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Continually Decrease Until the Buy Box Is Obtained
When a competitor keeps the Buy Box even though your latest price is live, the "When buybox is not obtained" rule steps your price down at a set interval until you win it — and stops the moment the competitor moves.
You matched the competitor. Your new price is live on the listing. And the Buy Box still isn't yours. Flashpricer's When buybox is not obtained rule handles exactly that dead end: it keeps stepping your price down until you win the Buy Box — and backs off the moment the competitor moves.
Price isn't the only thing that decides the Buy Box. Fulfillment method, seller metrics, shipping speed and stock all count — so it's perfectly possible to sit at the same price as the Buy Box winner and still lose. When that happens, a strategy that only matches the competitor is stuck: it keeps recomputing the same price forever.
This rule breaks the deadlock. Once Flashpricer can confirm your price is live on the listing and the Buy Box hasn't moved, it starts working your price down step by step until you win it.
Where to find it
Go to Strategies and edit (or create) a strategy.
The When buybox is not obtained row only appears for strategies competing on the Buybox.
It is off by default. Existing strategies keep behaving exactly as before until you enable it.
Choose continually decrease until buybox obtained, then set the step and the interval.
When buybox is not obtained
Gradual rollout & higher plan. This rule is being rolled out progressively, so it may not be visible in your strategy editor yet — email success@flashpricer.com if you'd like it enabled for your account. The continually decrease until buybox obtained option is only available on the Turbo Plan and above; on other plans it shows an upgrade badge and prompts you to upgrade before saving.
The two settings
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Subtract | How much comes off the price at each step, as a fixed $ amount or a % of the current price. Defaults to $0.05. |
| Interval | How long Flashpricer waits between two drops. Pick 20, 30, 60, 90, 180, 360 or 720 minutes. Defaults to 60. |
The other choice, do not reprice, simply holds your price while a competitor keeps the Buy Box.
When the descent starts
Flashpricer is deliberately careful before it begins lowering your price. Every one of these has to be true:
Why the "price is live" check matters. Marketplaces can take a while to reflect a price change. Without this check, Flashpricer could start dropping while your previous move was still in transit — and undercut a price that was about to win the Buy Box on its own.
When it stops
- ·You win the Buy Box. The rule stops applying and your main strategy takes over immediately.
- ·The competitor Buy Box changes — a different seller wins it, or the same seller changes price. The descent ends and control goes back to your main strategy on the next evaluation, so you don't keep dropping into a market that has already moved.
- ·You reach your minimum price. The price stops there. If your strategy also has do not reprice below MAP price enabled and the item carries a MAP price, the higher of the two is the floor.
How a descent plays out
With a $0.05 step every 60 minutes, starting at $32.50 — matched to the Buy Box winner but still losing it — with a minimum of $32.35:
Where it sits among your other rules
This rule only ever replaces your main strategy. Everything more specific keeps priority — lowering a price you can't sell, that nobody can see, or that has no Buy Box to win achieves nothing.
- ·Out of stock, listing unpublished and buy box suppressed all take precedence and keep their own handling.
- ·So do your more targeted rules — specific sellers, competition is the channel itself, competition below/at min — whenever one of them claims the evaluation.
Set your minimum with intent. This rule is designed to keep going until something changes, so your minimum price is what actually decides how much you're prepared to give up chasing the Buy Box. If price isn't why you're losing it — fulfillment method or seller metrics often are — the descent will simply run to your minimum without winning anything.
Frequently asked
Why isn't the option showing in my strategy editor?
How is this different from "continually decrease until unsuppressed"?
Will it fight with my main strategy?
Does it keep running if the marketplace hasn't confirmed my latest price?
How do I check whether it's running on an item?
Enable the rule while building a Buybox strategy on Strategies. Questions? Email success@flashpricer.com.