VARs and JARs – What’s the difference?

What’s a JAR, and Why Does This Distinction Matter?

The term “Value Added Reseller” (VAR) has been around long enough that most people in public sector procurement have stopped asking what the value actually is.

A VAR, in theory, is a company that sits between a technology vendor and the end buyer to add value to the transaction in some way. Rather than just moving product, they’re supposed to bring something: implementation expertise, integration support, training, local presence, procurement know-how, or some combination of those things. That’s the idea. In exchange for that contribution, they add margin to the deal.

The problem is that the label itself doesn’t guarantee the substance.

Some resellers do all of that and more. They know your environment before you finish explaining it. They’ve done this specific deployment a dozen times. They stick around after the PO closes. They’re worth every point of margin.

Others push paper. They process the order, take their cut, and move on. They’re not dishonest, necessarily. They’re just not adding much. And in a procurement model where that margin is often invisible to the buyer, it’s easy to keep paying for something that isn’t there.

RedLeif calls these resellers JARs: Just Another Reseller.

What Real Value Looks Like

A genuine VAR earns its margin before the deal closes and after.

Before the sale, they do the work of understanding your situation. They ask about your environment, your constraints, your existing contracts, your staff capacity, and your actual goals. Not to check a box, but because the answers change what they recommend. If a reseller’s proposal looks identical regardless of what you told them, that’s a signal.

During implementation, they carry real weight. They can configure, integrate, and troubleshoot what they’re selling. They don’t hand you a vendor manual and call it support. They have people who’ve done this before, in environments like yours.

After the deal, they stay engaged. A VAR relationship shouldn’t disappear after the invoice is paid. The best resellers function as an extension of your team. They track what’s working, flag what isn’t, and help you get more out of what you bought.

In practice, value-add activities look like:

• Conducting a genuine needs assessment before scoping a solution
• Owning the implementation plan, not just facilitating vendor resources
• Providing training your team actually uses
• Serving as an escalation path when the vendor isn’t responsive
• Helping you build toward the next phase, not just close the current one

The clearest sign you’re working with a real VAR: they make your life easier, not just your procurement process more straightforward.

The JAR Pattern: Red Flags to Recognize

JARs aren’t always easy to spot upfront. They speak the same language as VARs and often have the same certifications. The difference shows up in behavior.

The quote-to-close pattern. A JAR’s engagement peaks during the sales cycle and drops off after. They’re responsive until the PO is signed. Then the relationship gets quiet. If you’ve experienced this, you already know what a JAR looks like.

Inability to scope independently. When you ask a JAR to explain what they’ll actually do, the answer is thin. They reference vendor documentation. They suggest you work directly with the vendor for implementation. They’re comfortable being the middleman, but not the operator.

Margin without service. This is the core issue. Every reseller adds margin. The question is what that margin covers. A VAR can answer that question clearly. A JAR often can’t, because the honest answer is: not much.

One caveat: resellers aren’t required to disclose their margins, and most won’t. What you can push for instead is a maximum markup above OEM price that applies to the transaction as a whole; not what any one reseller charges, but what the combined chain charges you. That’s a more achievable ask, and usually a more effective one.

The deal registration play. Many vendors allow resellers to “register” a deal after making early contact with a prospect. The idea is to reward resellers who invest in building a relationship before a purchase is on the table. In practice, it means a reseller can have a few introductory meetings with your agency, register the opportunity with the OEM, and then sit in the deal permanently. When you’re ready to buy months later, the vendor routes the transaction through that reseller regardless of whether you’d choose them today. You didn’t select them. They just got there first. It’s one of the harder JAR patterns to catch because by the time you realize it, the structure is already in place. If this is happening at your agency, RedLeif may be able to help.

Where JARs tend to show up:

• Commodity hardware and software renewals with no complex implementation
• Rushed procurement cycles where buyers don’t have time to evaluate
• Vendor-mandated channel requirements that force a reseller into the deal regardless of fit
• Situations where the buyer is doing most of the technical lifting anyway

It’s worth naming something uncomfortable: in some of these situations, a JAR is fine. If you’re buying a straightforward software license with no deployment complexity, a low-touch reseller might be exactly what you need. The problem isn’t JARs existing. It’s paying VAR margins for JAR performance.