How to Check Amazon Price History: 3 Tools to Track Product Prices
Prices on Amazon fluctuate constantly. Numerous factors contribute to price fluctuations, including peak sales periods such as Prime Day and Black Friday, seasonal variations, shifts in the market landscape, and the impact of holidays, among others. In this ever-changing landscape, monitoring price trends becomes a must-have strategy for both sellers and consumers.
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Why Is It Important to Check Price Changes?
Examining a product's price history on Amazon is crucial for both buyers and sellers.
For customers, it helps them identify true discounts, allowing them to determine whether a deal is genuine or just a marketing tactic. Understanding price fluctuations can help buyers time their purchases, avoid impulse buying, and manage their budget effectively.
For sellers, analyzing price history is a crucial component of the product research process because it provides invaluable insights into competitors’ pricing strategies and broader market trends. This information enables you to assess a product's profitability, which allows for a more nuanced approach to mitigating the risks associated with dynamic pricing strategies.
But how can you keep track of these price changes without the hassle of combing through so many product pages every day? Here are some efficient methods to help you streamline this task.
How to See Price History on Amazon
There are a number of apps you can use to track prices on Amazon. We’ve featured three tools here that will give you the pricing information you need to make an informed decision:
1. AMZScout PRO AI Extension
The AMZScout PRO AI Extension is a Google Chrome extension that allows you to see all sorts of in-depth insights on any product sold on Amazon’s website.
Here’s how to use the PRO AI Extension to view a product’s price history:
1. Install the AMZScout PRO Extension (available on a free trial).
2. Search for a product or niche on the Amazon website.
3. Open the tool. When the results come up, click on the PRO AI Extension icon in the top right corner of your browser.
4. Review the dashboard. All of the products that appeared in your search will now be listed in the PRO AI Extension, along with metrics like rank, price, FBA fees, net margin, estimated sales, reviews, and more.
5. Check the Amazon price history. Click on the arrow next to a product, open the dropdown menu, and then click Product History. This will bring up a graph that displays the sales, rank, and price of the product over the last two years.
6. Review the data chart. The grey line indicates the price. Move your mouse over the graph to see the exact price for a specific date.
It’s also a good idea to review the price history of any item you’re thinking of selling on Amazon. Ideally, you want to find a product with a fairly consistent price. This tells you that:
The price is unlikely to experience a significant sudden drop. If it does, this could harm your profit margins.
The product isn’t too competitive. Numerous of price fluctuations often mean merchants are fighting for the lowest price.
This item maintains steady sales throughout the year. If you observe price decreases during specific times of the year, it's probably a seasonal product.
By reviewing a product’s price history, you can identify consistent pricing, avoid investing in overly competitive products, and spot seasonal fluctuations. Below, we’ll share two more useful tools that can help you analyze vital information on product prices and more.
2. Product Database
The AMZScout Product Database is a powerful search tool that helps you generate product ideas. It includes a number of filters, such as sales, reviews, price, weight, and more to help you narrow your search and look up items that meet your strict criteria. It also includes a price history feature for any product you find with the tool.
Here’s how to use the Product Database to view an item’s price history:
Set filters. Enter your search criteria for the products you would like to check. These criteria may include minimum/maximum monthly sales, reviews, price range, or weight. If you need inspiration, you can also utilize the Product Selections feature.
Click on "Find Products" to initiate your search. Your results will be displayed below.
Select the product you are interested in and click the chart icon located beneath the price.
Analyze the pricing data. This chart will show you the item’s price and rank, with the price represented by the yellow line. You can adjust the timeframe to one month, two months, one year, two years, or all time.
For the most information, click “All-Time” to see the product’s price history over its entire lifespan. This will let you see how the price has changed year to year and if there are certain seasons that result in more sales.
3. Amazon Dropshipping, Arbitrage, and Wholesale
Another valuable tool for tracking an item's price history is the AMZScout Amazon Dropshipping, Arbitrage, and Wholesale extension. Similar to the popular Camelcamelcamel extension, this tool offers much more detailed insights, and allows you to check the Buy Box price, Amazon price, FBA and FBM minimums, while also providing metrics such as sales, rank, and even calculating potential product profits.
Here's a step-by-step guide on how to use the extension to view an item's price history:
Install the AMZScout Amazon Dropshipping, Arbitrage, and Wholesale extension.
Open Amazon and search for the product you wish to check.
Go to the product page where you will see a window adjacent to the product listing.
Click the "Show Rank, Price and Buy Box History" button to view the chart.
Analyze the data. The graph displays the item's rank and price, with different colored lines representing various prices. You can select timeframes of one month, two months, one year, two years, and all-time.
This tool can assist you in analyzing price variations when you are planning to resell products and developing a smart pricing strategy.
Products Showing Genuine Price Decreases
Price tracking is particularly significant, not only during major sales events like Prime Day in July and October, or Black Friday, but also in the broader context of price fluctuations. Customers seek assurance that any price reductions are genuine rather than the result of strategic manipulation through temporary discounts. Prices may drop for various reasons, including shifts in supply and demand, changes in production costs, seasonal trends, or competitive pressures in the marketplace.
Let’s look at a few examples of different price drops to help us understand whether they are authentic or intended:
Adjustable Dumbbells: Throughout the year, the price of this item mostly hovered near its upper limit, with some temporary dips. On July 1st, ahead of Prime Day 2024, the price was modified but did not surpass the upper threshold. This was followed by a drop from $149.99 to $109.49, and the orange line on the chart shows a noticeable sales boost following the price reduction during Prime Day.
Wireless Bluetooth Headphones: On Prime Day of July 16-17, and afterward, the price of this item fell from $299.99 to $169.99. This example showcases how sales events can drastically affect product pricing.
Heated Gloves: This is a seasonal product that sees stable pricing between February and October, followed by a price drop in October that coincides with an increase in sales. This trend is marked by several significant spikes in demand, particularly after Black Friday, during the New Year, and at the end of January. These fluctuations are driven by seasonal shopping behaviors and consumer anticipation of discounts during key holiday periods.
Home Folding Treadmill: During Black Friday of 2023, and before Christmas holidays, the price of this item decreased from $299 to a minimum of $222.99. Remarkably, there were two price drops: on Black Friday and in early December. This pattern highlights a strategic pricing approach that capitalizes on post-sale momentum and the ongoing consumer interest in holiday shopping.
Rowing Machine: This product features a consistently fluctuating price, oscillating between $249.99 and $199.99 nearly every month, seemingly independent of any promotional sales events. Such erratic pricing behavior can create a sense of urgency among consumers, compelling them to make purchases at what they perceive to be a favorable rate, regardless of traditional sale periods.
These examples illustrate how significant sales events, such as Prime Day and Black Friday, can result in considerable price reductions, providing authentic savings for customers who diligently track pricing trends. Additionally, these fluctuations can reflect seasonal demand or any other sellers’ strategies. By analyzing these patterns, sellers can effectively align their pricing tactics with market dynamics and consumer behavior in order to optimize both sales and inventory management.
And with regard to consumers, they can confidently take advantage of real discounts and avoid falling prey to misleading promotions by staying informed and tracking price history.
What Factors Cause Amazon Prices to Change?
When examining the price history of products on Amazon, it is crucial to comprehend the factors that contribute to price fluctuations.
Here are a few reasons the price of a product might change throughout the year:
Competition: When multiple sellers are competing for the buy box there’s a lot of pressure to have the lowest price. As a result, sellers might lower their price in order to win the buy box and generate more sales.
Demand: As a product becomes more popular people will be willing to pay a higher price for it. Sellers recognize this and bump up their prices as the demand increases.
Supply: If there’s a limited supply of a certain product it inherently makes it more valuable. So, sellers will usually increase their price if they know they have something that’s in short supply.
Time of Year: Some items sell better during certain times of the year. For example, pool toys sell better in the summer and snow shovels sell better during the winter. Sellers will raise the prices of their products when they’re in high demand and lower their prices when people are less likely to buy them.
Sale Season: Price drops during Amazon sales events like Prime Day and Black Friday can lead to significant savings on popular products. These discounts are often time-sensitive, encouraging customers to act quickly to secure the best deals.
These are just a few of the reasons prices might rise and fall. These changes happen regularly, sometimes daily, so it’s important to monitor the price of your products as much as possible.
Conclusion
Staying informed about price fluctuations on Amazon, especially during major sales events, is key to making informed purchasing and selling decisions. By actively monitoring price trends, customers can ensure that they’re taking advantage of genuine discounts and securing the best possible value, while sellers can refine their strategies to stay competitive in a dynamic marketplace.