What is an Amazon authorized reseller?
Short answer
A seller that a brand has authorized in writing to sell named products on Amazon. It buys the stock from the brand or its distributor, lists it on its own seller account and follows the brand's terms, such as a minimum advertised price. The authorization comes from the brand, not from Amazon.
On Amazon, a reseller is one more seller with an offer. Amazon says that when multiple sellers offer the same product, each offer is viewable from the same product detail page. A buyer sees the offers side by side. What makes one of them authorized is a document the brand signed, not anything Amazon shows on the page.
That document is usually a letter of authorization. It names the seller, the products, the marketplace, the dates and the conditions, such as sourcing only from the brand and following its MAP policy. The authorization letter guide covers what it should say and includes a template.
Does Amazon keep a list of authorized resellers?
Short answer
Not that a brand can rely on. Amazon's Brand Registry page describes tools for trademark owners, such as Report a Violation and automated protections, and does not describe a register of authorized sellers. The brand keeps the record: the signed letter, the MAP terms and its own list of who is authorized.
Brand Registry is free and open to the trademark owner. Amazon says an authorized agent should have the trademark owner enroll the brand, then be added as an additional Brand Registry account user. That gives a reseller access to the brand's tools, but it is still the brand's account and the brand's decision.
How does a brand check a reseller before it signs?
Short answer
Ask for the seller's legal name and the seller name buyers see on Amazon, look at what it sells today and at what price, and ask how it handles your MAP, other sellers and unsold stock. Then write the answers into the letter and your MAP terms, so they hold after the first call.
Seven checks cover most of it:
- Names. The legal name and the Amazon seller name, both of which go in the letter. A letter that names a different seller than the one on the listing is hard to rely on.
- What it sells now. Open its storefront on Amazon and look at the brands it carries and the prices it shows. A seller that already lists other makers below their advertised price will likely do the same to you.
- Sourcing. Stock only from you or your named distributor, written into the letter.
- Price. How it holds your MAP, and what it does when another seller lists your product under it.
- Stock risk. Who buys the inventory and who owns it if it does not sell.
- Reporting. What it reports and how often: units, revenue, price, Featured Offer share and reviews for each product.
- The exit. How either side ends the authorization, and how much notice it takes.
What should make a brand wary?
Short answer
A seller that will not give its legal name, wants you to carry the stock while it keeps the account, cannot say what it does about sellers under your MAP, or wants a letter with no products, no dates and no end. Each one leaves you with less control than the letter seems to give you.
The letter is short on purpose, so every gap in it matters. The guide's list of mistakes covers the ones that make a letter weak, including a letter that never ends and is hard to withdraw cleanly.
What does an authorization not do?
Short answer
It does not stop other sellers from listing your products. Amazon describes Report a Violation as covering suspected IP infringement, store policy violations and regulatory compliance concerns, not who is authorized. When genuine units show up from a seller you did not authorize, your dealer terms and a test buy are the tools.
A test buy tells you what you are dealing with. Amazon recommends one to confirm a suspected counterfeit before removing listings through Project Zero. If the unit turns out to be genuine, the serial or lot number often points to the dealer or distributor it came from. The guide to unauthorized Amazon sellers walks through the steps in order.
Crew Grade works as the authorized reseller for independent makers of professional lawn and landscape equipment. We are new and have no partner brands to show yet, so the deal lists our terms on one page instead, the same terms the checks above ask about. If your line fits, apply as a brand.
Sources
Accessed
- Amazon, How to sell on Amazonsell.amazon.com
- Amazon, Amazon Brand Registrysell.amazon.com
- Amazon, Project Zerosell.amazon.com