Authorized Reseller Agreements for Amazon: What Yours Needs

General information, not legal advice. Your attorney should draft or review any agreement.

Most established brands have dealer agreements written before Amazon mattered. They cover territory, payment terms and minimum orders. They say nothing about marketplaces, nothing about selling to other resellers, and nothing about what happens when product shows up on Amazon at half your price.

That gap is why so many brands feel powerless on Amazon. You can’t enforce terms you never wrote.

Clauses that matter for Amazon

1. Online and marketplace sales. Whether the dealer can sell online at all, on their own site only, or on marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart. Many brands require written approval before a dealer sells on a marketplace.
2. No sales to other resellers. Dealers sell to end customers, not to other businesses that will resell. This one clause shuts down a lot of diversion.
3. Storefront disclosure. Approved marketplace dealers tell you which storefronts they operate, so you know who’s who on your listing.
4. Product condition and care. Standards for storage, handling and customer service, because a bad experience from a dealer reflects on your brand.
5. Pricing policy acknowledgment. A reference to your separate, unilateral MAP policy. Keep the policy itself separate and non-negotiated. See is MAP pricing legal.
6. Consequences. Warning, suspension, termination, and what happens to inventory the dealer still holds.
7. Audit and cooperation. The right to ask where product went, and an obligation to cooperate on tracing.

Rolling out new agreements

• Start with your largest accounts and your known leak sources.
• Give a clear effective date.
• Keep a list of every authorized account and their approved storefronts. That list is what you compare against your Amazon listing. See how to find out who is selling your product on Amazon.
• Expect a few accounts to push back. Sometimes the accounts that push hardest are the ones supplying the gray market.

Should you limit Amazon to one seller?

Many brands decide Amazon works best with one seller: themselves, or a single chosen partner. That keeps one voice on the listing, one price, and one party responsible for the customer experience. Your agreements are what make that possible. Other brands allow a few approved marketplace dealers. Either can work if the rules are written down and enforced.

How it connects to the rest

Agreements are one of four pieces. The others are a MAP policy, tracing diverted product, and consistent enforcement. Together they’re how you actually remove unauthorized sellers.

Frequently asked questions

Written by

Troy Marchand, CEO

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