Amazon Seller Central VS Vendor Central – Which Is The Better?
If you are familiar with the world of eCommerce, then it’s possible to quite often come across the debate on Amazon seller central vs vendor central. These are two impeccable ways to sell on Amazon marketplace, each having its own perks and cons based on various criteria.
Amazon marketplace invites worldwide sellers to support their online selling campaign on a worldwide platform through two basic ways –
- Amazon Seller Central
- Amazon Vendor Central
Thus, giving rise to a big question – Which is the most preferable between Amazon Seller central vs vendor central?
Here we have divided various criteria in which the differences can be observed:
Payments:
Sellers selling under seller central receive the payments much faster than those selling under Vendor central. And the payments for seller central are usually disbursed within 2 weeks (14 days). Whereas in the case of vendor central, it takes around 90 days.
Selling Patterns:
Vendor Central is the first party selling where you sell to Amazon and then Amazon sells to customers. On the other hand, Seller central is a third-party selling platform where you directly sell to customers.
Inventory Control:
While selling under seller central, you have better inventory control as compared to Vendor central. In the case of vendor central, Amazon manages your inventory.
Pricing Control:
Sellers under Amazon seller central have better control over the pricing of their products compared to vendors where Amazon determines the pricing.
Freedom to sell:
Amazon seller central invites sellers worldwide to be a part of this program with no exceptions. But Vendor Central is an invite-only platform and you can only sell there once Amazon invites you.
A+ Content:
Vendor Central allows A+ content whereas Seller Central does not.
New Product Launch:
Amazon seller central is ideal for sellers to launch new products whereas Amazon Vendor central restricts sellers to sell new products. And you can only sell those registered products that are doing well.
Amazon Marketing Services (AMS):
It’s much feasible to benefit from Amazon Marketing Services in Vendor Central as they allow additional features. For example, a targeted advertising campaign that the seller central does not.
Ideal Business Model:
Vendor Central is an ideal business model in comparison to seller central as you only have to focus on selling and billing, the rest is taken care of by Amazon.
Messaging & Returns:
In Seller Central, the seller is responsible to handle the messaging and returns. Whereas in the case of Vendor Central, Amazon itself handles it for you.
Selling Fees:
Amazon seller central costs you less because sellers registered under Amazon seller central only have to pay the basic traditional fees. However, the vendors only have to pay $39.99 per month for an unlimited number of products.
A side by side comparison of Amazon Seller and Vendor Central
To let you understand the concept of Amazon Central and Vendor central more effectively, we have prepared a side by side comparison between them:
The above infographic explains all the key features and services of Amazon Seller and Vendor Central.
In other words, sellers are happy with both Seller and Vendor Central. The deciding factors are the position of your organization in the online market. The types of products you are dealing in and the target audience you are trying to attract.
It can not be denied for new sellers who are trying to set foot on Amazon marketplace, should NOT hurry up in switching to Vendor Central. Sellers must be sure to meet each and every criterion of Vendor Central demands. There are Amazon Integrations available for Magento, Shopify, Woocommerce, etc that can speed up the process. Also not to mention the cost of selling on Seller Central is affordable for Small businesses so it would be preferable to first make yourself dominant in the Seller Central and then only move on to the vendor central if necessary.
