in the “Avoid promotional phrases” clauses of such SHC (“Seller Help Content”) pages as Product title requirements (link), FBA Product Title Requirements (link), Product Listing Guidelines (link) & Product detail page rules (link); among other places where it has appeared over the years - including the SHC pages which our friend Hobbes linked upthread - are certain Category Style Guides and various AdvHC (“Advertising Help Content”) pages.
By and large, such specific references to the previously-specific prohibition against using “New” were removed by the Editorial Team some years back with the advent of the Newer version widget (link)'s functionality.
Despite such removals (and despite the fact that we ourselves have been known to skate on this exact score re: bullet points/product descriptions/A+ Content in the past, and continue to down to this very day*), I’m in agreement with April & Hobbes: better `twould be to utilize the Amazon-sanctioned methodology - which can be utilized via the Help Hub’s “Adding or removing newer model link on detail page” Tool @ https: //sellercentral.amazon.com/help/hub/solution/WF_NewVersionWidget - than to run afoul of some mindless Amabot (human, or machine) suspecting that any hint of ‘New and Improved’ might be perceived as a violation of the “Avoid promotional phrases” prohibition…
*
Likely, methinks, as a result of the Amazon Global Catalog Offer-Listings for which we did so having been ‘grandfathered’ as a result of their Sales History enjoying a robust volume for years before the aforementioned changes were implemented…
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I knew I wasn’t imagining things. Thanks for the confirmation!
-Ana
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Definitely new as in a new and different product. We don’t sell used soap! LOL.
-Ana
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To me - New means NEW - Not used
How about
Newly Launched,
New to market
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This is exactly my thinking and why I asked. Amazon has some weird rules over the years so better safe than sorry is a good way of thinking there. @Dogtamer has clarified that at one time there indeed WAS a prohibition against promotional phrases and I remembered something along those lines in the past. I think I’ll just err on the side of not using it.
-Ana
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Ewwwwwwww.
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If you use the word FREE, your listing will not post,
so I would imagine that using NEW, would bounce when submitted.
and if not then it should be kosher.
When I started on Amazon 6 years ago, I use the words
FREE FREIGHT
No problems.
But now, if I update those SKUs, they are suppressed.
Simply have to modify the title, and they are release back in the wild.
so I would not have concern.
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I think “free shipping” was another prohibited phrase which I had used as a bullet point in all my listings way back when.
Marilyn
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It is all in the mind
Q. Are there any health risks to using a communal bar of soap in, say, a health club?
A. No. Bar soap does not appear to transmit disease.
The most rigorous study of this question was published in 1965. Scientists conducted a series of experiments in which they intentionally contaminated their hands with about five billion bacteria. The bacteria were disease-causing strains, such as Staph and E. coli.
The scientists then washed their hands with a bar of soap and had a second person wash with the same bar of soap. They found that bacteria were not transferred to the second user and concluded: “The level of bacteria that may occur on bar soap, even under extreme usage conditions (heavy usage, poorly designed non-drainable soap dishes, etc.) does not constitute a health hazard.”
In 1988, scientists employed by a soap manufacturer confirmed these findings. They inoculated bars of soap with pathogenic bacteria, in this case E. coli and Pseudomonas, and had 16 subjects wash their hands with the inoculated bars. After washing, none of the subjects had detectable levels of bacteria on their hands. They concluded that “little hazard exists in routine hand washing with previously used soap bars.”
Occasional studies since then have documented the presence of environmental bacteria on bar soap, but none have shown bar soap to be a source of infection. On the contrary, recent studies continue to demonstrate the ability of simple bar soap to combat infection, even during outbreaks of serious infections like Ebola virus.
But would a jar of liquid soap be a better bet than bar soap? Scientists with conflicting proprietary interests jousted about the putative benefits of bar soap versus liquid soap beginning in the 1980s. Much of the contention revolved around the numbers of bacteria found on the surfaces of the bar or bottle of soap. But the key question remains not whether environmental bacteria are present but whether they pose a risk of infection.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends hand washing as the primary defense against infection and gives the same endorsement to bar soap as it does to liquid soap. Therefore, the only mistake one could make would be to fail to wash one’s hands because of an unfounded fear of contamination.
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I know it is. And yet… Ewwwwww.
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Interestingly enough even though soap is not supposed to be returnable, we have gotten 2 used bars back in the 9 years we’ve been selling soap (on Amazon). Of course they went in the trash but why Amazon would ever think we wanted a used bar of soap in a ziploc bag is beyond me, but then again it IS Amazon.
-Ana
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and they charged you the $1+ return fee for the privilege of throwing it away yourself.
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Whew! For a minute there, you had me worried. 
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Ya … nobody wants to be the second sibling in line when your mom is washing out everyone’s mouths …
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That would be an unpleasant experience.
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I used to put “NEW!” in my listing titles with no repercussions, but it has been a long time since I stopped. At the time, it felt like it helped the listings get noticed. If I recall correctly, I stopped when Amazon started posting reminders of their policy regarding proper listing titles.
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@Best_Handmade_Soaps would it make a difference if this is a Handmade listing or a Merchant listing? You aren’t supposed to put Seller-specific info on Merchant pdps that aren’t BR, but maybe you can on Handmade listings because they are always your own?
You might still consider “updated” or “you asked, we made it!” or even “just launched” (lol) to skirt any prohibition.
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