Amazon's Price Went Up After Your eBay Sale: What to Do

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You sold at $30 expecting a $22 cost. When you go to buy, Amazon says $27. It will happen to you, usually on a day you're busy.

Your three options

1. Buy anyway and absorb the thinner margin. Often the right call. A sale at break-even or a small loss keeps your cancellation rate clean, which is worth more than a few dollars.
2. Find a cheaper listing of the same item, same variant, from a trustworthy seller.
3. Cancel. The last resort. Cancellations count against you, and you can't treat them as free.

A simple decision rule

Decide in advance how much loss per order you'll tolerate before cancelling, and make cancelling the exception. A small, planned loss allowance is usually cheaper than the account damage from repeated cancellations.

Make it rare

• Price with a cushion above break-even so small moves don't hurt.
• Reprice often. The longer a price sits, the more likely it's stale.
• Avoid volatile items and ones with frequent deal-driven swings.

The math is in Lesson 4, and our dynamic pricing guide goes deeper.