What happened at Lezzet
A price raise cost more than it earned. In mid-September 2026, we raised Amazon prices by $2–4 a bag. The same week, our best-selling bag's rating fell from 4.2 to 3.6 stars, from star-only ratings with no written review. Ad conversion on that bag dropped from 12–13% to 6–8%. We cut prices back three weeks later. The lesson: change one thing at a time, and mark the date of every price change, review drop, and promotion, so you can tell what caused what.
Fees can set the price. Amazon was charging a 0% referral fee on items under $15 (a promotion; the standard rate is higher). Pricing our 250 g bag at $14.95 instead of $15.99 kept most of the margin and matched the category leader. Then we made the website match Amazon, so customers see one price everywhere.
Each size up should be cheaper per gram. It gives buyers a reason to step up.
The offer ladder. Try it, then stay:
- Try: a starter kit with the pot, at a price that reads as a deal next to buying the pieces separately.
- Stay: Subscribe & Save at a steady discount on every delivery.
Things we said no to:
- Fake "was" prices. Showing a crossed-out price nobody ever paid is a deceptive-pricing problem under FTC rules. We show "bought separately" totals computed from real prices instead.
- Fake scarcity. We're always going to sell it, so we never say "only 3 left."
- A referral program, for now. Referrals multiply your existing buyers. With a few dozen orders a month, they had to wait until sales grew.
Amazon Subscribe & Save, as it really works
- You fund the base discount. Amazon adds 5% only when a customer has 5 or more items in one delivery.
- A Subscribe & Save coupon can run for up to a year and is what earns the green "Extra % off when you subscribe" badge in search. The base discount alone gets no badge.
- The coupon and the base discount stack on the first delivery. Work out that first-box price before you launch, or you'll sell it at a loss.
What to watch out for
- Pricing without margins. Every price decision needs the profit per order next to it, for every channel.
- Moving several levers at once. A price change, a coupon, and a new listing image in the same week leave you guessing.
What bites you later
- Promotional fees end. When a fee promotion expires, prices built on it need to be redone.
- Inconsistent prices across channels. Marketplaces compare your prices elsewhere and can hide your listing if they find a lower one.