Episode # 132 – Moving from Vendor to Seller – Craig Leslie – Amazon Legends

07/07/22 Nick Uresin
Cover art for Craig Leslie on Amazon Legends Podcast

Amazon has evolved so much and brands that started as vendors are seeing the benefits of transitioning to sellers. Craig Leslie has gone through that murky process and is sharing what you need to know before making that decision for your brand. Craig is the VP & Director of Ecommerce at San Diego Coffee, Tea, & Spice and the Co-Founder & Director Of Ecommerce at LonoLife. Craig breaks down the differences between Vendor Central and Seller Central, why Brand Registry is so crucial, and how to capitalize on your buy box. 

Takeaways: 

  •  Because of the improvements to Seller Central, it can make sense for larger brands to migrate from Vendor Central. However, this is a massive and murky undertaking but it offers sellers additional control over their brand.
  • While Vendor Central allows you to update some content for your listings, Seller Central offers much greater control of both the content and the pricing. Conversely, on Vendor Central, Amazon can set the price to fit whatever their goals are.
  • To make changes on Vendor Central, the brand is reliant on Amazon to make the changes and then review them through their slow-moving process. 
  • As a seller, you can split up your products to have some sold through Vendor Central and others through Seller Central. The key to any brand looking to sell on Amazon is to register on Brand Registry, this will protect your brand and your buy box.
  • When you are selling on Vendor Central, you are selling products to Amazon at a wholesale price. Whereas with Seller Central, you are selling products at retail price through Amazon.
  • Your Seller Feedback Rating is critical for optimizing the buy box. So many sellers overlook this and it hurts their conversion rate. Sellers have 60 days to challenge feedback and request that it be removed.
  • Even if you are the only Seller of your product’s ASIN, if you start offering a promotion or different price on another e-commerce channel, Amazon will remove the buy box from your listing.

Quote of the Show:

  • “Amazon has trained their customers to want product in 24 to 48 hours” – Craig Leslie

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Amazon Legends is sponsored by Argometrix, the authority on, and leading supplier of, competitive intelligence for online retail. To learn more, head over to https://argometrix.com/ 

Amazon Legends is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through B2B podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/ 

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About the Host:
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Nick Uresin is the Founder and CEO of ArgoMetrix, a New York based software and consulting company established in 2013. Nick is an Entrepreneur, Electronics, Communications and Computer Science Engineer, who has a passion for problem solving with technology. Nick built an online retail company with annual revenues of over $10 million. He developed his vision to organize the knowledge and technology he developed to become a large Amazon Seller and provide it as a service to manufacturers and sellers of consumer products. Let's get social! Follow us and get ArgoMetrix's latest updates on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.

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