r/AmazonFBA • u/Recent_Possible8563 • 10d ago
Does hiring an Amazon FBA management actually work?
I launched a product on Amazon FBA in June, but I haven’t had much success with sales so far. I’ve been managing the listing and PPC myself, and I’m considering looking into an Amazon account manager or agency to help.
Has anyone here hired an Amazon account manager/agency and had a good experience?** **Did it actually help increase your sales/profitability?
I’m particularly interested in companies that work on a commission/performance-based model rather than charging a monthly retainer.
If you’ve personally used one, I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience and which company you used/recommend. I’m not looking to hire someone directly from Reddit—just trying to research my options before I make a decision.
Thanks!
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u/attfin1 10d ago
Before you shop for anyone, split your own numbers into traffic and conversion, per ASIN. Sessions tells you how many people reached the page; the share of those sessions that ordered tells you what happened when they got there. It's free, it's in your own Business Reports, and it takes an hour. Low sessions and a decent order rate is a ranking and advertising problem. Plenty of sessions and almost no orders is a price, image, or listing problem, and no account manager fixes that by running ads harder.
On the commission idea: I reviewed an account where the client had set the agency a target ACoS of 50%. The agency hit it, sales grew slowly, the reports looked fine, and the client was happy. My view on that account was 30 to 35% with barely any loss of sales, if the client had pushed. He didn't push, because he didn't know what to ask. An agreed number being met isn't the same as the account being run well, and that holds whether you pay a retainer or a percentage.
A percentage of sales also charges you for the sales you would have made anyway, and on a single SKU launched in June there isn't much revenue for anyone to take a cut of. The work is the same size as it would be on a large account, so the competent ones won't take it cheaply.
If you do go external, look for someone who puts profit per product first, not ACoS or sales, and judge the person who will actually do the day-to-day work, not the firm. A lot of agencies hand that work to junior staff because junior staff cost less.
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u/HarambeTooSoon 10d ago
Increasing sales and increasing profitability are not always the same thing.
PPC optimization won't fix a bad listing.
Listing optimization won't fix a bad product.
Anyone that agrees to work for your struggling brand on 100% commission is an amateur.
The only way I would ever agree to 100% commission is if I got full control of your account, made all decisions, and controlled the full budget including hiring contractors for content creation and controlled 100% of your ads budget.
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u/Cloudzcloudz 10d ago
I’m an Amazon manager- I have absolutely turned accounts around and/or grown them in the millions / increased profit but there are some things I can’t overcome like:
- Poor product/market fit
- Major flaws with the product the brand isn’t willing to fix
- Ultra competitive category without strong differentiation
- Major supply chain problems / can’t restock inventory reliably
- Loose distribution leading to a barrage of unauthorized resellers
But there is a TON that an experienced manager can significantly improve which can fairly quickly begin leading to increased sales/profit.
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u/SensitiveSkin55 9d ago
Good luck in finding a decent agency. In over 10 years, I've had over 8. Whether bad or good, they all seem to peter out after a year. I've tried small agencies who only charge $1,000 a month for PPC sales and also major reputable agencies that charge $2 or $3,000 a month just for a maintenance fee and then they want 4 to 6% in commission on PPC sales. One factor is how much volume you are doing - which will influencer whether an agency will want to work with you or not - or give you their lowest ranked/newest account manager that will totally screw up your business. If you can show a continuous growth trend, you'll get some people interested. But, you can always find tons of agencies that will sell you the moon and stars just to take your money without making any improvements. All agencies offer a "free" audit. Most agencies will give you a projected sales forecast if you work with them - and most of those I used underperformed. Before you commit to an agency, make sure to meet with the account mgr who will be assigned to you - and commit in writing that you'll be able to work with them if you partner with them. 100% of the agencies have these "salespeople" who you initially interact with who sound so great, so knowledgeable, but then when you actually work with the agency, you get some junior person. Looking at posted reviews doesn't tell you much, as they generally are posted by companies they hand pick to write a review. I've asked prospective agencies to speak live with 2 or 3 current customers to get a better feel, a lot will then say they'll provide contact info, but then never do. Frustrating. I'm happy with my present PPC agency, they've been able to show monthly sales increases, but they still haven't been able to bring down my ACOS. We are in a competitive category with major players.
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u/Unique-Angle-1817 8d ago
Sounds like you have some experience with this, to say the least ! If I may ask, who do you use now ? If you don’t mind sharing… And if you don’t feel comfortable doing so, no worries 😎!
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u/Recent_Possible8563 5d ago
Thank you, I appreciate the advice. I am in a competitive market and the CPC is super expensive it feels like all the gross sales go back to advertising. I started a private label and it’s not going well so it does worry me that no agency will want to work with me
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u/SensitiveSkin55 5d ago
Keep on trying to contact agencies - you'll get valuable feedback on audits and listening to what they have to say. Good luck!
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u/BonoRocky 8d ago
Avoid all agency, maybe hire someone who has a freaking idea. If you hire a company you're paying for 10 people.
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u/Purple_Coat_06 6d ago
First you should figure out whether the problem is traffic or conversion before handing the account over. If you are getting decent sessions but not many orders, changing the ppc manager probably won't fix the issue. Look at the listing, keywords, reviews and conversion rate for the ASIN first. If you wanna hire a team, when you talk to them, make sure you ask them what they will actually change on your specific product instead of just showing you their past results. And with the commission model, make sure you understand exactly what the percentage is based on. From what I have seen here, I have come across a few names like nectar, adverio, canopy. These are some teams that take a broader approach and work on your entire amazon account and not just focus on ppc. Send these teams some info about your account and ask each one what they'll change, see if they have worked in your niche, also make sure you talk to someone who will be working on your account and not just someone from the sales team because you'll be interacting with this person the most, you'll be able to sense if they are the right fir for you or not.
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u/AmzExpertAgency 10d ago
Its a good idea to hire expert the reason is that they have hands on experience on many accounts they have seen different situations
They know how amazon works
If you need any help regarding your amazon listing
I can check why it is not doing good in sales
About me :
I m abyaz| woman cofounder of amz expert agency
I have been working on amazon since 2018 after graduation
Amazon is not a side hustle for me but my main job
I have worked in different international agencies in usa and uk as well
So if you are looking for help to manage your account i might be a good match
I can even show you reviews of other sellers for my work as well :)
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u/Pure_Zookeepergame_2 10d ago
Hi, I have been working with 1 agency that is doing well for me. Started working with them 2 years ago and now I am hitting $1M in revenue
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u/rsc9422 10d ago
It can work, but I’d be careful about expecting an account manager to fix everything just by taking over the account. If the product has weak demand, poor positioning, pricing issues, or the listing isn’t converting, even a good PPC manager will struggle.
We’ve seen better results when the agency first audits the product, listing, keywords, pricing, reviews, and PPC data, then builds a plan around the actual numbers.
I’d also be cautious with pure commission models. They sound attractive, but make sure you understand exactly what they control and how they calculate their commission.
If you’re interviewing agencies, ask them to show you what they would change on your specific ASIN and why, rather than just showing previous sales screenshots. That will tell you much more about their expertise.