Tuesday 23 March 2010

Amazon introduces new Pricing Policy (Price Parity)

I run my own website and set prices to give me a fair return. I also list my stock on Amazon Marketplace and set prices higher to account for the Amazon selling fees. From 31 March, Amazon are introducing new terms and conditions which prevent sellers from pricing an item on other websites lower than they are selling it on Amazon. To comply with this, I will need to lower my prices on Amazon (and make a loss on many books) or raise prices on my own site which will reduce my sales and give my customers a worse deal.

Also see:
Amazon Referred to European Commission
Amazon Price Parity Does Not Apply to Books...
Amazon Introduces 'Tell us about a lower price'
Has 'The Book Depository' left Amazon?
Amazon Price Parity Does Not Apply to Books...
EU responds to Amazon Price Parity complaint


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1 comment:

  1. Many sellers are just ignoring Price Parity and waiting to see whether Amazon have the will and the ability to enforce it. These sellers are also 'disbursing' their funds at every opportunity so that their money isn't held by Amazon in the event of their accounts being suspended or closed. They are also taking every opportunity to reduce their dependence on Amazon.

    It is possible to use technology track whether the same item is used on different sites - especially if you use the same seller name and SKUs.

    I think it is more likely that Amazon will rely on customers and other sellers to police this policy.

    There is no mention of Price Parity in Amazon.com's Participation agreement - so did they quietly let it drop or were they forced to?

    Amazon seem to forget that sellers are also buyers - and so are their friends, relations and colleagues. I, for one, am now buying from Play, The Book Depository, Wholesalers and Biblio.

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