Level Playing Field ?? Hardly

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Seller_6Sj4J9EV85Pt7

Level Playing Field ?? Hardly

Someone please explain this to me. So, a bit of context. Been on Amazon only 3+ months selling 1 product that we manufacture and with "Brand Approval" Selling FBM with professional account. Within 2 months our product was copied by a Chinese seller, using much of our text word for word, and undercut us by more than $9 using coupons, fake reviews etc. selling FBA . We knew this would happen eventually, as we can't compete with Chinese mfg.. But here's the rub.. Both our products are listed in the "tools and home improvement " category, but Amazon is promoting this competitors product twice as much as ours. This only happens in the evening, between 9:00 pm to 6:oo am MST. with their listing showing up at least twice in searches and the other day 7 times before I quit counting. During the remaining hours their listing defaults back to a single listing for the rest of the day. How am I supposed to compete with this? Would seem we're being screwed over by Amazon. I've noted this with seller support yesterday. Any advice on how to remedy this appreciated, as I feel the response I'll receive from Amazon will be "sucks to be you". Only asking for a level playing field. Thanks.

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Seller_rI7BZIczK8iAC

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Seller_6Sj4J9EV85Pt7
Amazon is promoting this competitors product twice as much as ours.
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How do you mean that? Amazon doesn't promote products. You as seller can do ads. The ranking and the place of your product on the page depends on for example your sales, your inventory, the competition.

So, I don't know what you mean here.

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Seller_i6S8knzW6zU6Z

Hi @Seller_6Sj4J9EV85Pt7,

I get your frustration — having your copy reused and being undercut is discouraging, especially when you’ve built something yourself. That said, one line in your post really stood out to me:

“We can’t compete.”

I’m not sure I agree — or rather, I think it depends on what you’re competing on. If it’s just price, sure — there will always be someone cheaper. But most customers aren’t only buying on price. They’re thinking about what’s at stake.

Your product protects their garage, their home, even their family’s health — from rodents, snakes, and whatever else might sneak in. If a shopper feels confident that your product actually works — and will keep working for years — then a $9 price difference becomes much less important.

So the real challenge is making sure your listing communicates three things clearly:

  • Effectiveness
  • Durability
  • Ease of installation

A few thoughts there:

Effectiveness – Your title already includes strong claims — stopping mice, rats, voles, and snakes — which is great. The challenge is that it's a bit long and dense, so those benefits might get lost when people are scanning search results. Pulling the most important benefit (like “Keeps Rodents and Snakes Out”) closer to the front could help make it clearer and more impactful.

You could also communicate effectiveness visually — for example, with a comparison image: one side showing a typical garage gap with damage or even a visible mouse hole, and the other side showing the clean, sealed result with your barrier installed. That kind of image makes the problem real and the solution obvious.

Durability – Your 5-year warranty is a strong trust signal. It says you believe in your product. But the fine print (return both barriers, include the warranty card, pay return postage) might undercut that confidence a bit. I totally get wanting to avoid abuse of the warranty — but it’s worth asking: how likely is that, really? If your barrier protects someone’s home and family for five years, will they really go out of their way to get a refund? Letting the warranty stand on its own might actually feel stronger and more believable.

Ease of installation – The video is helpful, but the part where you flatten the barrier using a hammer and scrap wood might feel a little intimidating to some buyers. In contrast, the reality seems to be “two screws per side and you're done.” If that’s the true story, say it with confidence — something like: “So easy a 5-year-old could install it” could make it both memorable and approachable.

Also, don’t underestimate the value of Made in Montana. You show a beautiful landscape in Image #7 — it’s a nice touch, but you could go further. If your business is family-owned or has a backstory, showing the people behind the brand could make the listing feel more personal and authentic. Many customers want to support American-made — they just need to feel a connection.

You can’t control what competitors do. But you can control the story your listing tells. And right now, I think you’ve got a great story — it just needs a little help coming through more clearly.

Hope something in here is helpful.

Best,

Michael

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Seller_lQSBYRthDUcMj

About the advertising...

With sponsored ads, listings, sellers can time their ads to only run during certain hours instead of 24/7. That explains why you are only seeing their main listing all day and the sponsored listing only during certain hours.

I've seen a number of people claiming to be Amazon sellers that will spend 30-60% of their product cost on ads. That seems crazy to me. I think .02 a click gives a small boost.

Amazon's Vine program lets you give away products in exchange for product reviews. But those are honest reviews. If I were going to do that with your product, I would probably lower the price for a month while that was happening. That way when someone is sitting there and is being asked, "Is $35 a good value for this" you don't have to worry about someone who is unable to appreciate the piece of mind value and dings you a star. At $20 or $25 they might even say "Wow!" Of course the danger there is if someone like me reads that review and sees that some guy just bought that for $25 last month and now it's $35, unless it is an emergency, I will probably save it in my cart and wait for Prime Day hoping for better pricing.

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Seller_p8DgF7zAESNUZ

short answer, get a trademark. that's the only way to truly protect your brand, otherwise it's just a name with no protections anywhere.

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