How to Choose the Right Help for Your Amazon Seller Account

You can hire a full-service agency.
You can find a freelancer on Upwork or OnlineJobs.ph.
You can try to manage everything yourself.
Or you can work directly with someone like me.

On paper, many of these options sound similar. In practice, they are very different. This post breaks down the real pros and cons of each approach, not the marketing version.

Option 1: Full-Service Amazon Agency

What agencies promise

Most Amazon agencies position themselves as an all-in-one solution.

On paper, this usually means:

• Dedicated specialists for ads, catalog, design, and operations
• Strategic oversight and account ownership
• Systems, SOPs, and scalability
• Less work for you as the brand owner

And for large brands with large budgets, this can work.

The reality for most small and mid-sized sellers

For brands doing under seven figures annually, the execution often looks very different.

Common issues smaller accounts run into:

• Your account is handed to junior staff with limited real-world experience
• Senior leadership is rarely involved day-to-day
• Strategy is standardized, not tailored
• Work is done “by the SOP,” not by judgment or context

Agencies are built to scale teams, not attention. When resources are limited, smaller accounts almost always receive less experienced operators.

Bottom line:
Agencies make sense if you are large enough to command senior-level attention. Most sellers are not.

Option 2: Hiring a Freelancer (Upwork, OnlineJobs.ph, etc.)

Why freelancers are appealing

Freelancers are often the first alternative sellers explore after agencies.

The appeal is obvious:

• Lower monthly cost
• Direct communication with the person doing the work
• Flexible engagement
• Easy to hire quickly

There are talented freelancers out there. The problem is finding them and managing them.

The hidden cost: oversight and strategy ownership

Most freelancers are executors, not owners.

Common freelancer limitations:

• Skills and experience are often exaggerated
• Strategy is not owned, only tasks
• You are responsible for direction, prioritization, and quality control
• When things break, you are still the decision-maker

Hiring freelancers often turns into a management job. You trade agency overhead for constant supervision.

Bottom line:
Freelancers can execute tasks, but they rarely take full responsibility for outcomes. You still run the account.

Option 3: DIY (Doing It Yourself)

Why sellers choose DIY

Some sellers manage their own Amazon accounts because:

• Budgets are tight
• They want full control
• They believe no one will care as much as they do

This approach can work early on. It becomes a liability as the business grows.

The real cost of DIY

Managing Amazon is not just a weekly task list.

DIY requires:

• Daily account monitoring
• Constant policy awareness
• Ad platform changes and experimentation
• Catalog issues, compliance, and operational fires
• Time spent learning instead of growing the business

Amazon changes constantly. Staying current is a job by itself.

Bottom line:
DIY does not scale. The opportunity cost becomes massive as revenue grows.

Option 4: Working Directly With Me (A Different Model)

This option exists because the other three leave a gap.

Most sellers think they are getting senior expertise from agencies.
Most freelancers do not own strategy.
DIY drains time and focus.

What is different about this model

I do not operate as an agency, and I am not a task-based freelancer.

How this works:

• One experienced operator manages your account end-to-end
• Advertising, listings, inventory, compliance, and daily operations are handled directly
• No junior staff, no handoffs, no account managers
• Strategy and execution live in the same place

I am able to do this for one reason only.

Why this model works

I intentionally cap my client roster at fewer than 10 active accounts at a time .

That constraint allows:

• Deep account familiarity
• Fast decision-making
• Proactive issue detection
• Actual ownership of results

You get what most sellers think they are buying from a full-service agency, but rarely do.

Bottom line:
This is the middle ground between agency scale and freelancer execution, without the downsides of either.

Which Option Is Right for You?

There is no universal answer, but there is a realistic one.

• Large brands with large budgets: Agencies can make sense
• Sellers with time and systems: DIY can work short-term
• Task-heavy execution needs: Freelancers can help with oversight
• Sellers who want results without babysitting: This model fits best

If you are tired of managing the people who are supposed to manage Amazon for you, that is usually the signal.

Final Thought

Amazon does not reward half-attention or fragmented ownership.

The biggest difference between these options is not price.
It is who actually owns your account and your outcomes.

If you want to talk through whether this approach makes sense for your business, you can reach out directly.

-Joel

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