Most bad agency relationships do not start bad. They start with a good call and a confident proposal, and the problems show up three months later as a report that looks fine and an account that does not. The warning signs were usually visible earlier. This list sorts them by when they appear, so you can catch them at the stage where leaving is cheapest.
In the pitch
1. A guaranteed ACoS before seeing the account
ACoS depends on your margin, category, competition, listing quality and what the account is trying to do. An agency that names a target number in the first call, before looking at any of that, is selling the number. Ask: what would you need to see before committing to a target? A good answer lists data. A weak one repeats the promise.
2. No mention of your listings
A Sponsored Products ad is your listing. Low conversion rate, weak images, few reviews, a price out of line with the category: these cap what any ad strategy can do. An agency that talks only about bids and keywords for a full call either has not looked at your listings or does not think they are its problem. Either way, it will spend your budget into a page that may not convert it.
3. Vague answers about who does the work
Ask who specifically will manage the account and how many other accounts that person manages. If the answer is "our team," ask again. A senior person on the pitch and a junior one with twenty accounts on the work is common, and worth knowing before you sign.
4. No answer about the hours between reviews
Ask what happens to the account between weekly sessions: overnight spend, event ramps and restores, campaigns that run out of budget by noon. An agency doing everything by hand in a weekly batch has no good answer. The better ones run scheduling and budget rules across client accounts so the account is managed every day, not just on review day.
In the contract
5. A long notice period
Thirty days is reasonable. Ninety days, or a minimum term of six months or more, protects the agency, not you. If the work is good, a short notice period costs them nothing.
6. Unclear account ownership
You should remain the owner of your advertising console, with the agency added as a user. Campaigns should live in your account. If the contract is silent on this, or the agency wants owner access, that is a dependency you will pay for when you leave.
7. A scope that does not say what is excluded
Which ad types, which marketplaces, which services. A retainer quoted for Sponsored Products can turn into extra charges for Sponsored Brands, a second country, or creative work. The agency pricing post covers what usually sits outside the fee.
After you sign
8. No change log
Ask for a list of every change made to the account in the last month: date, what changed, before and after, and why. An agency actively managing your account has this. One that cannot produce it either is not making many changes or is not keeping track of them. Why every account needs a change log explains why this matters more than any report.
9. Reports that explain instead of inform
The monthly report is the same charts with new numbers, and when ACoS rises the commentary explains why the market did it. Good reports say what the agency changed, what it expected, what happened, and what it will do next. If the report never names a specific change, the account may not be getting any.
10. A structure only they understand
Campaign names that mean nothing to you, a structure you are told not to touch, rules or settings that live in a tool you cannot see. This is the agency making itself hard to replace. A well-built account is one that someone else could pick up and run, with names and a structure that explain themselves.
One flag is a question; three is an answer
Any single item above can have a reasonable explanation. A new agency might not have a polished change log yet. A longer notice period might come with a lower fee. Ask, and listen to the answer. But three or more of these together usually describes the relationship you will have, and it is cheaper to see that before signing than after. How to choose an agency lays out a process that surfaces most of these in the first two weeks.
Frequently asked questions
Is it a red flag if an agency guarantees an ACoS?
Yes, if the guarantee comes before they have seen your account. ACoS depends on margin, category, competition, listing quality and goals. An agency that promises a number without that information is selling the number, not a plan to reach it.
Should an Amazon agency have owner access to my advertising account?
They need enough access to manage campaigns, which the console's user roles allow without making them the owner. You should remain the owner at all times. An agency that asks to own the account, or builds campaigns somewhere you cannot see, is creating a dependency.
How do I leave an Amazon PPC agency cleanly?
Check the notice period, export the change log and any reports, make sure every campaign lives in your own console, remove the agency's user access on the last day, and keep the account structure running without changes for a few weeks while you take over. Sudden restructures right after a handover make it impossible to tell what caused what.
Off Hours is built around the opposite of flags eight through ten: readable rules on your own campaigns, and a log of every change they make. Start a free 14-day trial.