Seller Central or Vendor Central: Which Is the Best for Me?

If you’re selling your products on Amazon, you’ll be using one of two interfaces - Amazon Seller Central or Amazon Vendor Central. 

The main difference between the two is who the end customer is actually buying the product from. 

On Seller Central, you will be selling your products directly to the user, through Amazon’s marketplace, making you a third-party seller or a marketplace seller. On the other hand, on Vendor Central you will be selling your products to Amazon, which then resells them to customers.

But if you are looking to sell your wares through Amazon’s platform, which is the best for you? What do you need to take into account when picking which route you want to take?

Seller Central

Amazon offers accounts for both individual and professional sellers, both of which are considered third-party (3P) Amazon sellers. 

Sellers reach customers through the Amazon marketplace, and while Amazon does not directly buy it from them and sell it, they can fulfill the orders through FBA, or alternatively Sellers can handle it themselves through third-party logistics providers (FBM). 

Anyone can open a Seller account, though Professional Seller accounts do require a monthly subscription. Sellers tend to go for professional accounts, however, because of benefits that include preferential treatment for marketing purposes - including lower fees, using Enhanced Brand Content and A+ Content - as well as a range of analytics tools and other functions.  

As a Seller, you have a high degree of control over your operation. You can determine the retail prices of your products and have more flexible options on logistics, as you are able to pick through third-party providers rather than rely solely on FBA. 

Pros

• Pricing: Since you are the one selling to the customer as a Seller, you will be able to set the retail price as opposed to Amazon. This gives you a lot more options in terms of your strategy.
• Inventory: You control your inventory, not Amazon. This means you can adapt to your customers’ needs and move your stock around to optimize sales. Payments are also made much quicker to Sellers than Vendors.

Cons

• More active management: The flip side of more control, of course, is that it will take more time and financial resources to maintain your marketing presence on the platform, whether that is your product listings, storefronts, or other content. 
• Fulfillment cost: As the one actually handling the shipments to customers, you will be handling the fulfillment costs, which of course add up depending on the size and quantity of your products. It also complicates your operations as you will need to continually assess the merits of FBA versus 3PL providers. 

Vendor Central

As a Vendor, you are essentially a supplier for Amazon and sell to them in bulk and are considered a first-party seller, while Amazon is the one that customers actually buy from. You will often come across the phrase “ships from and sold by Amazon” on product listings - these are Vendors.

Unlike Sellers, for whom there is an open door, participation as a Vendor is exclusively through an invitation to register, as Amazon will be buying large quantities from them. For this reason, many businesses start as Sellers to build up traction for their products and then become Vendors to sell directly to Amazon in bulk. 

Pros

• Simplicity: In contrast to Seller Central, you are essentially just a bulk supplier here. This is a much simpler business model since you only have one major buyer as opposed to hundreds or even thousands of individual customers. Rather than having to handle fulfillment, marketing, or retail, you just need to worry about getting inventory to Amazon warehouses and billing Amazon. 
• Marketing tools: Sellers are not the only ones with marketing options. Vendors, even as wholesalers, can take part in programs such as Amazon Vine - which sends products to top reviewers before they go on the storefronts - and Amazon’s Subscribe & Save promotions.
• Seller Support: Vendors, particularly the larger ones, get the services of personal account managers to handle their needs. The smaller vendors might not get the same personal account managers - though they can pay for one if they want, which sellers can't do - but can access a large array of support resources and have well-prepared support staff at the ready.

Cons

• Control of price and brand: Amazon will control final retail prices if you are a Vendor and do not necessarily stick to manufacturers’ Minimum Advertised Pricing. Likewise, you will not have a large degree of control over how your brand is presented on Amazon’s platform and will not be able to customize things like packaging or have much say on customer experience. Amazon will also negotiate for the best price from their suppliers, meaning that they will seek the lowest possible price to buy from you and that may eat into your margins. 
• Single buyer risk: There is a good chance that for many vendors, Amazon is the single largest buyer. This poses a risk in case Amazon suddenly decides to stop buying, as it has with many sellers in the past. 

Before you get an invitation, being a Seller is the only game available to you. Once you do get your invitation though, you will need to choose if you want to go with simplicity and bulk selling on Vendor Central or stick with more control even if it means most costs on Seller Central, but these are all things you need to keep in mind when deciding how you want to exist on Amazon.

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About Us

Threecolts is a comprehensive suite of advanced ecommerce software solutions. We're designed to empower retail vendors and marketplace sellers on Amazon, Walmart, and beyond. Our tools optimize every aspect of ecommerce operations to ensure maximum profitability.

For sellers aiming to earn through reselling, Tactical Arbitrage helps you find hidden deals 5X faster. ScoutIQ provides instant insights for scoring in stores. DataSpark helps you get your next bestseller on Walmart Marketplace across over 14 million products in its database.

If you want to sell globally without storing, shipping, or risking money on inventory, SellerRunning simplifies cross-border dropshipping. We let you manage and expand your ecommerce business across multiple Amazon marketplaces seamlessly.

Managing products across leading ecommerce channels has never been easier either. ExportYourStore ensures hassle-free cross-listing and product syncing. Meanwhile, Hemi integrates over 100 ecommerce platforms, handling everything from inventory to logistics.

For efficient financial operations, FeedbackWhiz Profits offers a robust ecommerce accounting solution. We give you total control over your finances. You can track earnings and spending and visualize financial data without much effort.

You can also enhance your customer service with ChannelReply. Centralize marketplace communications through order data alongside support tickets from major marketplaces. Meanwhile, Onsite Support combines AI tools and custom-built help centers to amp up your support capacity. With these two, you can ensure that your customer service team can do more with less work.

Simplify Amazon operations with InventoryLab. It's an all-in-one solution that enhances everything from sourcing to logistics to accounting. We make inventory management and business workflows as streamlined as possible, so you won’t have to think about it.

Protect your profits with our advanced recovery solutions. DimeTyd Amazon helps 1P vendors recover lost revenues from overbilling and inventory discrepancies. DimeTyd Walmart simplifies the process of disputing unacknowledged shipments and organizing deductions. DimeTyd Sellers offers comprehensive monitoring and dispute resolution for Amazon FBA.

Automate your pricing strategies with SmartRepricer. We'll help you stay competitive by adjusting prices automatically based on custom rules. You can make sure that you always win the Buy Box with just a few clicks.

Finally, safeguard your online reputation with our reviews and alerts solutions. FeedbackWhiz Emails lets you handle Amazon review requests with personalized feedback campaigns. CR Feedback offers cost-effective feedback gathering for eBay and Amazon review requests. FeedbackWhiz Alerts keeps you informed with timely notifications on reviews, threats to your listings, and other important events.