After managing hundreds of brands on Amazon — including dozens that came to us mid-divorce from a previous agency — we can tell you exactly where brands get hurt. It’s not the decision to leave. It’s the transition. We’ve watched brands fire an underperforming agency and, in the process, lose admin access to their own Brand Registry, hand over months of advertising history they can never get back, and tank rank on their top ASINs because nobody owned the account for three weeks.
Firing your Amazon agency is a defensive operation, not an emotional one. Do it wrong and you don’t just lose an agency — you lose control of your own brand on the platform. Here’s the checklist we’d hand any brand owner before they send the breakup email.
Before you fire anyone: audit what you actually own
The single most common discovery during an agency transition is that the brand doesn’t own its own assets. This is the trap, and you have to check it before you give notice — because the moment you give notice, leverage flips.
Run this audit first:
- Brand Registry admin role. Log into Brand Registry. Are you (or someone on your payroll) listed with the Administrator role? Or is the only admin an email at the agency’s domain? If the agency is the sole administrator, they control your brand protection, your A+ permissions, and who else gets access. This is the #1 thing to fix before notice.
- Seller Central / Vendor Central ownership. Whose email is the primary account holder? Is the account registered to your business entity and your bank account, or the agency’s? If an agency “set up” your account under their umbrella, you have a serious problem to untangle.
- Advertising account ownership. Is the Amazon Ads account owned by your entity, or is your advertising running inside the agency’s ad console? If it’s theirs, your entire campaign history, bid data, and audiences can walk out the door with them.
- Creative assets. Do you have the source files — the layered hero images, A+ modules, Brand Store assets, video? Or does the agency hold them? “We own the creative” clauses in agency contracts are common and brutal. You may have paid for assets you can’t take with you.
- DSP and AMC access, if you run them. These are frequently agency-seat-owned and don’t transfer cleanly.
Write down, asset by asset, who owns and who can access each one. This list is your transition plan. Everything you don’t own is a negotiation point, and your leverage is highest before you announce you’re leaving.
The access transfer sequence (do it in this order)
Here’s where brands torch themselves: they fire the agency, the agency removes its access, and the brand realizes they never had admin access in the first place. Now they’re locked out of their own Brand Registry with no way back except a painful Amazon support case.
The correct sequence protects continuity. The principle: add your own access before anyone removes theirs.
This sequence is the entire game. Brands that follow it transition in a weekend. Brands that don’t spend three weeks in Amazon support cases trying to recover access to their own brand.
Don’t fire on the first of the month
Timing matters more than people think. A few rules:
- Never transition during a launch or a deal event. Firing your agency the week before Prime Day, a Lightning Deal, or a major launch is how you lose the event. Pick a quiet window.
- Mind the campaign learning periods. If your new team is going to restructure campaigns, understand that Amazon’s algorithm needs roughly 2–3 weeks to re-stabilize after major bid or structure changes. A messy handoff can mean a month of elevated ACOS while the account re-learns. Plan for it; don’t panic when it happens.
- Watch your contract’s notice and termination terms. Many agency contracts have 60–90 day termination clauses and auto-renewal dates. Read yours. If you’re inside an auto-renewal window, your notice date determines whether you owe another full quarter. We’ve seen brands eat $30K–$60K in fees because they gave notice one week late.
- Keep the outgoing agency running until the handoff is clean. Don’t fire and go dark. The worst outcome is nobody managing bids, inventory alerts, and account health for a stretch. Overlap the old and new teams by a week or two if the contract allows.
What to get in writing before they leave
Once you’ve given notice, the relationship is over — so get the paperwork done while they still have any incentive to cooperate:
- A written confirmation of asset ownership transfer — Brand Registry admin, ad account, creative source files.
- All creative source files delivered, not just flattened JPEGs. Layered files, fonts, brand kit.
- A campaign structure document — what’s running, why, and what the naming conventions mean. You’d be amazed how often nobody can read the outgoing agency’s campaign logic.
- Confirmation they’ve removed their own users after you’ve confirmed your access, not before.
- Any API tokens or third-party tool connections they set up in your name.
The vetting question that prevents the next bad fit
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: most brands fire one agency and immediately sign another that’s structured exactly the same way. Before you hire the replacement, ask the questions that actually predict the relationship:
- “Will all accounts and assets be registered to and owned by my entity?” If the answer is anything but a clean yes, walk.
- “What’s your account-manager-to-client ratio?” A “dedicated AM” managing 15 accounts is not dedicated. You want the real number.
- “Who actually touches my account on a Tuesday?” Senior strategy on the sales call and a junior on the keyboard is the industry default. Find out.
- “Can I talk to a client you lost?” Anyone can give you a happy reference. The brand that churned tells you how the agency behaves when things go wrong — which is exactly the situation you’re in right now.
FAQ
Can my Amazon agency lock me out of my own account?
If they hold the sole Administrator role in Brand Registry or own your advertising account, effectively yes — they control access to your brand. This is why you must get yourself assigned Administrator and ad-account admin before terminating the relationship, while both parties still have access.
How long does an Amazon agency transition take?
The access transfer itself can be done in a weekend if assets are owned correctly. The account performance transition takes longer — budget 2–4 weeks for campaigns to re-stabilize if the new team restructures, due to Amazon’s algorithmic learning periods.
Do I lose my advertising history when I switch agencies?
Only if the ad account is owned by the agency rather than your entity. If your Amazon Ads account is registered to your business, your full history, audiences, and data stay with you. Export everything before you cut access regardless.
Should I tell my agency I’m leaving before securing access?
No. Secure your Administrator and admin-user access first, export your data and creative, then give notice. Your leverage and your access are both highest before you announce the decision.
What’s the most common mistake when firing an Amazon agency?
Removing the agency’s access before establishing your own — which can lock you out of your own Brand Registry and trip Amazon’s fraud-detection holds. Always add your access before anyone’s is removed.
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Firing an agency should make your brand stronger, not weaker. The brands that get hurt are the ones who treated it as a phone call instead of an operation. If you’re looking for a team that manages every lever — creative, advertising, and operations — and structures the relationship so you always own your own assets, Velocity Sellers works with brands doing $100K+/month on Amazon. Contact us for a free account audit.
