Seller vs Vendor - Which Is Right For You?

Your first step to selling on Amazon is to decide whether you want to be a vendor or a seller; i.e. if you want to sell to Amazon (vendor) or sell on Amazon's marketplace (as a seller). There are pros and cons to both, summarised below:

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Vendor Central

• Firstly, it's invite only so is hard to get started with as a new brand. Once a brand reaches a certain size it is likely Amazon will reach out inviting you to become a vendor and sell to them directly
• Products are listed on site as 'shipped from and sold by Amazon' which carries a lot of weight regarding trust
• Gain enhanced marketing opportunities via Amazon Marketing Services (AMS)
• Pay a flat fee per month which includes fulfilment
• Pricing is in the hands of Amazon - if they are not selling Amazon can reduce pricing at will which needs to be taken into consideration if you sell on other channels
• Inventory level requirements, which can often be high, must be maintained
• Launching new products can be difficult when there is no track record of sales and therefore Amazon may have little interest in stocking

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Seller Central

• It may be a little more work to get started (adding info and images to create the listings yourself)
• Fees are separated out into monthly fee for a professional selling account and then fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) fees per unit sold
• Manage own pricing and stock - entirely at your own discretion
• Can add new products entirely at your own will
• Control messaging and communications to customers which can also lead to fewer returns
• Have access to better analytics and data than as a vendor
• Get access to enhanced brand content (EBC) which allows you to add additional content including pictures and now videos (on storefronts)
  

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Amazon started out as being Retail (vendor) only, and now the balance has swung with marketplace accounting for 60% of the revenue with that trend set to continue.

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With the above in mind we would recommend starting out as a seller on the marketplace and leveraging Amazon's FBA logistics to be able to fulfil orders domestically in the UK. ‍

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For more tutorials and how-tos, check out our Sitruna Guides series!

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