A reseller partner is a third-party that sells a company’s product or software directly to a customer on behalf of the company. In contrast to the relationship between affiliate and referral partners who are involved only at the start of the customer’s journey before handing it off to the company, a reseller partner owns the whole customer relationship from start to finish.

Reseller partners are paid by receiving a portion of the sale. Reseller partners offer companies a faster path to growth, reduced costs, access to new markets and diversified revenue streams. Being a reseller partner offers a competitive advantage with better credibility meaning much more revenue opportunities.

Some challenges of working with reseller partners are that they can be time-consuming to manage and may risk brand reputation if they don't uphold a company’s standards. Additionally, resellers may face challenges due to lack of vendor support, product limitation, or mismatched target markets.

There are two types of reseller partnerships, traditional and one referred to as value-added. Traditional reseller partnerships focus on reselling a company's product as-is, while value-added reseller partnerships (VAR) provide additional services like consulting, implementation, or training, enhancing the product's value for the customer.