Editor’s Note: Originally published on Feb. 5, 2013, last updated on June 7, 2022.
A wise person once said “a myth is a way of making sense in a senseless world”. That might explain why some sellers come up with Amazon repricing myths and then perpetuate them. But let’s not focus on how repricing myths came to be. Let’s face the facts, because it’s the only way to move forward and grow alongside Amazon.
Myth #1: Repricers only lower prices.
Fact: For some sellers, the thought of automatic repricing is scary. But, all it means is adjusting a price on an Amazon offer faster, more efficiently, and more reliably.
Tools like Sellery have been doing just that for over a decade.
A good repricer will lower prices, if need be, to win the Buy Box. But it can just as easily match a price or raise it.
Sure, it might lower the price by a few pennies every now and then. But as soon as the competitive landscape changes, it brings them back up gradually, safely, and by as much as possible.
Also, tools like BuyBoxBuddy come with a failsafe or manual override to tackle rock-bottom prices. This prevents price wars and boosts the value of each sale. Remember, charging too much can be nearly as dangerous as underpricing.
The best repricing software programs don’t just lower prices. There are many situations where repricing software makes it easy to raise your prices:
Imagine if you made an extra 15% profit on every sale. And what would your bottom line look like if you were able to make 10 more sales per day?
You can do this by lowering prices a few pennies and then raising prices again, as the competitive landscape evolves.
That’s just a taste of what’s possible by using automated repricing software!
Repricing software helps you to maximize the value of each sale and it helps you make sales that you didn’t even know you were missing.
Myth # 2: Repricers are for large inventories.
Fact: No amount of time spent tweaking prices by hand is time well spent, whatever the size of your inventory. Instead of tinkering with every item’s price on the Amazon Seller App or website several times a day and on several marketplaces, you could be growing your business.
With the right software, you’ll be able to reprice around the clock, even when you’re sleeping or on vacation.
Not only will you be able to invest more time in activities that produce tangible results, such as inventory scouting and price negotiations, but you’ll also have more time for yourself.
As you grow your Amazon business, you’ll be glad that you set up your automatic repricing software sooner rather than later.
Automated repricing is all about timing, flexibility, and speed. You have none of those with manual repricing, so you should notice a boost in sales and margins within days.
Myth # 3: Repricers can make sellers lose money.
Fact: The truth is that repricing software that isn’t configured properly can result in errors that cause you to lose money.
But in our experience, sellers who manually reprice their items also lose out.
How many times have you heard about sellers listing at $1.00 instead of $100? Typos are costly on Amazon.
Sellery uses your cost, estimated shipping, up-to-date Amazon fees, and fulfillment options to calculate a minimum price for each item.
This is a red line that it can’t cross unless you specifically ask it to.
It can also enforce markups, margins, MAP limits, and price gouging rules, flagging up any issues.
And just as important as lower limits are repricing limits.
Remember, a price that’s too high can be nearly as dangerous as one that’s too low.
Myth # 4: Repricers are too autonomous.
Fact: Repricers come in two flavors: rule-based and algorithmic.
Rule-based repricing software programs like SellerEngine Plus and Sellery require you to set them up.
You’ll input your item costs, set upper and lower limits for your prices and create repricing rules specific to your business.
But the same goes for BuyBoxBuddy, our new algorithmic repricer.
It asks users for a floor and ceiling price from the get-go, with the option to tweak the overall pricing policy as needed.
The difference is that the repricing rules are built-in.
As seen below, the manual override option is available at any time.
These options are key to successfully using repricing software.
On Amazon, every item has a ‘sweet spot’ where it’s not too expensive to suppress the listing and not too cheap to lose you money.
Finding and applying this price point by hand throughout the day isn’t easy.
Rather than reprice your SKUs by hand around the clock, you can set up your repricer and make only occasional changes.
The SellerEngine Help Team can teach you how to set up your pricing rules and strategies to win the Buy Box and avoid Buy Box suppression.
Myth # 5: Repricers are the reason for penny items.
Fact: The term “penny book” was coined by sellers on Amazon when rock-bottom pricing caused everyone to sell their books for the minimum price allowed ($0.01). They did so hoping to recoup some of their cost with the $3.99 shipping fee.
Then came Prime, and sellers tried to one-up each other by listing many of their books for $3.99. Coupled with free shipping, these offers meant they were literally giving their books away.
This worked for a while for sellers hoping to build up sales or shift massive amounts of books quickly.
But that’s no longer the case in 2022.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a penny item for sale on Amazon, save for those sent from far-flung places like China via sea freight.
That’s because with the notion of Buy Box rotation came the realization that having an unbeatable price doesn’t guarantee a sale.
Also, repricers are faster and more user-friendly, making rock-bottom pricing a thing of the past.
And even if they get caught up in a race to the bottom, clever tools like BuyBoxBuddy will make the price bounce right back before it gets flagged up by price bots or loses money.
Conclusion: The Truth about Amazon Repricing Software
Just like every tool you use to run your Amazon business, automated repricers aim to make your life easier and add value.
But not all repricing software is created equal. In fact, some tools are so clunky that they gave rise to some of the Amazon repricing myths we still see today.
But with a bit of research and the right kind of support, you should be able to see these repricing myths for what they are: people’s efforts to make sense of complex software.
To learn more about our software tools, email support@SellerEngine.com and get ready to take our automated repricing tools for a spin.
Melanie takes an active interest in all things Amazon. She keeps an eye on the latest developments and keeps Amazon sellers up to speed.