Amazon wholesale glossary.
The terms brands and resellers use every day, explained in plain English.
- 3P seller
- Third-party seller. A business that sells on Amazon's marketplace rather than selling to Amazon itself. Steadfast Retail Co. is a 3P seller.
- A+ Content
- Enhanced images, comparison charts and brand storytelling that a brand owner can add to its Amazon product pages through Brand Registry.
- ASIN
- Amazon Standard Identification Number, the unique ID Amazon assigns to each product listing. Several sellers can offer the same ASIN.
- A retailer the brand, or its authorized distributor, has approved to sell its products, usually under a written reseller agreement and MAP policy.
- Brand Registry
- Amazon's program that gives verified brand owners control of their listings and access to protection and reporting tools. It belongs to the brand, not to resellers.
- Buy Box
- The main "Add to Cart" button on an Amazon product page. When several sellers offer the same item, Amazon decides which offer wins it based on price, availability, fulfillment and seller performance.
- Counterfeit
- A fake product made to look like a genuine branded item. Counterfeits harm shoppers and brands, and Amazon prohibits them.
- Diversion (grey market)
- Genuine products sold outside the channels or regions the brand intended, for example goods meant for another country or a specific retailer. Diverted goods often lack warranty support.
- Distributor
- A wholesale company that buys from brands and sells to retailers. An authorized distributor has the brand's permission to do so.
- FBA
- Fulfillment by Amazon. The seller ships inventory to Amazon's warehouses, and Amazon stores, packs, ships and handles customer service for those orders.
- FBM
- Fulfilled by Merchant. The seller stores and ships orders itself.
- Hijacker
- A seller who adds an offer to a listing with counterfeit, wrong or non-existent stock, or who changes a listing's content without authorization.
- Lot code
- A batch number printed on packaging that lets a brand trace when and where a product was made. It's essential for recalls.
- MAP (minimum advertised price)
- The lowest price a brand allows retailers to advertise for a product. Retailers that follow MAP don't advertise below it. Learn how we follow it on our MAP & pricing page.
- MAP holiday
- A period when a brand temporarily lowers or suspends its MAP, often for a sales event.
- MSRP
- Manufacturer's suggested retail price. A recommended selling price, unlike MAP, which sets a floor for advertised prices.
- Net terms
- Payment terms that let a buyer pay an invoice a set number of days after delivery, such as Net 30.
- Prep center
- A third-party warehouse that inspects, labels and packs products to Amazon's requirements before sending them to Amazon's fulfillment centers.
- Purchase order (PO)
- A buyer's written order listing items, quantities, prices and terms. It becomes a binding agreement once the seller accepts it.
- Repricer
- Software that adjusts a seller's prices automatically. Badly configured repricers are a leading cause of MAP violations.
- Resale certificate
- A document a buyer gives a supplier to buy goods tax-free for resale. In Texas, it's Form 01-339 and requires a sales and use tax permit.
- Reseller agreement
- A contract between a brand and a reseller that sets rules for pricing, channels, content and conduct.
- Sell-through
- How quickly inventory sells over a period. It's the basis for sensible reorder planning.
- A seller offering a brand's products without the brand's approval, often sourced from liquidation, arbitrage or diversion.
- Wholesale
- Buying products in bulk from a brand or distributor at a discount to retail, in order to resell them.
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