Key takeaways
- Pick the provider type by your gap: listings and ads together, deeper ads work, a small account, or managed work on software you can see.
- A good agency reports every week on total sales and TACoS (ad spend ÷ total sales), not only ACoS (ad spend ÷ ad sales), and lists every change it made.
- Give access through Amazon's User Permissions, never your password. The ad account, the campaigns and the data stay yours when you part.
- Compare fixed, % of spend and % of sales fees in rupees per month, at today's ad spend and at next year's.
- Walk away from guaranteed results, password requests, data held back, ACoS-only reports and long lock-ins.
The right Amazon advertising agency in India is the one that fills your specific gap, reports total sales and TACoS every week, works through Amazon's own user permissions and leaves the account and data with you. Searching for the best Amazon agency in India turns up ranked lists, but no list can make this call for you, because it depends on your catalogue, your margins and who on your team has time. We have run Amazon Ads for sellers and brands since 2019, and this is the checklist we would want you to use on any agency, including us.
What kinds of Amazon advertising agencies are there in India?
Amazon ads management services in India come from four kinds of provider, and the right one depends on what your team can't do today. Find your row, then raise the "watch for" point in your first call.
| Provider | What they usually do | Suits you if | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-service marketplace agency | Ads plus listings, images, A+ content, Brand Store and account health | Your listings need as much work as your ads, and nobody in-house looks after Amazon | Ads may be one service of many; ask who runs your campaigns. |
| PPC specialist | Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display: keywords, bids, budgets and reports | Your listings are in good shape and you want more depth on ads | They can flag a weak listing or price, but your team has to fix it. |
| Freelancer | One person runs your campaigns | You have a handful of products and want to talk directly to the person doing the work | Holidays, illness and a full client list. Ask who covers when they are away. |
| Software-plus-managed service | A team runs your account on its own software, usually with a dashboard you can see | You want the work done and want to see the same numbers the team sees | You depend on both the software and the people. Ask how changes get approved. |
Large digital agencies that also run Google and Meta ads sit in the first row; ask to meet the person who will run your Amazon campaigns. If you are still deciding whether you need people at all or only a tool, start with our comparison of Amazon PPC software vs an agency.
What does a good Amazon advertising agency in India look like?
Four things separate a good agency from a busy one: weekly reports built on total sales, access through Amazon's permissions, your ownership of the account and data, and a written plan for the first 30 days. You can check all four before you sign.
Weekly reports that show total sales and TACoS, not only ACoS
A report that shows only ACoS can make a bad month look like a good one. Two ratios matter:
ACoS = ad spend ÷ ad sales
TACoS = ad spend ÷ total sales (ad sales plus organic sales)
Worked example. Say last month you spent ₹1,00,000 on ads, Amazon credited those ads with ₹4,00,000 of sales, and total sales were ₹10,00,000. ACoS was 25% and TACoS 10%. This month the agency cuts spend to ₹60,000 and ad sales fall to ₹3,00,000, so ACoS improves to 20%. Total sales fall to ₹8,00,000, so TACoS also improves, to 7.5%. Both ratios look better, and you have lost ₹2,00,000 of sales. Only the total sales line shows it.
A useful weekly report covers the same dates on every line:
- Ad spend, ad sales, ACoS and orders, split by Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display.
- Total sales and TACoS. Total sales come from Business Reports in Seller Central, so the agency needs view access to them.
- Spend on searches for your own brand name, where shoppers already know you, shown apart from the rest.
- Every change made that week, with dates: bids, budgets, negative keywords and new campaigns.
- What the agency needs from you: stock, price, coupon or listing decisions.
- A note on unsettled days. Sponsored Products counts a seller's orders up to 7 days after the click (14 days for vendors), and Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display use 14 days, so the latest week's sales will still rise.
For how to read the two ratios together, see TACoS vs ACoS.
Access through Amazon's user permissions, never your password
An agency never needs your login. In Seller Central, the account owner invites each agency person by email under Settings, then User Permissions, and grants only advertising access to run campaigns and view access to Business Reports for TACoS. Each person gets their own login, which you can remove the day the contract ends. Seller Central also requires two-step verification, so an agency using your login would need the one-time codes sent to your phone. If you advertise as a vendor, invite the agency as a user in your Amazon Ads account instead.
You keep the account, the campaigns and the data
Everything the agency builds on your account should stay with you. Campaigns, keywords and negative lists live in your ad account, and Amazon bills the ad spend to you, so nobody can mark it up. The gap is history: Amazon's reports only reach back a limited number of days, so months of search-term data stored by the agency can't be downloaded again. Ask for a monthly export of search terms, negatives and the change log, and write into the contract that the agency hands over its files and removes its users when you part.
A written plan for the first 30 days
Before you sign, a good agency can tell you what it will do in each week of the first month and what you will receive:
| Week | Work | What you receive |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Access set up, full audit, baseline agreed | Baseline spend, ad sales, ACoS, total sales and TACoS, plus the search terms with clicks and no orders |
| 2 | Stop the leaks | Negative keywords added, bids cut on targets with no orders, budgets checked on your best sellers |
| 3 | Build on what converts | Converting search terms moved into exact-match campaigns, and a target ACoS agreed for each product |
| 4 | First review | The same metrics against the baseline, and a written plan for the next two months |
The target ACoS should come from your margins, not from a benchmark:
Break-even ACoS = profit per unit before ad spend ÷ selling price
Worked example. Say your product sells for ₹999 and, after Amazon's fees, GST and product cost, you keep ₹300 before ads. Break-even ACoS is ₹300 ÷ ₹999, about 30%. A 40% target on that product loses about ₹100 on every ad-driven sale, which only makes sense during a launch you have agreed to fund. Work out your own number with our Amazon profit calculator.
How do Amazon agency fees work in India?
Agency fees come in three models, and each rewards something different, so compare them in rupees at today's spend and next year's, not as percentages.
| Model | How it works | What it rewards | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed monthly fee | The same fee each month for a written scope | Doing the agreed work well | A vague scope. Write down the products, ad types and marketplaces covered, and how often they optimise and report. |
| % of ad spend | The fee moves with your ad spend | Spending more | Budget increases that raise the fee faster than your sales |
| % of sales | A share of ad sales, or of total sales above an agreed baseline | Sales growth | Ad sales can rise just by bidding on your own brand name, and baselines can ignore seasons and stock-outs |
Worked example. Say you spend ₹3,00,000 a month on ads and total sales are ₹30,00,000, a TACoS of 10%. A fee of 10% of ad spend costs ₹30,000. If spend rises to ₹4,50,000 and total sales stay flat, the fee rises to ₹45,000 and your TACoS to 15%. Under a fixed fee, the same move still costs you the extra ₹1,50,000 of ad spend, but nothing more in fees.
Where an agency combines a fixed base with a percentage, judge each part on its own. For the ad spend itself, see our breakdown of what Amazon advertising costs in India.
Questions to ask an Amazon PPC agency before you sign
Ask these ten questions and get the answers in writing. A vague answer to any of the first seven is reason enough to keep looking.
- Who exactly will work on my account, and how many other accounts does that person run?
- How will you get access? The right answer is an invite through User Permissions.
- Can I see a sample weekly report? Check it for total sales, TACoS and a change log.
- What will you do in each week of the first 30 days?
- How will you set a target ACoS for each product? A good agency asks for your margins first.
- Which changes need my approval before they go live? Agree a rule, such as any budget increase or any new campaign.
- What happens to my data and your access when we stop, and what is the notice period?
- Are you listed in the Amazon Ads Partner Directory? Check the listing yourself: verification is a useful filter, not proof of results.
- Can I speak to a current client that sells in a category like mine?
- When would you tell me to spend less? A good answer names a case, such as a product out of stock or above its break-even ACoS.
Red flags when hiring an Amazon agency
Five signs should end the conversation, and a sixth should slow it down.
- Guaranteed results. Nobody controls competitors' bids, Amazon's auction or your stock, so a promised ACoS or sales figure is usually met by gaming the metric, such as moving spend to your own brand name.
- Asking for your password or one-time code (OTP). User Permissions exists so that nobody needs either.
- Holding your data. Refusing exports, keeping your reports in accounts you can't open, or charging to hand over your history.
- ACoS-only reporting. As the first worked example shows, ACoS can fall while total sales fall with it.
- Long lock-ins. A long minimum term with no exit clause, or a fee to leave. An agency that trusts its own work can agree a short notice period.
- No questions about your margins. Without them nobody can work out a break-even ACoS, so every target is a guess.
Where we fit
We are one of the providers in the first table: a software-plus-managed service. Our team runs client accounts on ScaleSKUs, the same software sellers can use on their own, through our Amazon Ads management service. We are an Amazon Ads Verified Partner. Nothing changes on Amazon without the seller's approval, and live changes need two-factor verification. Hold us to the same checklist.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an Amazon advertising agency cost in India?
There is no standard rate: fees depend on the model (fixed, % of ad spend or % of sales) and on the scope, such as the products, ad types and marketplaces covered. Compare quotes in rupees per month at today's spend and next year's, and remember that Amazon bills the ad spend itself on top.
What is the difference between an Amazon PPC agency and an Amazon marketing agency?
An Amazon PPC agency runs your ads: keywords, bids, budgets and reports across Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display. An Amazon marketing agency also works on listings, images, A+ content and your Brand Store, which is worth paying for if weak listings hold back conversion. "Amazon marketing services" usually means ads alone, because AMS was an earlier name for Amazon's advertising business.
Should I give an agency my Seller Central password?
No. Invite each person through User Permissions in Seller Central with only advertising access and view access to Business Reports. You can remove that login at any time, and your two-step verification codes stay on your phone.
How soon should a new Amazon agency show results?
Judge the first 30 days on the work: an audit, a baseline, the leaks fixed and a written plan. After that, compare full months of settled data with the baseline, since Amazon keeps crediting orders for 7 to 14 days after a click. Watch total sales and TACoS, not ACoS alone.