How to choose an Amazon agency in the UK (and spot the cowboys)

A founder rang us last month, halfway to furious. His previous agency had asked for his Seller Central login on day one, "just to get set up." Six weeks later they'd gone quiet, his ACOS had climbed, and he had no idea what they'd actually changed because it was all done under his account, invisible. He wanted out. The trouble was the contract ran twelve months and he'd signed it without reading the exit clause.

None of that had to happen. Every warning sign was there before he signed — he just didn't know what he was looking at. So here's the field guide we wish he'd had. What the cowboys do, why it matters, and the exact questions that flush them out before your money's gone.

Red flag one: they want your Seller Central login

This is the big one. A proper agency never needs your username and password. Amazon has a permissions system built for exactly this — you add them as a user with specific access levels, and you can see every change they make and pull that access in ten seconds if things sour. It's there. It works. Using it is the baseline.

An agency that logs in as you is doing it because it's easier for them, not safer for you. You lose the audit trail. You can't tell their work from your own. And if Amazon flags anything dodgy, it's your account holding the risk while they walk. Ask how they'll access your account. If the answer isn't "user permissions," end the call.

Red flag two: no insurance, no company you can check

Anyone can call themselves an Amazon agency. There's no licence, no register, no exam. So you do the checking yourself, and it takes about four minutes.

Look them up on Companies House. How long have they traded? Is it a real limited company with real filed accounts, or a name spun up last spring? Ask whether they carry professional indemnity insurance — if they're touching an account that turns over six figures, they should. A one-person operation running your listings off a Gmail address and a smile is a risk you're taking on, whether or not anyone's named it out loud.

Red flag three: they guarantee results

"We'll double your sales." "Page one, guaranteed." Run.

Nobody controls Amazon's algorithm, your competitors' pricing, or what a shopper does at 11pm on a Tuesday. A good agency talks in ranges and probabilities, and shows you the levers they'll actually pull — PPC restructure, listing fixes, better inventory planning. A cowboy sells you a number because a number closes the deal. When it doesn't land, and it usually doesn't, you're the one who paid for the promise.

(One honest tell: ask what happens if the results don't come. The good ones have a straight answer. The cowboys get vague.)

Same six questions. The answers sort the two apart fast.

Red flag four: they go dark

You sign, there's a flurry of activity, and then... nothing. No weekly note, no monthly report, no reply for a fortnight. Meanwhile the retainer leaves your account like clockwork.

Silence is the most common complaint we hear about other agencies, by a distance. Ask flat out: who is my point of contact, how often will I hear from them, and what does a report look like? Get it in writing. If they can't tell you what you'll receive and when, assume you'll receive very little.

Red flag five: a long lock-in with a nasty exit

Twelve-month contracts aren't automatically bad — some genuine work, like a USA expansion, needs runway to pay off, and we'll happily explain why a longer term makes sense when it does. What's bad is a long lock-in with no break clause, no notice period you can live with, and a penalty for leaving.

Read the exit terms before the flattering bits about growth. A confident agency gives you a way out because they expect you to stay by choice. A rolling monthly or a 30-day notice is a good sign — it means they have to keep earning you every single month. If they're building a cage, ask yourself what they're worried about.

Red flag six: they only charge a percentage of ad spend

This one's subtle, so it catches people. Some agencies charge purely as a percentage of your advertising spend. Sounds aligned — until you notice what it rewards.

If their fee goes up when your ad spend goes up, guess what they're quietly incentivised to do. Spend more. Not sell more profitably — spend more. We think percentage-of-ad-spend-only pricing is a trap for exactly this reason. Their interests and yours point in different directions. A retainer, a share of sales, or a sensible hybrid keeps you both rowing the same way. Ask how they get paid, then ask yourself what that payment structure quietly encourages.

The questions to ask before you sign

Print this. Ask every one. The answers tell you more than any case study.

1. How will you access my account — user permissions or my login? (Only one right answer.)
2. Are you a registered UK company, and do you carry professional indemnity insurance?
3. What exactly will you do in the first 30 days?
4. Who's my point of contact, how often will I hear from them, and what's in the report?
5. What's the contract length, the notice period, and how do I leave?
6. How are you paid — and what does that structure encourage you to do?
7. Can I speak to a current client? (Not a testimonial. An actual phone call.)

Seven questions, one page. If any answer makes them squirm, you've learned something.

And where we'd point you away from us

Here's the honest bit. If you're turning over a few hundred pounds a month, don't hire anyone — including us. The fee won't pay for itself and you'll learn more running it yourself for a while. If your problem is a product nobody wants, no agency fixes that; sort the product first. And if you just want to hand it over and never think about it again, you'll be disappointed by any agency, because the good ones need you in the loop.

We run our own Amazon accounts alongside our clients', so we've sat on both sides of this. The agency that suits you is the one that's straight about access, straight about money, straight about what it can and can't promise — and comfortable telling you when the answer is "not yet."

If you're weighing up agencies and want a plain, no-pressure read on whether working together even makes sense, that's a conversation we're glad to have. Drop us a line at enquiries@uksourcedltd.com.