Seller Central User Permissions: How to Give a VA Access Safely

Amazon’s help page states that the ability to set and manage permissions is available only to sellers with a Professional selling plan. If you sell on an Individual plan, you will not see the tools in this guide.

Before you invite anyone, settle four things:

• Who invites: The primary user can open the User Permissions page. An employee can open it only if the primary user explicitly grants that access.
• One login per person: Account credentials are unique, and Amazon says confidential information should not be shared. Never hand your VA your own login.
• Their own email: Each person needs an email address that only they use.
• Two-step verification: Amazon requires it for every Seller Central user, and Support cannot make exceptions. Each person turns it on for their own login at first sign-in.

Seller Central has two routes for giving other people access. Amazon’s help page describes an employee as one of your own team members, and a service provider as a third party outside your organization, including agencies, consultants and external contractors.

In our view, a VA who works full time and only for you is part of your team, so the employee route fits. A freelancer who runs a separate business and serves other clients is closer to an outside contractor. That person, or an agency, connects through Manage Services.

Amazon does not draw the line that way in every notice. Its September 1, 2026 notice on service provider access names agencies, freelancers and virtual assistants among the providers that must complete business verification. If your VA connects as a service provider, expect that step.

The Service Providers tab under Manage Employees shows a notice that it is going away. Amazon’s screen does not give a date.

The tab is read-only, and adding or reauthorizing a provider happens in Manage Services.

Amazon’s help page lists no expiration for employee access, so check older employee accounts and remove any that are no longer needed. Whichever route you use, the permission rules below apply.

For an employee, the path in the live account is Manage Permissions, then Manage Employees, then Add Employee. Amazon’s help page calls the same button Invite Employee.

1. Open the Settings menu and choose User Permissions.
2. Go to Manage Employees and click Add Employee.
3. Enter the VA’s name, email address and language. A Site Access section appears below once you enter an email address.

4. Send the invite. The VA appears under Open Invites, on the Users tab, until they accept. Service provider invites appear on the Service Providers tab of the same page.

5. The VA opens the email, follows the instructions and sets up two-step verification.
6. Once they accept, click Edit next to their name and set permissions.

Some permissions cannot be granted in some marketplaces until you verify the user’s identity. When that applies, the Edit User Permissions page shows Required Actions with a Finish Verification button for each marketplace.

To authorize a service provider instead, ask the provider for an authorization link, or open its listing in the Service Provider Network and choose Authorize Now. Review the permissions on the screen, which each start at None. Limit them by country or region if you want, tick the confirmation box and choose Authorize. The access lasts 365 days. The provider must be registered in Solution Provider Portal and approved for the roles shown, and you must be the account owner or an administrator.

Each permission can be set to one of four levels:

• None: No access to that tool.
• View: The person can look but not change anything.
• Edit: The person can make changes.
• Admin: A fourth level that appears in the column header and on some tools. Amazon’s screen does not explain Admin. We assume it is the highest level, so keep it off for a VA.

Not every tool offers all four levels. Some offer only None and View, and some only None and Edit. The permissions are grouped into sections: Advertising, Amazon Ads, Amazon Lending, Amazon Pay, Brand Benefits, Buy with Prime, Growth, Internal/Administrative Tools, Inventory, Media Upload, Orders, Other, Performance, Pricing, Reporting Dashboards, Reports, Services, Settings and Store Design.

Be careful with the User Permissions page itself. Amazon’s help page says an employee becomes an administrator when granted View and Edit on the user permissions page, and an administrator can manage permissions for other employees and service providers. Do not make a VA an administrator.

The Edit User Permissions page includes a Get Recommendations panel, currently marked Beta. It offers seven presets, each with Amazon’s own description:

• Generalist: Basic access
• Fulfillment: Inventory and shipments
• Advertising: Marketing and campaigns
• Content: Listing optimization
• Customer Service: Feedback and returns
• Executive: Strategic performance
• Manager: Manage access for others

Treat a preset as a starting point and check what it switches on before you save. Do not pick Manager for a VA, because its description is managing access for others.

These are our suggested starting points, not Amazon’s rules. Check them against your live permission screen.

Some permissions let a person spend money, accept legal terms or change who has access. Leave these at None for a VA:

• Agreements/Amendments: Amazon notes that granting View and Edit means you represent the user has authority to agree to online agreements, amendments and terms on behalf of your business.
• Manage Refunds: It appears under Amazon Pay and under Orders. Leave it at None unless the VA’s job includes issuing refunds.
• Seller Assistant and Seller Assistant Workflows: Amazon says a user with these can view sensitive account data and act on your behalf, and that you should grant them only to trusted people who work directly for your business.
• Payments, Seller Fee Invoices and Tax Document Library: All three sit under Reports and expose financial data.
• Account Information, Manage Authorized Partners, Merchant Token and Business Insurance: All four sit under Settings. Check what each one shows on your live screen before you grant it.

Amazon requires two-step verification for every Seller Central user, and its two-step verification FAQ says Support cannot make exceptions. A code is sent at each sign-in unless the user chooses to stop asking on that device, an option Amazon describes on its trusted device page.

Two-step verification is one reason to avoid shared logins. When several people use one login, all of them need access to the device that receives the code. Individual logins avoid that problem.

• Give each person their own login and email.
• Use an authenticator app where possible. Amazon says it is more secure than text or voice codes.
• Do not let a VA sign in through a browser profile that holds your own login.
• Do not choose the trusted-device option on a shared computer, because it stops the code prompt on that device.

Some sellers worry that adding a VA could link their account to another account. Amazon’s selling policies and seller code of conduct allow one Seller Central account per region unless you have a legitimate business need. An Amazon staff post on multiple accounts lists access to another account, by the seller or their employees, and use of a third-party account management service as ways accounts become associated.

Ask a VA up front whether they run their own seller account. Put expectations in writing, including that they work only from their own devices and do not reuse your data. If Amazon ever asks about a connection between accounts, respond with facts and use the appeal path in the notice.

Remove access the same day the work ends.

1. Open the Settings menu and choose User Permissions.
2. For an employee, find them under Manage Employees, open the dropdown beside their name and click Remove user.
3. For a service provider, open Manage Services and remove the provider there.

A service provider’s access lasts 365 days. Amazon’s notice says it sends an email and an Action Center notification before each expiration, and that a provider loses access if you do not reauthorize. Reauthorize before then if you want it to continue, and put the date on your calendar. If credentials were ever shared, change the passwords and recovery details.

We suggest reviewing the user list every quarter and removing any account nobody uses.

Need prep center access instead? See our guide to prep center access in Seller Central.

• Sharing the owner login.
• Giving Edit on everything to save time.
• Granting access in every country and region when the VA only needs one.
• Leaving a former VA active.
• Using one login for several VAs.
• Missing the end of a service provider’s 365 days.