I read the 2023 posts in SAS about Amazon price parity — that verbiage was changed due to losing a court case in Europe, but sanctions remain (deactivated listings.) Is deactivation still happening? If not, is it wise to have the same prices everywhere, or not?
Same prices > easier to keep track.
Different prices > incentive for customers to choose your platform where fees are lower.
As you allude, the March, 2019 removal of the previous “S-4 Parity with Your Sales.” provision of the ASBSA was basically a fig leaf - Amazon simply implemented the ‘Fair Pricing Amabot’ in order to achieve the same thing.
Complete and/or partial deactivation of Amazon Global Catalog Offer-Listings is still a thing, albeit not as common over the last few years as it once was; it would seem that the more common occurrence nowadaze is a loss of FOE (‘Amazonese’/‘Amazonish’ for “Featured Offer Eligibility”), as was mentioned earlier today in this 101325 NSFE discussion:
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discussions/t/8f95f024-6ca5-497a-a208-f23b75873536
As the seasoned and savvy forum vet who made the 1st reply to that discussion mentions, the Fair Pricing Amabot particularly struggles with variations, especially-so with those hosted on Shopify as “Collections”, as complained about in this 060525 NSFE discussion (among others both there & elsewhere):
Featured Offer not eligible… prices being pulled from “starting at” prices Shopify collection pages
Amazon is absolutely determined to do whatever it can to drive profits to its coffers, by hook or by crook - and as long as regulatory bodies continue to fine its anti-competitive practices with mere pinpricks (link, SAS), I’d think it likely that it will continue the present course, even if C-Suite members are implicated, simply because it makes money hand over fist (link, SAS).
Thanks for your reply.
Just a warning —
In the past when I clicked on a live link to the Jerkoff Forums, there was a preliminary text page re: “proceed at your own risk into the bowels of hell.” Today there was no warning, just immediate Borg-ification. Oh fuq. Unfortunately I could find no way out. I created an unintelligible display name, and unchecked all the notification boxes.
My take on the Fair Pricing Amabot has always been different.
It exists to protect the marketplace from reputational risk based on sellers who are pricing above the street price of an item.
Whether the penalty is a loss of FOE or search suppression, or deactivation it has broader impact than the seller whose listing is targeted,
I have even encountered listings with no buy box ,even with Amazon as a seller, because they are priced uncompetitively. I usually buy those products from Walmart.
On the whole, since my relationship with Amazon is solely as a buyer, I support this effort.
Even when the “reputable retailer” is clearly dumping the product, I believe this to be appropriate. No buyer wants to be paying more than they need to, and no mass market retailer site wants to be known as a home for price gougers.
We would always suggest copying any NSFE links and opening them in a new private window to ensure it doesn’t attach to your seller and/or personal account to avoid what @meredithbead experienced if you are not already onboard NSFE.
Our prices have been lower in the past on some platforms and still are on our web site not because we want them that way, I’ve just been too lazy to go in and change them. Amazon has never complained. YMMV.
-Ana
Do you use UPCs or other GTINs?
FNSKU only. We have GTIN exemption. On our other sites we use our SKU same as on Amazon.
-Ana