How pricing works
The Pricing step is the heart of your strategy. This is where you define how your prices react to competitor changes (on marketplaces) or how they're calculated from your cost (on your own stores). Getting these settings right is the key to winning the Buy Box while maintaining healthy margins.
Marketplace pricing modes
These modes are designed for channels where you compete against other sellers on the same product listing.
Competition target
First, choose who the repricer looks at when deciding what price to set.
Amazon offers five targets:
- Buy Box Price (recommended). Compete against the current Buy Box price. This is the most common choice because the vast majority of marketplace sales go through the Buy Box.
- Lowest Overall. Compete against the absolute cheapest offer on the listing, regardless of fulfillment type.
- Lowest FBA. Compete specifically against the cheapest FBA seller. Best if you're FBA and want to compete on equal terms.
- Lowest FBM. Compete against the cheapest merchant-fulfilled seller.
- Amazon Price. Compete specifically against Amazon's own retail price when they sell the item.
Walmart offers two targets:
- Buy Box Price (recommended). Compete against the current Buy Box price.
- Lowest Price. Compete against the cheapest seller on the listing.
Beat by + Win Buy Box (recommended)
This is the most advanced mode. It starts by beating the competition (just like Beat by), but then adds an intelligent Buy Box chase algorithm. Once you win the Buy Box, the repricer gradually raises your price in small steps to find the highest price that still holds the Buy Box. If you lose the Buy Box, it drops back down. The result: you spend more time winning the Buy Box at a higher price than a simple Beat strategy would achieve.
Beat by + Win Buy Box works best with the Buy Box Price or Lowest Overall targets.
Beat by
Set your price below the competition by a specified amount or percentage. For example, "beat the Buy Box by $0.05" or "beat the Buy Box by 2%." This is the most aggressive option and maximizes your chances of winning the Buy Box.
Match exactly
Match the competitor's price exactly. You get the same price without undercutting, which preserves margins. The Buy Box algorithm considers factors beyond just price (like shipping speed and seller metrics), so matching can still win the Buy Box, especially for FBA or WFS sellers.
Stay above by
Keep your price above the competition by a specified amount or percentage. Useful for premium positioning or when you want to sell at a higher margin and are willing to win the Buy Box less often.
Pricing mode overrides (Amazon)
Sometimes you want to use a different pricing mode when competing against a specific seller type. Amazon strategies let you set up to two overrides:
- FBA/SFP override. Apply a different pricing mode when the reference offer comes from an FBA or Seller Fulfilled Prime seller. For example, you might Beat regular competitors but Match FBA sellers, since they have a Prime badge advantage.
- Amazon override. Apply a different pricing mode when the reference offer comes from Amazon itself. For example, you might Beat third-party sellers but Stay Above Amazon's price, since competing against Amazon directly is often not worth it.
Each override lets you pick a different mode (Beat by, Match, Stay above, or Beat by + Win Buy Box) and its own amount/percentage, independent of the base pricing mode. Overrides are optional. If not enabled, the base pricing mode applies to all competitors.
Some combinations are automatically prevented. For example, if your target is already "Lowest FBA", the FBA override is disabled because the base mode already applies to FBA sellers directly. Similarly, if your target is "Amazon Price", the Amazon override is disabled.
Competitor filters (Amazon)
Not all competitors are equal. On Amazon, you can fine-tune which sellers the repricer considers:
- Fulfillment type. Include or exclude FBA, FBM, and Amazon's own retail offers individually. At least one type must always be included.
- Min seller rating. Set a minimum seller rating threshold (e.g. 90%+) to filter out low-quality sellers.
- Min feedback count. Set a minimum number of feedback reviews (e.g. 100+) to ignore new or unestablished sellers.
- Location. Filter competitors by seller location: all sellers, domestic only, or international only.
- Listing condition. Choose whether to compete only against sellers with the same listing condition as yours, or against all conditions.
For a complete guide, see Competitor Filters.
Own store pricing modes
Since storefront channels are direct-to-consumer with no competitor Buy Box, these modes calculate prices based on your cost data.
ROI (Return on Investment)
Set a target ROI percentage, and the repricer calculates the selling price that achieves it. The formula is: Price = Cost x (1 + ROI%). For example, if your cost is $10.00 and you set 40% ROI, the repricer prices the product at $14.00. The repricer recalculates whenever your cost changes, keeping your ROI consistent across your catalog.
Profit Margin
Set a target profit margin percentage, and the repricer calculates the selling price that achieves it. The formula is: Price = Cost / (1 - Margin%). For example, if your cost is $10.00 and you set a 30% profit margin, the repricer prices the product at $14.29.
Fixed Profit
Add a fixed dollar amount on top of your cost. The formula is: Price = Cost + Profit. For example, if your cost is $10.00 and you set a $3.00 fixed profit, the repricer prices the product at $13.00. This is useful when you want a consistent dollar profit per unit regardless of product cost.
Compare-at price
Storefront strategies can also configure the compare-at (strikethrough) price that customers see on your storefront. You can set it to automatically use the previous price, apply a markup above the selling price, or use a manually set value. See Compare Price (Shopify) for all the options.
How it all comes together
Here's a concrete example for a marketplace strategy. Suppose you set: competition target to Buy Box Price, mode to Beat by $0.05, and competitor filter to Exclude Amazon. If the current Buy Box winner (who isn't Amazon) has a price of $24.99, the repricer sets your price to $24.94. It always respects your price floor and safety nets.
For a storefront example: if you choose Profit Margin at 25% and a product costs you $20.00, the repricer sets the price to $26.67 ($20 / (1 - 0.25)).