To choose an Amazon agency in Italy, compare candidates on seven points: credentials Amazon can confirm, case studies with names and numbers, experience with your selling model (Seller, Vendor or both), the people who will actually work on your account, KPIs tied to margin rather than revenue alone, the ability to protect your brand, and a contract that keeps your accounts and data in your hands. Look at price last: at the same monthly fee, these seven points make the difference.
On paper every agency looks alike: growth, visibility, advertising, official partnerships. This guide helps you look beneath the surface, with the criteria, the questions to ask on the first call and the warning signs. We wrote it as an agency, so there is a section about us at the end, but the criteria apply to anyone you are evaluating, including us.
Before you search: what kind of help you need
Not every Amazon agency does the same job. Before comparing them, decide which of these three profiles you need:
- Full-service agency: runs the whole channel, from account and catalog to content, advertising and brand protection. The right choice if Amazon matters to your revenue and you have no dedicated in-house team
- Advertising specialist: manages Sponsored campaigns and often DSP. It makes sense if your account and listings are already solid and your limit is ad spend that does not pay back
- Strategic consultancy: audit, roadmap and support for your in-house team, without day-to-day execution. It works if someone in your company already handles Amazon and needs direction
Define the scope too: one marketplace or several European countries, ten products or five hundred. An agency that is perfect for launching a young brand may lack the structure for an industrial catalog, and vice versa.
1. Credentials Amazon can confirm
Almost every agency displays Amazon badges on its website. The point is knowing which ones Amazon actually awarded and what they certify. There are three programs worth knowing:
- Service Provider Network (SPN): Amazon's official network of service providers for sellers. Amazon vets providers before admitting them and monitors their performance, and anyone with a selling account can browse the directory for free
- Amazon Ads Partner Network: advertising partner badges depend on the team's certified training and on the campaign activity it manages. They tell you the agency knows the advertising tools, not how well it uses them
- Amazon Europe agency program: ranks agencies on three tiers, Silver, Gold and Platinum, based on the launches they manage and the quality of their account work, as assessed directly by Amazon. The tier is reviewed every year
Always ask where you can verify a badge, and be wary of vague answers. Still, a credential is an entry threshold: it tells you the agency works seriously with Amazon, but not that it fits your brand. That is what the next points are for.
2. Case studies with names, timelines and numbers
A useful case study answers four questions: who the client was, where they started, how long the result took and with what investment. A "+300% sales" claim with no baseline or timeframe says little: tripling a channel that made a few hundred euros a month is a different story from doing it on an established account.
Look for cases that name the brand and include numbers about margin too. To take one of ours: for Aurora Biofarma the Seller channel started from zero and generated €987,295 in nine months, with a 5.34 ROAS. Those numbers can be checked, over a precise period. Then ask to speak with a current client: an agency that has done good work will introduce you to one without hesitation.
3. Experience with your model: Seller, Vendor or both
Seller Central and Vendor Central are two different jobs. As a Seller you sell directly to customers and manage prices, inventory and account health, with or without Amazon's logistics. As a Vendor you sell to Amazon as a supplier: what matters are purchase orders, the commercial terms negotiated with the retail team and the chargebacks for non-compliance.
Many agencies know only one of the two well. If you are a Vendor, or thinking about switching models, ask for specific cases. For Nutralabs the move from Vendor to Seller, with proprietary EANs and resellers removed, took revenue to +161%: a decision made on the margin of each product, and whoever recommends it must know how to calculate it. The differences between the two models are in our guide Amazon Vendor or Seller, our work on the Seller and Vendor account management page.
4. Who will actually work on your account
On the sales call you usually speak with a partner or the most experienced salesperson. The daily work, though, will be done by someone else. Ask who your account manager will be, how many other accounts they handle and who covers each area: campaigns, content, catalog, open cases with Amazon support.
Ask what happens if your account manager changes, too. A well-organized agency has written processes and a shared history, so a handover does not send you back to square one. If the answers stay vague, you already have your answer.
5. KPIs tied to margin, not just revenue
On Amazon, revenue can be bought: just raise ad spend. That is why a serious agency works with metrics that account for costs:
- TACoS: ad spend divided by total revenue, organic included. If it falls while revenue grows, organic sales are gaining weight
- ACOS and ROAS: the return of individual campaigns, useful for deciding where to move budget
- Contribution margin per product: what is left after Amazon fees, logistics, advertising and returns. It is the number that tells you whether growing is worth it
- Share of organic sales: how much of your revenue comes in without advertising
Ask to see a sample report: how often it arrives, who walks you through it, whether you get access to the underlying data. A report made only of impressions and gross revenue is already a warning sign.
6. Brand protection and reseller control
If you are a manufacturer, on Amazon you do not only compete with other brands: you also compete with whoever resells your products. Unauthorized resellers, prices out of control, counterfeits and listings edited by third parties erode margin and the Buy Box. Ask the agency how it works with Brand Registry, Transparency and infringement reports, and what results it has achieved.
For HealthAid Italia it meant removing thousands of unauthorized resellers and earning the Brand Representative role on Amazon.it. Not every agency does this work: if it matters to you, make it a requirement from the first call. The method is explained in our guide to Amazon brand protection.
7. Contract, pricing and ownership of accounts and data
The most common pricing models are four, and each one pushes the agency in a different direction:
- Fixed monthly fee: predictable, provided it is tied to a written scope of work
- Percentage of revenue: aligns interests on growth, but should be read alongside margin
- Percentage of ad spend: simple, but it rewards whoever spends more, not whoever spends better
- Hybrid models: a fee plus a variable part linked to results, often the most balanced compromise
Then read the contract carefully. Minimum term and notice period should be reasonable. Your seller account and advertising account stay in your name: the agency works through a dedicated user with limited permissions, never with your main password. The same goes for content, creative assets and campaign data. If you ever change partner, the history stays yours.
Questions to ask on the first call
- Where can I verify your Amazon credentials?
- Do you have case studies in my industry and on my model, Seller or Vendor? Can I speak with a current client?
- Who will my account manager be and how many other accounts do they handle?
- Which KPIs do you use to measure the work, and how often will I get a report?
- What do you do in the first ninety days?
- How do you handle unauthorized resellers and brand infringements?
- How is the price built, and what does it include or exclude?
- How long is the contract and how do I exit?
Signs it is time to walk away
- Ranking guarantees: nobody can promise page one in thirty days, because the agency does not control the algorithm
- Incentivized or "managed" reviews outside official programs: they break the policies and put the account at risk
- Requests for your main login instead of a dedicated user
- Reports made only of gross revenue and impressions, with not a word on margins
- Badges that cannot be verified and case studies with no names or timeframes
- Long lock-ins without a clear exit clause
Review shortcuts in particular are among the most frequent causes of account suspension: an agency that proposes them is asking you to risk the channel on its behalf.
When you do not need an agency
If you are validating your first product, with a minimal catalog and a small budget, a full-service agency is probably premature: first find out whether the product sells. If you already have a capable in-house team, a consultancy that sets the roadmap and checks the numbers may be enough. We cover this in our guide to Amazon consulting for companies.
Where Novazon fits
Novazon is an independent Italian agency specialized in the Amazon channel, with offices in Milan and Pordenone. Amazon recognizes us as a Platinum Partner 2026 of its European agency program, we are part of the Service Provider Network and we are an Amazon Ads Verified Partner. We work with manufacturers and brands, as Sellers and as Vendors, across the whole channel: strategy, account management, brand protection, content, SEO and advertising, with in-house reporting that talks about margins.
Our case studies come with names, timeframes and numbers. If you want to put us to the test with the questions in this guide, book a call. And ask them of the other agencies you are considering too: that is the right way to choose.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an Amazon agency cost?
It depends on the scope and the pricing model: fixed fee, percentage of revenue or of ad spend, or a mix. Be wary of quotes made without looking at the account: the right cost is set after an audit, once it is clear how much work is needed and how much margin there is to recover.
Agency or freelancer?
A good freelancer can be enough for a well-defined task, such as the campaigns of a small catalog. When the channel weighs on your revenue you need several skills at once, from advertising to brand protection to cases with Amazon, plus the continuity of a team that does not stop when one person goes on holiday.
How long until the first results?
On campaigns, the first signals come within a few weeks. Organic ranking and the recovery of an account with problems usually take a few months, because they depend on sales, reviews and history. Be wary of anyone promising certain results on a fixed timeline.
Can I change agency without losing my history?
Yes, as long as the seller account and the advertising account are in your name: the history of sales, campaigns and reviews stays there. You simply revoke the outgoing agency's users and grant access to the new one. That is why account ownership should be settled in the contract from day one.