Amazon Buy Box - Unfair Marketing Formula538
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There are many features of Amazon where we are now finding to be unfair regarding the Buy Box / Such as if you do not have the buy box and someone win's the buy box / your promotions no longer show in the "more sellers" link page, also we are finding that sometimes FBA or even sellers who offer free shipping even if / someone "lowers" the total price BELOW the user who offers free shipping .... Bottom line is / Amazon is forcing merchants eat away at their margins, till the merchant makes a small percentage if any / and Amazon makes all the profits... All in all / at times it is just wrong.  Have Amazon changed the Buy Box formula? Tamebay reader Bernard has noticed some of his listings which previously performed well on Amazon are no longer winning the Buy Box. Some early investigation appears to suggest that Amazon UK listings are now losing the Buy Box when competing other fulfilled by merchant listings offering Free Delivery. It seems the ranking of a fulfilled by merchant listing with FREE Delivery is greater than that without. http://tamebay.com/2014/10/have-amazon-changed-the-buy-box-formula.html  Previously an FBM listing with delivery extra only had to be 1p cheaper than the competing listing with FREE Delivery to win the Buy Box. Testing on a listing, Bernard says that “Changing prices manually in increments, the price (of listing charging delivery) difference now needs to be approx 2% (1.96%) lower than listing with Free delivery, to win Buy Box”. This could be a one off or it could be a policy change that reflects a marketplace preference for Free delivery – similar to FBA products beating FBM products by 5% or so. Have you noticed any difference with price and winning the buy box on Amazon? We’ve been unable to speak to any of the repricing services over the weekend, but if they’re reading we’d love to hear their insights. * Also review this video found on winning the buy box... Published on Oct 15, 2012 http://lastdropofink.co.uk/market-places/amazon/the-amazon-buy-box-you-know-the-secret-formula-right/ Introduction ------------------------------------------------- I'll be covering the following in this video: 1. Why you should want to win the Buy Box 2. What factors influence the Buy Box 3. NEW! Seller Ratings 4. How to win the Amazon With a Formula that WORKS! 5. Excel Example The Amazon Buy Box Formula ------------------------------------------------- Lowest Selling Price -- 2.7% - 0.01 = The Buy box for Longer Amazon Seller Ratings ------------------------------------------------- In the video I mentioned that Amazon have released "Seller Ratings" you can find out more about these here: http://lastdropofink.co.uk/market-places/amazon/amazon-uk-release-seller-ratings/ Find Out More ------------------------------------------------- A complete article and the comments I reference can be found here: http://lastdropofink.co.uk/market-places/amazon/the-amazon-buy-box-you-know-the-secret-formula-right/ Have a question or a suggestion? ------------------------------------------------- Leave a comment below or tweet us at @lastdropofink https://twitter.com/lastdropofink Visit our hosting provider: Liquid Layer Networks | Cloud Hosting http://LiquidLayer.net |
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| As of 11/27/14 Little background / we are a Amazon Seller / Pro Merchant - we put up a product and we were the 1st to put the product up 2 months ago / selling avg 10 units a day. So recently as of 2 days ago / someone new to the product sells on our listing / which we know is the concept of Amazon / not really our listing but a catalog entry. And they win the buy box as they under pricing the product (below the true value by the way) AND offered Free Shipping. So as a test / we are now offering Free Shipping and priced 2% below the Buy Box winner which also by the way we have 100% on our profile / and have solid reviews on this line. Now we just did this / but we should win the box right away / so far nothing / not even looking at the inventory status does the buy box eligible change to yes... We will update this if we win the buy box / but again - if there is no change / as stated prior / this is just wrong. |
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| So the only difference is this other vendor / has 388 total ratings for other products not related to this product as well as not in the same category! We have 28 total rating on this exact product in the same category. If they continue to hold on to the Buy Box only due to the fact they have more rating over all for products not even related or even in the same category / as note that is just wrong! At some point someone with a lot of cash will launch a Class Action Law suit against Amazon as this (if this plays out) is just unfair marketing practice and strong arming merchants to play this sill price game / all the while putting merchants out of business while Amazon continues to make more and more profit. |
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| Another thing interesting is the fact that this vendor only sells bracelets made from parachute cord! / so having 388 totals ratings for parachute cord bracelets / amazon feels they should continue to hold on to the buy box over someone who has more ratings for the product in question? Again / there is something wrong with this picture, if this is the case. Stay tuned to this thread / as we will post updates. Merchants need to take a stand against this. |
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| So far it is been a couple of hours / and it is starting to prove the unfair marketing practice of Amazon regarding - total ratings for a product that is 100% unrelated to the product related to the buy box. The fact is based on a product / there may be a higher chance for a customer to rate or give feedback about a product that SHOULD NOT determine whom will continue to keep the buy box! Perfect example we sell a product that relates to helping skin conditions, the demographics of this product in most case's are not proud of their condition and it is more likely that the will not post a rating comment or even a star rating mainly due to the fact the do not want the world to know, hello everyone I have a really bad case of acne for example. So should that be a Metric where Amazon gives the merchant a unfair advantage of keeping the buy box even though another merchant is selling for a cheaper price / makes no sense and trying to reach out to Amazon for a comment is next to impossible when it comes to their algorithms with claims of we cannot discuss who and why people get the buy box / other than the public information in which we are providing all the requirement's to win the buy box EXCEPT for this metric that we have seem to just uncover and that is User Ratings / and as stated above / based on the way social interaction may be influenced by product type / ratings consideration regarding the longevity of keeping the but box should be based on product NOT the merchant over-all.... | ||
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We will be launching a Social Media campaign regarding this practice as well as we may even launch a web site that targets how this really is unfair to the majority of merchants on Amazon.  |
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| * Near perfect profile / yet still we do not have the option for Buy Box Eligible... * Response from Amazon below based on my phone conversation / as noted / they cannot help with why this takes place / when we are meeting all the metrics that is needed. * Also the Buy Box puts the choice in who gets the most sales vs allow the client to choose / unless they select "see other offers" / which by design - based on the law of percentages / a large part of the buying community will select the buy box merchant offering. Which puts the choice back into the hands of (AI) Artificial Intelligence designed by Amazon to FEED competition between merchants vs allowing the customer to choose whom they wish to do business with / other than that (very small) font dialog that is under all other product dialog / a hyper link to (see other offers) Here is our near perfect metrics / and still no ability to select the Buy Box. - Performance check list all green - ODR = 0% - Pre-fulfillment Cancel Rate = 0% - Late Shipment Rate = .37% way below the 4% allowed - Refund rate = 1% (no target metric on this) - Delivered on time = 100% - Packages with tracking info = 100% - Overall 100% profile rating / with NO Negative feedback - Selling for over 1 year - Selling as a Pro-Reseller for 45 days * Wondering of the time as a Pro-Resller has relates to part of the metric why we do not get Buy Box Eligible? That would seem a bit unfair if that is the case. *** Here is the the response to the above perfect profile / rating ... All the while / the other merchant whom has a Negative feedback rating in the past 30 days gets the buy box. Amazon Nov 28, 2014 10:29 AM Dear seller, You have been remarkably patient all this while and we are grateful to you for your patience. As per our conversation over phone, the Buy Box eligibility is regularly checked and based on factors that have been carefully chosen in an effort to give customers the best shopping experience. However other factors also influence Buy Box eligibility including: pricing, category, availability, and the seller's performance. However, since the buy box winner is decided by an automated system, we at Seller Support cannot make any changes to this, though we wish to. Please accept our sincere apologies for this. Having said that, the best I can do for you, to make sure that you are heard is that, I have passed documented this email and passed on your message to our Business Team so they are aware of this issue. If they have any further questions they will directly get in touch with you. I indeed understand that it would have been great if I was able to make changes to the buy box. Unfortunately as it is an automated system I have tried everything in my power to do what best I can within my limitations. We solicit your understanding in this regard. Thanks for being part of the Amazon.com online community. We wish you good health and success in all your future sales. We also wishing you a Merry Christmas in advance. Have a wonderful day ahead. |
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| *** Interesting dialog on the last paragraph about each Category Manager If you go to the actual detail page: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007D2JVJ4/ You will see the other merchant's offers and DSLogic's listing will be out of the buy box. DSLogic: One criteria that may be used to evaluate buy box eligibility in some categories is sales in that category. This creates a chicken and the egg problem, because it is difficult to get meaningful sales in the category without being in the buy box. One way that has already been mentioned is to send some units in FBA. Even if you want to merchant fulfill or dropship the items in the future, you can use FBA to get the buy box to build some sales history in the category, while still running your merchant fulfilled listings without the buy box. When/if you get buy box eligibility for your merchant fulfilled listings you can evaluate if you want to sell-through on the FBA listings and try and put the merchant fulfilled listings in the buy box. Another possible way is to find products that are not listed and list them, or find products where there are no buy box eligible merchant offers. For these products you may be able to get more sales without the buy box because you are not competing with someone in the buy box. They will still not sell as quickly and a buy box eligible merchant may come along and take the buy box at any time. Even without using one of the above two methods, some sales will trickle in even without the buy box if you have the lowest price. Buy box eligibility is evaluated periodically by each category manager, it is believed that some categories only make this determination semi-annually, so it may be months before you are buy box eligible in this category, even if you have met all their criteria. |
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| * Question I may imagine this has been asked many times / we did do a search but we are wondering / does the length of time that you are a pro seller affect getting the Buy Box Eligible ? Reason is / we are hitting all the marks to get the Buy Box Eligible / matter of fact on one of our products we have it and we have won the buy box / but the product in question we have been selling for over a year but just recently became a pro seller / paying the 39.00 per month as of 2 months ago. On that product we do not have Buy Box Eligible / yet our two competitors have been selling just as of a few months ago / and have very limited inventories of anything else and even one of them has negative feedback and they both have Buy Box Eligible and have won the buy box. Winning the buy box we are finding KILLS your sales in a BIG way ... Also the sad thing is Google takes the merchants that win the buy box and ( at least for this product ) puts them number one position in Google ! Great for the person who wins the Buy Box / quite unfair for the merchants whom do not / so not only do you dry up your sales on Amazon but Google as well ... We know Amazon has nothing to do with Google Algorithms but it just feels wrong that it spills over into Google Organic Results. Anyway / just looking for any of the Magic you all see to just get Buy Box Eligible .... I read somewhere / and this is something that Amazon will never admit to / but it noted that Category Managers do have a role in whom gets the Buy Box Eligible / perhaps not in who wins / not sure if that is true or not .... Happy Selling all ! * Answer Buy Box is based on a variety of factors no one but Amazon knows about. Getting the buybox doesn't guarantee you will win the BB across every listing on Amazon. A lot of it is based on each individual category. You may win the BB in Electronics > Radio but not in Electronics > Clock Radios. The BB also gets rotated between eligible merchants within a price range typically. You may have the BB for 1 hour then someone else gets it. Additional factors may include shipping times/options, prices, metrics and other factors. Again, only Amazon truly knows how it works. We've squeezed out major sellers by just listing on the product pages the same day and price, while a new seller with 20 FB takes over us on other areas. |
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| * Reply I am still up in the air about the fact that / I still think there is a metric that is inside the secret algorithm and / or Amazon is just lying to it's merchants and there really is human interaction that some category manager selects based on personal choice or following some kind of selection methodology / but still feel there is something that goes along with the time you are a Pro Seller. This is due to the fact the two of my competitors have the Buy Box Eligible on the very same product and the very same category for our product that we have sold on Amazon for over a year now and here they come along / with less time selling that same product and both of them get the Eligible Buy Box opportunity. All of this hidden formula and "only" amazon knows kinda thing sure seems like a class action law suit brewing to me IMHO The frustrating thing about it is - again we hit all the targets / but the only one is we have not been a pro seller that long VS a standard seller selling at the 1.00 per item But there again / we have the Buy Box Eligible on another product in a different category so that throws out that possible idea of how long you have been a pro merchant / unless that plays into the category as well ... ( on this one we do win the buy box ) The sad thing about this / is Amazon is winning on this front / forcing their merchants to play this game along with once a merchant gets the opportunity to "be eligible for the buy box" then Amazon has built a platform where merchant will now undercut their pricing AND margins below the true value of what a product should be selling at all the while Amazon makes there bucket of cash. Anyway - for sure a topic that should be talked about / as I am sure many of the merchants have frustrations with the Buy Box at least everyone that we have talked to does / unless you are in the Buy Box then all things are good but staying in there also means either making deals with your competitors or getting squeezed out by larger FBA merchants / all the while the margins slip for everyone .... |
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| Another Reseller, and others reading this thread ... Thanks for the reply / we are working the BuyBox for one of our products / so we became eligible, but still we do not understand why if you sell a product (another one we sell) - (the 1st to sell the product) on Amazon for over a year / with a 100% profile rating with multiple Amazon Customer Service Reps that we have called that said / wow - I do not know why your are not eligible as your profile is perfect , fits all the metrics / you should be eligible. Makes no sense / all we hear is there are many factors / but no one can tell us why, and this is what you need to do to improve .... That is like getting all "A"s on every test that you have taken in a school, and receiving a C in the class over all / then asking the teacher and they say gezzzz I do not know why you are getting a C in the class over all / as I see you have received an A on every test / but there are many factors and you just have to work on improving them.... yes teacher but what can I do to improve - what areas , well son - I do not have that answer / but just keep improving maybe someday you will receive your "A" as even as your teacher we not know how the system works regarding who gets an A for the overall grade / that is a guarded secrete from our students and teachers / by the way son - you do owe us money for your class this quarter....  Analogy seems to be straight out of the comic strips .... For some categories I still have to believe that how long you have been a Pro Seller is part of the metric / but no one will admit to that / perhaps riding a fine line of a legal issue? not sure. The common answer from just about everyone we have communicated with including we raised the issue to the highest group in customer service as we were not getting any real meaningful answers from the outsourced India group / same reaction - your profile hits all the marks / not sure why your not eligible and we do not exactly how the algorithm works. Just seems on the boundaries of a legal concern to me. Happy Selling all ! |
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| Another Reseller Reply: First, fairness is not a factor in Anything Amazon does. Nor is it a factor in the Business world. re the buy box, very few people actually know what determines buy box eligibility. And just like Bush's Baked Beans, the ones who know are telling. Check your inventory screen. Does it say "buy box eligible"? For me, thats the 3rd column from the right using the old style inventory screen. NOT the beta version. If that doesnt say Yes, you'll never get it. |
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| To another reseller / reply Thanks for your comments / good points. I hope there is not a personal agenda going on here / not 5 min after I posted the analogy of the buy box / the two products we had the buy box eligible was removed. We should have the right to voice our frustrations That is just wrong in so many ways. I will close this thread - Happy Holidays All |
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| Reply from another Reseller, OH NO / that was NOT directed at you ... so sorry I meant personal agenda regarding Amazon / the fact that I am voicing our opinion regarding the Buy Box Eligible and all of a sudden after we had the Buy Box Eligible for the past 2 weeks on two of our lines of product / we post a concerning issue with why some users get the Buy Box Eligible and why some don't ... then honestly 5 min after we posted that / the Buy Box Eligible was removed form the two products we had been working the Buy Box in. What I meant by that is / sure seems like someone at Amazon out of spite due to our post removed the Buy Box / yes I know sounds crazy / but the two products we are speaking of that we had the Buy Box Eligible we have been shipping the next day if not the same day and pushing a good amount of the product / with a solid profile rating. So there it is again / why in the heck did we all of sudden loose the Buy Box Eligible - Anyway / clearly a case of David and Goliath it's of no use to try to make sense of it, but still none the less is so very frustrating ... Matter of fact / we just looked at our profile rating and we were in Good State then for the past two months we are in Excellent State as a Reseller .... soon as we bark about our frustrations our Buy Box Eligible was removed? Something is not right here... |
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