![\"Amazon](\"http:\/\/content26.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/SC-VC-Icon.gif\" "\\"Seller"){kind=icon}
<\/p>\nAre your products selling like hotcakes on Amazon? Has an Amazon buyer contacted you about selling via Vendor Central? Are you a frustrated vendor looking to make the switch to Seller Central?<\/p>\n
We put together this article to outline the strengths and weaknesses of both seller and vendor central and to help you decide if you should have one, the other, or even both.<\/p>\n
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The fundamental difference between Vendor Central and Seller Central is who<\/em> will be selling your products. With Vendor Central, Amazon\u2019s retail team buys and resells your products to their customers.<\/p>\n With Seller Central, you are selling directly to Amazon\u2019s customers. There are significant differences between the two, so it\u2019s important to fully understand the potential opportunities and drawbacks with each.<\/p>\n Before getting into the nitty-gritty, let\u2019s define Amazon Vendor Central and Amazon Seller Central and give an overview of what each offers.<\/p>\n Amazon Seller Central is the web interface used by brands and merchants to market and sells their products directly to Amazon\u2019s customers. If you have a Seller Central account, you\u2019re considered a marketplace or third-party seller.<\/p>\n As a marketplace seller, you have two options for fulfilling orders you receive from Amazon\u2019s customers. You can handle the shipping, customer service, and returns for each individual order yourself or you can allow Amazon to handle this for you by enrolling your products in the Fulfilled by Amazon or \u201cFBA\u201d program.<\/p>\n Some brands also use Seller Central as a tool to control the messaging of products not being sold via Vendor Central.<\/p>\n “Unless brands have absolute control over their supply chain, oftentimes they will discover their products being listed and sold on Amazon by unknown sellers. Having a Seller Central account is a great way to control the messaging of those products,” says Wes Grudzien, founder of Ezonomy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Amazon Vendor Central is the web interface used by manufacturers and distributors. If you sell via Vendor Central, you\u2019re called a first-party seller. You\u2019re acting as a supplier, selling in bulk to Amazon. Registration on Vendor Central is by invitation only.<\/p>\n A tell-tale sign that a company is selling through Vendor Central is the phrase \u201cships from and sold by Amazon.com.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a side-by-side comparison of the differences between having a Vendor Central and a Seller Central account:<\/p>\n Having your products sold as a first-party seller through Vendor Central means that, as far as shoppers are concerned, your product is being \u201csold by Amazon.\u201d That seal of approval can provide a boost in consumer confidence that you don\u2019t have as a third-party merchant.<\/p>\n Amazon Marketing\u00a0 Services<\/a> (AMS) gives brands a powerful tool with multiple options for getting their products in front of shoppers. AMS allows vendors to drive demand with keyword-targeted ad campaigns designed to increase traffic to Amazon product pages. While both sellers and vendors have access to AMS, Vendor Central users have more robust options when it comes to running AMS ad campaigns.<\/p>\n Strategically managing campaigns and tying keywords into product page content is crucial for success. Across all content26 Amazon advertising campaigns, we\u2019ve decreased our clients\u2019 average cost per click by 19%. In addition, we\u2019ve seen a more than 2x increase in return on ad spend. You can read more about Amazon\u2019s pay-per-click service in our Definitive Guide to Amazon Marketing Services<\/a>.<\/p>\n The process of \u201cdoing business\u201d with Amazon is simpler through Vendor Central than through Seller Central. As a vendor, your primary focus is on filling purchase orders, billing, and avoiding chargebacks. As a seller, especially utilizing FBA, you will be responsible for sales reconciliation, lost inventory, and taxation liabilities.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re selling through Vendor Central Amazon offers vendor the option to create enhanced content via Amazon A+ Detail Pages<\/a>. You also have the ability to participate in promotional programs such as Subscribe & Save (Amazon\u2019s subscription service) and Amazon Vine, in which your product is sent to top reviewers before it ever hits the shelves. Consumers value what other consumers have to say far more than they do advertisements, so\u00a0user-generated content<\/a>\u00a0can translate into a sales boost.<\/p>\n Amazon does not strictly follow the Minimum Advertised Pricing (MAP) guidelines from manufacturers. Amazon can and will adjust retail pricing at any time based on internal data.<\/p>\n Amazon has very specific and rigid guidelines for filling their purchase orders. Vendors that struggle with maintaining stock and\/or quickly fulfilling orders open themselves up to significant chargebacks.<\/p>\n Seller Central provides you with significant amounts of consumer data at no charge. As a seller, you have access to Amazon customer data that can be used for a multiple of purposes. While it is strictly prohibited to remarket to Amazon\u2019s customers, that data can be used to better understand who is buying which products and where.<\/p>\n As the seller, you have the ability to control retail pricing so you are able to maintain established retail pricing for other channel partners. Also, you are able to automatically match your competitor’s pricing to stay competitive.<\/p>\n Often, manufacturers discover that their retail partners and\/or unknown 3rd<\/sup> Party sellers list and sell bundles or older versions of their products without consent. Typically these listings have limited content and images. The only way to control these unauthorized listings is through a Seller Central account that has been enrolled in Amazon\u2019s brand registry program.<\/p>\n Often times the shipping and\/or fulfillment costs limit your ability to sell low-priced items on Amazon. At the time of this article being written, the minimum fulfillment charge for non-media FBA items is $2.41, not including Amazon\u2019s commission.<\/p>\n Studies have shown that items \u201cShips from and sold by Amazon.com\u201d consistently outsell products offered via FBA or “Shipped and Sold by 3P Seller” Also if other 3P sellers were to list and sell against you via FBA, a significant percentage of total sales would be lost to those sellers. This is especially critical if you are attempting to use Amazon\u2019s Sponsored Product Ad Tool. Your ads will only appear if you are the seller in the buy box.<\/p>\n “It may be hard to fathom, but over 50% of all online shoppers now use Amazon as the first website they visit when making buying decisions. If brands haven\u2019t created a strategy to reach these shoppers, they\u2019re missing out on a major piece of the ecommerce market. In many ways, Amazon is more important than Google,” notes Ezonomy founder Wes Grudzien.<\/p>\n It\u2019s critical that you create a marketing strategy specific to Amazon. At content26, we are biased towards Vendor Central as it allows our clients to take full advantage of Amazon\u2019s powerful marketing tools such as Amazon Marketing Services and A+ content. Read more about our work with Amazon vendors<\/a>.<\/p>\n Have you dealt with other pros or cons while selling via Vendor Central? Share your thoughts in a comment or send us a tweet<\/a>.<\/p>\nWhat Is Seller Central?<\/h2>\n
What Is Vendor Central?<\/h2>\n
The Short List<\/h2>\n
\nSeller Central<\/h3>\n
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\nVendor Central<\/h3>\n
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Amazon Vendor Central Pros<\/h2>\n
Consumer Confidence<\/h3>\n
Expanded Advertising Opportunities<\/h3>\n
Simplified Business Model<\/h3>\n
A+ Content and Other Marketing Tools<\/h3>\n
Amazon Vendor Central Cons<\/h2>\n
Pricing Control<\/h3>\n
Logistical Requirements<\/h3>\n
Amazon Seller Central Pros<\/h2>\n
Analytics<\/h3>\n
Pricing Control<\/h3>\n
Messaging Control<\/h3>\n
Amazon Seller Central Cons<\/h2>\n
Fulfillment Costs<\/h3>\n
Lower Sales<\/h3>\n
Why Your Decision Matters<\/h2>\n