Amazon pricing weirdness

Over the last several days, Amazon has randomly jacked the price on both of my paperbacks from $17.99 to over $24. The exact price fluctuates—$24.65, $24.33, $25.96, etc. When this first happened, a third-party seller was actually the featured seller because its price was so much lower than Amazon’s.

I contacted KDP support shortly after discovering this and was told that while I can tell KDP what list price I want, KDP can’t control what happens after it submits that data to Amazon’s system. Amazon retains control over the final selling price and can feature a third-party seller if that’s the best customer experience.

So I waited a few days to see if this glitch would correct itself. Shortly afterward, Amazon reclaimed its position as featured seller, but the price was not corrected. There was no evidence, based on my research, that this was a scam or some sort of third-party hacking, and it is true that Amazon retains the right to adjust the selling price at its discretion per its terms and conditions.

When the glitch persisted after a few more days, I contacted support again, acknowledging Amazon’s right to adjust the price but also pointing out that the KDP pricing interface specifically states that the price I set is the price customers will see. This time, I was told that Amazon’s team is aware of the problem, understands my frustration, realizes that multiple authors are affected by this technical issue, and is working to resolve it as quickly as possible. At that point in the chat, the agent’s replies started sounding like a script.

Is anyone else experiencing a pricing glitch right now? Does anyone have suggestions on how to handle it other than hoping Amazon eventually corrects the issue? My paperbacks are also available from my website as well as Barnes & Noble and other retailers through the Ingram distribution system, so readers aren’t forced to pay the exorbitant Amazon price, but most readers do shop there first, and many of my links point there. Is this worth mentioning in a newsletter so readers are aware of their other options?