Amazon Finance API for FBA Acquisition And Seller Growth
Why FBM and FBA seller understanding of financial performance is critical to driving Amazon seller growth and profitability
The Finances API enables Amazon third-party sellers to obtain financial information for their seller central accounts. Sellers can get financial events for a given order or financial data without waiting until a statement closes.
Third-party sellers typically use the data to;
- gain insights into inventory forecasting
- create context on how your sales history aligns with profit goals
- optimization inventory management
- improving customer service
- shortening lead times
This is an improvement over waiting for bi-weekly Settlement Reports. As a result, the Finance API gives sellers increased access, velocity, and transparency for mission-critical financial data.
What is finance data available to Third-Party Sellers, Agencies, or FBA acquirers?
So you want data from the Finances API? It is important to note that there is no single, summarized, and easy-to-use output from the Finance API like you get from Settlement Reports. The Finance API is one of the more complex services, which often creates a barrier for teams to take advantage of it.
Why is it complex? The Finance API provides transactional data for a broad collection of different finance events. Each of these events has a result set that is unique to that event. Given the volume of events, it can be challenging to work with.
What are those events? Below is a list of events available in operation called ListFinancialEvents:
- Adjustment Event: An adjustment to your account
- Adjustment Item: An item of an adjustment to your account
- Affordability Expense Event: An expense related to an affordability promotion.
- Affordability Expense Reversal Event: An expense refund related to an affordability promotion.
- Charge Component: A charge on the seller’s account.
- Charge Instrument: A payment instrument
- Coupon Payment Event: An event related to coupon payments.
- Currency Amount: A currency type and amount.
- Debt Recovery Event: A debt payment or debt adjustment.
- Debt Recovery Item: An item of a debt payment or debt adjustment.
- Direct Payment: A payment made directly to a seller
- Liquidation Event: A payment event for inventory liquidation. This event is used only in the US marketplace.
- Fee Component: A fee on the seller’s account.
- Financial Event Group: Contains information related to a financial event group
- Financial Events: This contains all information related to a financial event.
- Imaging Services Fee Event: An event related to Imaging services.
- Loan Servicing Event: A loan advance, loan payment, or loan refund.
- Network Commingling Transaction Event: A network commingling transaction event.
- Pay With Event: An event related to your Pay with seller account.
- Product Ads Payment Event: A Sponsored Products payment event.
- Promotion: A promotion applied to an item.
- Rental Transaction Event: An event related to a rental transaction.
- Retrocharge event A retro charge or retro charge reversal
- SAFET Reimbursement Event: A SAFE-T claim reimbursement on your account.
- SAFET Reimbursement Item: An item from a SAFE-T claim reimbursement.
- Seller Review Enrollment Payment Event: A fee payment event for the Early Reviewer Program. (the US only)
- Service Fee Event: A service fee on your account.
- Shipment Event: A shipment, refund, guarantee claim, or chargeback.
- Shipment Item: An item of a shipment, refund, guarantee claim, or chargeback.
- Solution Provider Credit Event: A credit given to a solution provider
- TDS Reimbursement Event: A TDS (Tax Deduction at Source) claim reimbursement on the seller’s account.
- Tax Withheld Component: Information about the taxes withheld.
- Tax Withholding Event: A tax withholding event.
- Tax Withholding Period: A tax withholding period.
Who needs to use the Amazon Selling Partner Finances API?
Many teams want to take advantage of the Finance API. Financial data is critical for companies like Thrasio, Heyday, and Razer Group that build successful Amazon FBA sellers’ portfolios. These seller acquisition companies (FBA acquirers) tap financial data to inform investment decisions and optimize ongoing operations to drive revenue growth.
Do you want to be one of those sellers being acquired?
If you have an FBA business for sale, you will need to ensure financial data is available for the FBA broker or acquirer to undertake a due diligence analysis. An FBA acquisition depends on an open, transparent accounting of a seller’s sales history for potential buyers. For example;
- Does your FBA income align with expectations?
- Is the business worth what you think it is? Do your sales data figures align with other business systems?
The Finances API operations, promotions, and sales data will be critical for this endeavor of being one of those Amazon FBA success stories that sold their businesses.
In addition to using financial data for Amazon FBA investment, acquisitions, or FBA forecasting, the data also fuels FBM sellers’ efforts to optimize sales, costs, inventory forecasting, and management.
Are you an Amazon agency optimizing client performance?
Lastly, if you are an agency like Amify, Optivations, Channeled, or many others in the market, you are tasked with streamlining operations, optimizing margins, and delivering compelling content, media, and advertising. The API provides the foundational data to drive understanding of the financial inputs that contribute to client success.
An automated Finances API data connector to the rescue
Too many teams are stuck with manual downloading, manipulation, and processing of financial data. In a fast-paced e-commerce environment, this is just too slow and prone to error. It would help if you had simplicity and velocity.
Openbridge offers a pre-built, automated, and fully-managed Amazon Finance API data pipeline. Our connector enables you to obtain automated, hassle-free Finances API information relevant to a seller and marketplace, conveniently delivered and organized in an easy-to-access data warehouse or data lake.
Our platforms offer a near real-time data feed of financial events for orders, financial events, shipments, refunds, or fees without having to wait until a statement period closes.
Getting Started
Regardless of the type of eCommerce business you are in, the Amazon Finance API is the key to Amazon seller growth and profitability.
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