Amazon ads freelancer or agency: which should an Indian seller hire?

Hire a freelancer when you sell one brand with one or two products on Amazon and want someone to check the campaigns a few times a week. Hire an agency when you sell several products, run Amazon and Flipkart together, or need reporting you can show a partner or investor. The deciding factor is how much of the work depends on one person staying available.

A freelancer is the cheaper start when the account is small

One person who knows Sponsored Products well can run a small account properly. You talk to the person doing the work, there is no sales layer, and the monthly cost is usually lower than an agency fee. For a first few months of ads on a single product, that is a sensible way to learn what works.

A freelancer becomes a risk when your sales depend on one person

If your freelancer is ill, busy with another client or simply stops replying, your campaigns run unattended. Ask who covers when they are away. Ask how many other accounts they handle. A freelancer with ten accounts gives each one a few hours a week.

An agency is worth it when the work needs more than one skill

Amazon ads need keyword research, bid management, reporting and a view on returns and break-even ACoS. One freelancer is usually strong on one or two of those. A team covers all of them and can move your budget to Flipkart or Meesho if Amazon stops paying back.

An agency fee only makes sense if it is tied to something you can check

A fixed fee with no link to results lets the agency keep a slow account running. Ask whether the fee is a flat amount, a percentage of ad spend or a share of revenue, and what happens to it when your ad spend falls. Ask who owns the ad account. It should be yours from day one, whoever runs it.

Whoever you hire, ask for profit, not ROAS

ROAS tells you how much sales the ads produced. It does not tell you what you kept after ad spend, Amazon fees and returns. Ask any candidate which number they will report and how they calculate break-even ACoS for your products.

Six questions to ask a freelancer or an agency

1. Which accounts do you run today, and can I speak to one of those sellers?
2. Who looks at my account day to day, and who covers when they are away?
3. Do you report ROAS only, or profit per order after fees and returns?
4. Who owns the Amazon Ads account, and what do I get if we stop working together?
5. What is your fee, and how does it change when my ad spend changes?
6. What would you do in the first two weeks?

How our own fee is set

Our marketplace work runs on a fixed fee from ₹25,000/month plus GST (half our usual rate) plus 5% to 10% of marketplace revenue, set per brand and ranging from 5% to 10%. The fixed fee covers advertising on every platform, so budget can move to wherever the product sells. Additional services cost extra. We report on profit per order, and you own the ad accounts from day one.