Amazon Seller Central vs Vendor Central

Congratulations, you’ve just been given an invitation to join the Vendor Central platform. But is it necessarily a step up? That’s for you to decide. Here are the basics and key differences between the two platforms to help you decide whether you want to migrate to the platform or not.

The Basics:

Amazon’s Vendor Central is an invitation-only platform that allows you to operate as a first party seller. Essentially, you will sell your products to Amazon directly in bulk as a supplier instead of selling your products to customers directly on your own.

Alternately, Seller Central gives you the freedom to sell as a third-party seller on the platform directly to Amazon’s customers without going through Amazon’s purchase team.

Key Differences:

1. Registration

If you haven’t figured it out yet, while anyone can open account with Seller Central, you need to be invited to be able to opt-in to sell on Vendor Central. So, unless you’ve been given an invitation from Amazon to join Vendor Central, the decision isn’t quite yours to make.

2. Control

Making decisions about your price point, logistics and fulfilment become a major factor to consider. With Vendor Central, you are no longer selling to customers which means Amazon takes the final call on all those decisions.

You also have more difficulty releasing new products on Amazon because they want products that they know work. On Seller Central, you get to make strategic decisions based on your goal and what you’re comfortable with. You also get to choose when and what changes to make including expanding your product line.

3. Fee

With Vendor Central, you pay a flat fee which takes care of everything from fulfilment to advertising, all you have to do is provide the supply. With the fee, Vendor Central gives you access to an extended array of marketing tools as you get more diverse options on Amazon Marketing Services which isn’t the case on Seller Central.

Additionally, on Seller Central, if you want to opt-in for Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA), that’s another additional fee you need to pay unlike Vendor Central where it’s all-inclusive.

4. Sales

Vendor Central accounts tend to see better sales because customers see the “sold be Amazon” assurance in the listing. Further, with better advertising tools and less competition compared to third-party sellers, vendors just don’t struggle the same way.

That being said, third-party sellers do see better margins than vendors when performing well. This is because of the simple fact that vendors cannot control their products’ price points. With Amazon trying to and stay competitive, they tend to drop prices quickly which is a decision a third-party seller can choose not to make.

When it comes down to it, weigh out the pros and cons so you know what’s best for you. Regardless of which way you go, you’ll find relevant content at Global Sources Summit.

What is Global Sources Summit

Global Sources Summit is a 3-day conference for online and Amazon sellers sourcing private label products from China. The conference will be held 27-29 October 2019 in Hong Kong.

The Summit is co-located with Global Sources Lifestyle trade show so you can also meet thousands of China suppliers at the same time.