Short answer

Short answer: What is a value added reseller? It is a firm that resells a vendor’s product and adds its own services, implementation, integration, configuration, training, or support, so the customer buys a working solution rather than a bare license. The value-added services are what distinguish a VAR from a plain reseller who only moves the product at a margin.

Here is the short version of why it matters. Customers buy through a value added reseller because the reseller makes the product work in their environment, and that services layer is the reason the relationship is stickier than a pure resale.

What is a value added reseller?

A value added reseller, or VAR, buys a product from a vendor and sells it to the end customer along with services that add value on top: setup, integration with other systems, customization, training, or ongoing support. The customer pays a single partner for a solution that works, not just for a license and a manual.

The defining trait is the value-added layer. A reseller transacts and delivers the product. A VAR delivers the product plus the expertise to make it useful. Many VARs began as services firms, integrators, or IT consultancies that already served a set of customers and added products to what they were already delivering. That is why a good VAR owns the customer’s trust and the technical relationship, not just the sale.

Why a value added reseller matters

A value added reseller matters because complex products are bought as solutions, not licenses, and someone has to make the product work. As software deepens and integrations multiply, the services layer a VAR provides is often the reason a deal closes and the customer stays, and partner-involved deals close faster and larger, per Partnership Leaders.

For a vendor, the VAR is a route into customers and segments a direct team cannot cover, backed by the partner’s existing trust and delivery capability. The services attach also makes those customers stickier, because a well-implemented customer renews.

How a value added reseller works

A value added reseller works on a four-part model that turns a product into a solution the customer will pay for and keep.

1. The resale: the VAR buys the product from the vendor and sells it to the end customer, earning margin on the license or subscription itself.
2. The value-added services layer: the VAR adds implementation, integration, customization, training, or support, the work that turns the product into a working solution in the customer’s environment.
3. The two-part economics: the VAR earns resale margin plus services revenue, and the services, often recurring, usually become the larger and more durable share over time.
4. The customer outcome: because the VAR is accountable for the solution working, the customer buys outcomes and stays, which is why VAR relationships are stickier than pure resale.

That model is why the value added reseller relationship compounds. A single license sale is transactional; a well-implemented customer keeps paying the VAR for services and keeps renewing the underlying product.

Value added reseller vs other partner types

A VAR sits among several partner types, and the distinctions matter when you are choosing how to go to market.

• VAR vs reseller: a reseller moves the product; a value added reseller adds a services layer the customer needs to succeed.
• VAR vs systems integrator: a VAR resells one product and adds services around it; a systems integrator architects and integrates multiple technologies into a larger solution and often does not resell at all.
• VAR vs distributor: a distributor supplies products to other partners and rarely touches the end customer; a VAR sells and delivers directly to the end customer.
• VAR vs referral partner: a referral partner influences or introduces the deal without owning the transaction or the delivery; a VAR owns both.

Common pitfalls

• Treating a VAR like a plain reseller: paying a flat margin and ignoring the services layer that is the reason customers buy through the partner.
• Recruiting VARs who cannot implement: signing firms without the technical depth to deliver, so VAR-sourced customers get a poor implementation and churn.
• No services-attach motion: failing to help the VAR sell and deliver the services around the product, so the customer under-adopts.
• Vague rules of engagement: leaving channel-conflict rules undefined, so the VAR stops registering deals it no longer trusts the program to protect.

What this looks like in practice

A value added reseller is easiest to see in a concrete case. A regional IT firm sells a vendor’s security software to a manufacturer, then configures it for the manufacturer’s network, integrates it with their existing identity system, trains their team, and runs it under a monthly managed-service contract. The manufacturer bought outcomes, a secure, working, supported system, and the firm earned resale margin plus recurring services. That is a VAR.

The same pattern shows up across categories: an ERP VAR that implements and customizes the platform, a networking VAR that designs and installs the hardware and software together, or a cloud VAR that migrates and manages the customer’s environment. In every case the product is the anchor and the services are the reason the customer chose that partner.

Forecastable’s POV

Most vendors underuse their value added resellers by paying them like plain resellers. The services layer is the entire reason a VAR is valuable, and a program that rewards only the license transaction leaves that value on the table and gets a passive partner in return.

At Forecastable we work at the activation layer of partner programs. We are a partnerships operating platform focused on connecting partner conversations and actions to CRM pipeline and revenue. Our Co-Sell Alignment Specialist is delivered as part of the service and uses the platform to run the joint motion that gets VARs selling and attaching services, rather than reselling a license and waiting.

Forecastable is an independent third-party. Any tools, vendors, or third-party figures referenced here are described from public information for the reader’s own evaluation, not as paid placements.

Frequently asked questions

What is a value added reseller in simple terms? It is a company that sells you a product and also sets it up, integrates it, and supports it, so you buy a working solution instead of just a license. The added services are the value.

What does a value added reseller do? A VAR buys a vendor’s product, resells it to end customers, and wraps services around it: implementation, integration, customization, training, and support. It earns resale margin plus services revenue.

What is the difference between a VAR and a reseller? A reseller moves the product and transacts the sale. A value added reseller adds a services layer the customer needs to succeed with the product, which is why VAR relationships are stickier.

Is a value added reseller the same as a distributor? No. A distributor supplies products to other partners and rarely serves the end customer. A value added reseller sells and delivers directly to the end customer and owns the relationship.

How does a value added reseller make money? Through resale margin on the product and services revenue around it, including implementation, training, and recurring support or managed services. The services often become the larger and more durable share.

Next step

If you are a vendor deciding how to work with value added resellers, the question is whether you are paying for the license or for the value the VAR adds. Programs that fund the services layer get an active partner; programs that pay a flat margin get a passive one.

If you want the motion that activates VARs and gets the services attach landing, that is what we do. Start your growth journey with Forecastable and we will run it on top of your program. The value added reseller guide covers the economics and activation in more depth.