Amazon is doing something strange again! A large number of sellers are struggling to survive

The saying “new year, new atmosphere” seems a bit ironic when applied to Amazon sellers.

Right now, the “warehouse configuration fee” has not been figured out yet, and Amazon is working on the “coupon” function again.

After Amazon France implemented new coupon regulations, the US site has confirmed to follow suit, and sellers are starting to have headaches again.

Amazon issues new rules

The US site coupon rules have also changed

Amazon US announced that in order to provide sellers with a better sales experience, it will implement new coupon regulations on March 12 , and coupons will be subject to new pricing requirements.

Image source: Amazon screenshot

As shown in the above picture, coupons need to meet 2 requirements. If the product price or discount does not meet the following requirements, the product will not be eligible for coupons until all requirements are met.

If the product’s price or discount does not meet these new requirements, then sellers will not be able to successfully set up a coupon.

It is reported that sellers may receive three types of notifications about coupon errors:

1. Questions about price history

2. Increase discount rate

3. Minimum/maximum discount related issues

If you receive a coupon error message, you can do the following:

Finally, let's summarize the key points of these changes:

1. Coupons cannot be used immediately after a new product is put on the shelves . A transaction record must be made first. This is not conducive to promoting new products, and it is more difficult for sellers to promote new products.

2. Amazon requires sellers to sell at a price lower than the lowest price captured by the system , otherwise the coupon will be invalid;

3. When there is a discount on top of a discount, the next coupon discount must keep up with the transaction price of the historical discount on top of the discount. The platform restricts sellers from raising prices to expand the operation of coupons in order to maintain market price stability.

4. Coupon has the same status as Lightning Deals (LD) and Best Deals (BD) and is a promotional activity, but it currently seems that the traffic support may not be as much as these activities.

This new policy of the platform will undoubtedly affect the operating methods of sellers. It is not difficult to see that the important purpose of Amazon's adjustment of the coupon rules this time is to crack down on the operating method of "price increase + large coupons" !

Some sellers believe that if prices are not raised, coupons will no longer be fun in the future.

Some sellers also raised questions: Is this policy intended to drive sellers off the Amazon platform?

…

French station "one step ahead"

Can sellers only raise prices?

It is reported that shortly before this, Amazon France had announced that it would implement new coupon regulations. Now that the US site has confirmed that it will follow suit, other sites will surely follow suit in the future. This news is undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for many Amazon sellers.

Amazon France has been required to comply with new coupon pricing requirements since February 26. The relevant regulations are almost the same as those in the United States.

According to an analysis published by a colleague in the Zhiwubuyan community, the new regulations of the French station have a wide impact.

1. The price after the coupon is added must be 2.5% lower than the lowest price in the past 30 days (reduced by 2.5% each time); if the original price is higher than the reference price, the coupon creation will fail.

2. If the French BD event is held within the last 30 days, it is also required to be 5% lower than the previous event price.

3. The price exclusive to French members must be lower than the reference price within the past 30 days when submitted.

This colleague also commented that if the policy remained like this, they could simply lower prices and not do any activities.

It is not difficult to see that, on the one hand, the new coupon regulations make it more difficult to promote new products . Generally speaking, in order to quickly enter the market and increase product exposure, sellers often choose to set up certain preferential benefits to attract customers. Now, under the constraints of the new regulations, new products cannot submit coupons, and promotion may only rely on advertising. On the other hand, the profits of old products have also been affected by the new regulations.

Obviously, under the new coupon regulations, the profit margins of goods will be further squeezed , cross-border business will become more difficult, and sellers will have to survive in the cracks.

If coupons cannot be resized at will , sellers will only have one option left: to increase prices.

Right now, the US site policy has not yet been officially implemented, so sellers should wait and see.