Algorithmic vs rule-based repricing: which one actually grows your business?
Most sellers start with rules and outgrow them in a quarter. Here's the honest breakdown.
If you've ever caught yourself opening a spreadsheet at midnight to tweak a competitor rule, this one's for you. Rule-based repricing is comforting — until you have 500 SKUs, 6 marketplaces and a competitor who changes price every 90 seconds.
Rule-based: simple, predictable, slow
Rules are great for small catalogues. 'Match the lowest FBA seller, never go below £19.99' fits in your head and is easy to audit.
It breaks the moment your competitors start playing the same game — every rule becomes a counter-rule and you're playing whack-a-mole at 3am.
A simplified view of what the system actually does behind the scenes.
Algorithmic: signals, not rules
An algorithmic engine doesn't follow a recipe — it learns from outcomes. Did this price win the Buy Box? For how long? At what margin? Did it move stock too fast?
Over a few weeks, the model figures out the highest profitable price for each SKU on each marketplace, in each region, at each time of day. You stop writing rules and start writing guard rails.
When to switch
A rough rule: if you have more than 200 SKUs, more than 3 marketplaces, or your competitors are also using software to reprice — you've already outgrown rules. Move.
- More than 200 SKUs
- More than 3 active channels
- Competitors clearly using software
- Margins already feeling 'mysteriously' compressed
Most sellers start with rules and outgrow them in a quarter. Here's the honest breakdown.
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