What belongs in an Amazon reseller agreement for an equipment brand

What should an Amazon reseller agreement cover?

A brand about to sign with a reseller usually sees two documents. The authorization letter is short: it names the seller, the products, the marketplace and the dates, so the seller can show it is approved. The authorization letter guide covers what goes in it and includes a template. The reseller agreement is the longer document behind the letter. It says how the work runs and how it stops.

The checklist below goes clause by clause, with a fair version of each and the points to push back on.

One fact about Amazon shapes several clauses. Amazon says that when multiple sellers offer the same product, each offer is viewable from the same product detail page. Your reseller does not own a page. It has an offer on a shared page, next to anyone else who lists the same item.

Which products and which channel should the authorization cover?

A fair version:

• Names each product by model or part number, or points to a schedule that does.
• Names the marketplace, such as amazon.com, rather than "online".
• Says products are added or removed only in writing, signed by both sides.
• Matches the authorization letter exactly, so the two documents never disagree.

Push back on:

• "All products, current and future." A new product should be a decision, not an automatic add.
• Rights to channels the reseller does not need, such as other marketplaces or its own website.
• Exclusivity with no conditions. If you grant it, tie it to the reseller keeping the line in stock and at MAP.

The clause should also cover Brand Registry. Amazon says an authorized agent should have the trademark owner enroll the brand, then be added as an additional Brand Registry account user. The fair version keeps the enrollment in your name. Push back on a reseller that wants to enroll your brand itself.

What should the MAP clause say?

A fair version:

1. Points to your written MAP policy and its current version, so a policy update does not need a new agreement.
2. Says the reseller will not advertise any covered product below MAP, including through coupons or promotions you did not approve in writing.
3. Says what the reseller does when another seller drops below MAP: it tells you and does not follow the price down.
4. Says what happens if the reseller breaks MAP itself.

Push back on "competitive pricing" language, on a right to match any price on the page, and on carve-outs for sales events you do not control.

The wording matters here. The FTC's guidance on manufacturer-imposed requirements explains that a manufacturer can generally set its own resale price policy and decide on its own not to deal with dealers that ignore it, while price agreements between a manufacturer and its dealers are judged on their effect on competition. That is a question for your lawyer. The MAP policy guide covers what a brand can enforce on Amazon, and the MAP policy example shows a policy written out.

Who writes the listings and who owns the inventory?

On equipment, buyers check details like working width, hitch fit and hose length on the listing, so wrong specs turn into returns. A fair listings clause says:

• The reseller writes copy, specs and images from your equipment and your spec sheets.
• You approve each listing before it goes live, and approve material changes after.
• Silence does not count as approval.

Push back on listings copied from a competitor's page or a distributor catalog, and on a reseller that changes titles or specs without telling you.

For inventory, ask plainly who pays for the stock and who owns it if it does not sell. A fair version has the reseller buy at wholesale, take title on delivery, and carry the risk of slow sellers. Amazon's Fulfillment by Amazon page says that with FBA, Amazon stores, picks, packs and ships orders and handles customer service and returns for them. Those services carry fees, and the agreement should say they are the reseller's to pay. The guide to fees on heavy equipment shows where they land.

Push back on consignment, where you ship stock and are paid only when it sells, and on any right to return unsold stock to you at full cost.

What should the monthly report and seller flagging look like?

The report is how you see the account without logging into it. A fair clause lists the fields, product by product:

• Units sold and revenue
• The price shown, and any time it moved
• Buy Box share
• Reviews and ratings, including new negative reviews
• Stock on hand and on the way

The flagging clause covers sellers you did not authorize. A fair version says the reseller tells you within a set time after a new seller appears, and that the notice includes the seller name, the listing, the price and the date seen.

Be clear about who acts next. Amazon's Brand Registry page describes tools such as Report a Violation that sit with the trademark owner. The reseller can watch and report to you. Test buys, dealer terms and reports to Amazon stay your decisions, and the guide to stopping unauthorized sellers walks through them in order.

How should the agreement end?

The exit is the clause most worth reading twice. A fair version covers:

1. Notice. Either side can end the agreement in writing, and it has a term or renewal date rather than running forever.
2. The authorization. It ends on the same date, and the reseller removes its offers on your products.
3. Listing content. Copy and images written for your products are handed to you, and the reseller's Brand Registry user access is removed.
4. Leftover stock. The agreement names one path: sell through at MAP within a set window, a buyback at an agreed price, or removal from Amazon.

Push back on an exit that lets the reseller keep selling your products at any price after the end date, and on terms that let it reuse your images elsewhere.

Crew Grade works as the authorized Amazon seller for independent makers of professional lawn and landscape equipment. We are new and have no partner brands or results to show, so the deal lists our terms on one page as one example of these clauses written out. You sign an authorization letter and MAP terms, we buy inventory at wholesale, we build listings from your specs that you approve, we never price below MAP, we flag unauthorized sellers to you the week they appear, and we report units, revenue, price, Buy Box share and reviews per product every month. Read it next to this checklist and ask about anything it does not answer. If your line fits, apply as a brand. There is no fee and no contract to apply, and a person replies within 1 business day.