Amazon Escalates Pricing Violations to an Account Health Level Issue  

Competition among Amazon sellers may become more intense as Amazon escalates enforcement of their Marketplace Fair Pricing Policy. Where once sellers faced rolled Buy Boxes, they now risk seller account suspensions or even account shutdowns. 

Pricing Flags Now Impact Seller Account Health 

Amazon recently changed their system so that products flagged as being priced too high will now appear under “Account Health Issues” instead of “Pricing Alerts” within Seller Central. This change is noteworthy because seller accounts are much more readily suspended by Amazon for having account health issues than for pricing alerts. In other words, Amazon is becoming more stringent in their enforcement of products they deem overpriced.  

Rolled Buy Boxes and Account Suspensions 

Before this update, Amazon typically removed the Buy Box from the product detail page. Sometimes referred to as a “rolled” Buy Box, this practice replaces the “Add to Cart” and “Buy Now” buttons with a “See All Buying Options” button. Rolling the Buy Box effectively requires shoppers to click at least once more before they can buy. While small, this disruption in the typical Amazon shopping experience (and the plethora of similar competitor offerings) is enough that sales can take a significant hit when the Buy Box is rolled. 

Amazon Recommends New Prices 

Products flagged by Amazon as being priced too high will display a suggested minimum price and maximum price in Seller Central. These prices would effectively serve as the thresholds for any sellers using Amazon repricer tools. Amazon also suggests what price to set for the product currently, which in some cases undercuts the price currently featured in the Buy Box. 

How Does Amazon Determine if Products are Overpriced? 

Amazon’s Fair Pricing Policy states that they will penalize sellers for pricing practices that harm customer trust, which includes suspending or terminating selling privileges. Amazon states one such harmful practice is “setting a price on a product or service that is significantly higher than recent prices offered on or off Amazon.” 

While this policy sounds reasonably straightforward, Kaspien has seen Amazon suppress listings offering a product for $31 when another seller in the listing offers it for $29. At this time, it is unclear if this degree of severity is widespread or limited.  

Ultimately, this update in enforcement practices is a win for consumers, but a complication for Amazon sellers, especially for those with already tight margins.  

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