Amazon Reference Price Policy

Policy Details

Amazon's Reference Price Policy governs the "was" price that appears as a strikethrough on product listings. This price is meant to represent a genuine market price — either the seller's own recent price, the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), or a recent competitive price. Amazon prohibits using inflated reference prices solely to make discounts appear larger than they are. Specific rules: the list price (which becomes the reference price shown as strikethrough) must reflect the actual price at which the product is or was sold for a substantial period, either on Amazon or other channels. Setting a list price of $200 for a product you always sell for $29 — just to show a 85% discount — violates this policy. When Amazon determines a reference price is misleading, it removes the strikethrough price from the listing without warning. The listing continues to show the current price, but without the discount context. Amazon's enforcement is based on price history data — they can see every price this ASIN has been listed at on their platform over time. If your list price has never been charged to any buyer, it is likely to be flagged as a misleading reference price. Best practice: set your list price at the genuine MSRP or the highest price you actually intend to charge, and use sale/promotional prices for discounts.