Is it permissible to make a profit out of fear of the Corona epidemic? US online retailers who offered masks at a massive overprice have now been punished by Amazon. What's behind this?

Corona-Virus, Price Gouging and Amazon

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Is it permissible to make a profit out of fear of the Corona epidemic? In the USA, online retailers have massively increased the prices for the currently highly demanded respiratory masks. According to a report by the news magazine Spiegel, Amazon is currently punishing overly audacious retailers and even banning them from its online platform. The company justifies this with a violation of price guidelines.

Pricing expert Prof. Hans-Christian Riekhof points out an essential aspect: “Anyone who regularly reads our Pricing Newsletter knows the concept of good and bad profits: bad profits are those that come at the expense of the customer relationship. A very sensible and plausible definition, but it is not used in this form in many companies.”

Interestingly, Amazon is different in its approach to such retailers on its platform who have multiplied the prices for the protective masks in the face of the Corona crisis, sometimes by four to five times the regular price. “It seems that bad profits are feared here. After all, in this case, it is not the Amazon profits that are to be waived, but the contribution margins of the retailers on the Amazon platform”, says Riekhof.

According to the US magazine “Wired”, which the Spiegel report refers to, the online retailer has warned several sellers and deleted some overpriced offers from its platform.

Read the US original message that the Spiegel refers to:
https://www.wired.com/story/covid-19-amazon-curb-face-mask-price-gouging/

Photo: Sunyu Kim/Pexels

Pricing, ausgerichtet am Lebenszyklus des Produktprogramms: Wie man die Komplexität unzähliger zu pflegender Preislisten auch ohne selbstlernende Pricing-Algorithmen in den Griff bekommen kann, ist Thema dieses Pricing-Newsletters.

Pricing-Newsletter No. 32 (2020): Strategic Pricing and the Product Program Lifecycle

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Pricing, ausgerichtet am Lebenszyklus des Produktprogramms: Wie man die Komplexität unzähliger zu pflegender Preislisten auch ohne selbstlernende Pricing-Algorithmen in den Griff bekommen kann, ist Thema dieses Pricing-Newsletters.

Jetzt kostenlosen Zugang erhalten zu allen unseren Pricing Studien, zu unseren Pricing News und zu unseren mehr als 70 Pricing-Newslettern, mit denen Sie zum Pricing Experten werden können.

For the Hamburg magazine New Business, pricing expert Prof. Riekhof has now given an interview. The topic is pricing for luxury.

The Ideal Price for Luxury: Pricing Expert Riekhof in Interview with Marketing and Media Magazine New Business

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For the Hamburg magazine New Business, pricing expert Prof. Riekhof has now given an interview. The topic is pricing for luxury.

For the Hamburg magazine New Business, pricing expert Prof. Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof has now given an interview. The topic of the detailed contribution, which can be read in the current print edition 6/2020 of the medium focused on the media and marketing communication scene, is strategic pricing in the luxury segment. Under the headline “The higher, the better? The ideal price for luxury” Prof. Riekhof explains the crucial role of price in the luxury segment and how brand managers can find the right price for their luxury items.

Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof is Professor of International Marketing at the PFH Private University of Göttingen and Managing Partner of UNICconsult Strategy Development. For many years he has been conducting empirical studies on pricing and he advises companies on price strategic orientation and the implementation of pricing strategies.

Learn more about the interview in the New Business magazine here:
https://www.new-business.de/_rubric/index.php?rubric=80

Other articles that might interest you

How luxury customers tick:
https://www.unicconsult.com/pricing-newsletter-no-16-2018/

The Riekhof LSDC model in practice – Why we need a new customer group model for pricing:
https://www.unicconsult.com/pricing-newsletter-no-10-2017-das-riekhof-sche-lsdc-modell-in-der-praxis/

Find more informative articles about pricing strategies at:
https://www.unicconsult.com/pricing-newsletter/

The new business magazine

new business is a media brand of the Hamburg New Business publishing house, founded more than 40 years ago. The weekly print magazine’s editorial team reports on major industry topics in the two main sections Communication and Media, analyses changes in markets, provides background information on current events and gives guest authors a voice.

In addition, the editorial team evaluates creative competitions and incorporates the results of the Redbox ranking. Exclusive news about changes in agencies and media companies, budget pitches, personnel changes, launches of new magazines and portals as well as marketer changes round off the editorial spectrum.

The website new-business.de keeps the media and communication scene up to date every day. From Monday to Friday, the midday news and evening news provide the community with news twice a day. Particularly relevant information is immediately sent out as breaking news.