New Seller Incentives: Over $50,000 in Referral Fee Savings per MarketplaceNew Seller Incentives: Over $50,000 in Referral Fee Savings per Marketplace
Detailed explanation of Amazon's reference price policy
Main content of this article
I. The basic concept and price system of reference prices
II. Interpretation of Amazon's new reference price policy in 2026
III. The impact of various promotional tools on Typical Price
4. How to verify the reference price and details to pay attention to
5. Operational recommendations and coping strategies
6. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
I. The basic concept and price system of reference prices
II. Interpretation of Amazon's new reference price policy in 2026
III. The impact of various promotional tools on Typical Price
4. How to verify the reference price and details to pay attention to
5. Operational recommendations and coping strategies
6. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
I. The basic concept and price system of reference prices
■ 1.1 What is Reference Price
The reference price is the price with a delete line on the product detail page (marked price). The effect is to visually create a “sense of discount” and let buyers perceive how much money has been saved. The marked price will appear on the search results page and product detail page at the same time, which has a significant impact on increasing the click-through rate and conversion rate.
A listing usually involves the following key prices:
The reference price is the price with a delete line on the product detail page (marked price). The effect is to visually create a “sense of discount” and let buyers perceive how much money has been saved. The marked price will appear on the search results page and product detail page at the same time, which has a significant impact on increasing the click-through rate and conversion rate.
A listing usually involves the following key prices:
Price Type
Meaning
Who will set it up
Your Price
Seller's current actual selling price
Sellers set it up themselves
List Price (MSRP)
Recommended retail price from the manufacturer or seller
Filled in the seller's back office, system verification required
Sales price (sale price)
Prices during a limited-time sale
Seller sets start/end dates
Typical Price (Was Price)
Non-promotional median price for the past 90 days
Automatically calculated by the Amazon system
■ 1.2 Two sources of reference prices
▸ List Price (recommended retail price)
The recommended retail price for a new product provided by the manufacturer, vendor, or seller can be filled in or modified by the seller on the back-office editing page, but must be verified by the Amazon system before it can be displayed in the front desk. Amazon will extract and validate based on recent sales history and external website prices (same currency required).
Important distinction: For non-seasonal products (such as TVs, headsets, etc.), Amazon will look at price data for the past 90 days; for seasonal products (such as ski wear, swimwear, etc.), it will look at price data for the past 180 days. This is a detail that many sellers tend to overlook.
▸ Typical Price/Was Price
The two are actually the same thing; they both refer to historical prices. It is automatically calculated by Amazon's pricing system and changes over time, and cannot be set by yourself.
Special scenario description: Amazon Fresh's typical price calculation method is different; it is calculated based on the median price provided locally in the past 35 days. Also, prices at Amazon Haul and Amazon Now stores are not included in the Typical Price calculation.
■ 1.3 Relationship between list price and typical price
Both List Price and Typical Price can be displayed as underlined prices, but Amazon independently verifies them. When both are present at the same time, different promotion types will draw different reference prices:
Front desk line price: List Price is displayed first
Coupon: Prioritize the extraction of Was Price (Typical Price) as the basis for calculation
Deal, PD/PED: Priority list price extraction (Was Price may be extracted in rare cases)
⚠️ Key Tip: If the List Price fails verification, Amazon will rely more on Typical Price as the reference price. Starting January 31, 2024, Lightning Deals and Best Deals must have a verified reference price to sign up. No reference price = unable to participate in the Lightning Deal.
▸ List Price (recommended retail price)
The recommended retail price for a new product provided by the manufacturer, vendor, or seller can be filled in or modified by the seller on the back-office editing page, but must be verified by the Amazon system before it can be displayed in the front desk. Amazon will extract and validate based on recent sales history and external website prices (same currency required).
Important distinction: For non-seasonal products (such as TVs, headsets, etc.), Amazon will look at price data for the past 90 days; for seasonal products (such as ski wear, swimwear, etc.), it will look at price data for the past 180 days. This is a detail that many sellers tend to overlook.
▸ Typical Price/Was Price
The two are actually the same thing; they both refer to historical prices. It is automatically calculated by Amazon's pricing system and changes over time, and cannot be set by yourself.
Special scenario description: Amazon Fresh's typical price calculation method is different; it is calculated based on the median price provided locally in the past 35 days. Also, prices at Amazon Haul and Amazon Now stores are not included in the Typical Price calculation.
■ 1.3 Relationship between list price and typical price
Both List Price and Typical Price can be displayed as underlined prices, but Amazon independently verifies them. When both are present at the same time, different promotion types will draw different reference prices:
Front desk line price: List Price is displayed first
Coupon: Prioritize the extraction of Was Price (Typical Price) as the basis for calculation
Deal, PD/PED: Priority list price extraction (Was Price may be extracted in rare cases)
⚠️ Key Tip: If the List Price fails verification, Amazon will rely more on Typical Price as the reference price. Starting January 31, 2024, Lightning Deals and Best Deals must have a verified reference price to sign up. No reference price = unable to participate in the Lightning Deal.
II. Interpretation of Amazon's new reference price policy in 2026
This year, Amazon made a strict update to the reference price policy, involving two policies and different effective periods. It's not just a simple rule adjustment, but Amazon's all-out crackdown on false discounting practices.
Background: According to reports, two buyers filed lawsuits last year accusing Amazon sellers of using “fictitious” list prices to calculate Prime Day discounts to mislead consumers. This is also one of the important factors driving this policy tightening.
■ 2.1 New List Price Regulations (effective April 23, 2026)
Official original text: Effective April 23, 2026, The List Price You Must Provide Meet One of the Following Criteria to Be Validated:
1. The product has been offered at this List Price at another retailer recently
2. The product has been purchased by customers as the Featured Offer on Amazon at this List Price
Interpretation:
Simply put, reference price verification requirements tend to be strict; the actual selling price must be the verification standard. In the past, sellers were free to fill in a higher List Price in the back office as a reference for the marked price, but now this practice doesn't work.
Detailed explanation of the two verification conditions:
Condition 1: External Retailer Price Verification. The item must have recently been listed at that list price at another retailer. Note that this is “sold” (published) rather than “sold” (sold), which means that it is only necessary to have an active sale record for this price on another platform.
Condition 2: Amazon Featured Offer purchase record verification. The product must have been purchased by a customer using this List Price as a Featured Offer/Buy Box (Featured Offer/Buy Box).
Why is this update piling up previous bugs?
Since May of last year, there have been many cases of loss of reference prices on various sites. This is already a kind of “grayscale test” for Amazon to crack down on false reference prices. However, there were still some loopholes at the time. For example, the ASIN dimensional verification rules were used to falsify the reference price by placing small orders at a high price, and selling with multiple SKUs at the same store.
The new regulations now clearly require that the purchase record must be a Featured Offer (shopping cart price), and Amazon will keep the reference price consistent with the Price History chart on the product detail page. This chart shows the lowest recommended daily offer price (Lowest Featured Offer), or Buy Box price. In this case, it's useless to even follow up — because if it's higher than the actual price, you won't be able to grab the shopping cart, and you won't be able to extract it into the price record. The logic loop is closed.
💡 Details: When extracting Price History in terms of days, if there are multiple shopping cart prices on the same day, Amazon will extract the lowest shopping cart price for the day.
Additional note: Amazon's AI assistant, Alexa for Shopping, has now opened a 30-day, 90-day, and 365-day price history viewing function for buyers, so buyers can check price trends at any time. As of 2026, more than 50 million buyers have used this feature, with an average of 3 visits per person per month. Price transparency is unprecedented.
■ 2.2 New Typical Price Regulations (effective May 18, 2026)
Official English original text: typical price is the median non-expensive price customers paid for a product over the last 90 days. Effective May 18, 2026, if more than half of the days in a product’s 90-day Price history are below the non-promotional median price, we’ll calculate Typical Price using all sales, including promotional sales. Price discounts that are not advertised to customers as promotions are treated as non-promotional sales and are included in Typical Price.
Interpretation sentence by sentence:
1) “More than half of the days” — Note that “more than half of the days” here is measured in days, not the number of orders. That is, within the past 90 days, if the featured offer price for more than 45 days is lower than the non-promotional median price, a new rule will be triggered.
2) “Include all promotional sales” — Once triggered, Amazon will no longer eliminate promotional orders, but will instead include all sales records (including promotional prices) for the past 90 days and recalculate the median as the typical price.
3) “Non-promotional discount” — if your price discount is not clearly marked as a promotion and displayed to the buyer, it will be treated as the normal selling price and included in the Typical Price calculation.
⚠️ Core impact: To put it more bluntly: Starting May 18, if you have been making discounts for more than 45 days in the past 90 days, your discounted price will directly change to the front desk price. Essentially, Amazon thinks what you call a “promotion” is actually the norm; your original high price is fictional.
As an additional detail, you can check the median ASIN weekly/monthly/quarterly price on the ABA search catalog performance page. Although not entirely consistent with Typical Price's capture logic, it can still be used as a very important reference point.
Background: According to reports, two buyers filed lawsuits last year accusing Amazon sellers of using “fictitious” list prices to calculate Prime Day discounts to mislead consumers. This is also one of the important factors driving this policy tightening.
■ 2.1 New List Price Regulations (effective April 23, 2026)
Official original text: Effective April 23, 2026, The List Price You Must Provide Meet One of the Following Criteria to Be Validated:
1. The product has been offered at this List Price at another retailer recently
2. The product has been purchased by customers as the Featured Offer on Amazon at this List Price
Interpretation:
Simply put, reference price verification requirements tend to be strict; the actual selling price must be the verification standard. In the past, sellers were free to fill in a higher List Price in the back office as a reference for the marked price, but now this practice doesn't work.
Detailed explanation of the two verification conditions:
Condition 1: External Retailer Price Verification. The item must have recently been listed at that list price at another retailer. Note that this is “sold” (published) rather than “sold” (sold), which means that it is only necessary to have an active sale record for this price on another platform.
Condition 2: Amazon Featured Offer purchase record verification. The product must have been purchased by a customer using this List Price as a Featured Offer/Buy Box (Featured Offer/Buy Box).
Why is this update piling up previous bugs?
Since May of last year, there have been many cases of loss of reference prices on various sites. This is already a kind of “grayscale test” for Amazon to crack down on false reference prices. However, there were still some loopholes at the time. For example, the ASIN dimensional verification rules were used to falsify the reference price by placing small orders at a high price, and selling with multiple SKUs at the same store.
The new regulations now clearly require that the purchase record must be a Featured Offer (shopping cart price), and Amazon will keep the reference price consistent with the Price History chart on the product detail page. This chart shows the lowest recommended daily offer price (Lowest Featured Offer), or Buy Box price. In this case, it's useless to even follow up — because if it's higher than the actual price, you won't be able to grab the shopping cart, and you won't be able to extract it into the price record. The logic loop is closed.
💡 Details: When extracting Price History in terms of days, if there are multiple shopping cart prices on the same day, Amazon will extract the lowest shopping cart price for the day.
Additional note: Amazon's AI assistant, Alexa for Shopping, has now opened a 30-day, 90-day, and 365-day price history viewing function for buyers, so buyers can check price trends at any time. As of 2026, more than 50 million buyers have used this feature, with an average of 3 visits per person per month. Price transparency is unprecedented.
■ 2.2 New Typical Price Regulations (effective May 18, 2026)
Official English original text: typical price is the median non-expensive price customers paid for a product over the last 90 days. Effective May 18, 2026, if more than half of the days in a product’s 90-day Price history are below the non-promotional median price, we’ll calculate Typical Price using all sales, including promotional sales. Price discounts that are not advertised to customers as promotions are treated as non-promotional sales and are included in Typical Price.
Interpretation sentence by sentence:
1) “More than half of the days” — Note that “more than half of the days” here is measured in days, not the number of orders. That is, within the past 90 days, if the featured offer price for more than 45 days is lower than the non-promotional median price, a new rule will be triggered.
2) “Include all promotional sales” — Once triggered, Amazon will no longer eliminate promotional orders, but will instead include all sales records (including promotional prices) for the past 90 days and recalculate the median as the typical price.
3) “Non-promotional discount” — if your price discount is not clearly marked as a promotion and displayed to the buyer, it will be treated as the normal selling price and included in the Typical Price calculation.
⚠️ Core impact: To put it more bluntly: Starting May 18, if you have been making discounts for more than 45 days in the past 90 days, your discounted price will directly change to the front desk price. Essentially, Amazon thinks what you call a “promotion” is actually the norm; your original high price is fictional.
As an additional detail, you can check the median ASIN weekly/monthly/quarterly price on the ABA search catalog performance page. Although not entirely consistent with Typical Price's capture logic, it can still be used as a very important reference point.
III. The impact of various promotional tools on Typical Price
This is a top concern for many sellers: What promotional tools affect Typical Price?Based on official documents and practical experience, the compilation is as follows:
■ 3.1 Does not affect Typical Price's promotion type
■ 3.1 Does not affect Typical Price's promotion type
Promotion type
Explanation
Buy X Get Y
Officially expressly excluded
Subscribe & Save
Officially expressly excluded
Tailored Coupons
Targeted delivery to specific audiences only, not publicly displayed on product pages
Promotions during peak season events
Includes officially designated peak events such as Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday
Promotion with code
The customer is required to enter a code to receive the discount and is considered a limited-time promotion
■ 3.2 Types of promotions that will affect Typical Price
Promotion type
Impact statement
Price Discount (price discount tool)
Direct price reduction, no promotional logo, considered normal selling price
Regular Coupons (Non-Tailored Coupons)
For coupons that are publicly displayed on the product page, the transaction price will be included in the calculation
Promotion without code
Without entering a code, all buyers automatically receive the discount and are treated as non-promotional regular prices
Sale price (set through SKU properties)
Direct change in sales price is treated as regular price
Long-term price reduction (directly revise Your Price)
A low price for 45 consecutive days or more will be treated as the new regular price
The core logic of the judgment criteria: The official expression is “price promotions that are not advertised to customers as promotions are promoted as non-advertised sales”. The judging criteria are not a simple “presence or absence of a code,” but rather whether the discount is clearly marked as a promotion to be displayed to the buyer. If the buyer doesn't experience “this is a promotion,” then this price is considered a normal sale price.
■ 3.3 Additional instructions for tailor-made coupons
The core feature of Tailored Coupons (Tailored Coupons) is that they are only targeted to a specific audience and are not publicly displayed to all buyers on the product detail page. Therefore, its transaction price is excluded from the Typical Price calculation. This is different from a regular coupon (the kind of green “Save” label that everyone can see and receive on the web).
■ 3.3 Additional instructions for tailor-made coupons
The core feature of Tailored Coupons (Tailored Coupons) is that they are only targeted to a specific audience and are not publicly displayed to all buyers on the product detail page. Therefore, its transaction price is excluded from the Typical Price calculation. This is different from a regular coupon (the kind of green “Save” label that everyone can see and receive on the web).
4. How to verify the reference price and details to pay attention to
■ 4.1 Determine whether the reference price exists
There are several ways to check the current reference price status:
There are several ways to check the current reference price status:
View by
Specific operations
Backstage listing edit page
Fill in the target list price to see if it can be saved successfully
Front desk product page
Check directly to see if the marked price is displayed
Below the shopping cart
View reference price information
Price discount page
Select ASIN to set up a discount and see Reference Price
Deal page
Create a deal to the submission process and check the reference price
Coupon page
Set up an excessive discount submission and reverse the reference price through an error message
Coupon reversal formula: reference price = requested net price ÷ (1 - 5%)
■ 4.2 Determine whether the current reference price is List Price or Was Price
List Price and Was Price can exist at the same time (although in rare cases). If you test using the method above and find that the required net price (based on Was Price) on the Coupon page is not the same as the Reference Price seen elsewhere, then it means that both exist at the same time.
The rule at this time: The price marked at the front desk still shows the list price, but the coupon must be set according to Was Price, because the coupon prioritizes the Was Price as the benchmark.
■ 4.3 Understand the basic rules of verification
Rule 1: Whether it's List Price, Was Price, or Typical Price, it's an ASIN dimension, not a SKU dimension.
Rule 2: To successfully verify the reference price, you must have an actual billing record or external reference link.
■ 4.4 Verification requirements for new and old products
▸ New ASIN (within 90 days of listing)
For brand-new products, there is no order record for the product itself, and even if the List Price is filled in in the back office, Amazon will not extract or refer to this price. In this case, exclusive discounts and coupons cannot be made. To verify, you need to provide any of the following information:
■ 4.2 Determine whether the current reference price is List Price or Was Price
List Price and Was Price can exist at the same time (although in rare cases). If you test using the method above and find that the required net price (based on Was Price) on the Coupon page is not the same as the Reference Price seen elsewhere, then it means that both exist at the same time.
The rule at this time: The price marked at the front desk still shows the list price, but the coupon must be set according to Was Price, because the coupon prioritizes the Was Price as the benchmark.
■ 4.3 Understand the basic rules of verification
Rule 1: Whether it's List Price, Was Price, or Typical Price, it's an ASIN dimension, not a SKU dimension.
Rule 2: To successfully verify the reference price, you must have an actual billing record or external reference link.
■ 4.4 Verification requirements for new and old products
▸ New ASIN (within 90 days of listing)
For brand-new products, there is no order record for the product itself, and even if the List Price is filled in in the back office, Amazon will not extract or refer to this price. In this case, exclusive discounts and coupons cannot be made. To verify, you need to provide any of the following information:
Verification materials
Specific requirements
Links to external websites
Links to product pages on the brand's official website or competitive platforms (such as Walmart or independent websites) must have the same currency units
Order history
At least 1 order, the time frame is from the past 24 hours to the past 90 days
Public articles/ads
It should describe the product and its price to prove the authenticity of the listed price
▸ Old ASIN (more than 90 days on the shelf)
For at least 3 historical orders, the sales price is equal to or higher than the currently filled list price. The time range is from the past 24 hours to the past 90 days.
■ 4.5 Practical experience sharing
① Order requirements: Verify that the order provided at the reference price can only be a B2C order and cannot be a digital order. The order status cannot be cancelled, and the items in the order must be New (New).
② Currency consistency: When verifying on an external website, the currency unit displayed on the link must match the target site's List Price currency. The US site uses US dollars and the UK site uses British pounds. Cross-currency verification will not be successful.
③ External link priority: When verifying a new ASIN, the links to Walmart and independent websites are the most referential, and priority is given to using these two website links as external references.
④ Verification speed: PSS processing in the US is generally completed within 2 days, regular customer service within 3-5 days, and Europe generally within 10 days. If there are multiple ASINs that need to be verified, it is recommended to open a case with 5 ASINs as a group, as each customer service can handle up to 5 at the same time.
⑤ What if there is no original price order?If there are no original price orders or external links in the past 90 days, you can go back and ask for the second one to find the highest selling price of the actual order in the past 90 days to verify. Download the Order Report (All Orders) through the backend, filter ASINs, use Item Price - Item Promotion Discount to calculate the actual order price, and then analyze the order price frequency using a data pivot table.
⑥ How do I handle List Price and Was Price at the same time?Case requirements can be verified by verifying the reference price by verifying the old ASIN. The purpose is to pass system verification and refresh at the same time to replace the list price that has already been extracted. There is a certain success rate.
For at least 3 historical orders, the sales price is equal to or higher than the currently filled list price. The time range is from the past 24 hours to the past 90 days.
■ 4.5 Practical experience sharing
① Order requirements: Verify that the order provided at the reference price can only be a B2C order and cannot be a digital order. The order status cannot be cancelled, and the items in the order must be New (New).
② Currency consistency: When verifying on an external website, the currency unit displayed on the link must match the target site's List Price currency. The US site uses US dollars and the UK site uses British pounds. Cross-currency verification will not be successful.
③ External link priority: When verifying a new ASIN, the links to Walmart and independent websites are the most referential, and priority is given to using these two website links as external references.
④ Verification speed: PSS processing in the US is generally completed within 2 days, regular customer service within 3-5 days, and Europe generally within 10 days. If there are multiple ASINs that need to be verified, it is recommended to open a case with 5 ASINs as a group, as each customer service can handle up to 5 at the same time.
⑤ What if there is no original price order?If there are no original price orders or external links in the past 90 days, you can go back and ask for the second one to find the highest selling price of the actual order in the past 90 days to verify. Download the Order Report (All Orders) through the backend, filter ASINs, use Item Price - Item Promotion Discount to calculate the actual order price, and then analyze the order price frequency using a data pivot table.
⑥ How do I handle List Price and Was Price at the same time?Case requirements can be verified by verifying the reference price by verifying the old ASIN. The purpose is to pass system verification and refresh at the same time to replace the list price that has already been extracted. There is a certain success rate.
5. Operational recommendations and coping strategies
Based on the above policy changes, the following are specific operational suggestions for different scenarios:
■ 5.1 Promotion rhythm management: 45-day red line principle
This is one of the most important operating principles under the new regulations. Make sure that the total number of days of the promotion does not exceed 45 days within any 90 day rolling window.
Practical suggestions:
• It is recommended that the length of a single promotion be limited to 30-40 days to allow sufficient margin of safety.
• If multiple promotions are required, there must be sufficient time between sales at the original price between sales rounds.
• It is recommended to use Excel to create a 90-day rolling calendar to record the number of promotional days for each ASIN to avoid inadvertently exceeding the 45-day red line.
■ 5.2 Promotion tool selection strategy
Optimize your promotional tool portfolio based on the impact of different tools on Typical Price:
Prioritize “safe” tools: Tailored Coupons, Subscribe & Save, Buy X Get Y, and Promotion with codes. These tools won't lower Typical Prices.
Use “risk” tools carefully: Price Discounts, Coupons, and No-Code Promotions. Strictly control the time of use and do not run continuously for more than 30 days.
Examples of combined strategies: continuous operation with Tailored Coupon (30 days) + Subscribe & Save during the main promotion period; with Price Discount (7-14 days) for short-term impulses; sign up with confidence during peak season events (peak event prices are excluded).
■ 5.3 List Price Management Suggestions
① Ensure the authenticity of List Prices: Don't inflate prices to show bigger discounts. Amazon will now cross-validate your List Price with your Price History chart, and inconsistencies will be cancelled.
② Multi-platform layout: If you have an independent website or other platform store, make sure that the same product is sold at List Price or higher on other platforms. This provides an external basis for List Price's verification.
③ Regular inspection: Regularly check whether the price marked at the front desk is displayed properly. If it is found that the marked price is missing, promptly re-verify it by opening a case.
■ 5.4 Advertising strategy adjustment
The disappearance of the marked price will directly affect the effectiveness of advertising. When the product no longer shows the reference price, the “XX% saved” message will also disappear, which will have a negative impact on the click rate and conversion rate of Sponsored Products ads. When you find that the reference price for an ASIN has been lost, you need to re-evaluate that ASIN's advertising ROAS and ACOS, as the same bid strategy will result in a higher effective CPA.
■ 5.5 New product launch strategy adjustment
Recommended pricing strategies when new products are on the market:
• At the beginning of the listing, the target List Price is used as the selling price, and after accumulating a certain number of orders at the original price, the promotion begins.
• Also list the same product on an independent website or Walmart to ensure that the price is equal to or higher than the target List Price, and provide an external link for reference price verification.
• Early promotion prioritizes the use of Tailored Coupon, Subscribe & Save, and other tools that do not affect Typical Price.
• Avoid listing and drastically reducing the price for promotion. Otherwise, the Typical Price will be lowered from the beginning, making it difficult to cross the price in the future.
■ 5.6 What to do about ASINs that have been discounted for a long time
If your ASIN has been discounted for a long time, we recommend:
• Immediately stop ongoing discounts and resume sales at the original price. Typical price will gradually recover after about 90 days.
• Maintain conversion rates during the transition period with Tailored Coupon and Subscribe & Save.
• At the same time, strengthen advertising and content marketing (A+, video, etc.) to make up for the decline in conversion rates due to loss of marked prices.
• Consider repricing: If the product has been sold at a discounted price for a long time, it's a good idea to adjust the regular sales price to the actual promotional price level and then set a more reasonable List Price.
■ 5.7 Reference Price Management in Follow-up Scenarios
Under the new regulations, if your listing has follow-up sales, you need to pay particular attention to the following points:
• The seller's low price directly affects the Price History chart, because the chart draws the lowest daily featured offer price.
• Long-term low prices from the seller will lower your Typical Price, causing your marked price to decrease or disappear.
• Brand sellers should actively monitor and manage authorized channels to ensure downstream sellers comply with MAP (Minimum Advertised Price Policy).
■ 5.1 Promotion rhythm management: 45-day red line principle
This is one of the most important operating principles under the new regulations. Make sure that the total number of days of the promotion does not exceed 45 days within any 90 day rolling window.
Practical suggestions:
• It is recommended that the length of a single promotion be limited to 30-40 days to allow sufficient margin of safety.
• If multiple promotions are required, there must be sufficient time between sales at the original price between sales rounds.
• It is recommended to use Excel to create a 90-day rolling calendar to record the number of promotional days for each ASIN to avoid inadvertently exceeding the 45-day red line.
■ 5.2 Promotion tool selection strategy
Optimize your promotional tool portfolio based on the impact of different tools on Typical Price:
Prioritize “safe” tools: Tailored Coupons, Subscribe & Save, Buy X Get Y, and Promotion with codes. These tools won't lower Typical Prices.
Use “risk” tools carefully: Price Discounts, Coupons, and No-Code Promotions. Strictly control the time of use and do not run continuously for more than 30 days.
Examples of combined strategies: continuous operation with Tailored Coupon (30 days) + Subscribe & Save during the main promotion period; with Price Discount (7-14 days) for short-term impulses; sign up with confidence during peak season events (peak event prices are excluded).
■ 5.3 List Price Management Suggestions
① Ensure the authenticity of List Prices: Don't inflate prices to show bigger discounts. Amazon will now cross-validate your List Price with your Price History chart, and inconsistencies will be cancelled.
② Multi-platform layout: If you have an independent website or other platform store, make sure that the same product is sold at List Price or higher on other platforms. This provides an external basis for List Price's verification.
③ Regular inspection: Regularly check whether the price marked at the front desk is displayed properly. If it is found that the marked price is missing, promptly re-verify it by opening a case.
■ 5.4 Advertising strategy adjustment
The disappearance of the marked price will directly affect the effectiveness of advertising. When the product no longer shows the reference price, the “XX% saved” message will also disappear, which will have a negative impact on the click rate and conversion rate of Sponsored Products ads. When you find that the reference price for an ASIN has been lost, you need to re-evaluate that ASIN's advertising ROAS and ACOS, as the same bid strategy will result in a higher effective CPA.
■ 5.5 New product launch strategy adjustment
Recommended pricing strategies when new products are on the market:
• At the beginning of the listing, the target List Price is used as the selling price, and after accumulating a certain number of orders at the original price, the promotion begins.
• Also list the same product on an independent website or Walmart to ensure that the price is equal to or higher than the target List Price, and provide an external link for reference price verification.
• Early promotion prioritizes the use of Tailored Coupon, Subscribe & Save, and other tools that do not affect Typical Price.
• Avoid listing and drastically reducing the price for promotion. Otherwise, the Typical Price will be lowered from the beginning, making it difficult to cross the price in the future.
■ 5.6 What to do about ASINs that have been discounted for a long time
If your ASIN has been discounted for a long time, we recommend:
• Immediately stop ongoing discounts and resume sales at the original price. Typical price will gradually recover after about 90 days.
• Maintain conversion rates during the transition period with Tailored Coupon and Subscribe & Save.
• At the same time, strengthen advertising and content marketing (A+, video, etc.) to make up for the decline in conversion rates due to loss of marked prices.
• Consider repricing: If the product has been sold at a discounted price for a long time, it's a good idea to adjust the regular sales price to the actual promotional price level and then set a more reasonable List Price.
■ 5.7 Reference Price Management in Follow-up Scenarios
Under the new regulations, if your listing has follow-up sales, you need to pay particular attention to the following points:
• The seller's low price directly affects the Price History chart, because the chart draws the lowest daily featured offer price.
• Long-term low prices from the seller will lower your Typical Price, causing your marked price to decrease or disappear.
• Brand sellers should actively monitor and manage authorized channels to ensure downstream sellers comply with MAP (Minimum Advertised Price Policy).
6. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
▸ Q1: Will the Prime Day deep discount affect Typical Price?
A: No. Amazon's official FAQ clearly states: “Sales that during peak events are always excluded from the typical price calculation.” promotional prices during peak events (including Prime Day, Black Friday, etc.) are always excluded.
▸ Q2: Will the price of a Vine order be considered a featured offer purchase record?
A: There is currently no clear official response. A seller raised this question in the Seller Central forum, but no clear official response has been given. It is recommended not to rely on Vine orders to verify List Prices.
▸ Q3: Can coupons and deals still be used after the reference price is lost?
A: No. ASINs without a reference price can't create coupons and deals. For Prime Exclusive Deals, if there is no reference price, the discounted price will be completely hidden, that is, the deal will not be displayed.
▸ Q4: Which has a higher priority, List Price or Typical Price?
A: Both are independently verified. If the List Price fails verification, Amazon will rely more on Typical Price as the reference price. When both exist at the same time, the list price will be displayed first on the front desk, but various promotions may draw different reference prices as a benchmark.
▸ Q5: Should promotions be completely stopped under the new regulations?
A: No. The key is “smart promotion” rather than “no promotion.” Promotions are still an important tool for improving conversion rates and rankings; however, promotion rhythms and tool choices need to be planned in more detail. Promotions should be a marketing tool for a specific period, not the norm.
▸ Q6: What if my product is actually worth the price, but Amazon doesn't show the marked price?
A: Make sure your list price is a real MSRP and sell at that price on other platforms (such as Walmart, your own independent site), then verify it by opening a case and providing external links and order information.
▸ Q7: Is the “swipe reference price” gameplay that has been used in the past still working?
A: Most of them are no longer valid. Methods such as selling small products at high prices, and following up with multiple SKUs at the same store are basically blocked under the new regulations. Because what is now required is the actual purchase record of the Featured Offer, and it will be cross-verified with the Price History chart. The costs and risks of inflating prices have increased dramatically.
A: No. Amazon's official FAQ clearly states: “Sales that during peak events are always excluded from the typical price calculation.” promotional prices during peak events (including Prime Day, Black Friday, etc.) are always excluded.
▸ Q2: Will the price of a Vine order be considered a featured offer purchase record?
A: There is currently no clear official response. A seller raised this question in the Seller Central forum, but no clear official response has been given. It is recommended not to rely on Vine orders to verify List Prices.
▸ Q3: Can coupons and deals still be used after the reference price is lost?
A: No. ASINs without a reference price can't create coupons and deals. For Prime Exclusive Deals, if there is no reference price, the discounted price will be completely hidden, that is, the deal will not be displayed.
▸ Q4: Which has a higher priority, List Price or Typical Price?
A: Both are independently verified. If the List Price fails verification, Amazon will rely more on Typical Price as the reference price. When both exist at the same time, the list price will be displayed first on the front desk, but various promotions may draw different reference prices as a benchmark.
▸ Q5: Should promotions be completely stopped under the new regulations?
A: No. The key is “smart promotion” rather than “no promotion.” Promotions are still an important tool for improving conversion rates and rankings; however, promotion rhythms and tool choices need to be planned in more detail. Promotions should be a marketing tool for a specific period, not the norm.
▸ Q6: What if my product is actually worth the price, but Amazon doesn't show the marked price?
A: Make sure your list price is a real MSRP and sell at that price on other platforms (such as Walmart, your own independent site), then verify it by opening a case and providing external links and order information.
▸ Q7: Is the “swipe reference price” gameplay that has been used in the past still working?
A: Most of them are no longer valid. Methods such as selling small products at high prices, and following up with multiple SKUs at the same store are basically blocked under the new regulations. Because what is now required is the actual purchase record of the Featured Offer, and it will be cross-verified with the Price History chart. The costs and risks of inflating prices have increased dramatically.
Disclaimer: This article is based on Amazon's official documents and practical experience, and is for reference only. For details, please refer to Amazon's latest official policy.
Getting Started: New Seller Guide
Global business opportunities
