Selling through Amazon’s vendor channel can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, purchase orders from Amazon can drive huge volume for brands; on the other, hidden costs – from automatic rebates to operational fines – can quietly erode your margins. Many Amazon Vendor Central suppliers discover that by the time they account for trade term rebates, chargebacks, and other deductions, their profitability is far slimmer than expected. In an episode of the Marketplace Masters webinar, Amazon veteran Michelle Sickle (Chief Operating Officer at Hinge Commerce and former Amazon vendor manager) shared five strategies to optimise margins and strengthen your negotiation leverage within the Amazon vendor channel.
In this article, we synthesise those core insights and expand on them with a broader strategic lens for Amazon agency professionals. You’ll learn how to audit your trade terms, optimise marketing spend, reconcile invoices and shortage claims, eliminate needless chargebacks, rationalise your SKU portfolio, and ultimately negotiate better terms with Amazon. Implementing these strategies will help ensure you’re no longer leaving money on the table – but instead maximising your Amazon vendor profitability and protecting your bottom line.
The first step to improving profitability is getting complete visibility into your trade terms – the built-in discounts and allowances Amazon takes off your invoice. Every Amazon vendor should begin by reviewing their Vendor Trade Terms agreements in detail(hingecommerce.com). These typically include the core three: co-op, freight allowance (freight accrual), and damage allowance. Together, they often represent a double-digit percentage of your Net Receipts, so even a small reduction here can significantly boost margins.
Start by benchmarking what you’re giving up in each category. Amazon won’t voluntarily tell you if your terms are above average – in fact, “Amazon’s not going to tell you the truth” about benchmarks, as Michelle joked in the webinar. Instead, compare with industry insiders or consultants who work across categories, since acceptable rebate rates vary by category (e.g. Toys vs. Electronics). Also, scrutinise the fine print of your agreements for any errors. It’s not uncommon to find overlapping vendor codes or product groups causing Amazon to “double dip” on discounts(hingecommerce.com).
For example, if two agreements apply to the same ASIN, Amazon may be deducting the same allowance twice – and they likely won’t notice unless you catch it. These agreement errors can persist for years (many terms auto-renew annually) and bleed away margin until corrected. The lesson: never accept an Amazon agreement that you do not understand or fully verify. If you’ve inherited a mess of opaque terms, take the time to untangle them now. “Never accept an Amazon agreement that you do not understand,” as Michelle Sickle advises, because once you sign, those terms will govern your profitability for the long haul.
“Never accept an Amazon agreement that you do not understand.” — Michelle Sickle, COO of Hinge Commerce
Beyond the standard co-op, freight, and damage allowances, audit any additional funding agreements you have in place. These might include discretionary discounts for programs like Subscribe & Save or Amazon Business (B2B) discounts, as well as “straight payment” programs Amazon vendors often pay for, such as Amazon Vendor Services (AVS) or marketing support packages. Ensure these are accounted for in your profit analysis. Are you paying for an AVS rep without seeing a clear ROI? Is that extra 5% Subscribe & Save discount actually driving incremental volume or just subsidising existing subscribers? Every point of vendor funding should earn its keep; if not, consider scaling it back in the next negotiation cycle.
Finally, prepare to renegotiate bloated terms. If your total trade discounts (co-op + freight + damage, etc.) sum up to an unsustainable percentage, build a case to push back. Maybe your freight allowance is high relative to peers – could you shift Amazon to a pallet ordering model or Direct Fulfillment to justify lowering it? Maybe your damage allowance is inflated by one trouble product – can you discontinue or repackage that item and ask for a reduction? And if all else fails, remember that co-op is often a nebulous “slush fund”.
Amazon’s vendor managers can’t easily justify co-op percentages with data, so this is a prime area to claw back margin if other allowances (freight/damage) must remain. For example, if Amazon insists on a higher freight accrual due to rising shipping costs, counter by demanding a lower co-op rate to keep the total discount constant. In short, audit everything and identify where there’s room to negotiate better terms. Even a few points shaved off an allowance or rebate can translate to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars saved over the year.
Another key lever for profitability – and one that you control directly – is your marketing spend on Amazon. Vendors often pour money into Amazon Advertising (AMS Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, etc.), DSP campaigns, and funding deals or coupons to drive sales. While growth is important, it’s easy for these costs to balloon and wipe out your contribution margins. To avoid that, take a hard look at the return on ad spend (ROAS) and incremental lift from each marketing activity. Which campaigns are truly driving profitable growth, and which are just increasing top-line sales while losing money on the bottom line?
Focus your advertising budget on efficient campaigns, especially for your most profitable SKUs. It might be counterintuitive, but your highest-margin products are often not your top sellers. Consider shifting spend toward these profit drivers to boost their volume – this generates more incremental profit than doubling down on low-margin best sellers. Similarly, be strategic with promotions: funding an Amazon “Best Deal” or Lightning Deal can make sense to clear excess inventory or spike visibility, but make sure the item can absorb that discount. If a product is barely break-even, a large promo discount will push it into loss-making territory (unless you expect a significant post-deal sales halo).
For vendors with tight budgets, remember that not all marketing spend is mandatory. You don’t have to opt into every deal event Amazon suggests. Trim the fat: cut low-performing ads, avoid funding promotions that primarily benefit Amazon’s volume without boosting your profit, and reinvest in tactics with measurable ROI. On the flip side, don’t slash spend too far on activities that do drive growth, as that can starve your Amazon flywheel.
The goal is to find an optimal balance where your marketing investments are sustainable. One tip is to treat marketing spend as below-the-line when calculating true profit – i.e. calculate your contribution profit after all Amazon terms and ad costs. This will give you a clear picture of which ASINs and campaigns are truly profitable. By continuously optimising your advertising and promotion mix, you can improve profitability without compromising sales velocity – a win-win that makes both you and Amazon happy.
If you’re not regularly auditing your Amazon remittances, you could be missing out on substantial owed revenue. One common (and often underestimated) leak in vendor profitability is unpaid units – better known as shortage claims. A shortage claim occurs when Amazon’s system believes you didn’t ship the full quantity that was ordered, so they short-pay your invoice. For example, you shipped 100 units, but Amazon’s warehouse only checked in 80, so your payment is for 80 units. These discrepancies happen more often than vendors realise, and if left unchecked, you’re effectively giving away product for free.
To tackle this, implement a rigorous invoice reconciliation process. Each month, have your finance team run a report of all invoices vs. payments received (this can be done via Vendor Central reports or your EDI data). Identify any shortages or mismatches. Then, work closely with your warehouse or 3PL team to gather proof for each dispute – this includes proof of delivery (POD), bills of lading (BOL), packing slips, etc. You’ll need evidence showing that you did ship the full quantity that Amazon was supposed to receive. Armed with that, submit disputes through Vendor Central’s Payments portal for shortages. Yes, it’s a slog – each claim might require uploading documents and a couple of weeks of back-and-forth – but the effort is often worth it. As Michelle noted, “there's a lot of money to be found” in these reconciliations when done consistently.
While shortages are the biggest culprit, keep an eye out for other invoice issues too. Occasionally, Amazon might pay the wrong cost price for an item (e.g. if a cost change wasn’t updated), or double-charge a fee. Also, note that Amazon generates separate co-op deduction invoices aside from the product invoices. Make sure you reconcile those funding invoices as well, and confirm Amazon’s math aligns with your agreements. It’s tedious, but by scrubbing for unit shortages first (priority one) and then pricing errors or duplicate deductions second, you can systematically clean up discrepancies.
For smaller vendors without an integrated ERP system, this process can be done manually by downloading reports from Vendor Central. It may take a few days of work each month, but think of it as recovering found money. Each unit Amazon short-paid is inventory you provided with no revenue to show – directly hurting your profit. By disputing and recovering those funds, you directly improve your margins. Plus, over time, you might spot patterns (e.g. one particular fulfillment center always logs shortages on your pallets) and work with Amazon to fix root causes. In summary, don’t assume Amazon always pays in full correctly. Trust, but verify – and dispute when something doesn’t add up.
Chargebacks – the operational fines Amazon issues for various compliance infractions – are often thought of as a cost of doing business with Amazon. Many vendors just sigh and write them off as “fees.” But it’s critical to realise that vendor chargebacks are truly fines, not fees. As Michelle bluntly put it,
“vendor chargebacks are fines, full stop…a way for Amazon to penalise vendors for not following Amazon’s rules.”
In other words, every chargeback is 100% avoidable by adhering to Amazon’s requirements. And avoiding them can have an immediate positive impact on your profitability.
Start by understanding the common chargebacks in your vendor account. These could include things like: late purchase order confirmation, late shipment, missing or improper carton labels, ASN errors, packaging/prep non-compliance (e.g. no bubble wrap on a fragile item when required), and more. While each infraction might incur a relatively small fine (e.g. $10 for a label error, a few percent of an invoice for late confirm), they can add up across all your shipments. If you consistently miss one detail, Amazon will notice – and you risk becoming a “profit center” for them through repeated fines. For example, “if Amazon realises that you never bubble wrap a certain product category, they’re going to tag you on everything [for that error] until you prove you’ve fixed it,” Michelle explained. Do the math: a $5 chargeback on every unit because of a prep oversight can quickly snowball into thousands of dollars lost, essentially subsidising Amazon’s operations out of your pocket.
The solution is twofold: prevention and vigilance. First, address the root causes. Identify which chargeback types you’re getting hit with most, then double down on compliance for those. This might mean better internal training for your warehouse team on Amazon’s packaging guidelines, upgrading your labeling printers, or tightening your PO confirmation process to always meet the 24-hour confirmation window. Many vendors find it useful to create a checklist for every Amazon shipment to ensure all requirements (labels, packing slips, pallet requirements, etc.) are met before pickup. It’s worth the extra minutes to avoid a fine later.
Second, practice vigilance by monitoring chargebacks monthly (at least). Vendor Central provides a deduction report and chargeback notifications – review them and dispute any chargebacks that you believe are in error. Some chargebacks cannot be disputed (if you truly were late, you’re out of luck), but many can be if you actually complied. For instance, if you did apply bubble wrap or if your carrier delivered on time despite Amazon marking it late, gather proof (photos of properly prepped product, carrier delivery confirmations) and submit an appeal. Vendors have successfully reversed charges when they had evidence that Amazon’s assessment was wrong or the circumstances were out of their control. Even if only a fraction of disputes are resolved in your favour, that’s real money back in your pocket.
By eliminating avoidable chargebacks, you accomplish two things: immediately improving your margin (by reducing those deductions) and demonstrating to Amazon that you’re a compliant, reliable vendor. That can indirectly strengthen your relationship and your case in negotiations – Amazon’s team is more inclined to work with vendors who run a tight ship. The bottom line is, don’t treat chargebacks as an inevitable Amazon tax. Tackle them proactively, and you’ll stop this silent profit killer from nibbling away at your revenue.
“Vendor chargebacks are fines, full stop… It’s really a way for Amazon to penalise vendors for not following Amazon’s rules.” — Michelle Sickle
Not all products are created equal – and not all deserve a spot in your Amazon catalogue. SKU rationalisation is perhaps the single most impactful exercise a vendor can undertake to improve profitability. It involves analysing the true profit of each ASIN you sell to Amazon, and making strategic decisions to expand, adjust, or cull products based on that analysis.
“SKU rationalization is the most important thing that a vendor can do, and it’s often the most overlooked,”
says Michelle. By identifying which products actually make you money (and which don’t), you gain incredible flexibility in managing your business and negotiating with Amazon.
Begin by calculating the contribution profit (CP) for each of your ASINs. This means drilling down beyond gross margins to account for all costs associated with selling that item on Amazon: the item’s cost of goods, minus any trade term discounts (co-op, freight, damage allowances), minus marketing spend on that item, minus a fair allocation of operating expenses (e.g. if you have an e-commerce team, allocate their cost across SKUs).
This CP calculation is the bottom line profit per unit. It’s a heavy analysis, but you can’t make informed decisions without it. Once you have CP for each ASIN, compare it to Amazon’s viewpoint: how profitable is the item for Amazon? Amazon’s metric for this is often Net PPM (Net Pure Profit Margin) – essentially their per-unit profit after their costs. While you won’t know Amazon’s exact PPM targets, you can infer that if they’re pressuring you on cost or crapping out items (stopping orders), those items likely don’t meet Amazon’s desired margins.
Now categorize your portfolio into four buckets:
By segmenting your catalog this way, you can prioritize your efforts. Amplify the Win-Wins, leverage the Yours vs. Theirs in negotiations, and cut the dead weight. This exercise not only boosts your current profit (by pruning unprofitable sales), but it also arms you with compelling data for Amazon negotiations. You can go into an Annual Vendor Negotiation (AVN) or vendor meeting with a clear story: “Here’s my lineup of healthy products driving growth (and how I’ll support them), and here are the problematic ones we need to address (either via cost changes or discontinuation).”
Vendors who proactively rationalise SKUs demonstrate that they manage their business professionally, which can earn respect from Amazon’s team. In the end, a streamlined, profit-optimized assortment means you’re not wasting resources on low-margin noise – you can focus on profitable growth. As an Amazon vendor or the agency supporting one, that focus is key to long-term success.
“SKU rationalization is the most important thing that a vendor can do, and it’s often the most overlooked.” — Michelle Sickle
All the groundwork you’ve laid by auditing terms, cleaning up financial leakage, and analyzing SKU profitability culminates in one pivotal capability: the ability to negotiate with Amazon from a position of strength. Each year (typically during Amazon’s AVN season) – or whenever major issues arise – vendors have the opportunity to negotiate terms and solve profitability pain points with Amazon’s vendor managers. To make the most of those conversations, preparation is everything.
Come armed with data. One of Michelle’s pro tips from her Amazon days is to calculate the total dollar impact of everything you give Amazon. Know exactly how much all your trade term discounts amounted to last year, in dollars, and how that compares to the total PO value Amazon purchased. For example, if you gave Amazon a 10% co-op, 5% freight, and 2% damage allowance, on $10 million in POs – that’s $1.7 million in funding. Be ready to discuss that.
Also, understand what Amazon likely earned in gross profit from your line (you can estimate Amazon’s gross profit by comparing your cost to their average sell price, if you have those metrics). When you can say, “We gave Amazon $X in allowances, which contributed to approximately $Y in Amazon profit,” you immediately signal that you understand Amazon’s business economics. This frames the negotiation as a two-way profit conversation, not just a plea for leniency. Your Amazon vendor manager will recognise that you’ve done your homework – and you’d be surprised how few vendors truly crunch these numbers in advance.
Next, tailor your negotiation strategy to each type of term, using the insights you’ve gathered:
Throughout the negotiation, leverage insights from your SKU rationalisation, too. If Amazon’s asking for more funding, you could respond by saying, “At the current terms, these 5 SKUs become unprofitable for us, which isn’t tenable. We would need to cost-protect or remove them – and note, those include two top sellers in your category.” This highlights the mutual dependency: Amazon wants those items, and you need a sustainable margin to keep supplying them. Propose solutions that maintain assortment health, like cost increases on those SKUs or offsets via other terms. The key is to frame it as a partnership problem to solve, not just you refusing requests. Show where your profitability pain points are, backed with data, and be ready with ideas to mitigate Amazon’s pain points in return.
Lastly, don’t wait only for the formal AVN cycle if something is clearly off. If, say, you discover a double-dip error or a huge spike in chargebacks that’s crushing your margin, raise it with Amazon proactively. Sometimes, interim negotiations or agreements can be made outside the annual cycle, especially if you can point to a mistake or a change you’ve made (like, “We implemented a new packaging solution that will save Amazon $100K in damage costs this year – let’s revisit our damage allowance now”). Vendor managers appreciate proactive communication about profitability and usually will listen if you come with a fact-based case.
By approaching Amazon as an informed partner – one who understands both the cost drivers and profit levers in the relationship – you stand a far better chance of securing favorable terms. Negotiation is not just an art of persuasion; in the Amazon world, it’s largely an art of analytics. When you can back your asks with numbers and demonstrate that you’re focused on joint profitability, Amazon is more likely to find a middle ground with you.
Achieving strong profitability in the Amazon vendor channel requires diligence, data, and a proactive mindset. By auditing and tightening up every area – from the trade terms in your vendor agreement, to operational losses like shortages and chargebacks, to the efficiency of your marketing spend and the viability of each product in your catalog – you can systematically transform Amazon from a low-margin headache into a growing profit center for your brand. These efforts not only improve your bottom line today, but also give you leverage to negotiate better terms and support from Amazon going forward. Remember that Amazon wants profitable vendors and products; by demonstrating you’re running a tight ship and focusing on mutual profitability, you align your interests with Amazon’s.
For Amazon agency professionals, the takeaway is clear: insist on this level of financial clarity for your vendor clients. It’s easy to get caught up in purely top-line metrics like PO volumes and sell-through, but true success on Amazon’s vendor platform is measured in margin, not just revenue. Encourage your clients to invest the time in the audits and analyses outlined above – or provide services to help them do it. The payoff can be enormous when you uncover a six-figure discrepancy or negotiate a few extra points back in your favor.
Finally, keep learning and stay updated. Amazon’s policies and programs evolve constantly (for example, new chargeback types, changes to the AVN process, etc.), so continuous education is key. To dive deeper into this topic, be sure to watch the full webinar featuring Michelle Sickle for more nuanced discussion and examples. You can find it in our free on-demand library of Amazon vendor webinars – a fantastic resource for staying sharp on vendor strategy.
If you’re hungry for more insights, check out our extensive Marketplace Masters video-on-demand library for expert talks on profitability, negotiations, supply chain and beyond (it’s a treasure trove for Amazon vendor professionals). And if you’re looking to take your profitability management to the next level, consider leveraging specialised analytics tools. MerchantSpring’s platform, for instance, can help automate profitability tracking, identify hidden leaks, and benchmark performance – turning all the above steps into an ongoing, effortless process. Feel free to book a demo with MerchantSpring to see how we can help your agency and your clients optimise Amazon profitability with data-driven precision.
By implementing these strategies and utilising the right tools, you’ll be well on your way to turning Amazon’s vendor channel into a lucrative and sustainable part of your business. Profitability on Amazon is not a given – but with the right approach, it’s firmly within your reach.