What changed
JFTC approves Amazon Japan commitment plan; rival-site price test for the recommended offer is dropped
When
Approved November 11, 2026; product page changes due within six months; five years of monitoring
Who it affects
Third-party sellers on Amazon.co.jp, and brands that also sell on Rakuten, Yahoo Shopping or their own site
What to do
Reprice by channel margin, track recommended offer share weekly, keep records of any suppression

Key takeaways

  • On November 11, 2026 the JFTC approved Amazon Japan's plan to stop requiring sellers to match the lowest price on other sites, such as Rakuten, to win the recommended offer.
  • Amazon has six months to show the lowest offer on Amazon itself; the JFTC made no violation finding and will monitor the plan for five years.
  • Reprice Japan by channel margin, watch resellers on your listings, and leave US pricing alone until the FTC trial set for March 29, 2027.

Amazon Japan pricing case: key dates

  1. Rival-site price test for recommended offer begins

  2. JFTC inspects Amazon Japan

  3. JFTC approves commitment plan

  4. Product page change due (six months)

  5. US FTC v Amazon trial set to start

  6. Five year JFTC monitoring window ends

What the JFTC approved

According to Jiji Press, carried by Nippon.com and Tuoi Tre, the JFTC approved Amazon Japan's business improvement plan under its commitment procedure, a route in which a company suspected of breaching the Antimonopoly Act offers its own fix. The regulator will not make a finding that Amazon Japan violated the law, and it will monitor how the plan is carried out for five years.

The core change is the competitive price condition. Since 2019, Amazon Japan required sellers to offer products at or below competitive prices, meaning the lowest prices on other sites such as Rakuten Ichiba, to be displayed as the recommended item, the offer most shoppers buy from. Amazon will revise that rule. Within six months it will update product pages so that the lowest priced offers on Amazon itself are clearly shown to shoppers, even when those prices are not lower than on competing websites. In other words, the price test moves from the whole internet to Amazon's own listing.

Why the regulator stepped in

The JFTC found the condition restricted sellers' freedom to set their own prices and could effectively force them to cut prices, Jiji reported, and some sellers reportedly sold at a loss to keep the recommended slot. The case began with an on-site inspection of Amazon Japan's Tokyo office on November 26, 2024. TechCrunch, Engadget and Gigazine, citing Reuters, the Japan Times and the Asahi Shimbun, reported at the time that the suspected conduct also included requiring sellers to use Amazon's own logistics and payment services to qualify for the Buy Box, which Amazon Japan calls the cart box.

Here is the gap most coverage misses: the published reports of the November 11 approval describe only the pricing rule and the product page change. None of them says whether the plan addresses the logistics condition. Until the JFTC text is public in full, sellers should not assume that using their own fulfilment now carries the same recommended offer odds as FBA. This is also the third JFTC investigation into Amazon Japan, after cases in 2016 and 2018, Gigazine noted.

Why a US brand should care

Japan is not the only place this rule is under attack. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission alleges in its monopolization case that Amazon punishes sellers who offer lower prices elsewhere, and a federal judge refused on October 9, 2026 to delay the trial, which stays set for March 29, 2027, MLex reported. Amazon's US Fair Pricing Policy still lets it remove the Featured Offer when a product is priced higher on Amazon than elsewhere. Nothing in the Japanese plan changes Amazon.com. What it shows is the remedy a regulator was willing to accept: compare prices inside Amazon, not across the web. Watch the US trial for the same question, and see our earlier FTC lawsuit coverage for the ad side of the case.

So what: the math on one product

Worked example, illustrative numbers: a brand sells a kitchen gadget on Amazon.co.jp at 4,000 yen and runs a 10% Rakuten point sale that takes its effective Rakuten price to 3,600 yen. Under the old rule, keeping the recommended offer meant matching 3,600 yen on Amazon too, giving up 400 yen a unit. At 1,000 Amazon units a month that is 400,000 yen of margin, about 4.8 million yen a year, spent only to keep a display slot.

Once the change is live, the same brand can hold 4,000 yen on Amazon as long as no other seller on that listing undercuts it. The risk shifts: the threat is now resellers and other offers on your own ASIN, not your own Rakuten promotion. Brands with tight reseller control gain the most; brands whose products are widely resold will see the recommended offer go to whoever is cheapest on Amazon.

Illustrative product, before and after

Old ruleNew rule
Amazon price3,600 yen4,000 yen
Rakuten effective price3,600 yen3,600 yen
Margin given up per unit400 yen0 yen
Who decides the slotLowest price onlineLowest offer on Amazon

What sellers should do

These steps are for brands selling on Amazon.co.jp, and for any team that sets prices across several marketplaces.

  • Pricing lead: list every Amazon.co.jp ASIN where you matched Rakuten, Yahoo Shopping or your own site only to protect the recommended offer. Metric: a list of ASINs with the yen gap per unit.
  • Finance lead: rebuild price floors per channel from margin after fees, not from the lowest outside price, using our Amazon profit calculator. Metric: contribution margin per unit on each channel.
  • Marketplace manager: once Amazon confirms the new product page display, test a small price rise on two or three of those ASINs and watch the Featured Offer percentage in Business Reports. Metric: recommended offer share stays near its old level while unit margin rises.
  • Brand protection lead: check every listing for other sellers, because the lowest Amazon offer now decides the slot. Metric: number of ASINs with a reseller priced below you.
  • Ops lead: keep dated screenshots and Business Reports exports for any ASIN that loses the recommended offer while it is the lowest offer on Amazon, since the JFTC is monitoring for five years. Metric: a dated log you can share with your account manager or counsel.
  • US teams: do not change Amazon.com pricing on the strength of this ruling; follow our Amazon pricing strategy guide and the US trial instead. Metric: no unplanned Featured Offer losses in the US.

Amazon Japan repricing checklist

  • List ASINs priced down to match other sites
  • Set floors from margin per channel
  • Wait for Amazon's page update
  • Test small rises on 2 to 3 ASINs
  • Watch Featured Offer share weekly
  • Log any slot loss while lowest on Amazon

When this does not apply

If you sell only on Amazon.com or in Europe, nothing changes for you today. If you are the only seller on your listings in Japan, the old rule mostly hurt you through your own promotions elsewhere, so the gain is margin, not visibility. Amazon has up to six months to make the change, so the old behaviour may continue until then, and the reports do not say whether the logistics condition was dropped. Treat this as a change in Japan's rules, not proof of any wrongdoing, since the JFTC made no violation finding.

Where PPC Spider helps

Price, the recommended offer and ad spend move together: losing the slot makes every click cost more. Our Amazon account management team sets bids from margin after fees and watches Featured Offer share, and our Amazon international expansion service covers Japan and other stores. Start with a free Amazon audit, and follow more rule changes on our Amazon policy updates channel.

Sources

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