This is a guest post by Chris Dunne from RepricerExpress
When it comes to pricing your products on Amazon, you have two options: manually or automatically (using repricing software). At its most basic, Amazon repricing software (also known as a repricer) allows sellers to automatically compare their product prices to competitors’ prices and adjust them accordingly.
For example, your price might change in reaction to a competitor’s price change or when a key competitor on your listing sells out.
A common misconception about sellers who use repricing software is that it is a “race to the bottom”.
One of the benefits of using RepricerExpress over other repricers such as Amazon Automate is that you can automatically adjust your price upwards — not to mention the fact that you wouldn’t want to let Amazon (your main competitor on many listings) know your cost price by using its repricing tool.
With all good repricers, you’ll set a minimum (floor) and maximum (ceiling) price you are prepared to sell your goods at and your price will never go below or above those. When setting your min price, ensure you factor in all costs (item cost, shipping, fees) and how much profit margin you’d like to make.
For your min price ensure that you factor in the items cost, shipping charges, software cost, Amazon fees and how much margin you need to make (e.g. 25% profit margin).
Seller tip: If you want to avoid getting involved in a price war on Amazon, then the min and max prices you set should be realistic.
Need help setting your min and max prices on Amazon?
The first instinct of many sellers when they reprice is to go lower in an attempt to attract more buyers and sales.
However, a strategy where you set yourself up to consistently be the lowest priced seller will harm your margins and is not recommended.
Instead, we advise you adopt a pricing strategy of optimization — getting the most profit out of every sale.
Knowing when to raise your price is key to becoming a top Amazon seller
If your level of competition is high, then it isn’t a great time to start raising your prices. But if demand for a product dramatically increases and outstrips supply (which commonly happens in the Toys and Games category during the holiday season), pricing higher can increase your profits.
Another good time to raise your prices is when you have the Amazon Buy Box. When this happens, you should be able to raise your price and make more profit whilst retaining the Buy Box and all the sales that go with it.
Finally, another popular time to raise prices is when a price war is happening between sellers. Instead of competing with them and eating into your profit margins, it may be best to let them sell out and then step in for profitable sales with sensible margins. Some sellers will even buy from competitors if the price goes way down.
What happens when you raise your prices?
Most customers who use automated repricing on Amazon will raise their prices when sales are slow. For most sellers, this will be overnight when buyers are fast asleep but it’s best to check your own order history for this information.
What usually happens when you raise your prices is that other sellers will raise their prices too. You’ll be able to see which competitors follow you which can be useful information to know in the future.
How to reprice upwards?
You have two options: you can increase prices manually or use an Amazon repricing tool like RepricerExpress. Manual repricing is fine if you only have a few SKUs and like spending time monitoring prices.
For those sellers with more than a few SKUs, a repricer will easily pay for itself in terms of increased sales and profits and time saved—which can be dedicated to improving other areas of the business such as listing optimization.
It’s all about competing with who you want, in the way you want. RepricerExpress gives you that control.
Learn more about how to raise prices with RepricerExpress’ unique Automations functionality.
Why would you use a Repricer?
Information that Amazon releases to the public domain and historical sales data on the marketplace shows that price matters (as well as other seller metrics including your seller feedback rating), and can have a major impact on your sales, product visibility and Buy Box chances.
So, if you’re a seller who wishes to win sales and the Buy Box you need to ensure that your listings are continually priced competitively. If you’re a seller with more than 50 products, repricing these manually becomes near impossible. This is where repricing software can be a lifesaver.
Saving time is just one of the reasons sellers choose to use RepricerExpress. But it is the access to valuable sales data, the increase in sales, profits, GMV and Buy Box percentage that keeps sellers using a repricer.
Final thoughts
Getting your pricing strategy right is a major factor for success on Amazon. With competition more intense than ever, an effective repricer not only lets you grab sales but more importantly, sales at a nice profit margin! It will help you stay ahead of your competition, win more Buy Box and raise prices when the timing is right.
Pricing up and having the ability to filter out competitors that won’t win the Buy Box anyway are two of the powerful ways RepricerExpress helps Amazon sellers sell profitably. Whilst Amazon’s free repricer is focused on reducing prices for consumers — RepricerExpress is focused on helping you win sales and Buy Box with your profits intact.
Not all repricers are made equally so it’s important that you find the one which has the features you need, includes continuous repricing and is within your budget. Unlike some repricers, we’ll never take a commission on your sales or lock you into a long-term contract.
By pricing automatically, you’ll save time, be more effective and keep your prices competitive 24/7. Even when you’re asleep! And, just like learning to drive a car, you’ll need some help and guidance to get you on the road. This is where our great customer support team comes in. Staff are available on live chat, phone and email during your free trial to answer any questions and hold your hand.
Ready to get started?
Our usual free trial is 15 days but we’ve decided to extend that to 30 days for any seller who signs up to RepricerExpress using the promo code LANDINGCUBE30.