Amazon Vendor Central

Amazon Vendor Central is Amazon's invite-only portal for first-party (1P) suppliers: brands that sell their products wholesale to Amazon, which then resells them to customers as "Ships from and sold by Amazon." The vendor operates as a supplier filling purchase orders; Amazon becomes the retailer — and the seller of record — controlling the retail price, the listing, and the customer relationship.

It is the counterpart to Seller Central, the open portal for third-party (3P) sellers who sell to customers directly through Amazon's marketplace. The 1P-vs-3P choice shapes almost everything about a brand's Amazon economics.

How does Vendor Central work?

1. Invitation. Amazon's retail teams invite brands into the program; there is no open sign-up at vendorcentral.amazon.com.
2. Purchase orders. Amazon forecasts demand and issues POs — typically weekly — at the agreed wholesale cost.
3. Fulfillment of the PO. The vendor ships to Amazon's fulfillment centers under strict routing and labeling requirements (or ships direct-to-customer via Direct Fulfillment).
4. Amazon retails the product. Amazon owns the inventory, sets and moves the retail price, and handles the customer end entirely.
5. Payment on terms. Vendors invoice Amazon and are paid on negotiated payment terms, typically ranging from 30 to 90 days — with agreed allowances (co-op, freight, damage) deducted along the way.

Vendor Central vs. Seller Central

Aspect	Vendor Central (1P)	Seller Central (3P)
Business model	You wholesale to Amazon; Amazon resells	You sell to the customer on Amazon's marketplace
Seller of record	Amazon	The brand
Access	Invite-only	Open registration
Retail price control	Amazon sets and changes it freely	The brand sets it
Revenue model	Wholesale cost minus allowances and deductions	Retail price minus referral and FBA fees
Inventory risk	Transfers to Amazon once POs are received	Stays with the brand until each unit sells
Cash flow	Invoice terms, typically 30–90 days	Marketplace disbursements, typically every two weeks

The full decision framework — including when a hybrid of both makes sense — is in our guide: Amazon Vendor Central vs. Seller Central in 2026.

Why are brands leaving Vendor Central?

The vendor model is contracting. Amazon has spent recent years consolidating its first-party supplier base and pushing smaller and mid-size vendors toward the third-party marketplace — often with short notice. For affected brands this is a forced migration with real operational stakes: pricing, listings, logistics, and the entire seller-of-record responsibility move back onto the brand at once. We cover what the shift means and how to land it well in The End of Amazon's Vendor Model: Your Guide to a Successful Transition.

What do brands get wrong with Vendor Central?

• Underestimating the deductions. The wholesale price is not what gets paid: co-op allowances, freight and damage allowances, and vendor chargebacks (compliance deductions for labeling, routing, or ASN errors — not card chargebacks) all come off the invoice. Vendors who don't audit deductions routinely leave margin on the table.
• Losing price control everywhere at once. Amazon prices dynamically. When it discounts your product, price-matching pressure ripples across your other retailers and your own D2C store — a channel-conflict problem 3P selling doesn't create.
• Building the business on PO flow. Purchase orders are Amazon's choice, not an obligation. Products can be marked unprofitable and quietly stop receiving POs, and entire vendor relationships can be terminated — a single point of failure for brands with no 3P fallback.
• Treating 1P vs. 3P as either/or. Many brands run hybrid: strategic catalog items on whichever model performs, with the 3P side — operated well on Amazon — as the resilient base Amazon cannot switch off.

FAQ

Is Amazon Vendor Central invite-only?
Yes. Amazon's retail teams extend invitations to brands they want to buy wholesale; there is no open application. Seller Central, by contrast, is open to any business that registers.

What is the difference between Vendor Central and Seller Central?
In Vendor Central you sell wholesale to Amazon, which resells as the seller of record and controls the retail price. In Seller Central you sell directly to customers, keep price control and the seller-of-record role, and pay referral and fulfillment fees instead of giving a wholesale margin.

What are vendor chargebacks?
Compliance deductions Amazon applies to vendor invoices for operational infractions — late or mislabeled shipments, routing errors, missing ASNs. They are unrelated to card chargebacks; on invoices they behave like a fee for every process mistake, which is why PO operations discipline directly protects vendor margin.

Whether Amazon invites you in, squeezes your terms, or moves you out of the vendor program, the answer is an operated 3P business you control. eBrands runs Amazon as a full-stack partner and carries the seller-of-record burden as your Merchant of Record — see how it works for physical-goods brands.