What Is the Difference Between Amazon and Amazon Marketplace?

When shoppers buy on Amazon, they often have no idea whether they’re buying something through Amazon or Amazon Marketplace.

That’s actually a good thing for retailers, as it enables them to benefit from the solid brand reputation of the ecommerce behemoth and sell their products on the platform. 

As a third-party seller, you have a few options for reaching Amazon’s 300 million-plus customers around the world. Below, we’ll explain what they are, but first, let’s break down the difference between Amazon and Amazon marketplace.

What Is Amazon?

Amazon.com is the major ecommerce website we’ve all come to love. As of 2020, Amazon represents nearly 50% of all ecommerce sales in the U.S. alone. Amazon sells over 12 million products directly through Amazon.com. These products are all new, and the profits go straight to Amazon. 

What Is Amazon Marketplace?

Amazon Marketplace is an ecommerce platform that allows third-party sellers to sell on Amazon. Amazon Marketplace is so wholly integrated into Amazon that if we were to make a Venn diagram, the circles would overlap. 

To a shopper, it always appears as if they are purchasing through Amazon.com, since the entire purchasing and checkout experience occurs on the amazon.com domain. However, if they purchase an Amazon Marketplace product, Amazon only takes a portion of the sale, and the rest goes to the third-party seller. Third-party sellers can sell both new and used products on Amazon Marketplace. 

How Can You Sell Products on Amazon?

Third-party sellers have two options for selling on Amazon: Amazon Vendor Central and Amazon Seller Central. 

With Amazon Vendor Central, sellers sell their products directly to Amazon at wholesale rates. Amazon then sells these through Amazon.com, keeping the profits for themselves. Amazon Vendor Central is an invite-only program that typically has wholesalers and manufacturers as members.

With Amazon Seller Central, sellers sell their products directly to shoppers. In exchange for being able to list their products on Amazon, sellers share a portion of their profits with Amazon (more on that in a bit). The majority of third-party sellers sell their products through Amazon Seller Central. 

On Amazon Seller Central, sellers can manage inventory and fulfillment themselves — or they can outsource it to the pros at Amazon via the Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) program. With FBA, Amazon sellers simply have to ship their inventory to one of Amazon’s fulfillment centers. Then Amazon takes it from there, sending order confirmations to customers, packing the products, and shipping them out. 

Since Amazon handles all of the fulfillment, FBA offers significant time savings to third-party sellers, but that’s not the only benefit of the program. Consider these benefits:

• Prime Eligibility: FBA products are eligible for free Prime shipping, which makes them more attractive to Prime members who want their products faster. Prime customers spend more than twice as much as non-Prime members.
• More Sales: Selling your products through FBA can increase sales by 30 to 50%. FBA products are also given preference in Amazon’s algorithm, which means increased visibility for your products. 
• Amazon Customer Service: Amazon also handles the customer service for all products sold through FBA, creating more cost and time savings for FBA sellers.

There’s one more way third-party sellers can sell on Amazon: Amazon Advantage. Amazon Advantage is a consignment program that allows sellers to sell media products (including books, music, and DVDs) directly through Amazon. Amazon Advantage sellers ship their inventory directly to Amazon. Then Amazon fulfills and ships the order.

Speaking of costs, there are fees for selling on Amazon, whether or not you take advantage of the Fulfilled by Amazon program. Learn more in our guide to Amazon’s fulfillment and referral fees.

Amazon vs. Amazon Marketplace: What’s the Difference?

As a summary, here’s a quick overview of the difference between Amazon and Amazon Marketplace. 

• What is it? Amazon.com is an ecommerce website. Anything sold directly through Amazon.com is owned by Amazon. Amazon Marketplace is a platform that allows third-party sellers to sell their products on Amazon.com. Over 12 million products are sold each year on Amazon.com. Factor in Amazon Marketplace sales, and that number jumps to over 3 billion.
• Are products new or used? Products sold on Amazon.com are always new, while third-party retailers can sell both new and used products on Amazon Marketplace.
• Who gets the profits? When a purchase is made through Amazon.com, Amazon alone gets the profits. When someone purchases a product through Amazon Marketplace, the third-party seller shares a portion of the profits with Amazon.

Are you ready to sell on Amazon, but you’re not sure which option is right for you? Contact Your Marketing People. Our Amazon experts can help you land on the right strategy for your e-commerce brand.

Have an Issue with Amazon? Contact Amazon at 1-888-280-4331

If you have any issues with Amazon, please contact Amazon directly at 1-888-280-4331. They will be happy to assist you with any and all questions in regards to your Amazon account, billing, order fulfillment, etc. Thank you!