I've been selling a standard product (let's call it quality tier A). In this category, there are three quality tiers: A (premium), B (mid), and C (low). A costs about 2.5x C, and B costs about 1.5x C.
Two years ago, I entered with B quality and did well. But now price wars are brutal – B quality sells at C's old price. Recently, a seller with C quality came in at 70% of the old C price and shot to sub‑category top 30 in three months.
So I decided to go the opposite direction – sell A quality (premium). My thinking: the lower the price war goes, the more customers will want quality. But I'm struggling badly.
What I've tried:
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Listing is well‑optimized (or so I thought). I did 5 customer image posts and 20 reviews to set a reference price. Initial price $49.99.
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Vine gave me 4‑5 star reviews (good).
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But I hit technical issues: After merging, review sharing broke (fixed by changing GL value). Also, I have edit rights but can't reorder images – lifestyle photos took positions 2‑4, while feature comparison images got pushed back. I can't delete them.
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Ads: Started with SBV (AI‑generated video) – $4 CPC, 0 orders after $300. Stopped.
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Then ASIN targeting on the top seller of A quality – conversion hit 25‑30%, 2‑3 orders/day. But after 3 days, that ASIN ran a 14‑day deal, so I paused.
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Manual exact on two good long‑tail keywords – CPC $3.85, very low impressions (500‑600/day). For my B‑quality listing, the same keywords have CPC $1.12‑1.56.
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Auto campaign – low impressions, 8% CVR, unstable.
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Dropped price to $39.99 + 10% coupon – still only 1‑2 orders/day, never over 5.
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Ran a 30% off code + 5% coupon on a deal site – almost no effect.
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Finally dropped price to match C quality (~$20) on a core head term – CPC dropped to $1.65, conversion ~15%, still under 5 orders/day.
My current hypotheses:
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Is my listing throttled? The GL value issue (review sharing) was hidden – you only see it in FBA inventory report. Maybe other hidden problems?
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Wrong variant? The top‑selling A‑quality product has a different size. But even when I dropped price to match B quality (losing money), sales didn't improve.
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Should I raise price again and use off‑site influencers (TikTok) to drive traffic?
The product is genuinely good – B and C are just stripped‑down versions. I know the demand exists. But I'm losing confidence.
Any advice?
Answers (6)
Your ASIN targeting worked, but 2‑3 orders/day is too small. To grow, you need head terms – long‑tails alone won't give enough volume.
Possible breakthrough: Combine off‑site promotions with Best Deals for 1‑2 weeks to create a sales spike. See if you can break through the traffic ceiling.
Multi‑variant strategy: Use one variant at break‑even to drive traffic, and other variants for profit. That's how I've made it work.
Your ASIN targeting worked because you found the right audience (people already looking at premium products). That's your sweet spot. Keyword campaigns will scatter your audience.
Lowering price was risky – it hurts future deal eligibility. I've made that mistake.
My recommendations:
Improve your price structure (strikethrough, coupons)
Get more reviews with detailed comments about quality
Focus on ASIN and category targeting (filter by price range and brand)
Don't push CPC too high – fix conversion first, then CPC will naturally lower
Your biggest problem: you're not communicating value. Period.
Your lifestyle photos are sitting in positions 2‑4 (prime real estate), while your feature/comparison images are buried. That's a disaster. Let me walk you through customer psychology:
Main image → click
2nd image → "What is this?"
3rd‑4th images → "Why should I buy this? What's different?"
Later images → details, scenes
Your "A quality" is in the feature images – thicker material, better craftsmanship, durability. Those need to be 2nd and 3rd. Right now, customers see pretty room shots, then a $50 price, and think "Why is this $50 when there's a $20 option that looks similar?" Then they bounce.
Fix image order immediately – open cases, use flat file, whatever it takes. This is more urgent than any price change. I'm not kidding.
Your ad strategy: $4 CPC on SBV is suicide unless you're selling iPhones. Stop it. Use that video in related video slots or brand ads.
ASIN targeting on the top competitor – that was working. Don't pause because they run a deal. Keep it running (maybe lower budget) to maintain presence.
Manual exact with $3.85 CPC – you're paying "new seller tax" because your listing has low weight. Don't fight head terms yet. Go after long‑tails that include quality indicators like "heavy duty" or specific use cases. Lower CPC, higher intent.
Price cut to $20 was the worst move you made. Bargain hunters won't see quality, and quality seekers won't search in that price range. Raise price back to $44‑49, use a 10‑15% coupon (not direct discount), and focus on value communication.
Your action plan, no BS:
Fix image order – put quality comparison images in positions 2‑3.
Rewrite copy to emphasize "premium solution for discerning customers."
Restart ASIN targeting on top competitors – keep it running.
Create a new manual campaign with carefully selected long‑tail keywords that signal quality. Goal is CTR and CVR, not orders.
Raise price back to original range + coupon.
Use your Vine reviews – pull quality quotes into A+ and videos.
You're not selling to the mass market. You're selling to customers who want a better experience and are willing to pay for it. Your battle is about communication, not price. Got it?
Instead of direct price cuts, use Prime Exclusive Discounts or coupons. Stay at market average (or 5‑10% below). And consider running periodic Best Deals – they bring natural traffic and help keyword rank like crazy.
Quick breakdown of traffic sources:
Search traffic (keywords, category) – most important for organic rank
Related traffic (bundles, FBT)
Recommendation traffic
Deal traffic
Off‑site (TikTok, etc.)
Off‑site can help, but don't rely on it to fix everything. Core is search traffic.
Also, if C‑quality competitors are flooding the market at 70% of your price, a lot of price‑sensitive buyers will leave. You need to find your tribe – the people who actually care about quality.
Your SBV mistake: Running video ads before fixing review sharing was way too early. And AI‑generated videos? Most of them suck, sorry. Early SBV can mess up your keyword indexing and audience targeting.
ASIN targeting: You had 25‑30% conversion! Why on earth did you pause because the competitor ran a deal? Keep it running – just lower bids a little. Even during their deal, your ad still shows on their page, grabbing high‑intent traffic. Don't overthink it.
Long‑tail exact with $3.85 CPC: Dude, try phrase or broad match instead. Long‑tails have tiny search volume – exact match often gets zero impressions.
Auto campaigns: Only run them after your listing's traffic and keywords are stable. Auto is system‑driven; if your tags are a mess, auto will just amplify the mess.
Honestly, you're pausing and changing prices way too often. Amazon's algorithm needs consistency. You're confusing the hell out of it.