Amazon Seller Central is the interface that is used by merchants to sell their products directly to customers.
An Amazon Seller Central account is considered a marketplace or third-party Amazon seller.
The Amazon seller is responsible for setting up and maintaining their seller account.
Amazon offers both individual and professional seller accounts. The professional seller accounts require a monthly subscription. Most businesses will opt for the professional seller accounts as it offers analytics & marketing tools that are essential to scale your amazon business. To scale your amazon business, a professional Amazon seller account is required.
As a third-party Amazon seller there are two options for fulfilling orders. You can handle all of the tasks of shipping, customer service, and returns for the orders yourself through Amazon Fulfilled by Merchant program or you can choose to allow Amazon to handle this process by enrolling in the Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) program.
Amazon FBA provides fulfillment services for third-party sellers who sell on the amazon marketplace and their own websites. In addition to order fulfillment, storage, and shipping, Amazon also handles customer service and returns for these sellers.
Benefits of seller Central
Amazon Seller Central is a seller-driven platform for selling products on Amazon. It’s open to anyone who wants to sell their products directly on Amazon’s website.
The main difference between the two is the level of control they give sellers.
Open to anyone. Anybody can sign up for an account and start selling, and there are no “gatekeepers” who decide whether you can sell on the platform or not.
Control of the seller account. All seller information, including billing information and shipping addresses, are controlled by the seller themselves rather than being controlled centrally by Amazon itself.
Sell directly to Amazon’s customers. The Seller Central platform gives sellers access to all of Amazon’s 300+ million customers worldwide.
Flexible logistical options. Sellers can choose how they want their products shipped to customers: either by using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) or by fulfilling orders themselves using Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM).
What is Amazon Vendor Central?
Amazon Vendor Central (also known as Amazon Vendor Express) is the platform that many manufacturers and distributors use to sell their products directly to Amazon.
Amazon Vendor Central is most often used by direct manufacturers and distributors. If you are using the Fulfillment by Amazon service, you’ll be using this program.
If you sell through Vendor Central you are considered a first-party seller, i.e. your products are sold directly from Amazon and fulfilled through their warehouses. You are acting as the supplier to amazon and selling your products directly to Amazon in bulk, who then resells them individually on their website to consumers.
Often referred to as “B2B” (Business-to-Business), this is how major brands like Apple, Nike and Samsung sell their products on Amazon. Registration on Vendor Central is strictly by invitation only so it can be hard for small businesses or new vendors to get started with this program. Typically, sellers start with Seller Central and generate demand for their products to entice Amazon to buy their product in bulk through the Vendor Central program.
If a company is selling through Vendor Central the phrase “ships from and sold by Amazon” appears on the order page.
