Lowering the price by two euros and offering a two-euro coupon are, for the customer, the exact same expense. For your listing, however, they aren't: one of the two is visible in the search results, the other is not..
It's a difference that's worth much more than two euros, and it determines whether a promotion brings in new traffic or simply makes you earn less from the same customers.
What changes, in concrete terms?
The coupon appears as a green badge next to the product, both on the results page and in the product description. The customer must check it, "clip" it, and the discount is applied at checkout. That badge is, in effect, a piece of free advertising within the results grid: it makes your line stand out in a page of twenty identical products.
However, it has a cost that the price cut does not have: a redemption fee for each order in which the coupon is used. The amount communicated for the American market is $0.60 per order, not per unit, per order, and on Amazon.it you must verify the corresponding amount in your account.
The price cut Instead, it doesn't cost anything extra: you just change the number. But it doesn't have a badge, it has no visibility, and for the customer who didn't know the previous price, it's... the price.
When is the coupon convenient?
The coupon is useful when the problem is getting noticed, don't get bought.
At a product launch. Nobody knows you, your line in the results is identical to the others: the green badge is the difference between being seen and not being seen. On a launch in FBA it adds to the benefits of the New Selection Program, which also includes a credit on your coupon commission.
When you're in a crowded category. If there are ten almost identical products above and below you, the coupon is the only graphic element that sets you apart without paying for advertising.
When you want to test price elasticity without touching the price list. A coupon comes and goes; a price lowered and then raised leaves traces in history and on comparison sites.
When the average order contains more pieces. The commission is per order: if the customer buys three, you only pay it once.
When is a price cut worthwhile?
Dry cutting is best when the problem is the threshold, not visibility.
If your product is €20.90 and customers filter "up to €20", no badge will save you: you're off the list before you even look. In that case the only move is to go below the threshold: and this also applies to the commission thresholds, which since 2026 in Europe have changed to around 10, 15 and 20 euros, as I explained in Amazon has cut commissions in Europe.
The cut is also worthwhile when the average order is for a single, low-priced item: there, a sixty-cent commission on an eight-euro item is a slice of margin that the badge doesn't cover.
And it's convenient, simply put, when the starting price was incorrect. A permanent coupon on an inflated price is a patch: sooner or later the customer will notice, and meanwhile you pay the commission on every order.
The rules I gave myself
1. The coupon is a traffic lever, not a price lever. If you use it to «sell more» without looking at the sessions, you are just lowering the margin.
2. Never permanent coupon. After a few weeks, the badge stops being news and only the cost remains. It's best to activate it in cycles.
3. Below a certain margin, the price is cut. Consider the redemption fee: it can change the outcome on cheaper products.
4. Only one mechanism at a time. Coupon plus discount plus promotion overlapped generate prices that even you can't explain, and sometimes they end up below cost.
5. Measure sessions, not just sales. The coupon works if it brings new people to the listing. If the sessions don't move, you've given it away to those who bought anyway.
In two lines: The coupon buys visibility and you pay for it per order; the price cut buys the threshold and costs nothing. They are two different tools that seem the same, and using them randomly is the most common way to give away margin.
If you want to understand which of the two levers to use on your products, write to me: It depends on the price, the category and how many pieces there are in an average order.
Sources
– Amazon coupons vs promo codes vs deals: a 2026 margin data deep-dive, Velocity Sellers
– Take Advantage of Amazon's 2026 Promotions: Headonic
– 2026 Fulfillment Fees and Costs Update in Europe: About Amazon Italy
The redemption fee quoted is for the US market: check the amount applied to your storefront in the promotions section of Seller Central.