Seller's HomeMay 18th will be a day that tightens the nerves of countless Amazon sellers.
Starting from this day, Amazon's "Regular Price" (Was Price/Typical Price) new rule officially takes effect. Unlike previous minor rule adjustments, this new rule directly targets the lifeblood of sellers' pricing - it's no exaggeration to say that whoever understands this set of rules first will gain an advantage in the next stage of traffic and conversion battles.
01
How powerful is the impact of the new rule?
Simply put, Amazon has added a key triggering condition this time:
If in the past 90 days, your product has been sold at a price lower than the non-promotionalmedian price for more than 45 days, then Amazon will calculate the regular price based on all sales prices (including promotional sales prices).
Let's look at a case to understand: You set the non-promotional price of a coffee maker at $59.99. To boost rankings, you ran several rounds of Coupons and Lightning Deals, and it turned out that in the past 90 days, 60 days were sold at the promotional price of $39.99, and only 30 days were at the original price of $59.99.
Because the number of days below $59.99 (60 days) exceeded 45 days, Amazon will determine that your "true regular price" is $39.99. In other words, when you want to run promotional activities in the future, the system will use $39.99 as the "original price" base to calculate the discount. Want to offer a 10% discount? The page will show a discount of "original price $39.99, now price $35.9", and consumers will see that the discount is negligible - your true original price of $59.99 is no longer recognized by the system.
In one sentence: Long-term discounts are tantamount to actively lowering the price of your products. If you discount for too long, you lose your "original price".
The good news is that the new rule also leaves some "safe passages" for sellers. The following types of sales are not included in the calculation of the regular price:
"Buy X Get X Free" promotions
"Subscribe & Save" program
Special offers and customized coupons
Prime Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other official major promotional event prices
Simply remember: Focus on sales during major promotions, and control the number of discount days at other times to avoid exceeding the limit.
Regarding this new rule, the seller community is also in an uproar. Especially those sellers who have been hanging coupons all year round. In the past, many sellers were accustomed to setting their regular prices very high, and then running 10% to 20% coupons for a long time. The front desk shows discounts, the conversion rate looks good, and it can also increase a coupon traffic entrance.
There are also sellers who like to "low-price volume + gradual price increase" when launching new products. These sellers like to set low prices to quickly accumulate sales and rankings, and then gradually raise prices after stabilizing. But under the new rules, products that operate at low prices for a long time will have their regular price benchmarks lowered. When you want to return to the original price, the system no longer recognizes it.
02
Some are anxious, some are breaking through
As soon as the new rule came out, the seller community exploded, and everyone had a deeper discussion about the changes in the new rule price mechanism after May 18th.
Image source: Zhīwúyánwù
Sellers Home sorted out the comments and found several viewpoints worth discussing together.
One seller said: "My understanding is that when the effective List price expires, Amazon will use the was price as a reference price. The policy change on May 18th is aimed at the was price, not the list price. If you can keep the list price effective, the most direct impact of the PED price included in the regular price is the max price of the flash sale. It's not that the benchmark of the reference price is better, but that the benchmark price of the flash sale is affected by such as list price*(1-offset%)>was price, then basis price=was price*(1-0.01%), that is, the max price of the flash sale is infinitely close to the was price."
Secondly, the was price will affect, there are two reference standards for coupons here, one is [Historical Selling Price: was price] and the other is [Verified Suggested Retail Price: list price]. Among these two prices, Amazon usually chooses the lower price as the benchmark for discount calculation. To ensure that the promotional information shown to consumers is both compliant and attractive.
The conclusion drawn by this seller is: If sellers can keep the list price effective, the negative impact of the policy change of the was price is actually that the benchmark prices of coupons and flash sales are relatively lowered.
Additionally, in multiple responses, "median price" has become a new keyword.
In the past, we paid attention to the "average selling price", but under the new rules, the median price is the core indicator that determines your regular price. The median price is not affected by extreme high or low values and can better reflect the real sales status. If you have a flash sale once a week, with a flash sale price of $49.99 and a normal price of $69.99, then in the 90-day window, once the frequency of the flash sale price exceeds a certain threshold, your median price will be lowered, and the regular price will collapse.
At the same time, some sellers pointed out that PED pricing has become a new minefield.
A careful seller pointed out in the analysis: The PED (Promotional Pricing) model is at the highest risk under the new rules. If you use PED pricing to run volume for a long time, although the sales volume seems to increase on the surface, you are actually "killing" your regular price with your promotional price. When you want to return to the original price to report a Deal, you find that the system has already locked your regular price at the level of the promotional price.
Combining the discussions of multiple sellers and industry analysis, Sellers Home summarized the following coping strategies:
Strategy 1: Strictly control the proportion of promotional days
Core indicator: Within a 90-day cycle, the number of days when the actual selling price is lower than the target regular price cannot exceed 45 days. In other words, if you have 12 flash sales a year, each lasting 7 days (84 days), you have already exceeded the limit. It is recommended to control the frequency of promotions and leave enough space for the "original price sales period".
Strategy 2: Redefine "original price"
Instead of setting a虚高List Price，不如设定一个真实可维持的非促销价。让这个价格在90天中至少占据 50%以上的天数。
Strategy 3: Monitor the proportion of activity orders
It is necessary to pay attention to the ratio of natural orders to activity orders. Ensure that the proportion of natural orders is not less than 30%, hold the red line of 70%, and avoid being judged by the system as "promotion-dependent" products and thus lose the qualification for flash sales.
Strategy 4: Establish a promotional calendar
Don't "impromptu" promote. Establish a 90-day rolling promotional calendar, clearly list the time, duration, discount intensity of each promotion, and the interval days between two promotions.
This "Regular Price" new rule is undoubtedly another signal of Amazon's refined operation. It eliminates sellers who rely on "high markup, heavy discounts" extensive operation, and leaves behind players who truly understand pricing strategies and long-term operation.
A seller's comment is worth pondering: "In the past, it was who could discount better, in the future, it will be who can price better."
Do you think Amazon's new regular price rule has a big impact on operations? Welcome to leave a message in the comments to share your pricing strategy~
The relevant information in this article is for reference only and is not used as the basis for investment decisions
