Overview

Amazon's Automate Pricing tool includes a rule called the Competitive External Price rule, which allows sellers to automatically adjust their offer prices based on what competing retailers outside of Amazon are charging. This rule is designed to help sellers stay competitively priced and maintain their eligibility for the Featured Offer (Buy Box) position on the product detail page, which is where the vast majority of Amazon purchases originate.

Key Points / What Sellers Need to Know

• Featured Offer eligibility depends on competitive pricing — Most Amazon customers purchase through the Featured Offer (Buy Box) on the product detail page. If your price is not competitive compared to external retailers, your offer may lose its Featured Offer eligibility.
• The Competitive External Price is Amazon's benchmark — Amazon tracks prices from other retailers outside its marketplace and establishes a Competitive External Price for products. This price serves as the reference point for this automated repricing rule.
• Two repricing strategies are available — Sellers can choose between "Match" (which keeps your price equal to the external benchmark) or "Stay Below" (which only adjusts your price downward if the external price drops below your current price).
• Repricing is automatic once configured — After setting up the rule, Amazon's system handles price adjustments without requiring manual intervention, saving sellers significant time on pricing management.
• Price floors and ceilings still apply — Sellers should set minimum and maximum price boundaries within the Automate Pricing tool to ensure automated adjustments do not push prices into unprofitable territory.

How the Rule Works

The Competitive External Price rule operates within Amazon's Automate Pricing feature, which is available to professional sellers at no additional cost. Once activated, the rule continuously monitors the Competitive External Price — a benchmark Amazon calculates based on pricing data from retailers outside the Amazon marketplace. When a price discrepancy is detected between your current offer and the external benchmark, the rule adjusts your listing price according to the strategy you selected. Sellers can apply this rule to individual ASINs or across their entire catalog, giving them flexibility in how aggressively they want to compete on price.