Does the amount of stock of an item you have affect winning buy box?
My competitor is saying he has 10 of an item in stock, which is highly unlikely due to the nature of the product involved (the supplier has confirmed to me that he has not ordered that volume).
If they have 10 available and we have just 1 - all other matters being equal will they get the buy box more often?
7 replies
Seller_ejwc84JNL5Uk6
Quantity of stock does count when Amz are deciding the buy box winner - nobody knows quite how much though
Seller_lvc1scfq0rH8Y
A competitor of mine ALWAYS lists 15 copies of everything they sell and despite their feedback being poor they seem to get the buy box wherever it’s available. It’s clear from their feedback they are often failing to supply and yet none of this is counting against them. Doesn’t matter what I do either, I can’t take the buy box from them. Just more of the everyday disgrace I should be used to by now…
Seller_3nYDEKuPvlpTC
Buy box mainly depends on the price and sellers performance
Seller_72Sy9T6sEfmjl
Stock levels does seem to count but what seems to be more important from various drop=shipping forums is running out of stock.
The moment you run out of stock your place plummets and it takes a lot of time to regain your previous position. This does seem to be anecdotal but a number of drop shippers who ship via dh gate and alibaba have reported this.
Seller_cJms0GbotqqtV
Quantity of stock is one of several factors that influences the buy box. Amazon have given some information on the algorithm, but its precise workings are one of those Amazon secrets.
What I have picked up is:
Do Amazon sell the item themselves ? If so, it is very hard to win the buy box away from them.
Are there any FBA sellers on the listing ? If so, they have a significant advantage over FBM sellers.
Seller performance, in terms of ODR, feedback and seller metrics are a factor.
Range of stock, quantity of stock (both for the specific item and overall) and sales volume are a factor.
Price may be a factor.
There is also a random factor, which can result in the buy box rotating among competing sellers.
As a seller of secondhand books, I am rarely in direct competition with Amazon. But most of the product pages I list on have no buy box. So I tend not to take much notice of it.
Paul
Seller_72Sy9T6sEfmjl
offering range of different shipping methods such as priority shipping also boost the chance of the buy box.
Amazon know customers like the option to choose faster shipping even if it costs more.
