Vendor Crisis and Seller Chaos: The Amazon Broker as the Only Way Out for B2B Brands

Anyone who still blindly entrusts their entire Amazon business to the vendor manager in 2026 loses margin, price sovereignty, and innovation power. However, the flight into your own seller account usually ends in operational collapse for classic B2B organizations. KYC checks, granular logistics KPIs, and an accounting document tsunami overwhelm internal structures. The intelligent answer to this dilemma is a hybrid strategy via a broker model. It delivers the full control of a D2C channel without paralyzing your own organization.

By Stephan Bruns

Let's look directly at the facts: The Amazon algorithm has no interest in your long-term brand strategy. It optimizes for a single metric – the Net PPM (Net Pure Product Margin).

For your high-volume cash cows, the Vendor Program (1P) remains an excellent channel. Amazon bears the inventory risk and delivers reach. But what do you do with the long tail? How do you bring real innovations to market for which there is no historical sales data? And who protects your pricing structure when Amazon aggressively matches every market price?

Those who don't act here lose. The solution lies in a hybrid strategy. But the path there is paved with operational landmines.

The Two Dead Ends for Manufacturers on Amazon

I see established brands in my audits weekly that are stuck in one of two strategic dead ends:

Dead End 1: The Algorithmic Vendor Trap

In the 1P model, you're a passenger. If Amazon's margin falls below the target, your product is marked as CRAP (Can't Realize A Profit). The result is merciless order stops. Since you as a vendor have no direct influence on the selling price, you're helplessly exposed to the downward spiral of price matching and delisting. At the same time, the "cold start problem" stifles every launch: Without historical sales, the algorithm generates no Purchase Order (PO). Your new product starves in Amazon nirvana.

Dead End 2: Your Own Seller Account (3P) as a Manufacturer's Nightmare

The logical reaction of management: "We'll do it ourselves as a seller now." What sounds like a liberation in theory often ends in practice after just a few weeks with account suspension. Why? Because a classic manufacturer is designed to move pallets B2B – not to operate a highly complex B2C operating system.

The reality of Seller Central shatters B2B processes in three areas:

1. The Compliance and KYC Wall

Registration is not a form, but a banking audit. Amazon requires the complete disclosure of all beneficial owners (> 25% shares). For complex company structures (GmbH & Co. KGs, holdings), this is a bureaucratic nightmare. Managing directors often refuse to upload private electricity bills as proof of address. If the deposit of a company credit card also fails, the Seller Central project is dead before it even begins.

2. The Logistics Hell (FBA & FBM)

Amazon demands perfection. If you use FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon), the Inventory Performance Index (IPI) forces you to perfect disposition. Overstocking is sanctioned with extreme penalty fees, out-of-stock costs you your ranking. Every unit must also be GPSR-compliant and equipped with scannable EANs. If you try self-fulfillment (FBM) to utilize your D2C logistics, B2B processes meet B2C real-time KPIs. An Order Defect Rate (ODR) of over 1%, a Late Shipment Rate of over 4%, or invoices not uploaded on time for business customers (IDR > 5%) lead to immediate revocation of selling privileges.

3. The Accounting Blind Flight

In the Vendor model, you receive consolidated invoices. As a seller, you generate thousands of individual transactions. Amazon transfers you a net amount every 14 days that is adjusted for dozens of fee types (FBA, ads, commissions). Your financial accounting must break down this amount, book it correctly for tax purposes, and reconcile it with the ERP. Without specialized middleware, every B2B accounting department collapses here.

Tip from practice: We've been using Amainvoice here for over a decade. The tool ensures automated invoicing and clean DATEV accounting of all Amazon transactions.

Your Way Out: The Broker Model Decoded

So how do you get the strategic flexibility of a seller without bringing the operational chaos into your house? The answer is the Amazon Broker.

In this construct, you don't sell your goods to us. You provide them to REVOIC on consignment. The goods remain your property until sold.

The Mechanics Behind It:

• REVOIC acts as a commission agent and appears as the official seller to the end customer.
• We handle all operational B2C handling: From FBA delivery in standard repackaging boxes to advertising to end-customer invoicing and tax processing.
• You retain strategic control over prices, assortment, and brand presence.

Practice Example SEVERIN: Hybrid Strategy in Action

What this looks like in practice is shown by the collaboration with brands like SEVERIN. In addition to the existing vendor business, selected products are sold in a specially set up broker-seller account. Harald Kaiser, Global Sales Director at SEVERIN, puts it in a nutshell: "REVOIC's broker model offers us exactly the flexibility and scalability we need in modern sales. The professionalism and deep understanding of our brand convinced us from the first conversation."

Other classic use cases for broker deployment:

• Margin Protection: Sales of price-sensitive bundles to avoid Buy Box conflicts with your own vendor account.
• Brand Entry: Stationary brands launch their portfolio directly into the D2C market without any Amazon prior knowledge.
• New Product Turbo: Bypassing the PO backlog in Vendor Central. Direct launch via broker including VINE reviews and aggressive advertising campaigns.

Radical Transparency Through Open-Book

Many agencies and distributors act as a black box. You deliver goods, they set the price and pocket the margin. The REVOIC broker model is based on the Open-Book principle.

This means for you:

1. Cost Truth: You bear the costs of the seller account (FBA, Amazon commissions, ad spend) and receive a crystal-clear monthly statement.
2. Fair Remuneration: We finance ourselves through a commission on your net sales. This is tiered by monthly total sales (e.g., 12% to 5%).
3. Clearly Calculated Setup: For marketplace integration and ongoing content and campaign maintenance (Retail Readiness), we work with transparent setup and ASIN flat rates.
4. No Hidden Agendas: We only earn when your products perform.

The Most Important Difference: Your Asset Building (Exit Option)

When you part ways with a classic distributor, you lose your rankings and valuable sales history. We work differently: The broker model is operated in an individual seller account set up for you. If you decide in the future to manage the Amazon business in-house with your own resources, you can take over this account for a contractually defined buyout fee. You're building real company value.

Calculation of Manufacturer Margin: Vendor vs. Broker

The central question when switching to a hybrid strategy is the actual gain in margin and price control. The calculation differs fundamentally between the two models:

Your Manufacturer Margin (1P)

In the Vendor model (1P), Amazon calculates profitability exclusively via Net PPM (Net Pure Product Margin). For you as a manufacturer, the margin is a black box, the control of which you completely hand over to Amazon.

The margin results primarily from your purchase price to Amazon (the PO price) in relation to your own manufacturing costs. However, since you have no direct influence on the selling price, Amazon can aggressively match your products in price, which pushes your Net PPM below Amazon's internal target.

• Amazon's Calculation Method (Net PPM): Amazon evaluates your product internally not by your margin, but by what remains after deduction of all Amazon-internal costs (logistics, returns, advertising, etc.). If this Net PPM is too low, the product is marked as CRAP (Can't Realize A Profit) and orders stop.

• Your Loss of Control: You receive consolidated invoices and have no detailed transaction view. Your margin is a fixed price to Amazon that can be devalued at any time by internal deductions and Amazon's own pricing on the marketplace.

Your Manufacturer Margin (3P)

The calculation is based on sales revenue to the end customer, minus all directly assigned costs of the seller account and the broker commission.

This means cost truth for you: You bear all costs of the seller account and receive a crystal-clear statement about it.

Your Gain Potential (The Exit Option)

The biggest gain in the broker model is not only the short-term higher margin on CRAP products and new products, but the strategic asset building:

• Pricing Strategy: You avoid Buy Box conflicts with your own vendor account and protect your pricing structure by selling price-sensitive bundles.
• New Product Turbo: You bypass the cold start problem and the PO backlog in Vendor Central, as you can launch new products immediately via broker.
• Company Value: The broker account is set up for you. You build your own Amazon asset (rankings, sales history) that you can take over at any time for a contractually defined buyout fee to continue the business in-house. Company Value: The broker account is set up for you. You build your own Amazon asset (rankings, sales history) that you can take over at any time for a contractually defined buyout fee to continue the business in-house.

The 10-Step Roadmap to Your Hybrid Strategy

The switch from 100% vendor to a smart hybrid strategy requires planning. Here is the checklist for starting with a broker:

1. Assortment Audit: Identify CRAP-threatened products, margin losers, and upcoming new products.
2. Strategy Definition: Set clear goals (e.g., launch speed, price stability in the market).
3. Split Decision (1P vs. 3P): Define clearly what stays in vendor and what moves to the broker account.
4. Contract Check: Understand the Open-Book principle and commission structures.
5. Data Interfaces: Clarify the information flow between your ERP and the broker.
6. Logistics Routing: Decide whether we use FBA or ship from your warehouse via FBM.
7. Finance Setup: Implementation of tools like Amainvoice for clean DATEV accounting.
8. Supply Chain Adjustment: Definition of standard repackaging boxes for smooth FBA inbounds.
9. Retail Readiness: Creation of A+ Premium Content and a VINE strategy before the first sale.
10. Ads Calculation: Setting the start budget for Sponsored Ads to immediately drive the algorithm.

What you should do now: The algorithm doesn't wait. If you want to know how high the unused potential in your current vendor setup is, contact us. We evaluate your data in a comprehensive potential analysis and show you exactly where the broker model saves your margins.

Listen to the current episodes of the Amazon Podcast with Stephan Bruns and Maik Busch for further deep dives on strategic alignment on Amazon!