Life afterVendor Central.
In late 2024, Amazon told some Vendor Central suppliers it would stop buying from them, most with two to three months' notice. If it happens to you, or you'd rather move first, here's the plan.
Source: Retail Brew, October 2024
Why Vendor Central
sales shrink.
Seven causes, in the order to check them. Most have nothing to do with riders losing interest.
Why are our Amazon sales shrinking on Vendor Central? Most often because Amazon is ordering less, so your products run out and other sellers take the sale. Wrong or hidden listings, Amazon's advertised price and ads you no longer fund make it worse. Check first whether your brand's Amazon sales are shrinking, or only the part Amazon buys from you. They're not the same thing.
Amazon is ordering less, or has stopped. On Vendor Central, your sales are Amazon's purchase orders. In late 2024, Amazon told some Vendor Central suppliers it would stop buying from them, most with two to three months' notice (Retail Brew, October 2024). In April 2025, after new US tariffs, it cancelled some direct-import orders from China and elsewhere in Asia (Bloomberg, April 2025).
Your products are out of stock. Amazon decides how much to order. When its orders lag what riders want, your listings run dry and shoppers buy someone else's part instead.
Another seller has the Buy Box. When Amazon runs out, the “Add to Cart” button goes to whoever still has stock: often a seller you never authorized, sometimes without Prime. Your brand can still be selling while your Vendor Central numbers fall.
Your listings are wrong or hidden. Wrong fitment, missing specs, tangled variations or a listing Amazon has suppressed all cost sales. Nearly half of shoppers returned an online purchase last year because the product information was wrong (Salsify survey of US, UK and Canadian shoppers, 2026).
Amazon's advertised price is upsetting your dealers. Amazon sets its own advertised price, independently of your policy, and says it aims to meet or beat competitors (Amazon's customer-service help pages, checked 2026). When it drops, other sellers often follow, and your dealers notice. A shop that pays for a mechanic, a test ride and stock on the floor can't easily match an advertised price that keeps moving. Whether and how you respond is your call.
Your ads stopped, or got outbid. On Vendor Central you pay for ads on top. Cut the budget, or let rival brands outbid you, and fewer shoppers ever see your products.
Riders really are buying less. Sometimes it is the market. Trade reports describe years of excess stock and discounting after the pandemic boom (Escape Collective, February 2024), though spare parts and accessories were holding up well (Show Daily, August 2025).
Plan ahead,
stay on Prime.
Brands that plan a fallback keep their products on Prime without a gap.
-
Know your fallback
Which products would lose Prime tomorrow, and who else sells them. A free brand snapshot shows you.
-
Keep your listings
Product pages and reviews stay with the product, not the seller. Your Brand Registry stays yours.
-
Line up a buyer
We buy your line up front, with our own cash, and give you a start date before you sign.
What selling to
Amazon costs.
Vendor Central is simple on paper: one buyer, big orders. Here's what it involves.
Deductions
Co-op, damage and freight allowances, and shortage claims come off what Amazon pays you.1
Payment terms
You wait on Amazon's terms, after deductions.1
Your advertised price
Amazon sets its own advertised price, independently of your policy, and says it aims to meet or beat competitors.2 In one partner's Q3 2026 test, Amazon's offer was below the brand's advertised-price policy on 41 of 89 days for the top product. Every new-condition unit we sold was advertised at or above it. We set our advertised prices on our own.
Ads
You still pay for advertising on top.
With us: paid within 24 hours, no fees, no deductions and ads on our dime. Your advertised-price policy stays yours, and you see every seller in one report.
- Vendor Central terms vary by vendor. Deductions commonly include co-op, damage and freight allowances, and shortage claims (vendor-negotiation guides by MerchantSpring, April 2026, and Wake Commerce, July 2024).
- Amazon's customer-service help pages, checked 2026.
1P or 3P:
what fits your line.
1P is Vendor Central: you sell to Amazon, and Amazon owns the stock and sets its own advertised price. 3P is Amazon's marketplace: the seller owns the stock. That seller can be you, or an authorized partner who buys from you.
Stay on Vendor Central if…
Amazon still orders steadily, most of your line is items under about $6 or big, bulky, low-cost goods, and you're fine with Amazon setting its own advertised price.
Split if…
Amazon still buys some lines well but lets others run out. Keep it buying the low-cost and bulky lines, and hand the rest to an authorized partner, planned product by product.
Switch if…
Amazon has cut or stopped your orders, your products keep running out, or Amazon's advertised price keeps causing trouble with your dealers. An authorized partner buys your line, keeps it on Prime and sells it as a 3P seller, and your advertised-price policy stays yours.
Pick us if…
You make parts or accessories and want Amazon handled without a team: we buy your line up front, pay within 24 hours, keep it on Prime and fund the ads. See every option side by side.
Two ways
to move.
Hand us your whole Amazon line, or keep Vendor Central for what it does well.
-
Switch
We buy your line up front, keep it on Prime and pay within 24 hours. You'll get a date before you sign.
-
Split
Keep Amazon buying your low-cost and bulky lines. We take the rest. We've run it that way with brands before, and it works.
Four steps,
no gap.
Free snapshot
We map your listings, your sellers and your Prime gaps, so you see the whole picture before you decide.
Plan the move
Which products move, which stay and when, planned product by product so shoppers never see a gap.
Stock on Prime
We buy your line up front, pay your invoice within 24 hours and get every product live on Prime.
Grow together
We fund the ads, fix the listings and report every number, good or bad, in your free brand portal.
Switching,
answered.
For a cycling parts or accessories brand that wants Amazon handled without building a team: An authorized partner that buys your line and sells it as a 3P seller. You can also sell through Seller Central yourself, pay an agency, or hire an in-house Amazon operator.
That's what we do: we buy your line up front, pay within 24 hours, keep it on Prime and fund the ads. Vendor Central often still fits lines that are mostly under about $6, or big, bulky and low-cost, so plenty of brands split. Compare the options side by side.
Not always. Stay if Amazon still orders steadily and your line suits it. Think about moving some or all of it if orders have shrunk or stopped, your products keep running out, or Amazon's advertised price is causing trouble with your dealers. Plenty of brands split: Amazon keeps some lines, and a partner takes the rest.
1P (Vendor Central) means you sell to Amazon and Amazon resells to shoppers: It owns the stock, sets its own advertised price and pays on its terms, after deductions. 3P (Seller Central) means a seller lists on Amazon's marketplace and owns the stock: you, or an authorized partner who buys from you. We're a 3P seller, authorized by the brands we work with, and we pay within 24 hours of your invoice.
Line up a seller before the gap. Find out which products will lose Prime when Amazon's stock sells out, then choose who sells them next: your own Seller Central account, or an authorized partner. A free brand snapshot shows your Prime gaps and every seller on your listings.
They stay. Product pages and reviews stay with the product, not the seller, and your Brand Registry stays yours. Once Amazon sells through its stock, shoppers buy from the sellers still on the page, which is why lining one up before the gap matters.
You'll get a date before you sign. We buy up front, so there are no Amazon purchase orders to wait on.
Yes. Plenty of brands split by product line: Amazon keeps buying the low-cost and bulky lines, and we handle the rest.
We plan that with you first, product by product: Which products Amazon buys and which we buy.
We do. Every ad on your products comes out of our budget.
No minimum term. End it any time, and unsold stock stays our problem.
Choosing a partner? The questions to ask any Amazon partner, with our answers.
Find out who's selling your brand on Amazon.
Find out which of your products would lose Prime tomorrow, who else sells your brand, and the advertised prices shoppers see. Free, and checked by hand.
- 3 new sellers joined your listings in the last 2 weeks
- 4 listings have under 14 days of supply left
- Estimated units sold are up 67% on the prior 12 months