How to Tell If Your Amazon Agency Is Truly Adding Value ?

Is Your Amazon Agency Really Working for You?

When selling on Amazon, it’s common — and perfectly understandable — to delegate account management to a specialized agency. Selling on Amazon requires real expertise, and partnering with seasoned professionals often seems like the obvious choice.

So far, so good. But then comes the real question…

What’s actually happening behind the scenes?

• How is your Amazon account being managed day to day ?

• How much time is really being spent on it each week?

• Is your agency proactive, transparent, and involved?

• And most importantly: are you able to evaluate their work objectively?

What a Good Amazon Agency Should Be Doing

A serious Amazon agency starts by setting clear goals that align with your business strategy: growth, profitability, target TACoS, international expansion, etc.

They explain the key performance indicators (KPIs): ACoS, CTR, CVR… and also your real net margins, cannibalization effects, and ad contribution to your total revenue.

They are proactive: alerting you when something’s wrong, suggesting regular optimizations, adjusting campaigns based on stock levels, performance trends, or seasonality.

They also operate with complete transparency: you’re kept informed, involved, and capable of tracking what’s being done, why, and with what results.

💡 Pro tip: In Amazon Ads, you can view the history of optimizations made within your campaigns. This lets you see how often your agency is actually working on your account. You’d be surprised how many agencies go a full month or more without making a single update…

Red Flags to Watch For

On the flip side, there are some clear signs that things might not be working as well as they should:

• Reports you receive are hard to understand — or deliberately vague.

• You have no visibility on how your ad budget is being used.

• Your agency never takes initiative — you’re always chasing them.

• You go weeks without a response, and your account manager changes every few months.

• Your results are stagnating — but no one can explain why.

• You’re fully dependent on the agency: even downloading a report feels complicated.

In this kind of setup, you lose clarity, control, and the ability to make timely decisions.

The Solution: Internalizing Your Amazon Skills

Amazon is a strategic sales channel for many businesses. And as with any strategic function, relying entirely on outside partners — without any internal expertise — is a risk.

Internalizing your Amazon skills allows you to:

• Challenge your agency constructively (or stop relying on one)

• Anticipate problems before they escalate

• Understand your own data

• Regain control over your strategy

With the right tools and tailored training, someone internal to your company can manage an Amazon account with up to 100 SKUs in less than 10 hours per week.

That’s far less than a part-time position — yet most agencies will charge you the equivalent of a full-time employee, often with less visibility and slower response times.

The Benefits of Managing Your Account Internally

• Deeper understanding of your brand’s Amazon-specific challenges

• Real-time responsiveness to issues like stockouts or performance drops

• Continuous competitor monitoring — you stay connected to your market

• Cost control — no retainer or margin-based fees to justify

• Strategic freedom — test, adapt, and pivot when you want

• Peace of mind — you always know what’s going on in your account

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do I know if my Amazon agency is doing a good job?

They should define clear goals, explain KPIs, proactively flag issues before they escalate, suggest regular improvements, and actively involve you in the strategy. No black boxes

What are the signs that an agency is hurting my Amazon's performance?

Confusing reports, lack of transparency, no proactive communication, flat results, and total dependency — these are all red flags worth paying attention to.

Should I continue working with my Amazon agency?

If you don’t understand what they’re doing, can’t challenge their decisions, or aren’t seeing progress — especially in terms of profitability — it may be time to build in-house expertise.

I’m afraid to internalize Amazon skills — it’s such a critical role.

That’s okay. At Tupia, we manage your account for you during training (typically over 3 months). Once your team feels confident, you fully take over the management — with our ongoing support if needed.

And you

What would change in your business if your team became fully autonomous on Amazon?