With the new Amazon Authorized Reseller Badge, brand owners can mark approved sellers directly on their listings, which gives them more control over who sells their products and how their brand appears.
Shoppers on Amazon often can’t tell whether a third-party seller has the brand’s permission to sell its products. That question matters more as counterfeit activity grows, with Amazon detecting more than 15 million counterfeit products worldwide in 2025.
The Amazon Authorized Reseller Badge now gives shoppers a visible answer on the offer itself. For brands that sell through distributors or work with an Amazon agency, the label adds a new layer of control over who represents their products.
What the Amazon Authorized Reseller Badge Shows Shoppers
Our recent video showed a Wilson listing where the third-party seller Racket Galaxy displays a “Wilson approved” label on its offer. The label indicates that the brand has approved that seller through Amazon Brand Registry.
The label is tied to Brand Registry user permissions, where a brand assigns a selling role to a third-party account. It is separate from Amazon’s gating and ungating process for restricted brands.
Noah Wickham, VP of Sales and Marketing at My Amazon Guy"It has nothing to do with being gated or ungated for a brand."
The brand, not Amazon, decides which sellers receive the approval. Brands can also remove the role from a seller’s account at any time.
Amazon Outlines the Brand Registry Reseller Role
Amazon’s guide to Brand Registry roles states that there are two sets of roles: three protection roles and two selling roles.
Protection roles cover enforcement tools such as Report a Violation. Selling roles connect a selling account to brand benefits such as A+ Content and Brand Stores.
| Role type | Role | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|
|
Protection |
Rights Owner
|
The trademark owner who enrolled the brand
|
|
Protection |
Administrator |
Accounts that assign and manage roles
|
|
Protection |
Registered Agent
|
Third parties authorized to report IP violations
|
|
Selling |
Brand Representative
|
Internal, first-party sellers employed by the brand
|
|
Selling |
Reseller |
External, third-party sellers authorized by the brand
|
The main difference between a brand representative and a reseller in Brand Registry is the level of access. According to Amazon, the Reseller role receives brand selling benefits on a limited basis and does not include Brand Analytics.
Amazon states that selling roles are assigned by the brand Administrator. A registered agent can report IP violations for a brand but is not listed as a role that can assign reseller roles.
Amazon lists these steps for adding a reseller in Brand Registry:
- Log in to Brand Registry, hover over Manage, and select Manage selling accounts.
- Select Connect a selling account and choose the Reseller role.
- Select Other account and enter the seller’s merchant token.
- Choose the brand and send the invitation.
After the seller accepts the invitation, the role appears as active in the Connected tab. Administrators can also approve or decline reseller requests from the Requests tab.
Amazon Confirms Brand Owners Approve Resellers
Amazon’s own Seller Forums have addressed two common reseller questions: who grants approval, and whether that approval replaces ungating. Taken together, the threads show that brand owners control reseller approval through Brand Registry, and that this approval is separate from Amazon’s brand gating process.
How to Become an Authorized Reseller on Amazon
An Amazon representative on the Seller Forums stated that “Amazon does not approve Resellers; the Brand Owner approves them” through Brand Registry. The representative advised sellers to contact the brand directly and ask to be added as a Reseller.
Resellers who want to become an authorized seller on Amazon therefore need approval from the brand. Amazon does not offer a direct application for reseller status.
Brand Approval Differs From Ungating
A separate Seller Forums discussion addressed whether a Reseller role assigned by a brand automatically clears Amazon’s brand gating requirements. The seller asked whether invoices would still be needed for ungating even with Brand Registry authorization.
Amazon’s forum team responded by pointing to a staff post on the differences between brand approval and Brand Registry, noting that the two concepts are often confused. The Amazon Authorized Reseller Badge and ungating are separate processes.
Brand Registry Selling Roles Expand to Vendor Central
ChannelX reported in August 2025 that Brand Registry added Vendor selling role assignments to its Manage selling roles tool. Brand Administrators can now assign selling roles to users with active Vendor Central accounts.
According to the report, the Reseller role can be assigned to distributors, licensees, manufacturers, or other parties with an agreement to sell the brand’s products. Roles are connected to an account through a Merchant Token or Account ID.
Counterfeit Detection Rises as Amazon Approved Resellers Gain Visibility
According to WORLDEF, Amazon’s first Trustworthy Shopping Experience Report found more than 15 million counterfeit products detected worldwide in 2025. The report replaces the annual Brand Protection Report that Amazon had published for the previous five years.
Amazon has not announced plans to remove sellers who are not brand approved. The company also has not stated that the Reseller role or approval label affects Buy Box eligibility.
Brand Registry Tools for Brands That Don't Sell on Amazon
Hovey Williams stated that Brand Registry added Brand Catalog Lock in 2025, a feature that prevents unauthorized changes to listing details such as titles, images, and product descriptions. The feature gives brands another way to stop unauthorized sellers from changing their Amazon listings.
Brands that don’t sell on Amazon directly can still enroll in Brand Registry, since Amazon’s guide to Brand Registry roles notes the program is available whether or not a brand sells in the Amazon store. These brands can assign the Reseller role to approved distributors and leave unapproved sellers without it.
Brands with large reseller networks may need to review their Amazon Brand Registry user permissions to confirm which sellers hold the Reseller role. Sellers working with an Amazon agency may also need to check that their agency’s account holds the correct role for its responsibilities.
