Amazonbasics, explained.

Amazon sells some products itself, but it says more than half of physical product sales in its UK store come from other businesses, known as third-party sellers. Amazon runs the shop and takes the payment, while each seller owns its stock and sets its own price. The seller's name next to the Add to Basket button tells you who you're buying from, and it can change as different sellers win that spot, known as the Buy Box.

They're two separate routes, and the difference is who owns the stock. Selling to Amazon means Vendor Central, or first party (1P), where Amazon buys your stock wholesale, sets the retail price and chooses which suppliers it buys from. Selling on Amazon means Seller Central, or third party (3P), where the seller owns the stock and sets the price. On a product page, Sold by Amazon means a first-party sale, but Dispatches from Amazon doesn't, because third-party sellers can pay Amazon to store and send their orders.

There are four main routes, and they differ in who owns the stock. You can sell yourself through Seller Central, sell wholesale to Amazon through Vendor Central if it wants to buy from you, pay an agency to run your account or sell to a retailer that buys and resells it. That retailer is the seller of record, so the VAT (value added tax) registrations for those sales and any stock left over are usually its own, but you're paid a wholesale price rather than the retail one.

Amazon's rule is one page per product, so everyone selling that exact item adds their price and delivery terms to the same page. Each page is tied to one ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number), Amazon's own product code, and its photos, title and reviews are shared by every seller. Creating a second page for a product already in Amazon's catalogue breaks the rules, so a fresh page won't get you away from resellers any more than it gets them away from you.

'Sold by' names the business the shopper is buying from, so it owns the stock and sets the price. 'Dispatches from' says who packs and posts it, and if that's Amazon while 'Sold by' names someone else, the seller keeps its stock in Amazon's warehouses through FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon). When one business does both, amazon.co.uk can show a single shipper and seller line. The name shown is a store name the seller picked, so click it and the seller profile gives the registered business name and address.

The Buy Box is the panel holding the Add to Basket button, and one seller's offer sits behind it at a time. Amazon calls it the Featured Offer and picks it on price, delivery speed and the seller's performance. Owning the brand doesn't earn it, so a cheaper or quicker reseller can take the sales on your own page. Since 20 July 2026 UK and EU sellers face no eligibility check before they're considered. EU stores apart from Italy also show a second offer when it's clearly cheaper or quicker.

Someone else listed it, often a reseller who bought your stock from a wholesaler, a distributor, a shop clearing lines or a retailer abroad. If a page already existed they added an offer to it, and if not they built one, so the photos, title and claims shoppers see may have been written by a stranger. The seller can be Amazon itself, supplied by one of your distributors, and Brand Registry, Amazon's free programme for brands with a registered or pending trademark, gives you more say over that page.

It can, through own-label ranges such as Amazon Basics and through its retail arm, which buys stock from brands and wholesalers and can sell your product on your own listing with Amazon as the seller. It then competes for the Buy Box like any other seller. But it can't use third-party sellers' non-public data to compete with them, because the EU's Digital Markets Act has banned that since March 2024 and Amazon made the same binding commitment to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority in 2023.

Prime is Amazon's paid membership, giving fast free delivery on anything with the Prime badge, and shoppers can filter search to Prime items. An offer earns the badge when Amazon trusts it to arrive on time, usually meaning stock held in its warehouses through FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon). In stores including amazon.co.uk and amazon.de, sellers who ship orders themselves can qualify through Seller Fulfilled Prime. The badge belongs to the offer, not the product, so if a seller without Prime wins the Buy Box, shoppers see your product without it.

Not in any form you can market to, because Amazon keeps the customer relationship. On FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) orders Amazon packs and delivers, so it handles the address, and what you see can only be used to complete the order. You can write to a buyer about the order but not send newsletters or offers, even by post. In Brand Registry, Brand Analytics shows trends in what shoppers search for and buy, and Brand Tailored Promotions lets you offer discounts to audiences such as repeat or lapsed customers.

You'll need your business details, your tax details, a bank statement or utility bill as proof of address and a passport or ID for the main contact and anyone owning over 25% of the business. Add a bank account, a chargeable credit or debit card and a phone number. Amazon checks identity from a photo of the face and ID or a video call, and most checks finish within a few business days. Names and addresses must match your documents exactly, and your business address is the one shoppers see.

Amazon Business is Amazon's shop for companies and public bodies, and in Europe it runs in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Business buyers shop the normal store, so your offers already reach them, and a Professional plan adds business-only prices and quantity discounts. Every business order needs a VAT (value added tax) invoice within one business day of dispatch, or a receipt if you're not VAT-registered, and Amazon's free VAT Calculation Service can issue them for you.