I’ve seen competitors running deals where their sale price is only $0.01 lower than their normal selling price—like $209.99 normally, then $209.98 for a Lightning Deal.
I always thought Amazon required a meaningful discount to run a deal. Does anyone know how this is even possible?
Answers (4)
A few important notes:
The real secret is having a high, system-recognized List Price.
For example:
Since $209.99 is already below the 85% threshold, the system only enforces the 30-day low rule. So you can run a deal at $209.98 and still be compliant.
A lot of it comes down to how Amazon calculates your minimum allowed deal price. It doesn’t just look at your current price—it pulls three different values and uses the lowest one as your floor.
Most categories require at least a 15% discount off your listed MSRP/List Price. If that number is higher than your actual selling price, it won’t restrict you.
This includes every price you’ve sold at—coupons, Prime exclusives, previous deals, everything. If your regular price is already your 30-day low, you only need to beat it by $0.01.
Net price = your price after all discounts stacked (sale + coupons + promotions). This can drag your minimum deal price even lower if you use heavy discounts.
Amazon picks the smallest number from those three. That’s why some sellers only need a $0.01 drop to qualify.