Amazon seller nightmare: “buy-box suppression”
Jason Boyce, CEO and Founder of Avenue7Media, isn’t convinced that Amazon is using seller fees to buoy its other retail business, but supports many of the ILSR findings.
In his view, the “most nefarious thing” Amazon does to independent sellers is what Boyce calls buy-box and search suppression.
When looking at an item, shoppers often see “add to cart” and “buy now” buttons, which Amazon gives to eligible sellers. But if Amazon sees the product on another site at a lower price – say Walmart – those buttons are replaced by “see all buying options,” said Boyce. Without the one-click buttons, sales can tank.
The same delisting can happen in the Amazon search function. “If you get your product above the fold, you can have wild success,” Boyce said. Anything below that first page spells doom for sellers.
