The Buffer Is Over
The price cushion is gone. That changes the math in every category.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy confirmed what many sellers already suspected. In a recent interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he said tariffs are now showing up in marketplace prices. Amazon and third-party sellers pre-purchased inventory to get ahead of tariffs and keep prices low, but most of that supply ran out last fall.
That means the cushion is gone. Prices are going up. And with more tariff threats kicking off 2026, there is no sign of relief coming. For most sellers, this feels like a crisis. But look closer and a different picture emerges.
Higher Prices Expose Weak Products
When price rises, customers get selective fast.
Here is what happens when prices go up across the board: demand becomes selective. A $14.99 garlic press that was already mediocre does not survive at $21.99. The value equation breaks. Customers look at the price, look at the product, and walk away.
But a well-built, well-branded product at a higher price point is a different story. Quality products have pricing flexibility that commodity products do not. In many cases, a higher price on a strong product reinforces positioning. It feels premium. Demand holds, or even grows.
This is the split tariffs are creating. Products that were only competitive because they were cheap will lose. Products that are competitive because they are good will win.
Amazon Has No Incentive to Protect You
Waiting for subsidies is not a plan.
If you are waiting for Amazon to step in with seller relief programs or tariff subsidies, you will be waiting a long time. A marketplace filled with low-quality, cheap imports is a customer experience problem Amazon has been trying to solve for years.
Tariffs do that work for them. They are a natural filter that pushes out the exact sellers Amazon would rather not have on the platform. Amazon will not say this publicly. But they do not need to. The incentives are aligned.
