Amazon not adjusting competitive price to 25% tarrifs
Hello,
There is a specific best seller that we have been selling for years and is purchased from a US supplier. We have the buybox and the best possible price.
This product is subject to the 25% tarrifs if we decide to replenish.
I tested a 1$ MSRP increase (which represent significantly less than the 25% tarrif) and the buybox was automatically removed, as Amazon has another competitive price recorded in their system.
I have communicated to Seller Support useless robots that tarrifs would increase the MSRP everywhere and they had to review it so we could maintain our offer.
They responded the current competitive price was correct and no adjustment was required. Obviously they have no field of action.
When will Amazon take a clearer stance regarding tarrifs? It is not clear if competitive prices will be adjusted or if they will just cut the volume on all affected ASINS. Not adjusting the MSRP will hurt Amazon way more than cutting the buybox completely, while there are external circumtances justifying a price increase.
Amazon not adjusting competitive price to 25% tarrifs
Hello,
There is a specific best seller that we have been selling for years and is purchased from a US supplier. We have the buybox and the best possible price.
This product is subject to the 25% tarrifs if we decide to replenish.
I tested a 1$ MSRP increase (which represent significantly less than the 25% tarrif) and the buybox was automatically removed, as Amazon has another competitive price recorded in their system.
I have communicated to Seller Support useless robots that tarrifs would increase the MSRP everywhere and they had to review it so we could maintain our offer.
They responded the current competitive price was correct and no adjustment was required. Obviously they have no field of action.
When will Amazon take a clearer stance regarding tarrifs? It is not clear if competitive prices will be adjusted or if they will just cut the volume on all affected ASINS. Not adjusting the MSRP will hurt Amazon way more than cutting the buybox completely, while there are external circumtances justifying a price increase.
4 replies
Seller_y7W9ccUlauftE
Not having the buy box does not stop sales (might slow them down a bit). The real showstopper is if amazon.ca decides your price is too high and stops you from offering it for sale.
As far as I can tell, Amazon considers the MSRP to be the responsibility of the manufacturer (or whoever set up the detail page in the first place). There are lots of items in the amazon.ca catalog where the Canadian MSRP is the same as the US side with no adjustments for the exchange rate -- for example, having $50cdn and $50us set as the MSRP for .ca and .com
Seller_BCsJXNkuO7q9e
Amazon will not take a public position on such a divisive issue. Especially when its possible this may blow over soon. Same reason they said nothing about the Canada Post strike a few months back. They just wait for the storm to pass.
In regards to Buy Box and competitive price, if there are other major sites offering the same product in Canada at the pre-tariff rate then in the bot's eyes your product is not competitive. The reason doesn't matter. If your competitors run out of stock and replenish at a higher post-tariff price than eventually equilibrium will settle the matter and you should be competitive once again.
Expecting Amazon to soften the algorithm because of geopolitical events is unrealistic.
It's a much bigger issue in the US where they are also dealing with sudden increases on products from China.
