Amazon glossary
What is SP-API?
SP-API — Amazon Selling Partner API.
By AIAdKing Editorial Team · Reviewed
- SP-API — Amazon Selling Partner API
- The SP-API (Selling Partner API) is Amazon’s official developer API for seller data and actions — orders, listings, inventory, finance and more. Tools built on SP-API read and write through Amazon’s sanctioned, OAuth-authorised gateway, not by scraping Seller Central.
In depth
SP-API is the modern replacement for Amazon’s old MWS API and covers orders, listings, inventory, finance, reports and more. Sellers grant access through an OAuth flow in Seller Central — approving named, scoped data roles rather than sharing credentials — and the connection is governed by Amazon’s Data Protection Policy, revocable in one click under Manage Your Apps. It matters for your ads and profit numbers because everything a serious tool shows you flows through this gateway (campaign data travels through the sibling Amazon Ads API): an official connection is why the numbers match Seller Central, while scrapers break when pages change, violate Amazon’s terms and put the account itself at risk. Accurate SP-API fee and order data is also the foundation of true profit tracking — garbage in, garbage ACoS targets out. You can read exactly how AIAdKing uses the connection on our SP-API trust page.
Worked example
A seller connects a tool via SP-API OAuth. Amazon shows exactly which data roles the tool requested — orders, finance, listings — and the seller approves them in Seller Central without ever sharing a password. Six months later they stop using the tool and revoke the grant with one click under Manage Your Apps; access dies instantly. Compare a scraper-based tool: it holds your actual login credentials, breaks every time Seller Central's HTML changes, and "revoking" access means changing your password and hoping.
When to use it
Check for SP-API (plus Amazon Ads API) support whenever you evaluate seller software. It is also the term to know if you build your own reporting: Amazon's developer docs describe every endpoint, and read-only roles exist so a tool can see data without being able to change anything.
Common mistakes
- Sharing Seller Central credentials with a tool or agency because it is faster than OAuth — it violates Amazon's policies and you cannot audit or cleanly revoke what they do.
- Assuming an SP-API connection means a tool can do anything — access is scoped by roles; a tool granted read-only reports cannot touch listings or prices.
- Confusing SP-API with the Amazon Ads API — campaign data and bid changes go through the separate Ads API; a complete ads tool needs both grants.
How AIAdKing handles SP-API
AIAdKing is built entirely on the official Amazon SP-API and Ads API — no scraping, OAuth only, encrypted token storage. That is why its data matches Seller Central and its actions are sanctioned.
SP-API — quick answers
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