This article features an important, if not the most important, ”box” in the Amazon website called the Buy Box. You’ll find the Buy Box at the right side of an item’s page details:
The Buy Box makes it easier for customers to purchase an item because it only takes them one click. Poof! The buyer is happy. The seller, perhaps happier. In fact, 85% of sales come from the Buy Box, that’s how necessary it is to have one.
However, not all sellers (or items) have the Buy Box option. Whether you’re a young or seasoned seller, the Buy Box is something that you earn and have to fight for with good seller metrics and competitive pricing.
Here is an example of an item without the Buy Box. Instead, you’ll read “See Buying Options” and “Available from these sellers.” These two are clues that the seller wasn’t able to secure the Buy Box for this item.
When Amazon no longer shows the Buy Box, it is simply called a Suppressed Buy Box.
But the question is: Why does Amazon do this?
There are many reasons why this might be happening. But the main one is when Amazon suppresses the Buy Box, this means that Amazon believes that your price for an item is too expensive. Among other things, the price is a HUGE factor that Amazon considers whether or not it will show the Buy Box on your item’s page details.
Case in point, the Argan 5+ Ultra Rich Body Butter is priced from £12.99. When you click the “See Buying Options”, you will see a list of sellers with the lowest to the highest prices. This means that £12.99 (and up) is already too expensive for the Argan 5+ Ultra Rich Body Butter.
This is Amazon saying, “We’re not going to give you the Buy Box because your price is too high, but we’re going to show your item.”
But this is actually frustrating for potential customers because the more clicks they do, the less they’re likely to buy, especially when they see a list of different sellers with different prices! If you’re the customer, what is your first instinct? You might end up surveying each item and seller to see whether the product is worth it, right?
The last thing you want is for your customer to spend so much time clicking, surveying, and thinking about whether to buy an item or not. Now, how can you get the Buy Box back?
Bring your price down. It is the only way!
But here’s an interesting observation. While having the Buy Box is great and definitely easier for sellers, there are a lot of the times when sales still come in even with a Suppressed Buy Box.
Here’s my tip: Don’t be afraid to take a risk. Raise that price, but watch your sales. You can use a Keepa graph to monitor prices because a product is still going to sell without the Buy Box as long as your price is competitive.