Amazon Vendor Central is how a consumer brand sells to Amazon as a supplier, with Amazon buying the stock and selling it to shoppers as the retailer. For a UK consumer brand it brings the Prime badge by default, Amazon's own retail promotion and a weekly purchase order that covers what thousands of shoppers buy. Access is by invitation, the economics differ from Seller Central on every line, and the brands that make Vendor pay run it as a discipline.
What is Amazon Vendor Central?
Amazon Vendor Central is Amazon's first-party (1P) programme. Amazon buys your products wholesale through purchase orders, stores the stock in its fulfilment centres and sells to shoppers as the retailer, so every listing reads "Ships from and sold by Amazon" and shows the Prime badge by default.
Seller Central is the third-party (3P) model: you sell to shoppers yourself, set your own price and pay Amazon referral and fulfilment fees on each sale. Vendor Central makes Amazon your customer. You agree terms with Amazon, receive its purchase orders, ship them and invoice Amazon for what it bought.
How 1P and 3P compare
| Vendor Central (1P) | Seller Central (3P) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sells to the shopper | Amazon, as the retailer | You, as a third-party seller |
| Who sets the retail price | Amazon | You |
| How you are paid | Amazon pays your invoices on agreed terms | Amazon pays out your sales, less referral and fulfilment fees |
| Who fulfils orders | You ship purchase orders to Amazon; Amazon delivers to shoppers | You, or Amazon through FBA for a fee |
| Prime badge | On every listing by default | Through FBA or Seller Fulfilled Prime |
| How you join | By invitation from Amazon Retail | Open registration |
What a vendor does each week
A vendor's week runs on purchase orders. Amazon forecasts demand for each product and issues purchase orders, usually weekly. The vendor confirms what it can supply, ships the goods to the Amazon fulfilment centre named on the order with an advance ship notice (ASN) and compliant labels, then invoices Amazon. Larger vendors connect through EDI, so orders, confirmations and invoices pass between systems automatically; others work in the Vendor Central portal.
Amazon then runs everything the shopper sees: storage, Prime delivery, customer service and returns. Retail Analytics inside Vendor Central reports sales, traffic, inventory and forecasts for every product.
Who can get onto Vendor Central in the UK?
Vendor Central is invitation-only. Amazon Retail decides which brands to invite, based on category fit, brand strength, sales history and demand, and there is no application form. A brand can build towards an invitation, or start on Vendor straight away by trading through an established vendor account such as Rosetta Brands'.
What Amazon looks for
Amazon's vendor recruitment favours brands that strengthen its own retail range: products in categories Amazon wants to grow, proven demand on Seller Central or in other retailers, reliable supply, and a brand that shoppers search for by name. Amazon decides when to invite, and new invitations are now rare: why Amazon Vendor Central access has closed. The full picture of the invitation route is in how to become an Amazon vendor in the UK.
The 3 ways onto Vendor
| Where you start | What Vendor gives you | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| On Seller Central today | The Prime badge by default, Amazon's retail promotion, and Amazon's fees absorbed into one agreed price | Seller to Vendor |
| On Vendor Central with your own account | Your brand on our account, with the operation run by our team so the channel turns profitable | Vendor to Vendor |
| Selling D2C, new to Amazon | Your brand in front of the shoppers already searching Amazon for it, with the Prime badge from day one | D2C to Vendor |
Find your fastest route onto Vendor
A call with our team maps where your brand starts, the categories you sell in and what Vendor would change for your margin.
Vendor Central vs Seller Central: which suits a consumer brand?
Seller Central gives you control of price and stock in return for running the retail operation yourself. Vendor Central hands the retail operation to Amazon in return for its retail margin and the vendor terms you agree. For consumable consumer brands in high-velocity categories, Vendor's Prime badge and first-party position typically lift conversion and organic visibility.
Margin, control and workload
On Seller Central, your margin is the retail price less Amazon's referral fee, fulfilment fees, storage and returns, and you run pricing, stock, advertising and customer issues yourself. On Vendor Central, your margin starts from the price you invoice Amazon, less the vendor terms you agree, and the work moves to purchase orders, compliance and the annual terms review. The right answer depends on your own cost structure, so model both before you move.
When Vendor is the right move
- Your products are consumable and bought again and again.
- You already have demand, on Seller Central, through your own site or in other retailers.
- Your supply chain can ship full cases to a weekly schedule.
- You want the Prime badge and Amazon's retail promotion on every listing.
For the step-by-step move, read from Seller Central to Vendor Central: what the switch involves.
How do Amazon vendor economics work?
On Vendor Central you sell to Amazon at a wholesale price, and Amazon earns its retail margin when it sells on. Your return depends on that price and on the vendor terms you agree: marketing contributions, allowances, chargebacks and advertising. The brands that keep their margin are the ones that model every line before they move.
The costs a vendor manages fall into 4 groups:
- Amazon's retail margin: the gap between the price you invoice and the retail price Amazon charges.
- Vendor terms: co-operative marketing contributions and allowances agreed with Amazon and reviewed each year.
- Compliance costs: chargebacks and shortage claims, deducted from payments when shipments miss Amazon's requirements.
- Growth spend: the advertising and promotions that drive sales on each listing.
How Amazon pays vendors
Amazon pays vendors against invoices for the purchase orders they fulfil, on the payment terms in the vendor's agreement. Chargebacks, shortages and agreed allowances are deducted from each remittance, so reconciling every payment against its invoices is part of running the account.
Who sets the retail price
Amazon sets it. You control the wholesale price you invoice, and your pricing discipline across every other channel decides how often Amazon's pricing matches a lower price it finds elsewhere. The practical tactics are in how to protect your brand pricing on Amazon.
What does it take to run Vendor Central well?
Vendor pays when 5 disciplines work together: a complete catalogue, compliant operations, low chargebacks, advertising measured against total sales, and the vendor programmes that build repeat revenue. Each one strengthens the others, and a gap in any one of them shows up in your remittance.
Catalogue and content
Every product needs accurate data, strong images and A+ Content, because Amazon's search and its shoppers both judge the listing. Key feature images do most of the selling on mobile, and listing health monitoring catches suppressions and lost Buy Box before they cost sales.
Operations and chargebacks
Purchase orders confirmed on time, accurate ASNs, and compliant labels and pallets keep chargebacks down. Chargebacks fall into 5 families, and disputes are won on evidence within roughly 30 days of the charge: Amazon vendor chargebacks: how to dispute, reduce and eliminate them. Rosetta Brands runs fulfilment and compliance and escalation for every brand on our account.
Advertising measured by TACoS
ACoS shows how efficiently ad spend turns into ad sales. TACoS measures advertising against total sales, organic included, so it shows whether the whole account is growing: TACoS vs ACoS. More on how we run Amazon advertising.
Subscribe and Save and the vendor programmes
Vendors can use Subscribe and Save, Amazon Business, Vine and Amazon's deal events to build repeat revenue and reach. Subscribe and Save suits consumable products best: Subscribe and Save for consumer brands and the exclusive Amazon programmes.
Annual negotiations and Amazon Vendor Services
Amazon reviews vendor terms each year, including the margin it expects and the marketing contributions it asks for. Vendors that bring their own sales, margin and forecast data negotiate from a stronger position, which is why reporting and analytics matter. Amazon Vendor Services (AVS) is a paid programme that gives existing vendors a dedicated Amazon contact for catalogue, operations and growth support. It suits a brand that already has its own vendor account and wants Amazon's help running it.
How does Vendor Central differ by category?
The vendor model works the same way in every category; the levers that matter change. Grocery runs on HFSS-compliant listings and Subscribe and Save, health on claims compliance, pet on repeat purchase and Amazon Business, household on pack economics, garden on seasonal planning, and drinks on licensing and age checks.
- Grocery and gourmet: HFSS-compliant listings, Subscribe and Save and Amazon Fresh for ambient, speciality food and snack brands.
- Health and personal care: health-claims compliance and suppression monitoring for supplements, vitamins and personal care.
- Pet supplies: Subscribe and Save and Amazon Business for food, treats and accessories.
- Home and household: pack architecture and pallet fulfilment that make low unit values pay.
- Garden and outdoor: planning for 4 demand windows a year, and pallet fulfilment for bulky products.
- Beer, wine and spirits: licensing, age verification and glass logistics, set out in selling alcohol on Amazon UK.
How can a brand get onto Vendor without an invitation?
Through an established vendor account. With Rosetta Brands' Vendor-as-a-Service, your brand trades through our Top 15 UK Amazon vendor account: the Prime badge from day one, one weekly order to one Amazon fulfilment centre, and the operation run for you by our team. It's your brand. It's our Amazon account.
Amazon reserves Vendor for a small set of partners, and we're one of them. 950+ consumer brands trade through the Rosetta Brands account, and we have generated £100M+ for our brand partners. More on vendor access and Prime.
The biggest thing Rosetta Brands brings to the table is the fact that they have the vendor account.
How it works for each way in
- Seller to Vendor: your listings move onto our account and gain the Prime badge, with Amazon's fees absorbed into one agreed price.
- Vendor to Vendor: your brand moves from your own vendor account to ours, and our team runs the operation.
- D2C to Vendor: your brand reaches the shoppers already searching Amazon for it.
What it costs
Rosetta Brands works on a success-fee model, so our revenue is tied to yours. You sell to us at an agreed price and are paid on agreed terms. We price each partnership once we have seen your ASINs, on a commercial call, so the terms reflect your categories and volumes. More on pricing and partnership.
See what Vendor would do for your brand
Bring your ASINs and your current Amazon numbers. We will show you what trading through our account would change.
Frequently asked questions
What UK consumer brands ask us about Amazon Vendor Central.
Vendor Central is invitation-only. Amazon's vendor recruitment team selects brands on category fit, brand strength and demand, and there is no application form. The direct route is to build sales and visibility until Amazon invites you. The other route is to trade through an established vendor account, which Rosetta Brands' Vendor-as-a-Service provides.
Amazon decides when to send an invitation, so the direct route has no fixed timeline. Through Rosetta Brands, our brands are typically onboarded and live on Amazon within 4 to 8 weeks of agreeing terms, covering account setup, catalogue migration, compliance checks, content and the first purchase order.
It depends on your category, volumes and cost structure. For consumable consumer brands, Vendor's Prime badge and first-party position typically lift conversion and organic visibility, while Amazon's retail margin and vendor terms replace Seller Central's referral and fulfilment fees. Model both against your own numbers before you decide.
Amazon sets the retail price. You set the wholesale price you invoice Amazon, and pricing discipline across your other channels decides how often Amazon matches a lower price it finds elsewhere.
Amazon pays vendors against invoices for the purchase orders they fulfil, on the payment terms in the vendor's agreement. Chargebacks, shortages and agreed allowances are deducted from each remittance.
Chargebacks are penalties Amazon deducts when a shipment misses its requirements, such as a late purchase order confirmation, an inaccurate ASN, missing labels or the wrong pallet configuration. They can be disputed in Vendor Central with evidence, usually within around 30 days of the charge appearing.
Amazon Vendor Services is a paid programme that gives existing vendors a dedicated Amazon contact for catalogue, operations and growth support. It suits a brand that already has its own vendor account and wants Amazon's help running it.
Yes. Some brands run a hybrid model, keeping certain products on Seller Central while Amazon buys others on Vendor. It takes careful pricing discipline across both, because Amazon prices its own listings against every other offer for the same product.
Your brand trades through Rosetta Brands' vendor account, so you can start with no Amazon account of your own. We set up the catalogue, content and fulfilment; you supply the product and sign off how your brand is presented.
How Amazon Vendor Central works in the UK as of October 2026, drawing on Rosetta Brands' experience running one of the UK's Top 15 Amazon vendor accounts for 950+ consumer brands. Amazon updates its programmes and vendor requirements from time to time, so check the current rules in Vendor Central before acting on a specific requirement.
Talk to the team running a Top 15 UK vendor account
Whether you sell on Seller Central, hold your own vendor account or sell D2C, we will map your route onto Vendor and what it would change for your margin.