Raising your prices on Amazon can feel like a risky move. With so much competition, new tariffs, and price-sensitive shoppers, it might seem like the only way to win is to go low. But here’s the good news: increasing your selling price without hurting your sales is possible — if you do it right.
NOTE: While this article focuses primarily on brands selling via 3P marketplaces, the exact same strategy should be followed by brands selling via 1P looking to increase wholesale costs (special bonus section for 1P brands is below).
For both sides of Amazon, prep work before you raise prices is key.
- Know your current close rate: This is often one of the most crucial metrics that brands don’t track. Over 85-90% of Amazon’s ‘add to carts take place on the product detail page. Tracking the % of conversions per page view is one of the primary metrics Amazon uses as part of its algorithm.
- Ideally, you already have this for the last few years (including critical YoY data) Close rates should always be calculated and rolled up at the parent level.
- If this isn’t part of your core marketing and analytics stack, contact Yeoman about our Amazon Master Dashes that give you this and more
- Track last 30, prior 30, and last year forward 30 days as your reference point
- Look to Improve your close rate before raising prices: This ‘fix first’ approach is critical; if your items are trending up Amazon is more likely to accept the price change without removing the buybox or restricting your items. Look at the easy fixes as well as the hard ones. Most crucial items for better close rate:
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- Titles: 200 characters max, but focus on the first 44 and 93 characters (that’s the length of titles that show in mobile results depending on device)
- Images: You need infographics on images 2-6, then you’re behind the times.
- Optimize your bullet points: Focus on benefits, not just specs. Bullets can be up to 500 characters, but use the first 25-50 in each bullet as your summary (that’s all most read)
- Video, A+ and descriptions are also important, but priority should always be above the fold, near the add to cart.
- Raise Your List/MSRP Prices First: While this may seem likely a wasted exercise its one of the most critical ‘prep steps’ you need to do on Amazon before trying to increase your price (or cost to Amazon) Increasing your MSRP does update the Amazon engine logic and can even result in a saving notation on your account. As a general rule:
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- MSRP/List price should be 20-35% higher than your target price
- Increase the MSRP/List at least 1 week before attempting to increase price
- List prices should go up across your online channels – especially your core website, Walmart, and any other site.
- Start increasing advertising just before you start increasing pricing. This requires a little explanation but hear us out. The best thing that can happen to you when your price increases is you do not see a dip in your conversion rate. Amazon loves it when this happens since they are getting 15% more of the price increase without having to serve your product up more.
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- Leaning into advertising just before a price increase helps keep your visibility strong and gives you the best chance for conversions
- It doesn’t have to be a long-term increase in spending, if you’re still converting with the higher price you’ll automatically move up.
- Increase Prices Gradually (Not Drastically) – across all channels together; Going from $19.99 to $29.99 overnight could tank your conversion rate or strip the buy box, suppressing the sales. Instead:
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- Try small increments: <2-5% increases at a time. No more than 5% increase
- Monitor your key metrics (Conversion Rate, Sessions, Sales Volume).
- Increase across all channels at the same time – especially if you’re selling via Marketplace on places like Walmart or Target. This is critical – if you leave one at the wrong price Amazon will take away the buybox automatically.
- Make sure your direct site also reflects the higher price
BONUS: 1P Vendor Tips: We all know that 1P/Wholesale brands can’t raise Amazon prices to customers, you can only raise your costs. We recommend following steps 1 – 4 before you submit your cost increases. If you’re Amazon buyer asks for increases, you’ll have to go through them. However, not matter how big you are on Amazon you can submit cost increases at any time. Tips on when you submit:
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- Do a large group of items (if not all)
- Calculate your increase carefully
- Look at the current margins Amazon is making with actual buybox price
- Look at the List Price margin they would get if they raised prices
- Make sure you’re not tanking their margins or they’ll immediately reject
- Make sure to be very clear on the reasons
- There is a specific option for tariffs, but we recommend doing a full look at why you’re increasing which could factor labor, raw materials, or transport.
- Give Amazon 30–60-day window for the effective date (increases chance of approval)
- If rejected, wait 7-14 days then resubmit again
- Change the % increases; can lower or raise by several cents to trigger the engine for re-evaluation
- Be persistent – Try at least 4 rounds with different levels
Results Monitoring: Once you start the increases, don’t just monitor your sales volume. Carefully watch your close rate. If its steady, you’ll likely get an organic bump (Amazon likes higher fees) If it dips consider:
- Consider adding a coupon to try and blunt impact. Redemption rates on Amazon coupons are typically 45-65% and give a listing a visual ‘coupon’ bump
- Lean heavier on Ad spend temporarily, accepting a lower ROAS temporarily to make sure you’re showing on most relevant terms
- Build out a category specific sponsored product campaign targeting price points above your price point.
- Review current ASINs you may be advertising and avoid those well below your price.
- Revisit the content you may have breezed over in step 2 above, especially infographics. If you don’t have them, it’s an easy lift
Final Thoughts
You don’t need to race to the bottom. In fact, the top-selling brands on Amazon often charge more — because they know how to build value, test intelligently, and leverage the platform’s tools to their advantage.
Yeoman has over 15 years’ experience covering a range of pricing challenges and knows how to navigate the process. Contact us today if you want to learn more.