Aftermarket Catalog - Pricing

This guide explains how pricing works in the Ecommerce Aftermarket Catalog. It covers the pricing hierarchy, how to configure Pricing Rules and Price Overrides, how to troubleshoot pricing issues, and how to handle MAP violations.

How Pricing Works — The Pricing Hierarchy

Ecommerce determines the price for every product by evaluating four pricing layers in order of priority. The system stops at the first layer that provides a price. If none of the first three layers apply, the product lists at full MSRP.

Key takeaway: If a product has a Price Override, that override wins over any Pricing Rule you may have set for the brand. If it has a Dealer Inventory Price, that wins over everything else. Products with no rules, overrides, or dealer inventory prices display at full MSRP.

Understanding MSRP and Distributor Data

Ecommerce pulls Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) from distributor FTP files on a daily basis. Updated MSRP data is available in Ecommerce by 7:00 AM Pacific each morning.

Important details about this process:

• Ecommerce does not set your selling price for you. It pulls MSRP from distributors, but you are responsible for applying your own discounts and markups through Pricing Rules or Price Overrides.
• Products without any pricing configuration list at full MSRP. If you have not created a Pricing Rule for the brand and have not entered a Price Override for the SKU, the product will appear on your marketplace at the distributor-provided MSRP.
• Distributor online portals and FTP files may not match. When a brand updates its pricing, the distributor's online portal often reflects the change 1-2 days before the FTP file does. This lag is the most common cause of MAP violations (see the MAP Violations section below).

Pricing Rules

Pricing Rules are the broadest way to manipulate pricing in Ecommerce. They are designed to apply a percentage-based adjustment to an entire brand across one or more of your marketplaces.

Creating a Pricing Rule

Navigate to Aftermarket Catalog > Settings > Pricing Rules and fill in the following fields:

Important formatting rules for the value fields:

• Enter positive numbers to discount below MSRP. For example, entering 10.00    means a 10% discount off MSRP.
• Enter negative numbers to mark up above MSRP. For example, entering -5.00    means a 5% markup above MSRP.
• Do not use leading zeros before the main number (e.g., use 10.00   , not 010.00   ).
• You can set a different percentage for each marketplace, allowing you to be more competitive on one channel while preserving margin on another.

Manufacturer selection tip: Many brands have multiple variations in the system. For example, "Fly Racing" and "Fly Street" are separate entries. Make sure you select all variations of a brand when creating a rule, or some products will fall through to MSRP.

Discount Off MSRP vs. Markup Above Cost

Pricing Rules support two targets:

Discount off MSRP (Pricing Target = MSRP)

This is the most common method. Ecommerce takes the distributor-provided MSRP and reduces it by your specified percentage.

Example: MSRP is $100.00 and you enter 15.00 for your Webstore value.

Calculation: ((100 - 15) / 100) x $100.00 = $85.00

Markup above Cost (Pricing Target = Cost)

This method requires you to upload your dealer cost data into Ecommerce before the rule can function. Ecommerce will then mark up the cost by your specified percentage.

Example: Your dealer cost is $60.00 and you enter 20.00 for your Amazon value.

Calculation: ((100 + 20) / 100) x $60.00 = $72.00

To upload dealer cost data, use the File Center to import a CSV file containing your cost information for the relevant SKUs.

Rounding Options

When Ecommerce calculates a price, the result may have more than two decimal places. The rounding setting controls how Ecommerce handles this:

Choose the rounding method that fits your pricing strategy. Round Down produces a slightly lower price, which can help with competitive positioning.

Strategic Advice

• Do not simply list products at MSRP. Research competitor pricing on each marketplace before setting your percentages. Listing at full MSRP on Amazon, for example, often means your products will be buried below competitors who are discounting.
• Adjust by marketplace. A 10% discount might make you competitive on eBay while a 5% discount is sufficient for your Webstore where you have less direct competition.
• Review rules periodically. Market conditions change. Revisit your Pricing Rules at least quarterly to ensure they remain competitive.

Price Overrides

Price Overrides let you set a price for a specific distributor SKU, down to the exact penny. They operate at the individual SKU level and are marketplace-specific — you can set a different override for Amazon, eBay, and your Webstore independently.

Price Overrides always take precedence over Pricing Rules. If a product has both a Pricing Rule (from its brand) and a Price Override, the override wins.

The supported marketplaces for overrides are:

Setting a Price Override in the Ecommerce UI

Use this method when you need to override pricing on a small number of products.

1. Navigate to the Aftermarket Catalog.
2. Search for or browse to the product you want to adjust.
3. Click the MPN (Manufacturer Part Number) to open the product detail page.
4. Scroll down to the Price Overrides section.
5. Enter your desired price for the marketplace(s) you want to override.
6. Click Save.

The override will take effect on the next pricing update cycle.

Setting Price Overrides via CSV Upload

Use this method when you need to override pricing on hundreds or thousands of SKUs at once.

1. Prepare a CSV file with the required columns. At minimum, you will need the distributor SKU identifier and the override price for each marketplace.
2. Navigate to the File Center.
3. Upload your CSV file using the Price Overrides import option.
4. Ecommerce will process the file and apply the overrides.

This is the recommended approach for large-scale pricing changes, such as when you want to set specific prices for an entire product category or during seasonal promotions.

Dealer Inventory Prices

Dealer Inventory Prices represent the highest priority in the pricing hierarchy. These are prices associated with products in your own physical inventory — items you stock at your dealership rather than drop-shipping from a distributor.

When a product has a Dealer Inventory Price set, that price is used regardless of any Pricing Rules or Price Overrides that may also exist for that product. This ensures that the pricing for your in-stock inventory always reflects your local pricing decisions.

Dealer Inventory Prices are managed through the Dealer Inventory section of Ecommerce, not through the Pricing Rules or Price Overrides interfaces.

Using "Calculate Price" to Troubleshoot

The Calculate Price button is your primary diagnostic tool for understanding why a product is priced the way it is. It provides:

• The MSRP from each distributor that carries the product.
• A granular breakdown of every pricing calculation Ecommerce performed, including which rules and overrides were applied.
• A clear view of how Ecommerce arrived at the final price for each marketplace.

Important: Calculate Price is a read-only report. You cannot change pricing from this screen. It is purely informational — it shows you what happened, not where to fix it.

When to Use Calculate Price

• A product's listed price looks wrong and you are not sure why.
• You want to verify that a Pricing Rule is being applied correctly.
• You want to confirm whether a Price Override is active on a SKU.
• You need to determine which distributor's MSRP is being used.
• You are troubleshooting a MAP violation and need to see raw MSRP data.

Reading the Calculate Price Report

The report shows each distributor's MSRP for the product and then walks through the pricing hierarchy:

1. Does a Dealer Inventory Price exist? If yes, that is the final price.
2. Does a Price Override exist for this marketplace? If yes, that is the final price.
3. Does a Pricing Rule exist for this brand? If yes, the calculation is shown step by step, including the percentage adjustment and rounding.
4. If none of the above apply, the raw MSRP is shown as the final price.

If the final price is not what you expected, this report will tell you exactly which layer is responsible so you know where to make your correction — either in the Price Override, the Pricing Rule, or by contacting the distributor about incorrect MSRP data.

Removing Price Overrides

There are situations where you need to remove Price Overrides — for instance, if you set temporary promotional pricing and need to revert to your Pricing Rules, or if an override is preventing automatic MSRP updates from taking effect.

Removing Overrides for a Few Products

Follow these steps when you only need to remove overrides from a small number of SKUs:

1. Locate the product in the Aftermarket Catalog.
2. Click the MPN to open the product detail page.
3. Scroll down to the Override Management Center / Price Overrides section.
4. Identify the override values — these are the prices displayed without a dollar sign ($). Prices shown with a dollar sign are calculated from Pricing Rules, not overrides.
5. Delete the override values (clear the fields).
6. Click Save.
7. Email Ecommerce Support and request an Emergency Price Revision for the affected SKUs so the change takes effect immediately rather than waiting for the next scheduled update.

Removing Overrides in Bulk

Follow these steps when you need to remove overrides from a large number of SKUs:

1. In the Aftermarket Catalog, filter the catalog by Manufacturer to isolate the brand(s) you want to clean up.
2. Click Export Price Overrides to download a CSV file of all existing overrides for the filtered products.
3. Open the CSV file in a spreadsheet application (Excel, Google Sheets, etc.).
4. Locate the PriceOverride.price column.
5. Clear all values in that column for the SKUs where you want to remove overrides. Do not delete the rows — just clear the price values.
6. Save the CSV file.
7. Navigate to the File Center and import the updated CSV file.
8. Email Ecommerce Support and request an Emergency Price Revision so the changes take effect immediately.

Handling MAP Violations

Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) violations occur when your listed price on a marketplace falls below the manufacturer's minimum allowed advertised price. These violations can result in warnings and, ultimately, suspension of your ability to sell the affected brand's products.

Why MAP Violations Happen

The most common cause of MAP violations in Ecommerce is a timing lag between distributor data sources.

Here is what typically happens:

1. A brand announces a price increase or MAP policy change.
2. The distributor updates their online portal with the new MSRP almost immediately.
3. The distributor's FTP file (which Ecommerce uses) is updated 1-2 days later.
4. During that 1-2 day window, Ecommerce is still using the old, lower MSRP.
5. MAP monitoring services ("MAP Police") check your listings immediately after the brand's announced change, find the old lower price, and issue a violation.

Other causes include

• Price Overrides that lock in a specific price, preventing Ecommerce from automatically updating when MSRP changes.
• Incorrect MSRP data from a specific distributor that is lower than the actual MAP price.

Violation Severity

MAP violations typically escalate through the following stages:

Take every warning seriously, even the first one. The escalation process can move quickly, and suspension can have a significant impact on your business.

Step-by-Step: Resolving a MAP Violation

Step 1: Check for Price Overrides on the affected SKUs.

Price Overrides are the most common reason a product does not update automatically when MSRP changes. If an override exists, Ecommerce uses that fixed price instead of the updated MSRP.

1. Navigate to the affected product in the Aftermarket Catalog.
2. Click the MPN to open the product detail page.
3. Scroll to the Price Overrides section.
4. If overrides exist, remove them (see the Removing Price Overrides section above).
5. Without an override in place, Ecommerce will use the Pricing Rule or MSRP, which should now reflect the corrected data.

Step 2: Review the MSRP on each SKU.

Use the Calculate Price tool to inspect the MSRP that each distributor is providing.

1. Click Calculate Price on the affected product.
2. Compare the MSRP from each distributor.
3. If one distributor's MSRP is lower than the others, that distributor likely has outdated data.
4. Contact that distributor directly and ask them to update their FTP file with the correct MSRP.

Step 3: Take emergency action if needed.

If you cannot wait for a distributor to update their data and the violation is putting your account at risk, you have two options:

• Set a temporary Price Override at or above the MAP price to immediately correct the listing. Remember to remove this override once the distributor's data is corrected, or it will prevent future automatic updates.
• Adjust fulfillment preferences to exclude the distributor with incorrect pricing (see Emergency Measures below).

Emergency Measures

If a distributor's incorrect MSRP is causing MAP violations and you need an immediate fix:

1. Navigate to your Fulfillment Preferences in Ecommerce.
2. Temporarily exclude the distributor with the incorrect pricing data. This prevents Ecommerce from using that distributor's MSRP (or fulfilling orders through them) until their data is corrected.
3. Monitor the situation and re-enable the distributor once they have updated their FTP file.

Pricing by Marketplace

Ecommerce allows you to set different pricing for each marketplace. This applies to both Pricing Rules (where you enter a separate percentage for each channel) and Price Overrides (where each override is marketplace-specific).

This flexibility is important because each marketplace has different competitive dynamics:

When setting up Pricing Rules, think about each marketplace independently. A 15% discount might be necessary on Amazon to remain competitive, while a 5% discount on your Webstore may be sufficient.

Quick Reference

Pricing Hierarchy (Highest to Lowest Priority)

Pricing Rule Value Entry

Common Troubleshooting Scenarios