Scene 13
The relay
You already move pallets to a hundred wholesale buyers — retail, B2B, institutional, regional. We're one more. We hold the Amazon.ca wholesale vendor account, buy your products at wholesale, take title, and run the Amazon channel — including catalog setup, brand protection, listing maintenance, and 45-day payment terms — so Amazon Canada slots into the downstream rotation you already operate.
Distributors who've tried to apply directly have generally been told no, or ignored. The Amazon-wholesale channel — formally called Amazon 1P (first-party), run through their Vendor Central platform — isn't something distributors apply for. Amazon invites suppliers, and since late 2024 they've been actively reducing direct vendor relationships, consolidating around larger aggregated accounts. We hold that account. We've held it for years. We're an active wholesale vendor on Amazon.ca with the electronic ordering connection (EDI), the inventory feed, and an assigned vendor manager.
You already serve a hundred buyers. Amazon Canada is one more.
You quote us the way you'd quote any new wholesale account. Case pack. FOB or delivered. Minimum order quantity. Payment terms. We negotiate target margins, growth commitments, marketing co-op when relevant. We sign a wholesale supply agreement. We start placing POs.
Your existing distribution apparatus carries us. The same case packs you ship to your retail accounts can ship to us. The same electronic ordering you run for your big-box accounts (EDI 850 purchase orders, 856 shipment notices, 810 invoices) runs for us. Your shipping lanes, your warehouse outbounds, your invoice cadence — unchanged.
We handle the Amazon-specific layer: catalog setup, the brand-controlled image and copy section below the bullets (called A+ Content), Brand Registry coordination, vendor-side negotiations with Amazon, chargeback disputes, and brand protection on Amazon.ca for the products we take. Payment to you on Net 45 with favourable terms — we pay you 45 days after Amazon confirms receipt of your shipment into its fulfillment network (your product drop-ships from you to Amazon, so the clock starts the moment Amazon scans it in). Predictable, on your invoicing cadence.
You stay focused on the rest of your business — sourcing, brand relationships upstream, retail and B2B accounts downstream, your own logistics.
VendorSprout as the only Amazon Canada path for the products you carry. Your full eligible catalog flows through us. One Amazon seller of record. Brand-protection burden concentrated on a single accountable party. Best fit: distributors with no current Amazon presence, or distributors whose downstream resellers have created chaotic Amazon listings worth consolidating.
You keep running your existing Amazon FBA arm (FBA — Fulfillment by Amazon, the self-service marketplace where you list and sell directly). We run the wholesale channel (1P) on a separate set of products in parallel. Each product sits in exactly one channel — no Buy Box conflict (the Buy Box is Amazon's default Add-to-Cart button; only one seller wins it at a time). Best fit: distributors with a working FBA program who want 1P specifically for hero bestsellers, B2B-friendly pack sizes, or daily-reorder consumables. Most common engagement for distributors with an existing FBA arm.
A hand-picked few products through us. The rest of your catalog stays where it lives — retail, B2B, direct-to-consumer, or your FBA arm. Best fit: distributors who want to test the model on a small surface, or who have one or two hero items whose unit economics shine on the wholesale channel.
If you work with an Amazon agency on the FBA side, they keep doing what they do. We run the wholesale channel underneath. Best fit: distributors with an existing Amazon agency they trust and don't want to disrupt.
VendorSprout is one buyer in your downstream wholesale network. The same network you already operate for retail, B2B, institutional, and regional accounts. Amazon Canada becomes a wholesale customer with predictable terms — not a strategic disruption. We don't replace your retail accounts. We don't replace your downstream FBA arm if you have one. We don't take exclusivity unless specifically negotiated. We are additive — one more revenue channel on top of what you already run.
| Dimension | Doing it yourself | Wholesaling through us |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon wholesale vendor access | Invitation-only — usually unavailable to distributors | Already held, active, in good standing |
| Working capital tied up in Amazon inventory | High — your FBA inventory funds Amazon sell-through | None — we take title at wholesale on our PO |
| Downstream retailer conflict risk | Moderate — your FBA can undercut your retail accounts | Minimal — 'Sold by Amazon.ca' is a cleaner conversation |
| Unauthorized resellers exposure from your downstream | Ongoing — every reseller could list on Amazon | Reduced — wholesale-channel consolidation crowds them off the Buy Box |
| Coexistence with your existing FBA arm | N/A — you're running it | Clean — Hybrid model splits products by channel |
| A+ Content / brand-presentation work on Amazon | Your team or your agency | Our team for the products we sell |
| Electronic ordering operations on Amazon | You build it for Amazon, you staff it | We run it |
| Headcount needed for Amazon operations | 1–3 full-timers typical | Zero on our side of the relationship |
| Payment cadence | Driven by Amazon's sell-through pace | Net 45 (we pay 45 days after Amazon confirms receipt) — predictable |
| Amazon category-manager relationship | Not available without vendor access | Carried on our account, leveraged for the products we sell |
Bring it to the call. The most common engagement for distributors with an existing FBA program is Hybrid — your FBA keeps running on the products you choose, and we run the wholesale channel on a different set of products in parallel. Each product sits in exactly one channel; no Buy Box overlap. Distributors typically split the catalog by unit economics — products where FBA fees are punishing move to the wholesale channel, products where FBA performs well stay with you. The two operating layers stay clean. See the Hybrid model →
Existing wholesale apparatus extended to one more downstream buyer (Amazon Canada). Distributor-relevant model when the brand owner already runs wholesale and you carry that brand in distribution.
Single hero product moved from self-service Amazon to the wholesale channel. 30–45 to 400+ units a month. Distributor-relevant pattern: a single high-value product placed cleanly into the wholesale channel often delivers most of the available upside.
Big-but-light product rescued from FBA's size-based fees. 10 to 250+ units a month with improved margins. The same FBA-economics problem hits many distributor catalogs in industrial and specialty categories.
We tried running our own FBA for two years. The economics were fine for a few products, terrible for most. Moving those to VendorSprout's wholesale channel let us keep the wins and stop fighting the losses. — VP E-commerce, regional distributor
Thirty minutes. We learn your catalog, the brand relationships you carry, your downstream operating model, and whether you have an existing FBA arm. You learn whether VendorSprout is a fit and which setup makes sense.
We screen the brands and products you'd potentially supply for the wholesale-channel fit: unit economics, category placement, case-pack rationalization. Brand-owner sign-off may be required for some lines; we'll flag where.
We agree on wholesale pricing, case packs, minimum order quantities, lead times, payment terms. Net 45 (payment 45 days after Amazon confirms receipt of your shipment into its fulfillment network) is the default. We sign a wholesale supply agreement.
We set up the products in our vendor catalog, coordinate Brand Registry with the brand owner if needed, build or migrate A+ Content. Electronic ordering (EDI 850/856/810) is configured if it's not already in place for us.
Amazon issues us a purchase order. We issue you a corresponding PO. You ship to our designated receiving location from your existing warehouse outbound. We ship to Amazon's fulfillment network.
The products go live as Sold by Amazon.ca. Buy Box is ours. Prime-eligible. From here you receive a regular PO cadence and we manage the Amazon channel without further input unless you choose to be involved.
In most cases it helps. Your retail buyers care about MAP discipline (the pricing floor you set so retailers can't undercut each other) and about not seeing the products they buy from you undercut on Amazon by unauthorized resellers. When we operate as the wholesale-Amazon channel, Sold by Amazon.ca wins the default Add-to-Cart button, unauthorized resellers lose visibility, and MAP becomes easier to defend across the rest of your downstream network. We recommend a short conversation with your major retail buyers before launch so the move is framed as channel hygiene, not a surprise.
Bring it to the call. The most common engagement is Hybrid — your FBA keeps running on the products you choose, we run the wholesale channel on a different set of products in parallel. Each product sits in exactly one channel; no Buy Box overlap. Distributors typically split the catalog by unit economics: products where FBA fees are punishing move to the wholesale channel, products where FBA performs well stay with you. The two operating layers stay clean and the total Amazon revenue on your catalog grows.
When the wholesale channel is consolidated under a single authorized vendor (us), unauthorized listings become structurally weaker — they lose the Buy Box, lose the Prime-eligibility advantage, and become much easier to address through Amazon's Brand Registry tools. We coordinate with the brand owner on a Brand Registry plan as part of onboarding for the products we take. We don't promise instant disappearance of every unauthorized listing — that's an ongoing program — but the trajectory is clearly in the right direction, and the side effect is cleaner MAP enforcement across the rest of your downstream.
Not by default. We don't require exclusivity to take a product on, and you're free to continue distributing the same product through your retail and B2B channels. Exclusivity is occasionally negotiated for specific high-value products at the brand owner's request, but it's not a precondition. The wholesale agreement spells out what's exclusive and what isn't, product by product.
The same case packs you already ship to your other wholesale customers, ideally. We may suggest changes during product-fit review if a particular configuration creates problems on the Amazon side — Amazon's size-based fulfillment fees, multi-pack listing issues, B2B case-pack pricing for Amazon Business. The goal is to use your existing pick-pack-ship operations as-is whenever possible.
Net 45 with favourable terms is our default — we pay you 45 days after Amazon confirms it has received your shipment into its fulfillment network. (Your product typically drop-ships from you directly to Amazon, so the clock starts the moment Amazon scans it in.) We invoice on PO fulfillment; you collect on our standard terms. We can discuss alternatives — Net 30 with a discount, or longer terms for larger commitments — case-by-case in onboarding.
Yes. If you have an Amazon agency on retainer for your FBA arm (or for a brand owner's account you support), their scope continues unchanged on what they currently manage. The wholesale piece doesn't change your agency relationship. The Agency Co-Managed engagement is specifically designed for this configuration.
We focus on consumer-physical-goods categories where Amazon Canada has scale. We typically don't take on highly regulated categories (alcohol, cannabis, prescription drugs), oversized industrial freight, pure services, or product categories where Amazon Canada doesn't have meaningful demand. We'll tell you straight on the discovery call if a brand or product set you carry doesn't fit.
Depends on the brand and the brand owner's posture on Amazon. For brands where you have full distribution authority including Amazon, we work directly with you as our supplier. For brands that want to be involved in their Amazon presentation, we include the brand owner in catalog and A+ Content decisions. For brands where the brand owner specifically directs their Amazon strategy, we may need brand-owner sign-off to take the product on. The discovery call surfaces which brands fit which path.
Not always, but often yes — particularly for trademarks, A+ Content, and Brand Registry coordination. We won't list a brand on Amazon as a wholesale vendor if the brand owner objects, even if you have authority to wholesale the product. This protects both you and us from downstream brand-relationship issues. For most brands, sign-off is a quick conversation and not an obstacle.
No hard minimum. Selective engagements have launched with as few as two products. The economics work better with more volume — both for us and for you — but we don't turn away small starts if the products are a clean fit. The discovery call is the right place to discuss whether your specific situation is below practical scale.
Yes. The wholesale supply agreement is terminable on notice — typical commercial terms, 60–90 days depending on inventory position. There's no lock-in, no annual commitment, no break fees. The reason most engagements last is that the unit economics make sense, not that the paperwork traps you.
