Amazon Agency Contracts: 9 Red Flags to Check Before You Sign
David BalanCo-founder, Horison Marketing4 min read
Short version: most bad agency relationships come down to the contract. Before you sign, make sure you own the account and everything created for it, you can leave on reasonable notice, and the fee rewards profitable growth, not just spend. The nine checks below cover the rest.
1. The agency owns, or controls, your account
Red flag: the agency asks for your main login, sets up the account in its name, or runs your ads from its own advertising account.
What good looks like: you own Seller Central, the ad account and the brand. The agency gets user permissions that you can remove at any time.
2. A long lock-in with no exit
Red flag: a 6 or 12-month minimum term with no right to leave if agreed targets are missed.
What good looks like: a 30-day notice period, or a short starting term (often three months while the account is rebuilt) followed by a rolling monthly agreement.
3. A fee that grows with spend, not profit
Red flag: a fee based purely on a percentage of ad spend, with no profit or TACoS target. The agency earns more when you spend more, even if the extra spend loses money.
What good looks like: a fixed fee, or a spend-based fee with a written TACoS or break-even ACoS target. See our guide to what an Amazon agency costs for the five pricing models.
4. A vague scope
Red flag: “full Amazon management” with no list of what is included each month.
What good looks like: a scope listing the products, marketplaces and services covered, such as the number of listings optimised, creative assets per month and campaigns managed, and what costs extra. Our guide to what a full-service agency does shows what a complete scope covers.
5. Hidden one-off and tool costs
Red flag: set-up fees, photography, A+ content, Brand Store builds or software subscriptions that only appear on the first invoice.
What good looks like: every one-off cost and pass-through tool cost listed before you sign.
6. Performance fees with no baseline
Red flag: a bonus on “revenue growth” with no agreed starting point. You could pay for growth from seasonality, a price rise or a product you launched yourself.
What good looks like: a written baseline (for example, the same months last year), a measure that includes profit or TACoS, and clear exclusions.
7. Reporting that only shows revenue
Red flag: monthly reports showing sales and ACoS but not TACoS, organic sales or profit.
What good looks like: weekly updates and monthly reviews covering total sales, ad spend, ACoS, TACoS, organic versus ad sales, conversion rate, stock cover and account health. Check any agency’s numbers with our TACoS calculator.
8. You don’t know who does the work
Red flag: a senior person sells the deal, then the account goes to someone you never meet who manages dozens of other accounts.
What good looks like: the contract or proposal names your account manager and the specialists on your account, and says how many accounts each person manages.
9. Nothing is handed back when you leave
Red flag: no clause about what happens at the end. Agencies sometimes delete campaigns, keep the creative source files or stop answering questions.
What good looks like: a handover clause covering campaign structure, keyword research, creative source files, reports and a handover call, with access removed only after the handover. If you are already planning a move, here is how to switch Amazon agencies without losing sales.
A one-page checklist
| Check | Ask for |
|---|---|
| Ownership | You own Seller Central, the ad account, data and creative files |
| Term | 30-day notice, or a short starting term then rolling monthly |
| Fee | Fixed, or tied to a written TACoS or profit target |
| Scope | Products, marketplaces, services and monthly deliverables listed |
| Extra costs | Every one-off and tool cost in writing |
| Performance fee | A written baseline and a profit or TACoS measure |
| Reporting | Weekly updates, monthly reviews, TACoS and organic sales shown |
| People | Named account manager and specialists |
| Exit | A handover clause |
How Horison handles these
At Horison, you always keep ownership of your Seller Central account, ad account and data, and we work through user permissions you control. Every proposal sets out the scope, the fee and any one-off work before you sign, and you get weekly updates and monthly reviews in the Horison App.
Want to go through this list with us? Book a free discovery call and ask us every question on it. Still deciding whether to hire an agency at all? Read is an Amazon agency worth it?
This article is general guidance, not legal advice. Have a solicitor review any contract before you sign it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should be in an Amazon agency contract?
The scope of work, the fee and how it is calculated, the minimum term and notice period, who owns the account, ads, data and creative files, reporting commitments, any one-off or tool costs, how performance fees are measured, and what the agency hands back when you leave.
What is a normal notice period for an Amazon agency?
Thirty days is common. Some agencies ask for a three-month minimum term at the start while they rebuild the account, which can be reasonable. Be wary of six or twelve-month lock-ins with no way out if agreed targets are missed.
Should an Amazon agency own my Seller Central account?
No. You should own your Seller Central account, your advertising account and your brand. The agency should work through user permissions you grant and can remove at any time.
Who owns the images and A+ content an agency makes?
Agree it in the contract. The safest wording gives you full ownership of all creative files once they are paid for, with the editable source files delivered to you, not just the images uploaded to Amazon.
Are performance fees a good idea for Amazon agencies?
They can be, if the baseline and the measure are agreed in writing. A fee on revenue growth alone can reward unprofitable growth, so include TACoS or profit in the target, and exclude growth that comes from things like price rises or seasonality.
David Balan is co-founder of Horison Marketing, a full-service Amazon agency that has managed over $1B in lifetime Amazon revenue for brands in the UK, EU and US.
