Put all repricers on suicide watch: How I caught most major Amazon repricing tools lying about the blindspots of their software in one wide-reaching sting operation.
Video: The sting operation I performed on all major repricing tools
Warning: All Amazon repricers on suicide watch
Are repricers being honest about their limitations and blindspots? Are they actually repricing your inventory the way they claim they are?
What follows is a email-based sting operation I performed on every major Amazon repricing software tool, to answer this question:
“Are they honest about the data blindspots of the software, that directly impact the profits of their users?”
I’ll recap what these “blindspots” are in a second, but two quick details so you undrestand this is serious:
- These blindspots directly impact the profits of anyone anyone using Amazon repricers.
- No repricing tools publicly acknowledge these blindspots exist.
The sting operation: Catching repricing software companies lying
My goal with this: to expose the deception perpetrated by Amazon repricing companies, concealing the limitations of their software.
These limitations (or “blindspots”) directly impact the profits of many of the Amazon sellers who use their tools. Currently, sellers are making uninformed decisions because repricing tool companies aren’t being honest.
Tens of thousands (hundreds?) of Amazon sellers are impacted by this blindspot and unknowingly have their profits impacted by inventory that exists in blindspots
that repricing companies don’t admit exist.
(more on that in a second)
The goal of this report is to force that honesty, and “inspire” (shame?) these companies into honesty.
Backstory: What are these”repricer blindspots”?
I’ve already dedicated two articles (and videos) to this, so I’m only going to recap this briefly.
While there are two blindspots, at least understanding the seriousness of Blindspot #1 (the “FBA blindspot”) is mandotory. Without this understanding, you won’t understand what’s being revealed in the “smoking gun emails” portion of this article (the most important part, at the end).
The other blindspot (and why I’m not talking about it here)
I have repeated there are two blindspots that impact repricers, but in this article, I’m only confronting repricing software companies about one. Why?
Because no repricer is concealing the other blindspot (what I call the “Bundle Blindspot“). This is the blindspot that prevents repricing tools from “seeing” a full, continuous list of offers from lowest to highest.
Perhaps the reason it’s not concealed is that it’s impossible to conceal it: Just about every seller who uses a repricer wants the ability to price against the 2nd or 3rd lowest competitor. But no repricer (except one) offers this. Because they simply can’t get the data.
The FBA Blindspot Explained (again), briefly
This means that any item in your inventory that has a competing FBA offer in the “blindspot” will either:
- Be repriced too low.
- Not be repriced at all.
Take that in. Read it slowly. And if you’re hearing about this for the first time, sorry if I ruined your day.
This is 100% real (and 100% as bad as it sounds). If you need proof this is a real thing, or want more info, you can explore this blindspot in-depth.
But it’s mandatory you understand the FBA blindspot before continuing. So read that again slowly if it hasn’t sunk in yet.
Have I documented a “real” conspiracy?
This article includes screenshots from some of the biggest names in repricing software being dishonest about the FBA Blindspot. What’s happening here? is this a literal cover up, or is it something more benign?
It should be obvious by now that actually admitting to the Blindspot would have a big impact on their credibility of any software tool. They have an intense
financial interest in covering this up.
Imagine telling your customers:
“Hey we can automate your repricing, unless you’re an FBA seller and unless you sell in the most popular categories, in which case we’re pretty sure we’ll reprice your items accurately, but we can’t totally guarantee it.”
This would be totally ruinous to their credibility. When it comes to repricing, being “close enough” is never acceptable to any Amazon seller. Being honest and forthright about the Blindspot would compromise trust with their users to a devastating degree.
Why no repricer can claim ignorance as a defense
When I get to these screenshots, there might be a temptation to defend these companies by thinking they just don’t know about the FBA blindspot.
To address that: It’s impossible to program and operate a reprcing tool and not know about the FBA Blindspot. We can cross that excuse off the list.
If I was an Amazon repricing software company, I would probably justify not being forthright about the Blindspot with some logic like “It only impacts a small number of products relative to the entirety of Amazon’s catalog, so its not a big deal if we don’t admit the Blindspot exists.”
But as discussed, for FBA sellers selling in the heavily impacted categories – the Blindspot results in regular mispricing that adds up to big numbers at the end of the year (or week or month, depending on the size of your inventory). So this logic doesn’t hold.
The emails published below pushes repricing companies “lie of omission” into a deliberate coverup.
How Amazon sellers are in denial about their repricers
“But MY repricer doesn’t have blindspots…”
Since I published my first article about the FBA blindspot, I heard the above comment over a dozen times.
The level of “Blindspot Denial” in the Amazon selling world can be attributed to a couple things.
On a basic level, we develop a weird tribal connection with the tools that facilitate our business. We trust them and don’t want to believe they would harm us. The denial is a weird kind of protective instinct.
Adding to this is the exact problem I’ve documented in this article: Any suspicions that lead sellers to contact their Amazon repricer find their suspcions quickly alleviated by repricers simply denying they exist. This causes sellers to gloat – “See, MY repricing tool doesn’t have a blindspot…”
Sure, okay.
The denial among some sellers approaches cult-level.
Reminder: Repricing blindspots don’t announce themselves
On top of everything above, there’s a misunderstanding that any inventory affected by the Blindspot will somehow announce itself. That if you go to reprice your inventory and there’s an FBA offer outside the bottom 20, alarm bells will start going off, an error message will pop up, and Jeff Bezos will text you his condolences.
That’s not how it works. You’ll simply never know.
And on top of allllll that, there’s this vague and uninformed belief that surely your repricer must have “figured this out.” You signed up through a slick website, you saw their slick videos and hear they have 50 employees and think surrrrrely their software developers have “solved this.”
This fails to understand that this is not a limitation of technical talent – it’s a hard-stop limitation imposed by Amazon. All the begging and “hacks” in the world won’t overcome it if a reprcier chooses to be API-dependent. It’s extremely tempting to rely on Amazon’s API – the Amazon “data hose” – and accept the associated limitations which they see as minor.
But for Amazon sellers, it’s not minor.
Now, let’s get to the climax…
My sting operation email
I knew carrying out this sting operation would illicit major hate from the repricing tool companies (and some sellers) and I had to insure my inquiry was fair and bulletproof.
In short: I didn’t want anyone to be able to say the email I sent was leading or the slightest bit confusing.
Remember: the plan was to pose as prospective customer and ask a clear question, giving them the opportunity to be honest about the FBA blindspot.
Let’s check out the email I settled on:
Hello
Question before I sign up:
Does <repricer name> have any data blindspots?
When repricing, will I always be able to see (and compete against) the lowest FBA price?
In other words: Can I tell <repricer name> to match the lowest FBA offer for an item and have it match that price 100% of the time?
Are there any exceptions, or anything that would limit my ability to always compete against the lowest FBA price?
Thanks.
Peter
The logic behind my email
I wanted to ask a clear question, restated several ways, so that none of the repricer companies could come back and claim they didn’t understand the question. I think I accomplished the primary goal which was to leave only two options: They admit the blindspot, or they get caught in a lie.
I rephrased the question several different ways, to eliminate any ambiguity. I think anyone would agree I provided a clear question that allowed for every opportunity to be truthful about *any* limitations of their software.
Their responses are reprinted in full, except for a couple instances where their responses were so verbose or technical that copying the full response was excessive. I
never left anything out to create an exaggerated sense of omission or deception.
The hit list: Which repricers I targeted
In preparing for this, I counted 32 automated repricers (I probably missed some). However the number I emailed was significantly lower for the reasons that follow.
Here’s every reason I did not contact a repricing tool:
European-only: If they catered primarily to the European market, I did not contact them.
No contact info: Several repricers have no contact information posted. This strongly indicates they are either out of business, or un-serious tools that have few users and aren’t relevant.
“Enterprise” tools: If a tool had a four-figure monthly price tag and primarily catered to huge megasellers, I excluded them from this report.
Repricers bundled with other tools: Some companies offer repricing tools as a very small part of a bigger package, bundling it with products like accounting software, inventory management tools, etc. These are generally bare-bones tools and aren’t relevant to most sellers.
This brings the total number of Amazon repricers were contacted and responded to 17. These include all the major Amazon repricers you are likely to consider as a small to midsize seller.
The final statistics
Before we get to the screenshots, here are the final stats:
Repricing companies contacted: 22
Repricing companies who did not admit the blindspot: 15
Repricing companies who were honest: 2
Repricing companies who didn’t respond: 5
Which repricers didn’t respond at all?
Five repricing companies simply didn’t respond (yes, I checked spam):
- Seller Republic
- Ki Magic
- Repricer Express
- FeedVisor
- Seller Dynamics
What can we take from this? One of two things:
One, they have abandoned their products. This happens. Doesn’t mean the repricers don’t work or are “out of business” per se, just that their founders have abandoned them and they run on autopilot, with little to no ongoing technical support or customer service. These are not serious companies.
Two, maybe they didn’t respond because they just didn’t want to be forced to admit the FBA Blindspot.
Here it is: Every repricer caught denying the blindspot
Let’s get into it…
Informed repricer
“There are no blindspots so you are able to setup a strategy that will allow you to compete with the lowest FBA seller on the listing.”
Notes: As smoking gun as it gets. Also note as we go on how many companies respond with absolute terms like “no,” “none,” “always,” “never,” or “100%.” They’re not even sending delicately-worded, lawyer-approved responses. They literally think you’re stupid.
Repricer.com (Xcellco)
“Yes, Repricer can do that. You can set the rule in such a way that it will always match the lowest FBA price (exception would only be if the competition went below your minimum”
Bquool
“…if your eligible lowest FBA competitor is outside of your set Min and Max price range, your price will not match their price.”
Note: Their first response (not shown) was awkward and didn’t address my question. I rephrased the question and added my follow up in a single email, which means they were responding to a somewhat different email than other companies. To keep full transparency, the full email is above.
Bqool is probably the biggest repricer out there and the one most promoted by various “gurus.”
ChannelMax
“Yes…By default, we will always match your price with the lowest FBA price.”
Notes: There’s that absolutist language again: “always.”
Alpha Repricer
“Thank you for your interest. No, we do not have any data blindspots. Yes, you will always be able to compete with the lowest FBA price.”
Notes: Okay.
NeatoScan
“Yes, you can always compete against the lowest FBA price. In some cases we might not know certain details about “who” currently is the lowest, but Amazon always returns to us the lowest price point. So you can always match that.”
Notes: This response seems to give a nod to the FBA Blindspot in saying “we might not know certain details about who is currently the lowest.” But then retreats from a full confession.
Profit Protector Pro
“We also have a non-algorithmic strategy, Match low fba. This strategy does exactly as it says and matches the lowest FBA price.”
Notes: Doesn’t really answer my question, but dodging the question is an answer just the same.
Eva
“Eva will always update the prices based on the rules such as competing against the lowest FBA; the only exception can be – Amazon is not responding or the queue process is not working ( Amazon is a 5×9 available system meaning 99.999% availability but there are moments of not updating)- Amazon suppressed or took out the listing, so there is a listing-related problem.”
M2E / Magneto
“Amazon is also your competitor, so it will be displayed in the Repricing Tool, there should be no particular limitations I know of to compete with the lowest FBA Price.”
SellerActive
“From a data perspective, there aren’t any blindspots – we’re able to access the same data as anyone else.”
Seller Snap
<super-confusing answer – I’ll let you read it above, but suffice to say this uses a lot of words to avoid answering the blindspot question>
StreetPricer
“Amazon gives us the lowest 20 offers, it’s more of a limitation on their end that affects all major repricers. However, that still should have no impact, as we get the lowest 20, which are naturally ranked by lowest offer, so you shouldn’t miss out on being matched against the lowest FBA. Would be exceedingly rare that it would affect repricing.”
Notes: This one needs context. Their first response requested clarification, and I decided to go off script and ask directly about the “top 20” Amazon API limitation. Their dismissive response (see image #2 above), that any impact would be “exceedingly rare,” lays bare either their extreme hubris or extreme ignorance – both of which we see throughout this expose.
RepriceIQ (formerly Nu Price)
“Amazon gives us the lowest 20 offers, it’s more of a limitation on their end that affects all major repricers. However, that still should have no impact, as we get the lowest 20, which are naturally ranked by lowest offer, so you shouldn’t miss out on being matched against the lowest FBA. Would be exceedingly rare that it would affect repricing.”
Notes: This one is complicated. They could have gotten a passing grade if they had worded things differently.
One one hand, the first response was upfront about the “lowest 20” limitation. On the other it lacked the clarification that getting the Buy Box offer is not synonymous with the lowest FBA offer. This is an important distinction.
Aura repricer
“You can set your strategy to match the lowest FBA 100% of the time.”
Notes: “!00% of the time.” Doesn’t get more absolute than that.
Channable
<I can’t really make any sense of their lengthy email, but suffice to say the blindspot question was not answered.>
Who passed this test? Repricers who were honest
Credit where it’s due: Two repricing software companies were very forthright about the FBA blindspot.
Sellery
“The one major blind spot would be if you were targeting FBA prices when there are more then 20 or 30 other sellers with them mostly being merchant fulfilled.”
Notes: This is a great response and something every repricing tool should take as a guide.
RepriceIt
“Like all 3rd party repricing services, we only have access to the lowest 20 offers on Amazon. If the lowest priced FBA is outside of the lowest 20 offers, then we would not be able to price you against that offer.”
Notes: This is just about the perfect response. No sugar-coating or ambiguity. Direct and honest.
What have we learned about the state of Amazon repricing software?
This has been a long ride. Let’s recap a few things we’ve learned:
- Amazon limits what data 3rd party software can “see.”
- This limitation prevents any listing not priced in the lowest 20 from being shared.
- Repricing software companies have a strong financial interest in covering up this Blindspot.
- I contacted 22 repricing tools and asked them if their software had blindspots.
- 15 concealed the FBA Blindspot.
- 2 were honest
I don’t have any big empowering takeaway here. The repricing software world has a big honesty problem.
Now you know who you can trust (not many), and who you can’t.
Since this one is going to make me some enemies, I have to mention one thing: If anything happens to me, I’m not suicidal.
-Peter Valley
PS: Share this in Facebook groups and get the word out.
PPS: Of course I’m going to mention there is one repricer that has no blindspots. It’s called NeuroPrice.
- Works directly on the Amazon page.
- Has no data blindspots (only repricer that can say that).
- Let’s you compare against your 2nd & 3rd lowest competitors (also the only repricer that can say that)
- Built to be the world’s simplest repricer (without holding back on features).
- Offers the precision of manual repricing, with the automation of repricing software.
- Works directly inside Amazon Seller Central.
See a demo of NeuroPrice in action.
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