Amazon MWS keys: key opening a door to the outside

What are Amazon MWS Keys and Why Does it Matter for FBA Sellers?

Brian Connolly

Brian Connolly

Amazon Inventory Management, Amazon Policies, Email Marketing, Importing & Shipping, Product Features, Seller Resources, Uncategorized

1 Comment

You wouldn’t pay an accountant to do your taxes and then not give them your W2, right? Well, the same holds true for your Amazon MWS keys. 

As an Amazon seller using Jungle Scout, there are tools included with your subscription that will help you run your business effectively and efficiently — but only if you enter your Amazon MWS keys.

To get the most out of your subscription, and to ensure you have access to all of the tools to help your Amazon business succeed, you need to add your keys to Jungle Scout.

What is Amazon MWS?

Amazon MWS (Marketplace Web Services) is a set of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) provided by Amazon that enables third-party sellers to integrate systems and tools with Amazon’s platform to automate various processes related to managing their Amazon sales.

Using Amazon MWS, sellers can access and manage their Amazon Seller accounts through seller tools such as Jungle Scout, allowing them to manage inventory, sales data, and product listings.

The main application of Amazon MWS for sellers is by accessing your Amazon MWS keys to sync a seller software with your Seller Central account.

What are Amazon MWS Keys?

Amazon MWS keys (MWS stands for Marketplace Web Services) consist of two numbers: 

  1. Your Seller ID number, which is public and searchable on Amazon’s site
  2. An MWS Auth Token

Every Amazon seller has access to these numbers as they allow you to export your sales data. 

As for their importance with respect to Jungle Scout, entering your MWS keys enables Jungle Scout to sync with your Seller Central account, giving certain features the ability to track your inventory, update your product listings, and more. 

Plus, adding your keys to a seller-centric platform like Jungle Scout is standard practice, completely safe, and okayed by Amazon. (They understand that it benefits sellers.) 

What are the benefits of using MWS keys? 

While a Jungle Scout subscription enables you to use features like the Product Database, Product Tracker, and Supplier Database without entering your MWS keys, you’ll only be able to use all of Jungle Scout’s features if you add them.

Syncing your Seller Central account with Jungle Scout will unlock access to Sales Analytics, Inventory Manager, Listing Builder, and the new Home Dashboard.

Entering your MWS keys and unlocking those features will allow you to:

  1. Calculate your true profits. In addition, Sales Analytics identifies any areas where profits can be increased, making sure your Amazon business is making a profit. This tool makes managing the money aspect of your business much simpler (especially for anyone who finds excel spreadsheets stressful!).
  2. Manage your inventory. Inventory Manager will show you how much cash flow you need to make those inventory orders. It makes this process so much easier for anyone who struggles with keeping their inventory in stock, or for those who overstock and incur extra fees. (NOTE: This is a huge pain point for a lot of sellers). 
  3. Update your listings. Listing Builder’s new AI Assist feature helps sellers write your listings with just one click. The tool also automatically syncs the adjustments directly to Amazon, and will grade your listing to let you know if you need to make improvements.
  4. Analyze your sales performance. With the new Home Dashboard, sellers can see a quick overview of their Amazon business performance over the past 7 days. The new sales widgets include total sales, total profit, units sold, ROI, and more. 

How to add your MWS keys to Jungle Scout

Adding your Amazon MWS keys to Jungle Scout can be confusing, which is why we’ve created a video to walk you through the setup process (note: if you don’t sell on amazon.com, please check the MWS keys’ URL to make sure it matches your chosen Amazon marketplace).

 

However, if you prefer written instructions over video, we have that information for you too! Our Help Desk article — Adding and Syncing your Amazon Seller Central & Jungle Scout Accounts — shows you how to enter your keys one step at a time.

How to keep your product data up-to-date

To ensure you’re working with the most up-to-date data in Jungle Scout, users can now request a resync for one product at a time from a new button within Product Settings. 

Previously, there was only one-time sync for any products that were imported into Jungle Scout via a seller’s MWS keys. Any product data that may have been changed in Seller Central would not update in Jungle Scout, until now. 

To resync your products in Jungle Scout, simply navigate to your Product Settings:  Manage Products > Product Cost & Settings.

Then find a product you would like to resync. Jungle Scout will also let you know the sync status and if a product needs to be resynced. Click on the arrows in a circle to resync. It will take anywhere from 3 to 30 minutes to resync.

Here is the ​​information that gets updated when your product is resynced:

  • Product Settings Page
    • ASIN
    • SKU
    • Product Title
  • Listing details
    • Length
    • Width
    • Height
    • Unit of the length, width, and height
    • Product dimension tier (defined by Amazon)
    • Weight
    • Price

Amazon MWS Keys: FAQs

If I add my Amazon MWS keys to Jungle Scout, will you take my data and share it with my competitors?
Absolutely not! We will never expose your sales data to the public or to any outside third party. The information we collect is only used for your account purposes and is not accessed for any other reason.
Will you have access to my payment and banking information inside of Seller Central if I add my keys?
No. Adding your keys does not give Jungle Scout access to your banking and payment information.
How do I know that the information from my Seller Central account will be secure?
    • We encrypt your credentials using OpenSSL AES 256-bit encryption (the same level of encryption used by banks and governments)
    • We scan our servers for viruses daily
    • Security updates are applied regularly to address the latest threats 
    • Your account password is hashed using the one-way Bcrypt algorithm
    • Our servers are firewalled, and our website runs behind Cloudflare, which acts as additional protection.
    • To prevent social engineered based attacks, it is company policy for staff to use two-factor authentication for all of their accounts
Will Amazon shut down the account if you connect it?

No, your account will not be shut down if you add your MWS keys to Jungle Scout. In fact, Amazon has audited Jungle Scout and vetted our compliance. And, as mentioned above, Amazon gives permission to companies like Jungle Scout to access certain information because they know their tools are beneficial to sellers.

Can I revoke access to my Seller Central account at a later date?

Definitely! You retain control of your MWS keys and can remove them from Jungle Scout at any time. Please note, however, that if you do decide to revoke access to your Seller Central account you’ll no longer have access to Sales Analytics, Inventory Manager, and Launch. Also, any active promotions and/or email campaigns will be canceled automatically.

So, now that you know how much you’ll gain from adding your Amazon MWS keys to Jungle Scout, don’t wait! Start taking advantage of your FULL subscription now:

Enter your MWS keys

 

Brian Connolly

Brian Connolly

Brian is a writer and entrepreneur with over 6 years of experience in e-commerce and selling on Amazon.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked with *

One comment on “What are Amazon MWS Keys and Why Does it Matter for FBA Sellers?”