Raising your costs on Amazon Vendor Central is one of the most common pain points for vendors and brand owners. You might be facing higher raw material prices, new tariffs, or increased shipping costs, and naturally, you’d want Amazon to pay more for your products to keep margins healthy.
But the fact is that Amazon rarely accepts cost increases.
If you’ve ever tried and gotten an auto-rejection, you’re not alone. Vendors all around the world run into the same wall. Amazon agreed to your original costs because they gave them a healthy margin, and they won’t allow that margin to shrink.
The good news is that there are workarounds, and some of them give you more control than sticking with Vendor Central alone. This article will explain all you need to know.
Why Cost Increases Are So Hard on Vendor Central
When you sell through Vendor Central, you’re a first-party (1P) vendor. That means Amazon buys your products wholesale and resells them to customers. You set a wholesale cost, but Amazon controls the retail price.
Here’s why raising costs is such a challenge:
Amazon ignores MSRP. You might suggest a $15 MSRP for your sunscreen, but if Amazon finds it selling elsewhere for $12, they’ll match it automatically. Their bots constantly scrape the web and adjust prices to competitors.
Profit margins are king. Amazon measures profitability with “Net PPM” (pure profit per unit). If your cost increase eats into their margin (even by 2%) they’ll likely deny it.
That’s why approval is rare. Even small, justified cost increases (like a 2% rise due to raw materials) are usually dismissed unless you’re a massive brand generating millions for Amazon.
So, yes, you can submit a cost increase, but be prepared: the tool is designed to reject most requests. Let’s go through how the process works, and then explore the strategies that vendors actually use to win back control.
How to Submit a Cost Increase in Vendor Central
Even if the odds are against you, vendors are expected to try at least submitting the request through the platform. Here’s the step-by-step process:
1. Go to “Edit Item Costs” in Vendor Central.
You’ll find this under the Items section. This is where all your product costs are managed.
2. Download the cost file
Amazon provides a flat file (Excel spreadsheet) listing your current costs by ASIN.
You can download for all ASINs or just the ones you want to change.
3. Enter your new costs
It is inside this document that you’ll set and explain your cost increase. Amazon leaves an example of how it should look in the first row.
The spreadsheet has fields for “Current Cost” and “New Cost”, along with the currency the change will be set in.
You’ll also see dropdowns for “Reason for Cost Change.”
The reasons covered by the document include tariffs, labor, shipping, raw materials, and foreign exchange.
Once you’ve covered all cost changes and reasons, you’ll have to name the file with a specific name. Here’s Amazon’s explanation:
4. Save and re-upload
Save the file in Amazon’s required format, then upload it back into Vendor Central through the same section:
5. Wait for Amazon’s review
Amazon promises to review the request within 7 to 60 days.
Most of the time, you’ll receive a rejection. If approved, your request will look like this:
Occasionally, you’ll see an option to appeal through a link in their email.
Important: If you want to stop selling the old cost version, don’t just reject POs (purchase orders). That hurts your account health. Instead, mark the ASIN as “Permanently Unavailable” in Vendor Central. This prevents new POs without damaging your vendor metrics.
Other Approaches to Increasing Costs
Since Amazon rarely approves cost increases, experienced vendors use other tactics. Two of the most effective are re-SKUing and building a hybrid 1P/3P strategy.
1. Re-SKUing
Re-SKUing means creating a new ASIN with a higher cost basis. You must make small but legitimate changes to your product. This means at least a packaging update, ingredient or size change to qualify it as a new SKU under Amazon’s rules.
Example: A skincare brand slightly changed the formulation of their lotion, created a new SKU, and set the cost at the updated rate.
Because it’s technically a different product, Amazon will accept the new cost.
You can also add the new SKU as a variation (like a new size or scent) so it shows up under the same product page and inherits visibility.
However, if the differences are superficial (like only a label change), Amazon might suppress the listing.
And there is a catch: new SKUs start with no reviews. Linking it as a variation helps overcome this.
To finally increase the costs, you’ll need to sell through the old inventory and then mark the old SKU “permanently unavailable” so Amazon stops sending POs for it. Remember, do not reject any POs.
Done right, re-SKUing is one of the few ways to effectively reset Amazon’s wholesale price to match your new costs.
2. Hybrid Approach
Another increasingly popular strategy is running a hybrid model: keeping some products on Vendor Central (1P) while selling others yourself through Seller Central (3P/FBA).
Here’s one approach that works:
- Keep evergreen products (the steady sellers Amazon orders all the time) on Vendor Central, even if the margins aren’t perfect.
- Launch new products through Seller Central (FBA). This gives you control over pricing, since you set the retail price as the seller.
- Over time, you may shift more products to 3P if Amazon keeps rejecting cost increases.
Why is this efficient? Amazon doesn’t like competing with you on 3P. If they see you successfully selling a new product via FBA, sometimes Vendor Managers will approach you to buy it 1P. At that point, you can insist they pay your actual cost.
There’s another benefit, too: You get two chances at the Buy Box (Amazon Retail and your own FBA offer).
It creates leverage. If Amazon knows you can pull back to 3P, they’re less likely to push you into unsustainable margins.
3. Bundling
Bundling products into multipacks is another tactic to reset cost structures. By offering, say, a 3-pack instead of a single, you can set a new, higher wholesale cost. But keep in mind:
- You’ll need to handle packaging and labeling for bundles.
- Amazon’s “virtual bundles” don’t let you change the cost, so you must physically package the items.
- It works best if the bundle creates a unique ASIN that Amazon can’t directly compare against single-unit prices elsewhere.
Conclusion
Increasing costs in Vendor Central is difficult. In most cases, submitting a request through the platform won’t deliver results. Amazon isn’t eager at all to the possibility of reducing its margins.
But there are a few strategies that, if done right, will help you immensely in increasing your costs. The key is to stop relying on Amazon to adjust for you and start structuring your catalog and sales approach on your terms.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can I control the retail price Amazon charges customers?
No. In Vendor Central, Amazon decides the retail price. They often match prices found on other websites, even if it means selling below your MSRP.
What’s the difference between MSRP and cost price in Vendor Central?
MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price) is the “list price” you suggest. The cost price is what Amazon pays you wholesale—and that’s the figure vendors try to increase.
How do I submit a cost increase request?
You go to Edit Item Costs in Vendor Central, download the cost flat file, enter new costs and reasons (tariffs, labor, raw materials, etc.), and upload it again. Amazon reviews it but most requests get denied.
What happens if Amazon rejects my cost increase?
You might see an option to appeal via a link in their email. Even then, most appeals are rejected. This is why vendors often turn to alternatives like re-SKUing or shifting to Seller Central.
What is re-SKUing?
Re-SKUing means launching a new version of your product (with ingredient, or size changes) so it becomes a new ASIN with a new cost structure. This allows you to reset your wholesale cost with Amazon.
What is the hybrid 1P/3P approach?
It’s when a brand sells some products through Vendor Central (1P) and others through Seller Central/FBA (3P). This gives you more control over pricing and leverage if Amazon refuses your cost increases.
Is bundling a good way to raise prices?
Sometimes. Creating multipacks or kits can help raise your effective wholesale cost, but you need to physically package them. Amazon’s virtual bundles won’t change your cost price.
Can rejecting Amazon’s purchase orders help force a price increase?
No. If you reject POs, your account health suffers. Instead, mark an ASIN as Permanently Unavailable if you don’t want Amazon to order it anymore.
Will Amazon ever approve a cost increase?
It’s rare, but possible. Larger brands generating millions in revenue may succeed if they can prove the increase is market-wide (e.g., all retailers accepted it). For smaller vendors, it’s usually denied.
Struggling to Raise Your Prices on Vendor Central?
If you’ve tried submitting cost increases only to get rejections, you already know how frustrating it is to deal with Amazon’s system. You’re not alone—most vendors hit the same wall. The good news? There are proven strategies that go beyond the basic cost increase request.
We’ve helped brands just like yours use re-SKUing and hybrid 1P/3P models to reset their costs, protect their margins, and take back control of their Amazon business.
Here’s the truth: Amazon isn’t going to change how they play the game but you can change how you play it. With the right plan, you don’t have to stay stuck with unsustainable costs.
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