Amazon work is not search work with a different logo on it. The listing is the landing page, the catalogue is the site architecture, inventory health feeds ranking, and the advertising sits inside a marketplace that also sells its own products. New York has a thick field of agencies serving consumer brands, particularly in food, beauty, apparel and home, and their fee models vary more than their pitches do. This page describes what the job contains, what a New York quote is buying, and the questions that separate an operator who has run a real catalogue from an agency that runs ad campaigns and calls it marketplace management.
Retail readiness comes before advertising
Spending on ads against a listing that is not ready is the most reliable way to lose money on this channel. Before any campaign work, an agency should be auditing the fundamentals: title and bullet content that answers what a buyer is actually deciding between, images that show scale and use, a clean variation family rather than orphaned child items, correct category and browse node placement, suppressed or stranded inventory cleared, and stock levels that will survive the campaign. A brand pushing traffic to an item that goes out of stock mid-flight loses both the spend and the ranking momentum it bought. Ask a candidate what they check before they turn on spend and how long that takes. An agency that answers by describing campaign structures has told you where their attention is. The same discipline applies to how your products are described on your own website, where Google's product structured data documentation sets out the properties search engines expect, and brands that keep the two catalogues consistent make both channels easier to manage.
Reviews are governed, and the rules changed
Review manipulation is the fastest route to a suspended account and it is also now explicitly unlawful in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission's rule on the use of consumer reviews and testimonials, codified at 16 CFR part 465, addresses practices including fake and purchased reviews, insider reviews without disclosure, and suppressing negative reviews. Amazon's own policies are stricter still on incentivised feedback. Any agency that offers to accelerate reviews should be asked precisely how, in writing, and the only acceptable answers involve the mechanisms Amazon itself provides and genuine post-purchase communication within Amazon's rules. This matters commercially, not just legally: a suspension takes a catalogue offline while you appeal, and the agency that caused it will not be the one carrying the lost revenue. Put the answer in the contract.
What a New York agency actually costs, and in what shape
Three fee models dominate. A flat monthly retainer is predictable and easy to compare, but gives the agency no direct upside from growth. A percentage of ad spend is common and creates an obvious tension, because the agency's revenue rises when your spend rises whether or not the return improves. A percentage of marketplace revenue aligns incentives better but usually carries a floor and often a longer term, and needs a clear definition of which revenue counts (a brand with existing sales should not pay a share of demand it already had). New York quotes tend to sit above the national middle for the same reasons quotes for any service do here, so compare an identical written scope, ask which parts are done in house, and ask how many hours a month you get and from whom. When you are also buying paid search or social from a New York provider, the same fee-model questions apply and it is worth deciding whether one firm should hold both budgets or whether you want the marketplace specialist kept separate.
Reporting that tells you whether it is working
Advertising cost of sales on its own is a weak measure, because it is trivially improved by cutting spend on the campaigns that create new customers. Ask for reporting that separates branded from non-branded ad performance, shows total advertising cost as a share of total marketplace sales rather than just of attributed sales, and tracks organic rank on the terms that matter alongside the paid ones. Ask who owns the advertising account and the brand registry entries. You should own both, with the agency given access, so that ending the relationship does not mean rebuilding your account history. Finally, ask what happens in the first sixty days: an agency that promises growth in month one on a catalogue it has not audited is describing a hope, and an agency that says the first month is cleanup and instrumentation is describing the job.
Questions people ask about amazon marketing agency nyc
Does the agency need to be in New York?
Not for the work itself, which is done in Amazon's console wherever the operator sits. A local agency is useful if you want in-person sessions, photography and content production, or a team that knows your retail buyers. Otherwise judge on catalogue experience in your category and on the evidence they publish.
Percentage of ad spend or a flat fee?
A flat fee is easier to compare and does not reward spending more. If a candidate insists on a share of spend, ask what happens to their fee if the right answer is to cut budget, and get the answer in writing. Hybrid models with a floor plus a performance element are common and workable if the performance definition is precise.
Can an agency get us more reviews?
Only through the mechanisms Amazon provides and genuine customer follow-up within its rules. The FTC rule at 16 CFR part 465 covers fake, purchased and undisclosed insider reviews, and Amazon suspends accounts for manipulation. Ask exactly what method a candidate uses and refuse anything vague.
How long before marketplace work shows results?
Listing and catalogue fixes can move things within weeks because they affect conversion directly. Ranking on competitive terms takes longer and depends on sustained sales velocity and stock availability. Expect the first month to be audit and cleanup, and judge month three onwards.