Overview

Amazon has expanded its Automate Pricing tool to let sellers automatically raise prices, not just lower them. The change, rolled out in early 2024, enables rule‑based price increases when competing retailers outside Amazon hike their rates. Sellers who rely on margin protection will find the new capability crucial for counteracting the one‑sided repricing that previously eroded profits.

Key Points

• Upward price adjustments enabled — Automate Pricing rules can now increase a listing’s price automatically, whereas before they only reduced prices to stay competitive.
• External retailer comparison — Sellers can set rules that reference prices from non‑Amazon retailers, triggering price hikes when those competitors raise their rates.
• Automatic price recovery — If an external competitor’s price climbs, the Amazon listing follows suit without manual intervention, helping to restore lost margin.
• Conditional application — The upward adjustment only activates when no other Amazon offers meet the seller’s predefined criteria, preventing unwanted price spikes.
• Supported rule types — Both Competitive Price Rules and Buy Box Rules can incorporate the new upward‑pricing logic, giving flexibility across different pricing strategies.

How Upward Pricing Works

1. Access the Automate Pricing dashboard — Log into Seller Central, select the “Pricing” menu, and click “Automate Pricing.” For example, a seller of kitchen gadgets opens the dashboard to manage 150 SKUs.
2. Enroll SKUs in a rule — Choose either a Competitive Price Rule or a Buy Box Rule and add the desired ASINs. A seller might add a bestseller coffee maker to a Competitive Price Rule that monitors market price trends.
3. Set external price comparison — Within the rule settings, enable the option to compare against retailers outside Amazon, such as Target or Best Buy. The seller configures the rule to watch the lowest external price for the coffee maker.
4. Define price boundaries — Input a minimum price (floor) and a maximum price (ceiling) to keep the automated changes within safe limits. For instance, the floor could be set at $45 (10 % above cost) and the ceiling at $80 (the market‑average high).