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Amazon’s Automated Repricer: Why you shouldn't use it.

In 2016, Amazon released its own automated inventory repricing tool dubbed “Automated pricing” which was available and free for all sellers with a professional account. I am guessing Amazon saw how much its third-party sellers relied on external repricing tools. If you are reading this then I am assuming you are familiar with what a Repricer is and does but if not, a Repricer uses rules or algorithms to automatically change prices based on inputs that you set. It can reprice a listing on Amazon up or down depending on the competitor's price. If you are not familiar with Amazon with Amazon's automated Repricer you can watch this Youtube video from Amazon here

Reason Amazon launched its Automated Repricer

There is no doubt Amazon puts its customer, be it its third-party sellers or, the buyers who constantly or seasonally buy on Amazon at the forefront of its decision-making process. That is why it is safe to say that the reason for Amazon launching an in-house Repricer is to improve the shopping and selling experience of its customers and considering how it works, to foster competitiveness among it third-party sellers.

The most interesting thing about Amazon automated Repricer is that it technically doesn't cost anything because it is like an add-on feature to the professional selling plan.

The downside of Amazon Automated Repricer

1. If you and your competitor are both using the amazon automated Repricer on the same SKU it will jump right to the amount that the combination of the two rules dictate.  Here’s a direct quote from the Amazon Automate Pricing FAQ on how this works “Your price will settle to the final level dictated by your rule and the other seller’s rule. Imagine this, if you and a competing seller both have the rule “Stay below the lowest price by $0.10″, your minimum price is $20.00, and the other seller’s minimum price is $20.50, rather than trigger numerous price changes in small increments, your price will go to $20.40, and the other seller’s price will go to $20.50.” An external Repricer will only adjust one step at a time which will allow for the possibility of corrections if a problem occurs. The major reason for using an automated Repricer is to have your inventory priced up and down not just down. Amazon automated Repricer increases the likelihood of "race to the bottom", something seller republic is programmed to avoid.

2. If you become the only seller on an item, your price will stay the same. But with the Seller Republic repricing tool, you can stipulate what you want your price to be when there is no competitor.

3. You know that annoying seller with all the bad feedback and who just happens to sell extra cheap because he is shipping from China? With the Amazon Repricer, you can't blacklist him as a competitor. In almost every external Repricer you are able to choose who you desire to compete with. In the Amazon Repricer, you can either compete with FBA listings or MF listings but you can compete with both.

Conclusion

There are a lot more reasons why you shouldn't be using the Amazon automated Repricer like the fact that it is impossible to set the minimum and maximum price in bulk or the fact that Amazon is your fiercest competitor, but the 3 outlined are on the top of the list.