Frequently Asked Questions

Amazon agencies typically charge $3K–$15K/month for management retainers and $8K–$20K/month for full-service engagements that bundle ads, creative, catalog ops, and case management. Some agencies pair the retainer with a percentage of ad spend (2–5%) or a percentage of marketplace revenue (3–8%). Performance-only deals that charge 15–25% of ad spend with no retainer exist but are rare. Most agencies don’t take that risk below $500K annual Amazon revenue.

You own your Amazon ads account, not the agency. A reputable agency operates with user permissions inside YOUR Seller Central or Vendor Central login, never a parallel account under their banner. If an agency insists on running ads through their own account, walk away. When the contract ends with an agency that owns the account, so does your PPC history, keyword learning, and account-level eligibility. Nectar never runs client ads out of its own account.

Hire an Amazon agency above $250K/month in revenue, consider it between $50K and $250K/month if you don’t already have a dedicated internal marketer, and stay DIY below $50K/month where the learning curve is cheap and the upside of expertise is modest. Between $50K and $250K/month, PPC optimization becomes a second job. Most solo founders break here. Above $250K/month, the opportunity cost of your time plus the compounding damage of a poorly run account usually makes hiring an agency a cheaper decision than staying in-house.

Four non-negotiables: (1) all ad accounts operate under your login credentials, not the agency's; (2) all raw data — AMC queries, campaign builds, search-term reports — is yours, exportable on 30-day notice in usable formats; (3) creative IP (photography, video, A+ Content) transfers to you on payment with clear commercial usage rights; (4) a no-solicit or neutral-zone clause that prevents the agency from pitching direct competitors during the engagement using your performance data. Agencies that push back on any of these are optimizing for their leverage, not yours.

Run a structured diagnostic on the three levers an agency actually controls: ad efficiency (campaign structure, negative keyword hygiene, bid discipline), catalog optimization (listing quality, A+ Content depth, keyword coverage in titles and bullets), and reporting cadence (what gets proactively flagged versus what's reactive). Pull 90 days of Sponsored Ads reports and score against category benchmarks. A good agency shows continuous experimentation signal in the data; a coasting one shows flat campaign structures untouched for months. You don't need an RFP to know whether your agency is coasting. You need two hours with your data and a category benchmark.

In the first 30 days with a new Amazon agency, expect discovery, audit, and access handoff, not live campaign changes. Days 31–60 bring foundation changes (campaign restructures, listing optimization, creative briefs). Days 61–90 produce the first real performance signal and a rolling 90-day plan. A good agency spends days 1–30 auditing your account, documenting baseline performance, and identifying quick-win opportunities. You should expect very little execution in the first two weeks, reporting and diagnostic calls instead. Days 61–90 produce initial performance signal from the foundation changes, first strategic recommendations based on actual data, and alignment on a rolling 90-day plan for the next quarter. If an agency is “running campaigns” in week 1, they’re either skipping the audit or rebadging work they did on another account.

To switch marketing agencies without losing account history, lock down three non-negotiables before giving notice: confirm Amazon Ads, Seller Central, Google, Meta, and Klaviyo accounts are registered under YOUR credentials (not the agency’s), export all creative assets in usable formats with transfer documentation, and pull 90 days of performance reports from every platform. If accounts are still under the agency’s credentials, get the ownership transferred BEFORE giving notice. Transition typically takes 30–60 days. Plan around it. Never fire an agency on a Friday; always time transitions mid-cycle (ideally mid-month) to give the incoming team runway.

A 12-month retainer is industry-standard for full-service Amazon agencies. Neither inherently normal nor a red flag on its own. The real signal is in the terms. 12-month contracts are standard because account integration, catalog work, and creative production have real switching costs. Agencies write the math assuming they’ll amortize those over a year. Red flags in a 12-month contract: no mid-term off-ramp clause, termination penalty exceeding one month of retainer, or required pre-payment for more than one quarter. Good 12-month terms include a 90-day trial period with no-fault termination, 30-day notice for cause (underperformance against agreed KPIs), and no penalty for standard termination at natural quarter boundaries.

Depends on your trajectory. Percentage-of-ad-spend aligns incentives when your budget is growing because both sides win by scaling efficiently. Flat fee is safer when spend is volatile or when the agency's work is creative/catalog-heavy and not tied to ad scale. The worst model is percentage-of-revenue. It taxes every dollar you sell, including organic sales the agency didn't drive. Hybrid (flat fee + capped percentage of ad spend) is what most mature engagements settle into.

If the agency manages your Amazon Ads account as a user on your Seller Central login, yes. The history stays with you because it lives in your account. If the agency built campaigns under their own account and runs your ads as a subcontract, no. The history is theirs. Ask this question before you sign a contract, not after you want out.

Most agencies target brands doing $500K+ in annual Amazon revenue, which usually means $10K+ in monthly ad spend. Below that threshold, retainer math doesn't work for either side. Some agencies will take on pre-revenue launches if the brand has capital and a category fit. Nectar's floor varies by category but we rarely engage without a clear path to scale on the roadmap.

The cleanest split: in-house owns brand voice, merchandising decisions, catalog taxonomy, and promo calendar; agency owns day-to-day campaign execution, AMC analysis, A+ Content production, and category intelligence. The failure mode is shared ownership of bidding decisions. That turns into blame when ACOS drifts. If you want the agency on bidding, they own it end-to-end; if your team wants bidding, the agency becomes advisory. Most successful hybrids have one weekly standup where the agency brings data and the in-house team makes calls, with clear lane ownership between meetings.

At minimum: user-level access (not admin, not account-owner) to Seller Central or Vendor Central, Amazon Advertising, and any connected analytics tools (Helium 10, DataHawk, AMC if applicable). For multi-channel engagements, add Shopify as a staff member, Meta/Google Ads via MCC invite, and Klaviyo/Attentive as an editor. Never give password-level access. Every tool supports role-based permissions, and any agency asking for passwords (or to share SSO credentials) is a red flag. Document every access you grant and set a calendar reminder to review/revoke when the engagement ends.

Depends on engagement size and maturity. Weekly reports make sense during onboarding (first 60 days) and when campaigns are active experimentation. Bi-weekly is the right cadence for established accounts in steady state. Monthly reports should be strategic business reviews, not tactical updates. They go to executives. The content matters more than the frequency: a weekly email listing metrics is almost useless; a bi-weekly 30-minute call where the agency brings 2–3 decisions for you to make is high-leverage. If your agency's reporting is a one-way dump of numbers, push back.

KPIs for operational metrics (ACOS, conversion rate, cost-per-acquisition) because they need weekly or monthly adjustment and map cleanly to campaign decisions. OKRs for strategic outcomes (NTB growth, category SOV gain, retention rate lift) because they sit at a quarterly altitude and require coordinated bets across multiple agency workstreams. Hybrid works best: KPIs drive the tactical scorecard an account manager runs; OKRs drive the quarterly business review with the agency's strategist or partner-level contact. Using OKRs for tactical stuff over-dramatizes routine decisions; using KPIs for strategic stuff under-ambitions the work.

A real QBR is 90 minutes with three parts: (1) backward-look — what was the previous quarter's plan, what actually happened, where did results deviate and why (20 min); (2) strategic context — category, competitor, and Amazon-platform changes that affect next quarter's priorities (20 min); (3) forward commitments — three to five named bets for next quarter with owners, budgets, and success metrics (45 min, bulk of the time). QBRs that are 60-slide recaps with no decisions made are performance theater. QBRs that result in a short document of committed bets, signed by both sides, are worth the 90 minutes.

Common ones to ask about explicitly: (1) onboarding fees beyond first month retainer; (2) creative production fees for A+ Content, Brand Store, photography (often itemized separately); (3) ad-spend management percentages above the retainer; (4) third-party tool subscriptions billed back to client (Helium 10, Jungle Scout, DataHawk); (5) overage fees for spend above tier thresholds. Reputable agencies disclose all of these upfront in the Statement of Work; agencies that surface them in invoice month 3 are signaling worse practices.

Mid-market agencies: $5K–$12K/month. Boutique specialists: $3K–$8K/month. Enterprise/full-service: $15K–$50K/month. Performance-only or hybrid models layer on percentage of ad spend (2–5%) or revenue (3–8%). Rough rule: expect to pay 3–8% of your Amazon revenue in agency fees if combined retainer + percentage. Below 3% suggests under-resourcing; above 10% suggests overpaying unless your category is unusually complex.

At $1M annual Amazon revenue (~$83K/month), reasonable agency budget: $4K–$8K/month retainer, possibly with 2–3% of ad spend on top. That's roughly 5–10% of revenue going to agency fees. Below $4K, you're getting a junior team or limited scope; above $8K, you're overpaying for the revenue size unless ramping aggressively. Most $1M brands either DIY (with software help) or work with smaller specialists rather than full-service agencies.

Month-to-month is rare and usually means premium pricing — the agency builds in churn risk to their rate. 6-month is increasingly common as a middle ground — long enough to amortize onboarding, short enough to reduce buyer risk. 12-month is industry standard for full retainer engagements with appropriate off-ramp protections. Best structure: 6 or 12-month commitment with 90-day no-fault termination, 30-day notice for cause, no penalty for standard end-of-term termination.

No, and beware agencies that do. Specific ROAS, ACOS, or revenue guarantees are red flags. They ignore the 30+ variables outside the agency's control (Amazon algorithm changes, competitor moves, seasonal demand shifts, supply chain). Reasonable agency commitments: process commitments (weekly optimization, monthly reporting cadence), accountability metrics (KPI tree with thresholds), and exit terms. "We guarantee 3x ROAS" usually means the contract has carve-outs that void the guarantee.

Three tiers. Efficiency: ACOS, TACOS, conversion rate, click-through rate, cost per new-to-brand customer. Growth: unit velocity, organic rank movement, share of category search, new ASIN ramp time. Strategic: share of voice vs named competitors, AMC-measured incrementality, Subscribe & Save enrollment rate, customer LTV. Most agency reports stop at efficiency; growth and strategic metrics are where real performance accountability lives.

Five non-negotiables: (1) Show me three current clients in my category I can speak with directly. (2) Walk me through a specific tactical decision you'd make on my account in the first 30 days. (3) Who specifically would manage my account, and what's their tenure at the agency? (4) Show me your standard reporting deliverables. (5) What's in your termination clause and how does data/account access transfer if I leave? Agencies that fumble any of these aren't ready for your business.

Three diligence steps. First, request named clients you can verify on LinkedIn. Anonymous case studies are mostly marketing fiction. Second, ask for the specific metrics that improved AND the baseline they started from. Third, ask for current client references in your category, and call those references with specific questions about agency strengths and weaknesses.

Yes, significant red flag. Reputable agencies maintain a roster of clients willing to take reference calls in exchange for the agency's other small favors. If an agency claims they "respect client confidentiality" too much for references, what they usually mean is "we don't have happy clients willing to vouch." Standard professional services norm: 3 reference calls in your category should be available within a week of request.

No. ACOS depends on dozens of variables — your product margin, category competition, listing conversion rate, season — none of which the agency fully controls. Agencies that guarantee specific ACOS are either (a) cherry-picking metrics and the contract has carve-outs, (b) over-promising to win the deal and will renegotiate at month 3, or (c) genuinely don't understand the variables. Honest agencies commit to process and accountability, not to specific outcome metrics outside their control.

Week 3 typically. Weeks 1–2 are audit, access handoff, and discovery, required before responsible execution. Agencies that "run campaigns in week 1" are either skipping audit or rebadging work from another account. Full onboarding to steady state takes 2–6 weeks: week 1 for data/access handoff and audit kickoff, weeks 2–3 for audit completion and findings documentation, week 4 for foundational changes (campaign restructure, listing optimization), weeks 5–6 for experimentation kickoff and locked reporting cadence. The exception: if your account is in active crisis (suspension, ad spend hemorrhage), an agency may stabilize first and audit second.

No. Give user-level access with appropriate permissions. Admin or account-owner level access lets the agency add/remove other users and modify account settings. User-level access lets them perform operational work without account control. Every major platform supports role-based permissions. If your agency requests admin access "to make work easier," that's a red flag, easier for them, riskier for you.

Some, in three forms: (1) 90-day trial period built into a 12-month contract with no-fault termination; (2) shorter 30-day pilot focused on specific scope (audit + optimization plan only); (3) project-based work as a try-before-retainer. Very few agencies offer "free trial". The time investment to start is too high to give away. If "free trial" is offered, evaluate carefully. Usually the agency is lead-starved.