The news: Amazon is implementing new pricing rules ahead of Prime Day to prevent sellers from offering misleading promotions, per The Information.

• Sellers will be required to set list prices that correspond with a recent purchase price, either at Amazon or another retailer.
• Starting May 18, Amazon will also change how it calculates a product’s “typical price” to give greater weight to whether the item has been sold at a discount for much of the previous three months.

What it means: Stricter pricing rules could help ease persistent shopper complaints that sellers manipulate list prices to make Prime Day and other discounts appear better than they actually are. Amazon is facing a class-action lawsuit on that very issue, with two consumers alleging that the retailer uses “fictional” list prices when calculating discounts, resulting in inflated promotional rates.

• The suit cites products listed at higher prices during last year’s Prime Day than during the 90 days leading up to the sale, including a children’s tablet that retailed at $72.18, nearly 50% higher than its April 2025 price and roughly in line with its typical selling price.
• The complaint accuses Amazon of inflating discounts to persuade shoppers to buy “under the extreme time pressure of the brief Prime Day window” and discourage comparison-shopping.

However, the pricing crackdown risks making Prime Day feel less like a blockbuster sale. Smaller discounts could cause consumers to think the event offers fewer good deals than in previous years.

• Just 1 in 4 US Amazon Prime members say a minimum discount of 20% is enough to be considered a good deal, according to a survey by Tinuiti.
• Two-thirds expect minimum discounts of at least 30%.
• 16% require a discount of 50% or more to feel motivated to shop.

That could benefit retailers running competing promotions. Roughly half of Prime Day shoppers also planned to shop at Walmart last year, while 35% expected to participate in Target Circle Week, per Numerator—presenting an opening for those retailers to grab a larger slice of Prime Day spending.

The implications: Amazon’s pricing changes could offer more clarity to shoppers, who are becoming highly cost-sensitive as they look for ways to manage the impact of skyrocketing fuel and energy costs.

However, they create more friction for sellers, who are already dealing with a multitude of changes—including an earlier Prime Day and a recently imposed 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge—along with uncertain demand.