New Amazon Coupon Requirements Crackdown On Previous Price Manipulation
Amazon is introducing new coupon pricing requirements to cut down on previous price manipulation that can be used by less than honest sellers to present fake discounts.
The new policy was announced in the Amazon Seller community and will take effect March 12.
New Coupon Pricing Requirements
Starting March 12, 2024, coupons will be subject to new pricing requirements as we continue to improve the coupons experience to build customer trust and, in turn, an even better selling experience for you.
Coupons are still required to have a discount percentage between the minimum (5% off) and maximum (50% off). Products will also be required to have a sales history before they are eligible to run, and a promotion price lower than either the "was price" or the recent lowest price.
If a product's price or discount doesn't meet these requirements, it won't be eligible for a coupon until all requirements have been met. If you receive a coupon error message, you can take the following actions:
- Price history issue:To make this product eligible, create a sales history by selling more products to build the "was price." For more information on how the "was price" is calculated, go to Amazon policy on reference prices.
- Increase discount: Make sure your promotion price is lower than the "was price" or the recent lowest price to make this product eligible.
- Minimum/maximum discount issue: Update your sale price discount percentage to be between the minimum (5% off) and maximum (50% off) to make this product eligible.
Previous price manipulation is a huge problem across ecommerce marketplaces, and Amazon has previously faced class action lawsuits alleging false advertising due to fake strikethrough pricing on Prime Exclusive discounts.
Liz Morton
It's understandable why Amazon would want to crack down on bad actors who abuse previous pricing to present fake discounts, but legitimate sellers are concerned they will be forced into race to the bottom pricing if Amazon's algorithms set the bar too low based on special limited deals, like for Prime Day.
Amazon has figured out yet another way to force everyone to sell below the actual cost of the item or loose sales to those who are willing to sell below cost or who have to sell below cost to move inventory.
Amazon, how does this work when we run a deal and discount the item. Are you saying the coupon price now hast to be less than the deal price. What happens after black friday deals, or other special sales? Is that the new baseline price we have to beat with our coupon price?
Oh, and thanks for giving everyone enough notice about this change to adjust pricing and inventory. Another profound example of why we sellers are leaving your platform.
What if we run deals such as prime exclusive discount or coupon itself on products recently?
Does the discounted price affect the coupon discount rate for the new terms of coupon discount policy?
What do you think of Amazon's new coupon pricing policy? Let us know in the comments below!
