Seller Central vs. Vendor Central: Which Is Right for an Established Brand?

There are two ways an established brand ends up on Amazon. Amazon buys your product wholesale and resells it, which is Vendor Central, also called first party or 1P. Or you sell directly to Amazon’s customers yourself, which is Seller Central, also called third party or 3P.

Both can work. They lead to very different businesses, and the biggest difference is who controls your price.

How Vendor Central works

You sell to Amazon the way you’d sell to any big retailer. Amazon sends purchase orders, you ship, and Amazon pays you on terms. Amazon owns the inventory and sets the retail price. Vendor Central is invitation-only.

What brands like: it feels like a normal wholesale account, Amazon handles the customer, and “sold by Amazon” carries trust with shoppers.

What brands don’t like:

• No control over retail price. Amazon can drop your price to match anyone, anywhere. That can put your product below what your retail partners and dealers charge.
• Unpredictable orders. Purchase orders can swing hard or stop without much warning.
• Chargebacks and deductions. Fines for shipping, labeling and packaging mistakes, plus marketing and allowance programs that come out of your margin.
• Less data. You see less about your customers and sales than a 3P seller does.

How Seller Central works

You list your products, set your price, and either ship orders yourself or use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). Amazon charges a referral fee on each sale, which varies by category, plus fulfillment and storage fees if you use FBA.

What brands like:

• You set the price, which makes it possible to hold a consistent price across Amazon, retail and dealers.
• You see your data: sales, traffic, conversion and customers by product.
• You control the listing and the customer experience.

What brands don’t like: it’s more work. Someone has to manage inventory, listings, advertising, account health and customer issues. That’s usually the moment brands look for help.

Which one fits?

For most established brands that sell through distributors, dealers or retail, price control decides it. A Vendor Central price drop shows up in your retail buyer’s review meeting the same week. See when retail partners find your product cheaper on Amazon.

Can you do both?

Yes, and some brands run a hybrid: some products through Vendor Central, others through Seller Central. It can work, but it needs a clear plan for which products go where, or the two channels end up competing on the same listings.

Frequently asked questions

Written by

Troy Marchand, CEO

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