Is Amazon serious in forcing prices onto us?
Hi all,
Here’s a strange one, we have had an item suspended for being priced too high. Apparently we are not allowed to make the decision for the pricing of our own items. Here’s the issue.
A seller is selling an item for £1.90 inc shipping
Amazon Prime have the same item on for £5.89.
We had it on for £5.48 inc shipping.
So our price is cheaper than Prime, yet they suspended OUR listing for being too cheap.
Now anyone can see this is stupid. If the original seller has surplus stock, wants to lose money, is going out of business , or making this a lost leader, then that’s their business. Surely if I want to sell it at a reasonable price , then that’s my business. But to be told by Amazon that I am charging too much when Prime are charging more, and suspending my listing but not their own, can anyone see the logic here?
Is Amazon serious in forcing prices onto us?
Hi all,
Here’s a strange one, we have had an item suspended for being priced too high. Apparently we are not allowed to make the decision for the pricing of our own items. Here’s the issue.
A seller is selling an item for £1.90 inc shipping
Amazon Prime have the same item on for £5.89.
We had it on for £5.48 inc shipping.
So our price is cheaper than Prime, yet they suspended OUR listing for being too cheap.
Now anyone can see this is stupid. If the original seller has surplus stock, wants to lose money, is going out of business , or making this a lost leader, then that’s their business. Surely if I want to sell it at a reasonable price , then that’s my business. But to be told by Amazon that I am charging too much when Prime are charging more, and suspending my listing but not their own, can anyone see the logic here?
160 replies
Seller_7VbclcPFFRTnc
Have you tried adding an RRP to the listing ?
Seller_tRuvBEHDedp4q
Ive had same issue myself - but ok in my case Amazon were not selling it themselves but they suspended my listing as ‘price too high’
Even worse, Amazon not only check their own site but will also check the prices on other sites. If they think your price is not competitive they may deny you the ability to sell it.
How they are able to factor in things like if postage is included or not on other sites I have no idea.
Seller_pD4k5nUkDbIgP
Funny I had the same a few weeks ago and also yesterday one that has an old Prime listing out of stock that probably goes back years at a much lower price and my listing has been deactivated although my price was the cheapest available and to be honest I can’t match Prime’s old price without losing about £4 every time I sell one.
Seller_7VbclcPFFRTnc
Is that free shipping or £4.48 with your standard £1 shipping ?
Seller_L2WLWf8N814M4
Hello @SAPG,
I`m sharing a link to "Unblock listings that have pricing errors" . Here you can find some information that explains what are the parameters that Amazon is using to decide if the price needs to be adjusted.
That is based on the prices of items in our marketplaces, including shipping costs, and compares them with other prices available to our customers.
The reason why Amazon is monitoring the prices is that Amazon mission is to be the world’s most customer-centric company. Amazon strives to provide our customers with the largest selection, at the lowest price and fastest delivery – and sellers play an important role.
Regards
Nickolas
Seller_pD4k5nUkDbIgP
But this doesn’t make any sense, in my short experience selling here I had price policy violations for
a) selling at the correct price but then a seller joined with the stock of 1 and priced it for next to nothing and I and all the other sellers got deactivated. We were all selling it at around £30. That item is sold for around £35 elsewhere.
b) I lowered the price of 1 POUND of an item that was on sale at around £50 and I got a violation, when I contacted SS I was told it was to provide the best customer experience. Since when a customer is unhappy because you lower the price?
Seller_KBCvmRKLx6ft0
Report to general.enquiries@cma.gov.uk
Seller_9cgV6Bw2JaKf1
Anyone else experiencing a high rate of de-listing recently? Was always an occasional minor problem for me, had the odd one de-listed. In the past month over 3 mass de-listings i reckon they have taken over 100 of my listings off, and i am confident that there will be more to come.
Seller_lljyzgTxr5fgI
Nobody wants to see “price gouging”, as was very apparent during Covid. It was abhorrent. However, in general terms, the price of goods is (and always has been) determined by the rules of “supply and demand”. If there is too much supply, this pushes prices down; if there’s too little supply, the prices go up. That is the most fundamental rule of doing business.
In my view, nobody should be “told” or “forced” to change their prices because somebody (or something) thinks they are too high or too low. It is up to the customer whether or not they want to pay the price for something. We are in toys; every year, there is the “must have” toy that everybody wants, and every year, parents pay premium prices to secure said toy for their children. In January, it will be half the price because there is no demand. In December, it’s twice the price cos everybody wants it.
That is how business works.
