Anker Is Selling on Temu Semi-Managed at Lower Prices Than Amazon — Why Haven’t They Lost the Buy Box?

I was browsing Temu semi-managed and noticed Anker has products listed at prices significantly lower than their Amazon listings. Same products, same brand — but the price gap is noticeable.

This got me thinking:

Why hasn’t Amazon pulled their Buy Box? Isn’t the algorithm supposed to flag lower prices off-Amazon?

Why is Anker, a top Amazon brand, even bothering with Temu? They don’t exactly need another sales channel.

Would love to hear from anyone who understands how Amazon’s external price checking works with Temu — and whether more big brands are quietly doing this.

Answers (6)

tinyshopenergy

2024-10-29 17:32

I’ve been in this for a while — Amazon doesn’t care about Temu pricing. The only times I’ve lost the Buy Box from external prices were when eBay or Walmart had a lower price. Temu and Shein have never triggered it. That said, I’ve also seen Temu come back and say “you need to lower your price because Amazon has a lower price.” So the pressure flows one way: Temu cares about Amazon, but Amazon doesn’t care about Temu. That asymmetry is the whole game.

Alaric Costa

2024-10-27 05:32

Some people are asking: why doesn’t Amazon punish Anker for the lower Temu price? Two reasons:
Amazon doesn’t scrape Temu for price matching — so the algorithm doesn’t see it
Even if they did, the effective price difference isn’t as big as it looks. Amazon’s price includes their fees. Temu’s price is lower because there’s no commission. After accounting for that, the net to the seller might be close. Anker isn’t losing money on Temu; they’re just capturing a different segment of buyers.

Kevin Bender

2024-10-26 05:06

Here’s how Temu’s pricing approval works: they find the lowest price for the same product on Amazon or eBay (including any discounts), then set a target of 85% of that price for your Temu listing. If you’re a brand with significant sales volume, you can sometimes skip the lowest-price comparison and just set your price at 85% of your own Amazon price. But if the product doesn’t move, they’ll come back and ask you to lower it further.

PPCLog

2024-10-25 10:18

I checked Anker’s Temu store. They actually have two: one is an official flagship store, the other is a refurbished store. My guess is the Temu flagship is either:
Clearance for slow-moving inventory that won’t sell on Amazon
A way to offload customer returns without damaging their main Amazon listings
If it’s labeled “new,” it’s likely new — but it might be from channels that aren’t Amazon. Either way, they’re managing it carefully so it doesn’t cannibalize their main Amazon presence.

Claire2024

2024-10-24 21:59

Temu’s semi-managed model actually gives you better margins than you’d expect — if you can manage fulfillment well. But the downside is unstable volume. You can get decent sales, but they’ll periodically pressure you to lower prices or pull your listings. The real reason to do it isn’t to replace Amazon — it’s to pick up incremental volume. At the end of the day, we’re just sellers. If a platform has traffic, we should be there.

Anker Is Selling on Temu Semi-Managed at Lower Prices Than Amazon — Why Haven’t They Lost the Buy Box?

Answers (6)

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