The Amazon Buy Box

I see a lot of questions about the buy box lately from our members here and in the groups. So here is what I know about how it works. The buy box ownership is not based on price alone as many people seem to think. The buy box is based off a formula that AZ uses based on the seller, and the buyer.

On the seller end of the equation, price and seller metrics are taken into account. So while I may be the lowest price, someone else may get the buy box because their metrics are better than mine. This is especially important to new sellers that often have worse metrics that their competitors. This is also why AZ will generally dominate the buy box on any listing they are on, because nobody beats their metrics. But that's just one part of the equation.

The buyers side of the equation AZ tries to match up the buyer to the seller that they feel is the best match. This has a variety of different inputs including whether the buyer is a Prime member or not and location. If I pull up a listing on my laptop and on my non-prime buying account I will see that an MF seller will have the buy box. I can go to my other computer and pull up my prime account and the buy box will be the lowest FBA seller. Because it knows that prime members buy from FBA sellers to get free shipping. Location will also come into play because AZ isn't dumb. If I pull up a jacket and there is one located in a CA warehouse near me, I'll see that seller have the buy box while Brianna up in NY will see a seller that has the item in a warehouse closer to her. So AZ will show different owners of the buy box so that they are not shipping across country and save themselves some money. Logistics.

Some factors weigh heavier than others like price. But you'll find that you've sold something $2 or $3 dollars above the competition, you'll find that you sold an item even though AZ is on the listing, or you wonder why people pay $20 more for something just because it is FBA compared to the MF seller. Dozens of reasons!