Pricier appliances, snacks, and electronics: Amazon sellers are raising prices on some of the site's most popular items
Data from SmartScout, an e-commerce analytics company, shows that Amazon sellers have already raised prices on some of the marketplace's most popular products to all-time highs.
Scott Needham, the company's founder and CEO, said SmartScout identified nearly 900 products on Amazon that are currently listed at their highest prices ever. All the products are top items on Amazon and sell at least 1,000 units monthly. SmartScout analyzed over 100,000 listings to arrive at the more than 800 listings that had raised prices.
The average increase in the listings with higher prices was 29%. A quarter of the sellers raising prices are based in China.
The price changes went into effect in the two weeks immediately following President Donald Trump's announcement of tariffs, on April 2, which he called " Liberation Day." While Trump put a 90-day pause on most tariffs, those on China-made goods have gone into effect, leading many e-commerce sellers to explore raising prices or diversifying their supply chain.
Sellers have the discretion to determine their own prices on Amazon, but those who do raise their prices risk losing the coveted buy box. "Winning" the buy box is crucial because it means your listing is the default purchase option and has the "Add to Cart" button on it, increasing the odds of beating competing listings to a sale.
The buy box algorithm compares listed prices on Amazon to those on the same product at competitors, incentivizing sellers to always have their lowest price on Amazon.
Popular snacks, kids' toys, home appliances, and clothing are among the Amazon listings with higher prices than before. Several are well-known brands, like US home goods brand Zulay Kitchen and Chinese electronics accessories brand Anker, which each have four products on SmartScout's list. Hong Kong-based smart device brand Govee raised prices on 11 of its best-selling items.
Even some items sold by Amazon Basics — Amazon's own private label — have gotten more expensive by a few dollars and cents, including things like batteries, USB cables, and melatonin gummies.
An Amazon representative disputed SmartScout's findings, saying it examined only a "tiny fraction of items in our store."
"We have not seen the average selling prices of products change up or down appreciably outside of typical fluctuations across the hundreds of millions of items on Amazon," the spokesperson said.
Anker and Govee did not immediately return requests for comment from BI.
Tariffs are forcing businesses to make 'massive pivots'
Zulay Kitchen founder and CEO Aaron Cordovez told Business Insider the Florida-based brand is raising prices because it does not believe the tariff situation will resolve soon.
"Right now, the vast majority of our products are coming out of China, and we believe it will take about six months to get a good amount coming from other countries," Cordovez told BI in an email. "We need to not blow through our stock while we figure out how to bring in product from elsewhere."
Dozens of Amazon sellers signed a petition earlier this month asking Amazon to consider revisiting its buy box policies amid the turmoil created by tariffs.
"Businesses need to react quickly to the tariffs, which have been changing daily, and right now they can't pivot fast enough due to the buy box suppressions from price increases," David Cassarino, director of Amazon marketing at digital growth firm National Positions, told BI.
He said he signed the petition because he believed his clients needed greater flexibility to raise prices without affecting their buy-box position.
Cordovez said it would take about a year to "solve" most of the brand's supply chain problems.
"Our business does not work with the tariffs unless we make massive pivots, so that's what we're doing, and it includes price increases," he said.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in an interview on CNBC that he expected sellers would have to pass on the extra cost of tariffs to customers.
"I understand why, I mean, depending on which country you're in, you don't have 50% extra margin that you can play with," he said.
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