5 signs that your brand has lost control on the marketplace

Are you sure that it's still your brand that controls sales on marketplaces, or are it already algorithms and parallel sellers that dictate the rules?

E-commerce in Brazil has surpassed R$ 234 billion in revenues, according to ABComm, and the major marketplaces (Amazon, Mercado Livre and Magalu) concentrate almost 80% of online sales.

The high volume of sales on marketplaces brings new sales to sellers. An unauthorized seller, a price below the suggested minimum, or a duplicate listing may affect your brand's results.

In the list we prepared, you will understand the five most obvious signs that you are losing control of your sales on marketplaces! And how to re-establish control over your channels before the problem becomes structural.

Sign 1: Unauthorized sellers and questionable products

Unauthorized sellers are third-party profiles that sell products within the marketplace without any contractual relationship, commercial authorization, or resale policy established with the original brand.

The phenomenon generally occurs due to errors in brand control, such as lack of catalog monitoring, inefficient distribution policies, or flaws in SKU traceability.

Unauthorized sellers explore gaps in marketplace channels to insert offers with lower prices, a dubious origin and with attributes that do not exist in the original product.

The biggest risks involve erosion of brand credibility And the transfer of responsibility for negative experiences. Complaints about counterfeits, delays, or damaged products fall on the legitimate manufacturer.

Check out the indicators to identify the presence of parallel sellers:

• Abrupt price difference compared to official resellers;
• Duplicate product titles, with minor variations to circumvent the algorithm;
• Reviews mentioning different packaging or lack of warranty;
• Newly created profiles or profiles with sales history in various categories and without standard;
• Lack of information about the CNPJ or company name, making it difficult to trace the seller.

Signal 2: prices below the suggested price range and internal trade war

A break in the Suggested Minimum Price (PMS) occurs when distributors, resellers, and even counterfeiters lower prices to compete with each other, without respecting the brand's pricing policy.

The result is an internal price war: all players linked to the distribution chain lose, especially the manufacturer.

This problem usually occurs in environments with low channel governance and the absence of formal PMS policies, a document that defines minimum sales limits and guides the actions of resellers and official partners.

If the brand does not establish clear parameters, each seller begins to act in accordance with their own interest, knocking down margins, cannibalizing sales and weakening the perception of the product's value in the market.

The signs of a trade war over prices below the suggested price:

• Sudden price reductions on certain SKUs, without official campaigns;
• Price fluctuations between different resellers of the same product;
• Aggressive offers from new sellers that are not included in the approved partner base;
• Price differences between marketplaces, indicating the absence of channel uniformity.

Sign 3: Buy Box loss

The Buy Box is the space on the right side of the product page, where the button “Add to cart” or “Buy now” appears. This is where most of the sales take place.

The algorithm of platforms such as Amazon, Magalu, or Mercado Livre automatically decides which seller “wins” the Buy Box, based on criteria of competitive price, reputation, delivery time and stock availability.

If the brand loses the Buy Box, it ceases to be the primary purchase option, even if the product is theirs. In practice, the consumer may be purchasing an identical (or even counterfeit) item from another seller, simply because the algorithm understood that that advertisement offers a “better experience” for the buyer.

This phenomenon usually happens when Is there a lack of control over the reseller ecosystem, the absence of price standardization or a drop in the reputation of the official seller.

In other cases, own unfair competition from unauthorized sellers forces the algorithm to favor offers with an artificially reduced price, jeopardizing the legitimate operation of the brand.

These are the main symptoms of losing the Buy Box:

• Sudden reduction in conversion rate, even with high volume of views;
• Presence of multiple sellers offering the same SKU with minor price variations;
• Notice of “other sellers selling this product” appearing prominently;
• Visibility fluctuations in internal marketplace searches, with the product falling in position;
• Increased customer acquisition cost (CAC), since the official announcement requires paid media to compete.

Sign 4: fake ads and cloned products

The proliferation of fake ads and cloned products is a direct threat to brand integrity. Scammers use the company's name, logo, and even official descriptions to create Fake pages or advertisements identical to the originals, with the purpose of capturing undue sales or collecting personal data from uninformed buyers.

In many cases, counterfeiters copy all official content, including high-resolution photos and SEO texts, making it very difficult to distinguish the true from the fake.

The scam takes place when the final consumer you receive a low quality product, refurbished, or you just don't receive anything. The financial loss may be the buyer's, but the reputational damage falls entirely on the legitimate brand.

The deceived consumer associates the scam with the real company, multiplying complaints on sites such as Reclame Aqui, social networks and service channels.

See the evidence of fake ads and product cloning:

• Similar URLs or store names, but with minor spelling variations (e.g., “amaz0n” or “lojaoficial123”);
• Duplicate images, replicated from official advertising campaigns;
• Descriptions copied word for word, without typical SEO adaptation or structure;
• Offers with unrealistic discounts or universal free shipping;
• Absence of a verification seal or sales history, especially on newly created accounts.

Sign 5: catalog disorganization and duplication of advertisements

Catalog inconsistency occurs when multiple sellers publish the same product in a destandardized manner, resulting in Duplicate SKUs, Inconsistent Images, and Diverging Descriptions.

In addition to affecting organic indexing and the authority of the main ad, this duplicity causes a loss of algorithmic relevance, reducing positioning in search results and making it difficult to win the Buy Box.

In operational terms, catalog disorganization is an indicator of lack of data standardization and lack of integration between PIM (Product Information Management) systems and the marketplace environment.

Below are the symptoms of catalog disorganization and duplication:

• Multiple active ads for the same SKU, with minor differences in name or category;
• Images misaligned with the official visual identity, with a variation of background, logo or angle;
• Incomplete or conflicting technical descriptions, raising consumer doubts;
• Categorization errors, which move the product to irrelevant segments;
• Gradual decline in organic performance, caused by dispersion of clicks and loss of main ad authority.

Do you know who really is selling your products on marketplaces now? If the answer is “no”, it's a sign that control of your brand has escaped through your fingers, but the good news is that there's still time to regain it.

Some measures to regain control:

1. Monitor marketplaces and know, in real time, who is using your brand name;
2. Centralize the catalog to ensure that titles, images, and descriptions are always standardized;
3. Apply the PMS (Suggested Minimum Price) with firmness to prevent internal price wars;
4. Notify irregular sellers And remove from the air whoever is staining the brand reputation;
5. Blinde the brand, investing in digital protection, registration, and automatic audits.

When your company name is being used by dozens of sellers, you're already losing value and margin. But with some reputation protection strategies, the marketplace can become a sales channel again!

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