Something I just ran across.
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At first glance above in your link it says “Channel Key – 17 Jun 23” while that article has it as September 13, 2024.
We point this out for those who might think this is old news when it is really current news to read.
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I’m wondering if this might HELP small sellers because a lot of those being forced out will NOT have the experience (and patience) to start on FBM and learn the ropes and will need higher prices to support FBA.
I think the story has an error in a headline -
" Case Study: How Channel Key Successfully Moved a Client from Seller Central to Vendor Central"
since they are talking about the exact opposite of the headline – “The following is an actual 1P to 3P conversion scenario for a Channel Key client in the pet supplies category.”
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@ASV_Vites I marked @Lost_My_Marbles reply as the “solution” because I saw the same 2023 date and skipped reading the article. 
Here’s another piece on this “November 9th” VC culling:
My cynical mind thinks Amazon doesn’t want the retail liability for certain Vendors but will be happy to take their FBA fees.
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So all of these vc accounts (if they don’t already have a sc account) will be starting from scratch.
If they somehow manage to stumble through account verification, how many will then be category or brand locked out of selling their own items. I highly doubt amazon will hold their hands. The forums are gonna be interesting, more then normal.
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Amazon always has a reason and it always comes down to $…
Amazon knows they will likely make more money if the item wasn’t a 1P item (as stupid as that sounds, yet true)
They may be reducing heads that manage these accounts / categories
They may have gotten burned too much
They may be trying to increase the sales away from themselves to please Congress.
The list goes on and on
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If my memory serves me, this is not the first time they have culled Vendor Central, and some of the sellers sucessfully made to transition to Seller Central.
This move gives Amazon more control of their balance sheet and operating statements. And makes it harder to assess the performance of the retail operation. It will reduce the inventory levels shown on the balance sheet and eliminate COGS for these items. It may increase Amazon net income.
I am waiting for a Prime order for a book. Quoted two week delivery. Sold and Fulfilled by Amazon. Waiting to see when it ships and who really ships it.
All of the other offers were not Prime, were for less than new condition, and within pennies of the Amazon price when shipping was added to the price of the FBM orders. It is going to be a gift so condition matters. I am wondering if it will drop ship from Ingram.
This change is not surprising. What will be more interesting will be which brands and products they have chosen to move.
There are products from big brands like Lever Bros. which are not being sold by Amazon any more and are all overpriced FBM sellers. I now buy them from Walmart. I could resell through FBA and make a tiny profit if they let me, but I will not ask for permission.
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Hard to know if the headline was written by several confused people.
Marilyn
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This move makes a lot of sense. Smaller brands never should’ve been 1st party to begin with. Amazon makes WAY more money on stuff sold through seller central. That 15% commission is more (a lot more) than their typical 1P retail margins.
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Hence the reason why Amazon retrenched from the Vendor Express Program lo those many years ago.
Sadly, that deprecation turned out to be little more than a band-aid applied to a self-inflicted wound (VX was designed to extend its coffers via the offering of 1P perks on the Sponsored Ads & EBC/EMC fronts to 3P Sellers), and prompted, in the deprecatory wake, an expansion of the black market-buying of Vendor Central Accounts by the Bad Actors.
Which is in turn why last summer’s purge wasn’t the first time - nor will it, most-likely, be the last time - that we’ll hear Amazon crowing about what it’s done to correct the problem which it created in the first place.
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Can you identify an Amazon business change which was implemented with more sophistication than the understanding which comes from reading a spreadsheet without knowing what the change means to anything other than a later version of the same spreadsheet?
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So if a brand was selling to Amazon thru vendor central. And they’re cut. Does that mean the brand will sell direct on Amazon and brands will be restricted to sellers?
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If the brand decides to continue to sell on Amazon as a ordinary seller, that doesn’t mean the brand is gated or restricted to other sellers. It can happen but it’s not automatic and new gating appears to be harder to do from the various things I have read on the subject.
The only difference would be giant brands with giant legal departments. Those kinds of brands are unlikely to get the boot from VC.
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Even most brands with VC relationships aren’t gated to other sellers. It’s just that Amazon cuts the price so low for the most part that nobody else can compete with them.
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