Amazon vendor central and seller central have advantages and disadvantages. To help you determine which one is right for you, I’ve compiled all relevant information about both platforms.
What Is Amazon Seller Central?
Amazon Seller Central is the most popular and standard marketplace service offered by Amazon.
Anyone looking to begin selling their products on Amazon will need to create an account with a seller account, and sell their items direct to customers of Amazon.
When you use Amazon Seller Central, You are considered to be a marketplace or a third-party seller.
When selling on Amazon Seller Central, you have the option of choosing from Amazon FBA as well as FBM.
If you are an FBM seller, you’re accountable for the entire process which includes the listing creation as well as the pricing, and the selling process including shipping, customer service as well as returns.
When you are using Amazon FBA, Amazon will take care of a few of these tasks for you.
What Is Amazon Vendor Central?
Amazon Vendor Central, on the contrary, is aimed at distributors and manufacturers.
If you’re working with Amazon Vendor Central, you are referred to as a first-party seller.
Similar to an entrepreneur, you are selling your goods in large quantities to Amazon in bulk, and Amazon sells them back to end-users.
Being a Vendor isn’t as simple as selling – To register, you have to be invited to join the Vendor program by Amazon.
What’s the Distinction Between Amazon Seller Central and Amazon Vendor Central?
The main difference between the two platforms is who is selling the products.
When you use Seller Central, you are selling directly to Amazon’s customers.
Through Vendor Central, Amazon’s retail team purchases and sells your product to Amazon’s customers.
Let’s take a closer review of this issue:
Pricing
Being you are an Amazon Seller, you are allowed to decide the price for your item. This comes with some control, but also responsibilities.
You’ll have to be monitoring the market regularly to establish the correct pricing for your item to ensure the highest profit margin and overall effectiveness that your products will achieve.
Being an Amazon Vendor, you will be required to negotiate the cost for the item in the bulk with Amazon However, you will not need to think about the cost to the final client since Amazon will handle this.
Shipping and Fulfillment
If you choose Amazon Seller Central, shipping and fulfillment will depend on the fulfillment option you choose FBA or FBM.
Fulfillment by Amazon
Amazon will handle the majority of fulfillment for FBA sellers. All you have to do is have your items in the order and get them delivered to Amazon.
They will be kept in Amazon’s warehouse before being sent to the final customer, which does not require your assistance of you. Amazon will charge the cost of this service, however.
Fulfillment by Merchant
FBM is, of course, cheaper, however, the entire processing of fulfillment is the charge.
Amazon Vendors need only be concerned about shipping their goods to Amazon. Similar to FBA Everything else is the responsibility of Amazon.
Trust Score
In general, sellers have an advantage over sellers in terms of trust which results in more conversion rates. The reason behind this is that consumers have faith in Amazon more. They are more likely to prefer the Amazon brand over another brand.
There are exceptions to this principle, however. For instance, sellers can build credibility and trust through a lot of positive reviews for their products – having the same conversion rates as sellers or even better ones.
Analytics and Reporting
Sellers can access a variety of different reports and analytics, like reports on conversion rates and sales and conversion rate reports for free.
For the typical vendor, There is a very small amount of data available through the basic (free) Basic (free) Retail Analytics (ARA). The amount of data available increases dramatically with the purchase of ARA Premium.
Customer Service and Returns
Customer Service for Sellers once again differs depending on whether you’re employing FBA as well as FBM.
- The Customer Support Service offered by FBA Customer Service for FBA Amazon will handle the majority of the customer support required by FBA Sellers, including returns. There are however a few things you’ll be required to take care of. To know the Amazon seller support numbers click here.
- Support for Customer Service at FBM As an FBM Seller the entire customer service process including returns falls under your control.
As Vendors, you will never have contact with the client whatsoever, since Amazon will handle the customer’s needs. Similar is the case with returns.
Global Expansion
If you are an Amazon seller usually have greater control over the expansion of your business globally.
Sellers can decide how they wish to extend the scope of their Amazon company to different Amazon marketplaces across the globe and also where exactly to do it.
Vendors however are required to discuss every move with Amazon. This, in turn, will prevent vendors from making rash and unwise choices, but it can be difficult to do so as many self-employed people aren’t experienced in asking their colleagues for input before each step they take.
However, keep in your mind that selling internationally is many responsibilities, so even if have the status of an Amazon seller who has the authority to decide which options to pursue it’s essential to research the subject before growing your Amazon business.
A knowledgeable Amazon consultant can assist you to determine what is best for you.
Profitability
In general, the profit is similar, but it can be quite different.
Although Amazon sellers operate on a set fee schedule, the charges for third-party sellers who use Seller Central can vary from 10% to 50 percent of their sales based on their business plan.
As a seller, you’ll have to pay an amount to Amazon to set up your accounts, commission storage, fulfillment, etc.
As we mentioned earlier sellers can decide the price of their goods independently, which means they do not have to consider fees in doing so.
Overall Flexibility
Selling through Amazon Seller Central provides greater flexibility overall because you can take more of your own decisions.
Required Involvement
However your involvement in the process is higher and making decisions requires time, experience, and, sometimes, money also.
Recommended Guide: How to find products to sell on Amazon.
