Seller of record

The seller of record (SoR) is the legal entity recognized as the seller of a product in a transaction with the end customer. It is the name on the invoice or receipt — and with that name comes the legal package of the sale: collecting and remitting VAT or sales tax, honoring consumer rights and warranties, handling refunds, and carrying liability toward the buyer.

The concept matters because in modern e-commerce the company whose brand is on the product, the company shipping the box, and the company legally selling it are often not the same — and tax authorities, consumer-protection regulators, and card networks all care about exactly one of them: the seller of record.

What does the seller of record take responsibility for?

• Taxes on the sale. Registering for, collecting, and remitting VAT or sales tax in every jurisdiction where the sales create obligations.
• Invoicing. Issuing legally compliant invoices and receipts under its own name and tax numbers.
• Consumer rights. Honoring statutory protections — in the EU, for example, the 14-day right of withdrawal on distance sales — plus warranty and refund obligations.
• Disputes and chargebacks. Answering for the transaction when the customer disputes it.
• Regulatory exposure. Being the entity regulators and tax auditors come to when something about the sale is wrong.

Who is the seller of record? It depends on the model

Selling model	Seller of record	What that means for the brand
Own D2C store	The brand	Full control — and full tax and compliance obligations in every market sold into
Amazon third-party (Seller Central)	The brand (not Amazon)	Even with FBA shipping the boxes, the seller obligations stay with the brand
Amazon first-party (Vendor Central)	Amazon	The brand wholesales to Amazon, which resells — see our guide to Vendor Central vs. Seller Central
Via a distributor	The distributor	Compliance moves off the brand — along with pricing power, customer data, and margin
Via a merchant of record partner	The MoR partner	The partner becomes the legal seller and carries tax and compliance, while the brand keeps its pricing, channels, and customer relationship

Seller of record vs. merchant of record vs. importer of record

Three "of record" roles, three different questions:

Role	The question it answers	Core obligations
Seller of record	Who legally sold this to the customer?	Sales taxes, invoicing, consumer rights, liability for the sale
Merchant of record	Who is liable for the payment transaction?	Payment processing liability, chargebacks, transaction-level compliance
Importer of record	Who legally brought the goods into the country?	Customs duties, import VAT, product compliance at the border

In practice the first two usually sit with the same entity, which is why the terms get used interchangeably — the nuances that separate them are unpacked in our guide Merchant of Record vs. Seller of Record. The importer of record, however, is a genuinely separate role: a brand can be the seller of record for a German customer while a partner acts as importer of record for the inventory. A full-stack partner like eBrands takes all three roles at once.

What do brands get wrong about the seller of record?

• Assuming Amazon is the seller. In third-party selling, Amazon is the marketplace and (with FBA) the logistics provider — but the brand is the seller of record, with every tax and consumer-law obligation that implies, in every marketplace country.
• Thinking the payment provider changes anything. Using Stripe or another payment facilitator does not touch seller-of-record status: the facilitator moves the money; the obligations of the sale stay with you.
• Trading it away without noticing the price. Handing seller-of-record status to a distributor does remove compliance — but it also hands over pricing, customer data, and a distributor margin. Our comparison of the distributor vs. commerce-operator models in the EU walks through that trade-off.
• Ignoring marketplace deemed-supplier rules. In the EU, marketplaces are treated as the "deemed supplier" for VAT on certain transactions (notably imported consignments up to €150 and sales by non-EU sellers) — the VAT collection shifts to the marketplace even though the brand remains the seller of record otherwise. Knowing which of your sales fall under this prevents both double-payment and gaps.

FAQ

Is the seller of record the same as the merchant of record?
Usually the same entity in practice, but the roles differ: the seller of record is the legal seller of the goods, while the merchant of record is the party liable for the payment transaction. Full MoR partners take on both together.

Who is the seller of record when I sell on Amazon?
In third-party selling (Seller Central), you are — even if FBA fulfills the orders. Amazon only becomes the seller of record in the first-party Vendor Central model, where it buys wholesale and resells under its own name.

Can I stop being the seller of record without giving up my brand?
Yes — that is the merchant-of-record model. The MoR partner becomes the legal seller and carries tax, compliance, and liability, while the brand keeps control of pricing, channels, and the customer relationship — the part a classic distributor deal takes away.

Being the seller of record in ten countries means tax, invoicing, and consumer-law obligations in ten countries. eBrands takes seller-of-record status across Europe and the US as your Merchant of Record — the obligations move, the brand stays yours — see how it works for physical-goods brands.