Many enterprise buyers already work with an AWS reseller or consulting partner. Channel partner private offers let that partner sell your product to their customer on AWS Marketplace, with the purchase still landing on the customer's AWS bill.
1. How it works
- You authorise the partner. In AWS Partner Central you create a resale (selling) authorisation for a specific partner and product.
- The partner creates the offer. Using your authorisation, the partner builds a private offer for their customer, adding their own margin and terms.
- The customer accepts on AWS Marketplace. AWS bills the customer and pays out to you and the partner.
It works for SaaS, AMI, container and professional-services products.
2. What you control as the vendor
The authorisation is where you set the rules. You decide:
- Which partner and which product it applies to.
- The pricing the partner works from — contract quantities, installment or upfront payments, or usage rates.
- The currency. Offers must use the authorisation's currency; another currency needs a new authorisation.
- How long and how often it can be used — once, until a date, or until you switch it off.
- Which buyers it covers, if you want to limit it to named AWS accounts or renewals.
- The legal terms — your licence terms and, optionally, a reseller contract.
Plan before you publishOnce an authorisation is published you can't edit it or extend it — you can only deactivate it and create a new one. Offers already made under it are not affected.
3. When partner offers make sense
- The customer has a preferred reseller who manages their AWS spend.
- You're entering a country where a local partner has the relationships.
- The deal bundles your software with the partner's services.
4. Common pitfalls
- Too-broad authorisations. An open-ended authorisation with deep discounts is hard to unwind. Start narrow.
- Channel conflict. Decide in advance who owns the customer if your own sales team is also talking to them.
- Lost visibility. Track partner-led offers next to direct deals in your CRM so forecasting stays accurate.
5. Getting started
- Pick one or two partners you already trust.
- Agree margins and who handles renewals.
- Create single-use authorisations for the first few deals.
- Widen them once the process runs smoothly.
We set this up as part of our Marketplace listing work, including approval rules and CRM tracking.