Amazon Vendor Central is the portal brands use when they sell wholesale to Amazon rather than to shoppers. Amazon raises a purchase order, you ship to its warehouses, you invoice, and Amazon owns the stock, sets the retail price and sells it as “Ships from and sold by Amazon”. That’s first-party selling, or 1P. Seller Central is the opposite arrangement: you stay the seller of record and pay Amazon fees.
We run a Vendor Central account for a UK brand alongside our Seller Central clients, so this is written from the operator’s chair: how you get in, how the money works, what goes wrong, and whether 1P is still worth it in 2026.
What is Amazon Vendor Central?
Amazon Vendor Central is the web portal where Amazon’s retail team buys from you as a supplier. Purchase orders, shipment notices, invoices, payments, deductions, product data and reports all sit inside it. In the UK the account lives at vendorcentral.amazon.co.uk.
Amazon’s own definition: “Vendors sell their items directly to Amazon, who then sells them to customers.”
The distinction that matters: in 1P, Amazon’s retail business is your customer. In 3P, the shopper is. That decides who sets the price, who carries the stock and who absorbs a bad month.
Vendor Central vs Seller Central: what’s actually different?
The short version of Vendor Central vs Seller Central: in 1P you trade control and cash flow for scale and a simpler customer-facing operation; in 3P you keep control and margin but do more of the work. Here’s how the two compare as of September 2026.
| Vendor Central (1P) | Seller Central (3P) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who’s the customer | Amazon Retail | The shopper |
| How you join | Invitation from Amazon only | Open sign-up; UK Professional plan £25/month ex VAT (as of Sept 2026) |
| Who sets the retail price | Amazon | You |
| How you get paid | Invoice against a purchase order, on negotiated payment terms | Proceeds from each sale, minus fees, paid out on a rolling cycle |
| Main costs | Negotiated trade terms: co-op, allowances, chargebacks | Referral fees (most UK categories 8–15%, as of Sept 2026), FBA fees, storage, ads |
| Stock risk | Amazon owns it once received | You own it until it sells |
| Demand signal | Amazon decides what to order, and when | You decide what to send |
| Reporting | Retail Analytics, including a demand forecast and Net PPM | Business Reports, Brand Analytics, payments data |
| Operational penalties | Chargebacks for PO, ASN, labelling, prep and on-time failures | FBA inbound defects, account health metrics |
| Advertising | Amazon Ads: Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Stores, DSP | Same ad products |
| Brand Registry | Available — enrolment depends on the trademark, not account type | Same |
Most “amazon 1p vs 3p” comparisons stop at the table. What they skip: 1P is negotiated, so two vendors with similar products can have very different economics.
How do you get an Amazon Vendor Central account?
You can’t apply. Vendor Central is invite-only, and the invitation comes from Amazon’s retail or vendor recruitment team. An Amazon staff member put it plainly on the UK Seller Forums: Vendor Central is an “invite-only program” and you must “receive an invitation from Amazon to participate”.
Invitations have historically gone to brands selling well in Seller Central, brands with a big offline presence, and brands Amazon’s category teams spot at trade shows or through distributors. There’s no published revenue threshold; figures quoted online are agency estimates, not Amazon policy.
Is Amazon still inviting new vendors in 2026? Much less often. Several agencies report new invitations to consumer brands slowed sharply from 2023, and one August 2026 piece argued the door is effectively closed. Amazon hasn’t announced that, so treat it as a trend, not a rule. If someone offers to “get you into Vendor Central” for a fee, be sceptical.
How do purchase orders and 1P pricing work?
Amazon sends a purchase order (PO), you confirm what you can ship, you deliver to the fulfilment centre Amazon specifies, you send an Advance Shipment Notice (ASN), and you invoice. Amazon’s developer documentation describes the same flow, with each PO acknowledged as accepted, rejected or backordered.
What trips people up:
- Amazon decides the order size. POs follow Amazon’s forecast, its stock and how profitable your product is for it. A forecast isn’t a commitment to buy.
- Your cost price is agreed up front. Changing it later is a formal request, and Amazon will ask why.
- Amazon sets the retail price. If a competitor or your own DTC site drops its price, Amazon may match it, then come back to you for funding.
In the account we run, most weeks start with POs: checking orders against stock, confirming carefully rather than optimistically, and flagging anything that looks off against the forecast. It’s a supply-chain job first.
What is Net PPM, and why does it decide your POs?
Net PPM (Net Pure Product Margin) is Amazon’s own profit margin on your product as a retailer, after your funding comes in. It shapes how many units Amazon orders and how hard it pushes in negotiations.
Amazon doesn’t publish a formula. The broad shape, as agencies describe it:
Net PPM ≈ (Amazon’s net product revenue − Amazon’s cost of the product + vendor funding) ÷ net product revenue
“Vendor funding” is what you give back through co-op, allowances and promotions.
Net PPM falls when Amazon cuts the retail price, when your cost price is high relative to it, or when returns and damages rise. It rises with a higher sustainable retail price, more vendor funding or a lower cost price.
Amazon’s Selling Partner API lists a Net Pure Product Margin report for vendors at aggregate and ASIN level, so you can see it. When Net PPM stays low or negative, expect smaller POs and, eventually, the product treated as unprofitable for Amazon to hold (“CRaP” — can’t realise a profit). We check it monthly and act on falling ASINs before Amazon raises them.
Co-op, allowances and payment terms: how do vendor trade terms work?
Your trade terms are the deductions Amazon takes from what it owes you, agreed in writing and renegotiated each year. They’re the 1P equivalent of Seller Central fees, without a published rate card. Everything below is negotiated per vendor, so we’re not quoting percentages.
The terms you’ll usually see on a UK or EU vendor agreement:
| Term | What it is |
|---|---|
| Co-op / marketing allowance | A percentage of purchases Amazon keeps to fund marketing and merchandising |
| Damage allowance | A percentage covering stock damaged in Amazon’s network, typically instead of returning it to you |
| Freight allowance | Applies when Amazon collects from you rather than you delivering |
| Payment terms | Days from invoice to payment; faster payment may be offered for a discount |
| Promotional funding | Case-by-case money for deals and events such as Prime Day |
These are reviewed in Annual Vendor Negotiations (AVN). Industry reports on the 2025 and 2026 rounds describe Amazon asking for more funding and lower cost prices, especially where Net PPM is weak. In our experience, it always comes back to Amazon’s margin.
On payment terms: Seller Central pays out roughly as you sell. Vendor Central pays on invoice terms after delivery, so growing in 1P means funding more stock before cash comes back. Model cash flow before you sign.
Chargebacks: what is operational compliance in Vendor Central?
Chargebacks are deductions Amazon makes when your shipment doesn’t follow its rules, and in 1P they’re one of the biggest hidden costs. They come off your invoices automatically, so if you don’t look, you won’t see them.
The main categories, as of September 2026:
- PO on-time accuracy — delivering outside the expected window.
- PO confirmation — confirming units you then don’t ship.
- ASN accuracy — the Advance Shipment Notice late, missing or not matching what arrived.
- Labelling — missing or wrong carton and pallet labels.
- Prep and packaging — missing bagging or set labels, wrong carton sizes.
- Receiving defects — overweight or oversized cartons.
You can dispute chargebacks in Vendor Central with proof of delivery (on Amazon-arranged collect shipments you get only a proof of collection), signed delivery notes, carton photos and shipment data. Disputes can take weeks, and a rejected one can generally be reopened only once, so get the evidence right first time. Shortage claims (Amazon says fewer units arrived than you invoiced) work the same way.
Our heuristic: review deductions fortnightly. It’s the same logic as an FBA fee audit on the 3P side — dispute time limits turn small errors into lost money.
What reports does Vendor Central give you?
Vendor Central’s Retail Analytics gives you sales, traffic, inventory, Net PPM and a forward demand forecast — data 3P sellers mostly don’t get in this form.
Vendor-only report types listed in Amazon’s Selling Partner API (as of September 2026):
| Report | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Vendor Sales | Ordered and shipped revenue and units |
| Vendor Traffic | Detail page views and related traffic metrics |
| Vendor Inventory | Amazon’s stock position on your items |
| Net Pure Product Margin | Amazon’s margin on your items, overall and per ASIN |
| Vendor Forecasting | Weekly demand forecasts at mean, P70, P80 and P90 levels |
| Rapid Retail Analytics | Hourly sales, traffic and inventory |
All of them require the Brand Analytics role on the account.
We use the forecast most: the gap between mean and P90 shows how uncertain Amazon is, and drift often shows there before POs change.
Do Brand Registry and advertising work the same for vendors?
Largely, yes. Brand Registry depends on your trademark, not your account type, and Amazon Ads works the same for vendors as for sellers. Amazon’s UK page requires a registered or pending trademark that you own, with the brand permanently on the product or packaging — nothing about 1P or 3P. Our Brand Registry guide covers the UK process.
On advertising, Amazon says Sponsored Products “are available for professional sellers, vendors, book vendors, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) authors, and agencies”, and its vendor guide adds Sponsored Brands and Stores. DSP is open to vendors too, and our PPC vs DSP comparison applies unchanged.
The 1P difference is that you don’t control price or stock. Ads can lose efficiency overnight if Amazon drops the price or runs out, so check PO and stock status before touching bids. And because ad-driven sales feed the forecast that drives POs, judge ads against total sales, not just attributed sales — see ACoS vs TACoS.
What is Amazon Vendor Services?
Amazon Vendor Services (AVS) — sometimes called Strategic Account Services — is a paid programme that gives vendors a dedicated Amazon account manager. They fix operational and catalogue problems and open doors to programmes that standard support can’t.
Amazon doesn’t publish AVS pricing; it’s negotiated. One industry benchmark claims most European vendors are enrolled, which says a lot about standard Vendor Central support. Ask what it costs, which problems it fixes, and whether an Amazon vendor central agency or your own team could fix them instead.
Has Amazon been cutting vendors and pushing them to 3P?
Yes, in waves. The dated record we could verify:
- March 2019. Amazon stopped POs to many smaller vendors and steered them to Seller Central. When Bloomberg reported further cuts in May 2019, Amazon said “any speculation of a large scale reduction of vendors is incorrect”.
- September–November 2024. Termination notices went to a group of mainly smaller vendors, effective 9 November 2024, with an offer to move to 3P (Retail Brew). Amazon said: “Like all businesses, we regularly review our product offerings and occasionally make changes.”
- April 2025. After the US tariff announcement on 2 April 2025, Bloomberg reported on 9 April that Amazon had cancelled some orders from vendors in China and other Asian countries without warning. A US import story, but a reminder that POs can be cancelled.
For 2025–2026, agencies report tougher terms, less predictable POs and stricter inbound compliance. As of September 2026 we’ve found no Amazon announcement of a new purge and no UK-specific wave. But Amazon keeps the 1P relationships that make it money.
Should you stay in Vendor Central or switch to Seller Central?
Stay in 1P if Amazon’s margin on your products is healthy and your cash flow can handle invoice terms. Consider moving, or going hybrid, if Net PPM pressure, chargebacks and price matching are eating the scale 1P gave you. The table is our heuristic, not an Amazon rule.
| Signal | Leans stay (1P) | Leans switch or hybrid (3P) |
|---|---|---|
| Net PPM trend | Stable or rising | Falling, with funding requests every quarter |
| POs | Predictable, in line with the forecast | Erratic, cut, or missing on core ASINs |
| Price control | Retail price on Amazon holds | Amazon matching down below your price floors |
| Chargebacks | Small and recovered | Growing and hard to dispute |
| Cash flow | Can fund stock over invoice terms | Invoice terms are straining the business |
| Range | Core, fast-moving lines | Long tail, bundles, new launches Amazon won’t buy |
| Team | Strong supply-chain and EDI capability | Stronger in marketing and pricing than logistics |
Mostly left column: stay and work on terms. Mostly right: plan a move. A mix, which is where most brands sit, points to hybrid.
Hybrid 1P/3P means Amazon buys core lines through Vendor Central while you sell other ASINs (launches, bundles, lines Amazon stopped ordering) through Seller Central. It’s common, but keep the split clean ASIN by ASIN: offer the same ASIN in both and you’re competing with your biggest customer for the Featured Offer.
Moving fully to 3P? Read our 2026 FBA fee changes before building the margin model.
Where does an Amazon vendor central agency help?
An agency earns its fee in 1P where Amazon is opaque: margin, terms, deductions and catalogue fixes.
In the Vendor Central account we manage, the work falls into five areas:
- POs and forecast — weekly, with careful confirmations.
- Net PPM — monthly per ASIN, ahead of funding requests.
- Chargebacks and shortages — disputed with evidence, within time limits.
- AVN prep — what each term costs and what you can offer back.
- Content and ads — run with stock and price in view.
If you’re comparing an Amazon consultant UK-based against a larger agency, ask whether they’ve run a Vendor Central account, not just Seller Central. They’re different jobs. Our agency vs in-house breakdown covers which parts are worth keeping internal.
FAQ
Can I apply for Amazon Vendor Central UK?
No. Amazon Vendor Central UK is invite-only, as an Amazon staff member confirmed on the UK Seller Forums. Invitations come from Amazon’s retail team, usually to brands with strong Seller Central sales or a big offline presence. Agencies report new invitations have been rare since 2023, though Amazon hasn’t announced a closure as of September 2026.
Is Vendor Central or Seller Central better?
Neither, in general. Vendor Central suits brands with strong supply-chain operations, healthy margins for Amazon and cash to cover invoice payment terms. Seller Central suits brands that want control of price, stock and customer data. Many established brands use both, splitting ASINs between the two accounts.
What does Amazon 1P vs 3P mean?
1P (first-party) means you sell wholesale to Amazon through Vendor Central, and Amazon resells to shoppers. 3P (third-party) means you sell directly to shoppers on Amazon through Seller Central and pay Amazon fees. In 1P, Amazon owns the stock and sets the price; in 3P, you do.
What is Net PPM on Amazon?
Net PPM, or Net Pure Product Margin, is Amazon’s own profit margin on your product as a retailer, including the funding you provide through co-op and allowances. Amazon doesn’t publish a formula, but vendors can see a Net PPM report in Retail Analytics. Low or negative Net PPM usually leads to smaller POs and pressure for more funding.
What are Vendor Central chargebacks?
Deductions Amazon takes from your invoices when a shipment breaks its rules: late or inaccurate ASNs, missing labels, prep errors, deliveries outside the PO window or confirmed units not shipped. You can dispute them in Vendor Central with proof of delivery (or proof of collection, on Amazon-arranged collect shipments) and carton photos, but disputes take time and can generally be reopened only once.
Can you be on Vendor Central and Seller Central at the same time?
Yes. Hybrid 1P/3P is common: Amazon buys core lines through Vendor Central and you sell other ASINs through Seller Central. The risk is offering the same ASIN in both, which puts you in competition with Amazon for the Featured Offer. Split the range deliberately and review the split quarterly.
Do I need an Amazon vendor central agency?
Not always. If your team understands EDI, POs, chargebacks and vendor negotiations, you can run it in-house. An agency helps most with Net PPM monitoring, chargeback recovery, negotiation prep and advertising run alongside stock and price data, which is where mistakes cost the most.
Sami Sultan runs Ecom Enable, an Amazon growth partner for DTC brands. Vendor Central processes, report types and news timeline checked 22 September 2026. If you’re weighing 1P against 3P, our account management service covers both, or start with a free Amazon audit.
Sources: Amazon Ads: Advertising solutions for Amazon vendors; Amazon Ads: Sponsored Products eligibility; Amazon SP-API: Vendor Retail Procurement Orders API; Amazon SP-API: Analytics report type values (vendor retail analytics reports); Amazon UK: Brand Registry eligibility; Amazon UK: Selling fees and plans; Amazon Seller Forums UK: Invitation for Amazon Vendor Central; Retail Brew: Amazon is terminating some wholesale vendor accounts (Oct 2024); SPS Commerce on the 2024 Vendor Central shake-up; Bloomberg: Amazon cancels some inventory orders from China after tariffs (Apr 2025); PYMNTS on the April 2025 cancellations; Seattle Times on the 2019 vendor purge; GeekWire: Amazon’s response to the May 2019 report; Rosetta Brands on Vendor Central invitations (Aug 2026); SupplyKick on Vendor Central in 2026; Monks on operational shifts for vendors in 2026; Hinge Commerce on chargebacks and disputes; Rootamz on Net PPM; Stratably on Amazon Vendor Services.