How we use Amazon's APIs
Every Amazon authorization we hold or have applied for, what it is used for, and which part of the product uses it. Last updated: August 14, 2026.
Who we are
OptimalCentral is operated by Optimal Inc., an independent software vendor building analysis tools for Amazon sellers. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Amazon. Every connection is authorized by the seller who owns the account, is used only to provide that seller the features they use, and can be disconnected at any time from inside the product.
We do not resell Amazon data, do not publish audience data, and do not pool one seller's data into another seller's reports. Our reporting is generated per account, for that account holder.
Selling Partner API — authorizations already granted
These roles are live on our Selling Partner API application. All five are read-only: they pull reports and catalog data into analysis. None of them writes anything back to your Seller Central account.
| Role | What we read with it | Where it shows up |
|---|---|---|
| Product Listing | Listing content, ASINs and catalog attributes, referral and fulfillment fee estimates | Listing Audit, Listing Generator |
| Pricing | Your prices and Buy Box state over time | Product Monitor, Profit Dashboard |
| Amazon Fulfillment | FBA inventory levels, returns reports, storage and fulfillment fees | Inventory Planner, Returns & Restock |
| Finance and Accounting | Settlement, fee, and refund data, so profit figures match real payouts | Profit Dashboard |
| Inventory and Order Tracking | Order and sales history for demand, sell-through, and restock timing | Inventory Planner, Returns & Restock |
Selling Partner API — authorizations requested and under review
These four are on our current application to Amazon and have not been granted yet. The features behind the last two are built but switched off in code: until Amazon grants the role, no message can be sent, and the tools are not counted in the plans we sell.
| Role | What we would use it for | Where it shows up |
|---|---|---|
| Brand Analytics | Pull your own Search Query Performance report automatically instead of asking you to export it by hand | Search Query Audit (today it runs entirely on the file you export yourself) |
| Selling Partner Insights | Read which marketplaces your seller account is registered in, to validate the connection and label each report with the right marketplace | Account connection screen, Privacy Policy §2 |
| Buyer CommunicationInactive | Deliver a warranty document you upload for an ASIN to buyers of that ASIN, through Amazon's own warranty-extension template. The API call carries no free text — an attachment and coverage dates only | Buyer Messages |
| Buyer SolicitationInactive | Send Amazon's own review request for orders that qualify — the same request as the "Request a Review" button in Seller Central, written and delivered by Amazon | Auto Review Request |
Both buyer-facing tools follow the same rules, and those rules are in the product before the role is: sending is off unless you turn it on; you sign a one-time authorization for the exact configuration you set, and changing any part of it ends that authorization until you confirm again; orders that were returned, already carry seller feedback, or have not shipped are excluded before anything is sent; every send is logged against its order; and neither tool reads or stores buyer names, email addresses, or any other buyer contact detail — Amazon addresses and delivers the message.
Amazon Ads API
If you connect an Amazon Ads account, we read your advertising profiles, campaign structure, and performance reports to produce advertising audits, daily monitoring, and optimization suggestions. That same authorization can submit changes back to your advertising account — bid and budget changes, negative keywords, campaign pauses.
Those writes are never fully automatic. Bid and budget changes are proposed and wait for you to approve each one; negative keywords are applied only from a list you select; every change is recorded in an audit trail you can roll back; and disconnecting the account stops all of it immediately. The full rules are in the "Automated Changes to Your Amazon Advertising Account" section of our Terms of Service.
Amazon Marketing Cloud
If your Amazon account has an Amazon Marketing Cloud instance and your plan includes AMC Insights, we run a fixed set of pre-written analytical queries against your own instance and store their results. AMC returns aggregated, privacy-protected outputs; we do not receive or store records about individual shoppers.
What we never do
- We do not hold any Amazon restricted data role — the roles that expose buyer personal information — and our application is registered without restricted data tokens. Buyer names, addresses, and contact details are not available to us, and we have not asked for them.
- We do not sell, share, or resell your Amazon data, and we do not use one seller's data to inform another seller's report.
- We do not make changes to your Seller Central listings, prices, or inventory. The only writes we make anywhere are the approval-gated advertising changes described above.
- We do not keep working after you disconnect. Revoking the connection stops all syncing and all automation immediately.
Questions
If you are reviewing our application, or you are a seller who wants detail on any of the above, write to us at [email protected] or through our contact form. Data handling and retention are covered in the Privacy Policy; the rules governing automated changes are in the Terms of Service.