> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # MAP Violation Risk (vs DTC), Amazon (Selling Partner) > MAP Violation Risk (vs DTC) for Amazon (Selling Partner) stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it. **Metrics type:** [Cross-Platform Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Marketplace](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) ## At a glance > Live list of ASINs whose Amazon price sits below the corresponding DTC list price by enough to be a textbook MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) violation, real risk: triggers reseller pricing wars, brand-policy enforcement, and partner-channel disputes. The price-only subset of catalogue drift, weighted by reseller-attack severity. | | | | ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | `LIST(ASINs WHERE amazon_price < dtc_list_price × (1 − map_threshold))`, where `map_threshold` defaults to 5% but is configurable per workspace (some brands publish stricter MAP policies). Joined per SKU between SP-API Pricing and the connected DTC connector. | | **API endpoint + report** | SP-API Pricing API `GET /products/pricing/v0/items/{Asin}/offers` for the current Amazon price, plus the DTC connector (Shopify / BigCommerce / Adobe) for the canonical DTC list price. Reconciled in our Vortex IQ Nerve Centre cross-platform index. | | **ASIN vs account scope** | **Per-ASIN list with severity-sorted ranking.** Severity = (DTC price − Amazon price) ÷ DTC price. ASINs with greater than 15% gap are flagged "high"; 5 to 15% as "medium"; under 5% are below threshold. | | **Buy Box impact** | Direct downstream effect. MAP violations invite resellers to undercut, triggering Buy Box loss for the brand on the affected ASINs. | | **FBA vs FBM** | Both. Fulfilment channel doesn't affect MAP detection but does affect how Amazon penalises Buy Box win rate during a reseller war (FBA holds Buy Box more reliably under price pressure). | | **Fees / commission** | Not applicable. | | **Refunds** | Not applicable. | | **Cancellations** | Not applicable. | | **Currency** | Price comparison done in **DTC-side currency**, with Amazon's settlement-currency price converted at the day's FX rate. Multi-marketplace stores trigger one comparison per marketplace-DTC pair. | | **Marketplace dynamics** | The most common MAP violation is unintentional: a DTC-side price increase that didn't sync to Amazon, leaving Amazon at the old (now-low) price. Resellers monitor for these gaps and attack within hours. | | **Return-window vs refund-window** | Not applicable. | | **Time window** | `RT` (real-time, refresh every 15 to 60 minutes). | | **Alert trigger** | `>0 ASINs below DTC list price`. The card is designed to be silent at zero; any non-zero reading is a MAP violation that resellers may already be exploiting. | | **Roles** | owner, marketing, finance. | ## Calculation Calculated automatically from your Amazon (Selling Partner) data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading. ## Worked example A US Shopify + Amazon premium audio brand. 38 mapped SKUs. The brand publishes a strict 0% MAP policy (Amazon must equal DTC list at all times). Card snapshot at 14:08 PT on 26 Apr 26 reads **4 ASINs below DTC list price**. The drill-down: | ASIN | Product | DTC list | Amazon price | Gap | Severity | How long flagged | | ---------- | ------------------------- | -------- | ------------ | ----- | ------------------------- | ---------------- | | B07AUD0001 | Studio headphones (black) | \$349 | \$279 | -20% | High | 6 days | | B07AUD0002 | Studio headphones (white) | \$349 | \$279 | -20% | High | 6 days | | B07AUD0003 | DAC + amp combo | \$599 | \$529 | -12% | Medium | 11 days | | B07AUD0004 | XLR cable kit | \$89 | \$84 | -5.6% | Low (above MAP threshold) | 2 days | Five things to notice that are specific to Amazon: 1. **Buy Box loss = sales loss, instantly, and MAP violations are the fastest way to lose Buy Box.** Within 4 days of B07AUD0001 sitting 20% below DTC, two arbitrage resellers spotted the gap and listed at $282 (just above the brand's $279). The brand's Buy Box win rate dropped from 94% to 31% on that ASIN. The MAP violation caused the price war it was at risk of. 2. **The headphones drift was a sync failure, not a strategic choice.** The DTC team raised the price from $299 to $349 on 18 Apr 26 (a planned increase). The Amazon listing wasn't updated. 6 days of MAP violation before this card surfaced it. The fix took 3 minutes via Manage Pricing; the cost was 6 days of partner-channel friction (the brand's authorised dealers complained loudly) and a Buy Box war that took 11 days to fully unwind. 3. **Commission erodes 12 to 15% of headline, but MAP issues are partner-relationship issues.** Beyond the Amazon-side revenue impact, a brand with a published MAP policy that doesn't enforce it on its own Amazon listings looks negligent to its authorised dealer network. Brick-and-mortar partners stop investing in the brand if they perceive Amazon as the cheap channel. The fee-vs-margin discussion is downstream; the partner-relationship discussion comes first. 4. **Amazon-first buyers don't migrate to your DTC site.** Some brands tolerate MAP violations because "the customer can buy on DTC for the higher margin". They don't. Amazon shoppers buy on Amazon. The MAP violation just hands cheaper inventory to Amazon shoppers who would have paid full price; the DTC margin is unrealised. Always align prices. 5. **Out-of-stock can mask MAP risk temporarily.** When a MAP-violating ASIN goes OOS, the violation isn't visible to resellers (no offer to undercut) so the Buy Box war pauses. The card still flags the price gap (it's a state, not behaviour-based) but the operational damage is paused. Don't use OOS as an excuse to delay the price fix; resellers will pounce within hours of stock returning. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together This is the **price-only, partner-policy-relevant** subset of catalogue drift. Pair with these to act: | Card | Why pair it with MAP Violation Risk | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | [Catalogue Drift vs DTC](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon/catalogue-drift-vs-dtc) | The full diff (price + title + image + description). MAP is the price subset. | | [Catalogue Drift Revenue at Risk](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon/catalogue-drift-revenue-at-risk) | The dollar size of the broader drift problem. | | [Buy Box Trend](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon/buy-box-trend) | MAP violations cause Buy Box loss within days. The trend confirms when price gap is being exploited. | | [Buy Box Loss Burst](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon/buy-box-loss-burst) | If a MAP violation goes uncorrected, expect this burst alert to fire within 7 days as resellers pile in. | | [Hijack Risk](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon/asins-with-third-party-offers) | Some MAP violators are unauthorised resellers (counterfeit listings); cross-check. | | [Top ASINs by Revenue](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon/top-asins-by-revenue) | Prioritise MAP fixes on top-revenue ASINs first; the long tail can wait. | | [Shopify Total Revenue](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/total-revenue) | The DTC source-of-truth side. | | [Channel Mix (Amazon vs DTC)](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon/channel-mix) | If you're highly Amazon-dependent, MAP violations damage your remaining DTC channel and partner network; the strategic risk is bigger than the per-ASIN dollar value suggests. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in Amazon Seller Central:** Amazon does not enforce or surface MAP policies (Amazon's stance is that sellers set their own prices; MAP is a brand-policy and partner-channel issue). The closest views: 1. [**Pricing → Manage Pricing**](https://sellercentral.amazon.com/pricing) lets you see your current price per ASIN. Compare manually to your DTC list price. 2. [**Inventory → Manage Inventory**](https://sellercentral.amazon.com/inventory) shows the *Featured Offer (Buy Box) Price*. If yours is below this and below your DTC list, that's the dual signal of MAP violation plus reseller activity. 3. [**Performance → Pricing Health Dashboard**](https://sellercentral.amazon.com/pricing-health) flags ASINs that Amazon thinks are *not competitively priced* (Amazon's measure, not yours). Sometimes correlates with the upper end of MAP violations but is unreliable. **Why our number may legitimately differ from anything you'd build manually:** | Reason | Direction | Why | | ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Time zone** | Boundary edges only | The "live" Pricing API is timestamp-agnostic at the API layer; DTC connectors run on shop-timezone. The card recomputes on each sample cycle so timezone effects are minimal. | | **Settlement-period lag** | Not applicable | This is a price comparison, unrelated to settlement. | | **API rate limits** | Ours can lag by 30 to 60 minutes | The Pricing API is throttled; brief price changes (a 30-minute promo on DTC) can be missed if they fall between sample cycles. | | **Reports API generation latency** | Not applicable | Live Pricing API only, no async reports. | | **MAP threshold configuration** | Could differ | The default 5% threshold is a generic baseline. Brands with strict 0% MAP policies should configure that in *Nerve Centre → MAP Settings* so the card matches the published policy. | **Cross-connector reconciliation:** This card is **inherently cross-connector**. It does not exist without both an Amazon connector AND a DTC connector. The reconciliation IS the metric. | Card | Expected relationship | What causes legitimate divergence | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [`shopify.total_revenue`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/total-revenue) | DTC list price drives the comparison. | Shopify-side promotional pricing (sale prices, member pricing) vs Shopify "compare-at" price affects which DTC value the card uses; toggle in MAP Settings. | | [`bigcommerce.total_revenue`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/total-revenue) | As above for BigCommerce stores. | Same dynamic. | | [`amazon_ads.aads_acos`](/nerve-centre/amazon_ads/aads_acos) | Indirect: MAP violations trigger Buy Box loss; ad spend on a non-Buy-Box ASIN is largely wasted, raising ACOS. | Cross-check on [Ad Spend on OOS ASINs](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon/ad-spend-on-out-of-stock-asins). | | [`stripe.stripe_total_revenue`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/stripe/total-charge-volume) | None directly | MAP is a price-state concern; Stripe is payment-side. | ***
Marketplace-peer documentation cross-reference (for sellers on multiple marketplaces) eBay's nearest analogue is *Best Offer-driven price discovery below MAP*, where eBay's algorithm encourages buyers to make below-list offers. The mechanic is different (eBay actively suggests below-list, Amazon's algorithm doesn't) but the brand-policy consequence (partner-channel friction) is similar. * [`ebay.ebay_below_map_listings`](/nerve-centre/ebay/ebay_below_map_listings) (when connected)
## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **Amazon doesn't enforce MAP. Why is this card useful?** Because MAP is a brand-policy issue, not an Amazon issue. The card surfaces ASINs where your Amazon price contradicts your published MAP, exposing you to: (1) partner-dealer complaints ("you said no one would price below MAP"), (2) reseller pricing wars (resellers spot the gap and undercut both channels), (3) Buy Box loss (the war erodes your win rate), (4) brand-perception damage (Amazon as the cheap channel signals to authorised dealers you're not committed). Amazon doesn't enforce MAP; you do, and this card is the operational tool for that enforcement. **My MAP threshold is 0% (exact-price-match). How do I configure that?** Toggle the threshold in *Nerve Centre → MAP Settings*. Set to 0% (or any number from 0 to 25). The card recomputes against your configured threshold; alerts fire only on actual violations of your policy. Most brands set 5%; brands with strict published MAP policies set 0% and adjust their internal pricing workflow to match. **My DTC site has a flash sale at 30% off. Does that count as a MAP violation on the DTC side?** Toggle whether the card uses DTC "list price" (compare-at price) or current sale price as the comparator. Most brands set "list price" (the full retail) as the source of truth; that way temporary DTC sales don't generate false MAP violations against Amazon. If you set "current price" as the comparator and run an aggressive DTC promo, the card will flag every ASIN with no Amazon-side equivalent, which is operationally useful as a reminder to mirror the promo on Amazon if intended. **FBA fees and commission, do they affect MAP detection?** No. MAP is a list-price comparison, before any fees. Amazon's referral fee and FBA fee are downstream economic concerns. A brand that wants to "make MAP work after fees" is conflating list price with margin; the right framing is "list price = published policy" and "margin = internal cost question". Pair with [Net Revenue](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon/net-revenue) for the margin question, separately. **ACOS, does fixing MAP violations help?** Yes, indirectly. MAP violations trigger reseller pricing wars, which trigger Buy Box loss, which raises ACOS (clicks don't convert when you don't hold the Buy Box). Fixing MAP violations reverses this chain: Buy Box recovers, ACOS drops. Cross-check on [Amazon Ads ACOS](/nerve-centre/amazon_ads/aads_acos). Don't expect immediate ACOS recovery; the cycle takes 7 to 14 days to fully unwind once the price gap closes. **Multi-marketplace, does the card aggregate UK + DE + FR + IT + ES?** Yes, with one comparison per marketplace-DTC pair. If you have a UK Shopify store and amazon.co.uk + amazon.de + amazon.fr connectors, the card runs three comparisons (one per marketplace) against the UK Shopify list price, with FX conversion. For brands with separate DTC stores per geography, configure the per-region pairing in *Nerve Centre → MAP Settings*. **Settlement timing, does this affect cash flow?** No directly. MAP is a state alarm, not a cash-flow metric. Once you fix a violation, no immediate cash impact occurs (the affected orders had been settling normally, with the brand earning lower margin per unit). The downstream improvement is recovered Buy Box and recovered margin, which flows through normal 14-day settlement timing. Pair with [Pending Settlement](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon/pending-settlement) only when reasoning about cash-flow during a Buy Box recovery. **Return-window confusion, do return-window mismatches between Amazon and DTC count as MAP violations?** No. MAP is purely a price comparison. Return-window differences (Amazon's standard 30 days vs DTC's potentially-longer policy) sit on description-drift detection in [Catalogue Drift vs DTC](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon/catalogue-drift-vs-dtc), not here. **Why isn't the Shopify-Amazon channel app a useful tool for MAP enforcement?** Because the channel app is a publishing tool with partial-sync defaults. It pushes price from Shopify to Amazon, but with delays and with optional fields that brands often misconfigure. Most brands using the channel app have intermittent MAP violations because of sync-timing artefacts: a Shopify price change at 14:00 BST may not propagate to Amazon until 16:00 BST, and during those 2 hours resellers can attack. Even if you use the channel app, this card is the only reliable way to monitor whether MAP is currently honoured. **Why does today's number sometimes flip between 0 and 3 within an hour?** Because both sides update independently. A Shopify price change at 14:00 propagates to Shopify webhooks within minutes; Amazon's reflection of the equivalent ASIN price doesn't update until you push or until the channel app syncs. The card may briefly flag MAP violation between 14:00 and (say) 14:35, then drop the flag when the Amazon side catches up. Wait an hour after any DTC bulk price update before triaging; you'll otherwise be chasing transient violations that are about to self-resolve. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *MAP Violation Risk (vs DTC)* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Amazon (Selling Partner) and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.