Enforce Your MAP Policy on Amazon

Now is The Time To Enfore Your Map Policy
Your Complete Guide To An Amazon Map Policy
Everything You Need Below

How to Remove MAP Violators and map violations

What is Amazon's Minimum Advertising Pricing?

Manufacturers' minimum advertised price (MAP) is a regulation that defines the lowest price at which their distributor or reseller can advertise the goods online or in marketing materials, but it does not dictate the price at which they can sell it in physical stores or in private transactions.

For example, the manufacturer may stipulate in a reseller agreement that the product cannot be offered for less than $159, or the minimum advertised price. The manufacturer has the right to terminate the contract if the distributor or reseller sells the product for less.

MAP pricing (get your Map Agreement ready) is separate from price maintenance agreements, which are prohibited since they set a minimum price at which something can be sold.

There are several reasons why MAP pricing is beneficial. It avoids pricing "race to the bottom" rivalry and protects a brand's margins by establishing a minimum level. It also enables smaller merchants to compete with larger retailers that can sell at the lowest feasible price.

MAP policies also aid in the preservation of a brand's value. Consumers will come to expect that price if the product is frequently sold at a lower price than its actual value. They may also have difficulty differentiating your goods from a comparable but lower-quality or counterfeit item.

On Amazon, How Can I Enforce my MAP Pricing?

If you want to properly enforce your MAP policy on Amazon, you'll have to make major adjustments to your current business practices. But, in most cases, the time and effort are well worth it. When done correctly, you may raise your margins, strengthen your connections with your distributors, and develop a monitoring system that works for your company.

Why Is It So Difficult To Manage MAP Pricing On Amazon?

On Amazon, MAP pricing affects both sellers and brand owners in distinct ways.

If the distributor fails to inform you of these policies, you may not even be aware that they exist as a seller. And, depending on how the producer prepares it, they may not even apply to you.

If you're a brand owner or manufacturer, keeping track of and managing MAP pricing across a big distribution network can be difficult. You must keep track of each Amazon seller of your product and keep an eye out for stated prices that are too low. This is difficult for Amazon US because their stores do not reveal legitimate company organizations. Amazon UK makes things a little easier because each seller's storefront offers legal information about who they are.

Furthermore, any violators of your policy on Amazon must be dealt with completely by you, the brand or the manufacturer. Amazon refuses to police Minimum Advertised Price agreements and does not recognize them.

However, if you don't take action against violations, your resellers may continue to cut prices in order to obtain the Amazon buy box. Low pricing, on the other hand, reduces your margins, drain your profits, and obscure your brand's genuine worth.

Why Are Amazon Sellers Not Adhering To MAP Policies?

There are a few reasons why Amazon sellers don't always adhere to MAP pricing standards.

To begin with, many Amazon merchants are reselling products without the permission of the brands they carry. These resellers typically stock a wide range of products from a variety of manufacturers. Because these vendors have no meaningful relationship with a brand or explicit agreement in place, they are unconcerned about sustaining brand value.

The second reason has to do with how Amazon's marketplace is set up for selling. To make sales on Amazon, you must first earn the Buy Box. According to research, the seller whose offer is currently in the Buy Box will receive 80-90 percent of sales. When there are numerous resellers on a single product listing, Amazon determines which seller gets the Buy Box depending on a number of factors, one of which being the lowest price.

There is a huge incentive to cut prices when numerous merchants compete for the Buy Box on the same product. While resellers would prefer to sell products with larger margins, they are forced to compete nearly entirely on price on Amazon.

Is The MAP Pricing Displayed On Amazon Listings?

The MAP price is not displayed on Amazon listings. Sellers could formerly enter the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) while creating a product listing, which would then appear on the product page as a "list price."

This was usually done so that the list price could be struck through when the item was on sale for less. To prevent consumer confusion, Amazon has began taking off the display of list prices, which were frequently altered by merchants.

Your Marketing Action Plans (MAPs) Should Reflect Your Branding Efforts

MAP policies are not only a significant indicator of your business's success, but they're also a means to positively identify yourself, especially on Amazon.

Brands can defend their profit margins and maintain a constant perception of brand value among consumers by developing effective MAP rules and enforcing them consistently on Amazon. It also encourages fair competition between large and small retailers.

What Makes Enforcing Amazon MAP Pricing So Difficult For Many Sellers?

There's no denying that MAP compliance is a difficult task for many merchants. This is particularly true for merchants that sell to a large number of resellers. It can be difficult to keep track of a big distribution network of resellers.

Another factor that makes Amazon MAP enforcement difficult is that Amazon does not recognise MAP pricing policies and hence does not participate in their enforcement. It is up to the brands to come up with their own agreements and enforce them on their own.

Furthermore, Amazon will not punish resellers that break Minimum Advertised Price agreements. Because US merchants are not required to provide legal business information on their storefronts, enforcing MAP pricing on Amazon is considerably more challenging.

Despite these obstacles, merchants will need to monitor MAP pricing on Amazon on a regular basis to ensure that their MAP policies are followed and safeguarded.

Resellers can continue to undercut pricing in an attempt to attract more customers if you don't check MAP pricing on Amazon as a seller. This would not only tarnish the genuine worth of your brand, but it will also diminish your margins, among other things.

Brand Alignment Can Help You Avoid MAP Violations On Amazon. Don't Know How To Enforce Amazon's MAP Pricing?

Brand Alignment can be beneficial. We are one of the most reputable Amazon marketing agencies in the world at Brand Alignment. To ensure comprehensive MAP policy compliance and protection, we use innovative tracking systems to monitor your product's prices. For dependable MAP enforcement, contact Brand Alignment now (see how to avoid MAP violators).

Don't Have the Time to Do It Yourself?

Let us Take Care of Your Monitoring & Enforcement

The first step in removing unauthorized sellers is spotting them on your listings and that is exactly what the Brand Alignment Monitoring Dashboard will do for you. With price updates every 3 hours and inventory totals for every seller on every listing, you will get the most complete picture possible of your brand on every major online marketplace.

Of course, the most important step in removing unauthorized sellers is prevention and enforcement. This is where Brand Alignment is leagues above the competition when it comes to map policy (see policy here) enforcement software.

1
Clear over 80% of unauthorized sellers: Brand Alignment will make a custom strategy for your brand reputation to ensure the highest rates of removal
2
Control Your Authorized Channels: Daily emails informing you of authorized channel violations and price cascading events
3
Risk-Free Guarantee: Brand Alignment is so confident in their removal rates, that we will create a custom guarantee for every brand. We will remove x% of sellers or you have the option to terminate the contract early

Schedule Demo

100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Free Marketplace Evaluation

Will Enforcement Solutions Work for My Brand?

In short, the answer is Yes.

We have had our 80%-90%+ enforcement rates in every single industry we have worked in. That includes the following:

Consumer Electronics
Apparel and Shoes
Pharmaceuticals
Health & Beauty
Sports & Outdoors
Mobile Phone Accessories
And More

As you are already aware, each industry has their own bells and whistles. Please contact us if you have any specific questions about enforcement in your industry.

Are There Any Risks Involved With Enforcement?

Brand Alignment gives the brand the option of using their own personal cease & desist letters or the option to customize Brand Alignment's proven high performance Cease & Desist letters. These letters were crafted by Intellectual Property lawyers with a full focus on minimizing liability.

Any infringement complaints filed by Brand Alignment are done with the utmost care and transparency. We do not file counterfeit complaints without test buys and approval from the brand. Our trademark complaints are done with caution and all bases covered.

Finally, in this world, anybody can sue anybody for anything. But it does not mean it will stand up in court. There is nothing we can do to prevent frivolous lawsuits from disgruntled sellers. However, we do everything we can to prepare you to have any case against you quickly dismissed. After two years in business, we are proud to say that neither us or any of our brands have had any legal issues of any kind related to our service.

Brand Alignment vs The Competition

If you are new to shopping for a brand protection provider, it might be confusing to tell the difference between companies. It might sound like everybody offers the same type of monitoring and enforcement. This could not be further from the truth.

Brand Alignment

Crawls marketplaces for dynamic pricing changes every 3 hours or 8x a day
Markets monitored for price cascading are crawled every hour or 24x a day
Sends a Cease & Desist letter to every unauthorized seller on Amazon
Since 100% of all unauthorized sellers are contacted, Brand Alignment averages an 80%-90%+ Removal Rate
Uses hundreds of proprietary investigative techniques to identify personal information of sellers and supply chain sources

The Competition

Crawls marketplaces for pricing only 1x-4x a day
Markets monitored for price cascading are crawled every 3 hours or 8x a day
Requires YOU to send a Cease & Desist letter only if YOU have the email of the unauthorized seller
Since only a small percentage of unauthorized sellers are contacted, the competition averages a 10%-30% removal rate
Uses basic investigative techniques like Google searches or buying low quality lists in hopes of finding emails to send letters

How Much Money Are You Losing By NOT Switching to Brand Alignment?

What is your current Buy Box Loss percentage? How much unsold inventory do you or your authorized channels have due to Buy Box loss?
How much are you charged by Vendors for chargebacks related to price matching MAP violators?
What effect do unauthorized sellers have on your Brand Integrity when they violate MAP policy or sell refurbished, returned, or used items as New?

Are you dealing with unhappy authorized channels who have difficulty obtaining the Buy Box? Are you being turned down by potential authorized channels for not having better control of your MAP policy?
Did you know that data shows that less sales are made from 3rd party sellers having the Buy Box than from Amazon having the Buy Box?
What are your storage and warehousing costs from unsold inventory due to unauthorized sellers?

How Much Money In Sales Are You Losing Each Year Due to a Lack of Quality Brand Protection?

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100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Free Marketplace Evaluation

100% Satisfaction Guarantee

You are fully protected by our "Brand Alignment Enforcement Guarantee". If we don't reach the custom benchmarks that we agree upon during negotiation, we will give you the option to terminate the contract and you will not be charged any further.

Emmanuel Frost