Amazon Ads · Status at source date: Newsletter archive
Amazon List Price validation goes live
Oleksandr Kovalov has separately flagged that Amazon's List Price validation went live on 23 April. Strikethrough "was $X" prices must now reflect either a recent sale at that price at another retailer, or actual customer purchases at that price on Amazon as the Featured Offer.
What changed
Inflated reference prices no longer pass validation. A second change lands 18 May: the typical-price recalculation logic shifts, further tightening the rules around what counts as a legitimate strikethrough.
The combined effect, on top of the High Price label and the 23 April coupon-driven strikethrough crackdown, is that Amazon is systematically eliminating the inflated-anchor pricing strategies that have padded perceived discounts for years. Sellers running aggressive strikethrough strategies will see those visual cues disappear from their listings unless the underlying reference prices are demonstrably real.
Why it matters for advertisers
For you, this means the strikethrough pricing strategy needs a full audit before the 18 May recalculation lands. Particularly relevant for sellers who have been using inflated MSRPs or competitor-benchmark prices that don't reflect actual market reality, since those references are about to stop working as a conversion lever.
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Amazon List Price validation goes live
Oleksandr Kovalov has separately flagged that Amazon's List Price validation went live on 23 April. Strikethrough "was $X" prices must now reflect either a recent sale at that price at another retailer, or actual customer purchases at that price on Amazon as the Featured Offer. Inflated reference prices no longer pass validation. A second change lands 18 May: the typical-price recalculation logic shifts, further tightening the rules around what counts as a legitimate strikethrough.
The combined effect, on top of the High Price label and the 23 April coupon-driven strikethrough crackdown, is that Amazon is systematically eliminating the inflated-anchor pricing strategies that have padded perceived discounts for years. Sellers running aggressive strikethrough strategies will see those visual cues disappear from their listings unless the underlying reference prices are demonstrably real.
For you, this means the strikethrough pricing strategy needs a full audit before the 18 May recalculation lands. Particularly relevant for sellers who have been using inflated MSRPs or competitor-benchmark prices that don't reflect actual market reality, since those references are about to stop working as a conversion lever.
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