If you’re building a brand, you already know pricing your products is both a crucial aspect of running your business and a tricky one.
McKinsey’s 2024 global consumer survey found nearly 40% of consumers switch retailers to get better deals. That’s why, if even one retailer advertises below your minimum advertised price (or MAP), the discount can spark a race to the bottom. This can lead to reduced profit margins, lower brand value, and strained relationships with other retailers.
That’s where the MAP pricing policy comes in. It’s a legal document that helps you control the advertised price of your product and prevent it from falling to a point that it hurts your brand.
This guide will help you understand what MAP pricing is, why it matters, and the right way to use it.
What is MAP pricing?
MAP pricing is the lowest price a manufacturer allows any retailer to publicly advertise for a product. Effective MAP policy enforcement involves monitoring retailer compliance, providing clear guidelines, and implementing consequences for violations to ensure consistent pricing and protect brand value.
Although MAP pricing determines how low a retailer can advertise a brand’s product, it does not control the final sale price. Sellers may sell products at a lower price than the MAP policy, as long as they don’t advertise that price in any way.
Regional nuances of MAP policies
The specific rules and regulations around MAP policies differ depending on the country or region. For example, minimum advertised pricing policies are legal in the United States under federal antitrust laws. But they aren’t allowed in the United Kingdom, where MAP pricing is considered an infringement on competition laws.
In regions where MAP pricing is allowed, there are strict rules around how these policies are created and enforced. For instance, US manufacturers must set MAP policies without any consultation from retailers and they must be applied and enforced equally across all retailers. As MAP involves creating a complicated legal document, companies must work with legal teams to craft specific minimum advertised price policies.
MAP pricing in online stores and ecommerce marketplaces
Enforcing MAP for ecommerce (or iMAP for internet-specific policies) has become more complex due to price transparency, constantly increasing online sellers, and the prevalence of online ads. This requires you to use automated tools to monitor compliance across websites, marketplaces, and ads.
Retailers may use tactics like Add to Cart for Price to show lower prices without publicly advertising below MAP. In such cases, you need active price monitoring strategies and systems to address violations while balancing online promotions within MAP guidelines.
💡 Manage pricing consistency easily by connecting your Shopify store to popular sales channels, like Amazon, Google Shopping, and Facebook. Ensure MAP compliance across every channel from one centralized dashboard.
Why is MAP pricing important?
The main goal of MAP pricing is to protect your brand’s value and prevent your products from being perceived as cheap or consistently discounted.
Here are some benefits of enforcing MAP pricing:
Protects brand value
MAP policies can help you protect the real and perceived value of your brand by safeguarding against price erosion. Price erosion happens when retailers discount your products at such a low price that other retailers are forced to drive down their prices as well.
These price wars can decrease brand value, as consumers might perceive heavily discounted products as inferior. MAP prices are particularly important for luxury brands that rely on maintaining high brand equity—the customer’s perception of a brand’s value.
Supports retailers across all sales channels
MAP pricing protects retailers from being forced to lower prices and decrease their profit margin because another retailer lists products lower to gain a competitive advantage.
Minimum advertised pricing guidelines discourage unethical pricing strategies like predatory pricing or selling a product at an unprofitably low price to eliminate competition and create a monopoly. This helps avoid a constant price war that hurts retailers’ and manufacturers’ profit margins.
Improves customer experience with consistent pricing
A customer who purchases a brand’s product and then sees it advertised at a far lower price will naturally be disappointed. With MAP pricing policy, you can maintain clear pricing expectations for your products, improve customer experience, and increase your brand’s reputation.
Prevents marketplace chaos in omnichannel retail
Online marketplaces, direct-to-consumer (DTC) sites, and social media stores account for most MAP breaches. This is due to the repricing algorithms (automated pricing systems) which continuously undercut competing retailers’ prices to set the lowest price in the market.
With advanced MAP pricing systems features like 24/7 web crawling and screenshot evidence, you get real-time notifications about MAP pricing violations. This helps you streamline product prices across physical and digital touchpoints.
Automations with Shopify Flow can alert your team instantly if products are advertised below your MAP threshold. You can use the Send Email action to notify your team so they can take swift action to address the pricing issue.
Read more: What Is Omnichannel Retail? How it Works and Examples
How to enforce MAP pricing
- Determine a minimum advertised price
- Draft an original MAP policy with legal counsel
- Consider including temporary waivers
- Use automated MAP monitoring tools
- Adjust your MAP policy as needed
With legal counsel, businesses can create and enforce MAP pricing policies that establish minimum advertising prices designed to protect brands, retailers, and customers alike.
Here are some general steps businesses take to implement a MAP policy:
1. Determine a minimum advertised price
Start by determining the ideal minimum advertised price for a specific product based on factors like brand equity, production and marketing costs, and competitor analysis. Identify your target customers by conducting customer surveys, creating an ideal customer profile, and studying customer data to determine the price they’d be willing to pay for your product.
2. Draft an original MAP policy with legal counsel
Hire a lawyer or legal team to draft a unique MAP policy for your company. Some companies have a single MAP policy that applies to all of their products, while others with a wide range of products at different price points may draft several separate MAP policies.
Since MAP compliance involves a comprehensive understanding of antitrust laws, avoid using a cookie-cutter map policy. This can easily lead to mistakes and legal issues.
Make sure that your MAP pricing policy uses clear language that explains what the minimum advertising price is for a particular product or product line, as well as what the consequences are for MAP violations. When creating your MAP policy, avoid consulting any third-party stakeholders, especially retailers, as this is illegal under antitrust laws.
3. Consider including temporary waivers
When determining your MAP policy template, weigh the pros and cons of creating pricing exceptions based on certain seasons or holidays. For example, you could include an exemption to your MAP price for Black Friday to give retailers the opportunity to create buzz around limited-time discounts.
If you decide to include certain exemptions to your MAP pricing, communicate that information to your retailers and enforce the policies equally across the board.
4. Use automated MAP monitoring tools
MAP pricing software helps you optimize your MAP monitoring process and notify you whenever a MAP violation occurs. MAP compliance monitoring tools like Prisync, PriceMole, and MetricsCart scrape through online stores and marketplaces to detect any pricing violations and flag them.
Prioritize tools that:
- Monitor both domestic and international marketplaces you sell on
- Offer API or ecommerce marketplace integrations for easy data transfer
- Provide audit trails (screenshots, timestamps, seller details)
- Support tiered, scheduled communications so repeat offenders escalate automatically
Once you shortlist a software, test it with a limited SKU set first, compare detection accuracy, and confirm that your team can easily customize the system for your specific use cases.
Also, consult with your legal team about how you want to design, structure, and implement consequences for MAP violations. Some of the most common MAP violation consequences include withdrawing products from retailers, restricting future sales, and, in some cases, legal action.
Related reading: The Ultimate Guide To Price Monitoring Tools for Ecommerce
5. Adjust your MAP policy as needed
Revisit your MAP pricing policies regularly, and adjust your policies based on factors like market conditions or new product lines. When your minimum advertised price changes, remember to clearly communicate any new information about your MAP policies to all of your retailers simultaneously.
MAP policy templates and examples
A well-structured MAP policy is the backbone of effective MAP enforcement. Below you’ll find a checklist of important clauses and an easy-to-use starter template to draft your MAP policy.
Essential components of a MAP policy
| Clause | Why it matters | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose statement | Explains the goal (protect brand equity, stop price wars). | Keep it to one sentence. |
| Covered products & SKUs | Eliminates ambiguity about which items the policy governs. | Maintain a live, shareable SKU list. |
| Definitions | Clarifies “advertised price,” “authorized retailer,” etc. | Mirror US antitrust language if you sell in the States. |
| MAP price schedule | Lists the floor price for each SKU or product line. | Update alongside wholesale price changes. |
| Advertising restrictions | Specifies forbidden channels (PPC, social, cart pages) and required MAP callouts. | Note that in-cart pricing isn’t “advertising.” |
| Waiver/promo clause | Allows short-term exceptions (e.g., Black Friday). | State dates, discount depth, and notice period. |
| Monitoring & evidence | Describes how you track compliance and preserve screenshots. | Reference your monitoring software here. |
| Penalty ladder | Outlines first-, second-, and third-offense consequences. | Use escalating supply holds before taking legal action. |
| Contact & appeal process | Gives retailers one inbox for questions or evidence disputes. | Automate replies with canned responses. |
| Unilateral statement | Confirms the policy is brand-issued, not a mutual agreement. | Mandatory for US rule-of-reason protection. |
Sample MAP policy
Here’s a sample MAP policy text you can use as a starting point for drafting your agreement:
Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) Policy (Effective July 1, 2025)
-
Covered Products
This policy applies to all SKUs listed in Appendix A (“Covered Products”). The appendix may be updated at the brand’s sole discretion with seven (7) days’ written notice. -
MAP Price
The minimum advertised price for each Covered Product is set forth in Appendix B. Retailers may sell below MAP in-cart or via direct negotiation, provided that price is not publicly advertised. -
Prohibited Advertising Practices
Retailers shall not:
Display a price lower than MAP in any paid ad, marketplace listing, or web page accessible to the public.
Use “click for price,” strikethroughs, or coupon codes that reveal a price below MAP. -
Waivers
Temporary promotional waivers (e.g., Black Friday) will be issued in writing at least fourteen (14) days in advance and will specify start and end dates. - Compliance & Penalties
-
- First violation: Written warning and 48-hour cure period.
- Second violation: Suspension of new-product allocations for 30 days.
- Third violation: Termination of authorized-retailer status and supply.
-
Unilateral Statement
This policy is issued unilaterally by [Brand] and is not subject to retailer acceptance, negotiation, or modification. -
Contact
Direct all MAP inquiries to map@brand.com. Appeals must include screenshot evidence and will be reviewed within five (5) business days.
Note: Consult your legal advisor before finalizing the MAP policy agreement to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
What is MSRP?
MSRP stands for “manufacturer’s suggested retail price” and represents a price recommendation from manufacturers. It’s also known as “recommended retail price” or “sticker price.”
Think of MSRP as the optimal sale price that a manufacturer or brand wants their products sold for based on a variety of factors such as costs of production, marketing, distribution, and more.
MSRP pricing:
- Helps retailers get an idea of product cost and profit margin
- Provides transparency to customers as to what the product should ideally cost them
Read more: Top 10 Common Pricing Strategies for Businesses in 2025
MAP vs. MSRP
MAP and MSRP both shape how your products appear in the market, but they serve different goals. While MAP sets the lowest price retailers may advertise, MSRP suggests the ideal transaction price a shopper might pay.
Use MAP to prevent a race to the bottom on promotion and MSRP to guide day-to-day shelf pricing and how customers perceive your product. While both can impact selling price, they have two key differences:
Uses
Here are the example scenarios for using MAP versus MSRP in 2025:
| Pricing strategy | What it controls | When to rely on it | Example scenario |
|---|---|---|---|
| MAP | Lowest advertised price (ads, listings, comparison feeds). | You need to stop public discount wars without dictating final checkout prices. | A premium headphones brand wants online retailers and marketplaces to advertise for no less than $299, even if in-cart prices vary. |
| MSRP | Benchmark selling price the brand recommends. | You want to signal product value or launch a new line with a clear price anchor. | A fashion label debuts a jacket at $199 MSRP to give retailers room for seasonal markdowns while showing consumers the full value. |
Retailers can sell below MAP in-cart (since it’s not advertised) and below MSRP at the register (since MSRP is only guidance).
Enforcement of MAP vs. MSRP
In countries and regions where MAP policies are legal, manufacturers can enforce their minimum advertised price across all sales channels. On the other hand, MSRP is only a suggested retail price that retailers can disregard if they choose.
Here’s what the enforcement look like for MAP and MSRP pricing strategies:
| Pricing strategy | Legal standing | How brands keep it in place | Risk of violation |
|---|---|---|---|
| MAP | Allowed in the US when set unilaterally, banned or restricted in parts of the EU/UK. | Written policy, 24/7 monitoring, tiered penalties (e.g., supply holds). | Retailers may lose product access if they advertise below MAP. |
| MSRP | Merely a recommendation, enforcing final sale price can violate antitrust laws (except where otherwise agreed upon). | Brands influence with wholesale discounts, launch incentives, or unilateral pricing policies. | Retailers may ignore MSRP with deep promos. Manufacturer’s main recourse could be adjusting wholesale terms or discontinuing supply. |
MAP pricing landscape in 2025
MAP pricing remains legal in some countries and nearly banned in others. Before launching or updating your MAP policy, it’s important to understand regional laws and the latest marketplace pricing guidelines.
Recent legal changes by region
- United States: The antitrust law largely remains unchanged and follows the basic Leegin framework (a unilateral MAP floor). However, the Federal Trade Commission has added a new Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, effective May 12, 2025. As per the rule, any advertised price (including a MAP-compliant one) must now include upfront mandatory fees to avoid bait-and-switch liability.
- United Kingdom and European Union: Competition authorities continue to treat mandatory advertised-price floors as resale price maintenance (RPM). In December 2024, the French Autorité de la concurrence fined 10 appliance manufacturers €611 million for fixing both advertised and final prices. This indicates that MAP-style clauses are still unlawful across the EU and the UK.
- Canada: The updated Canadian Competition Bureau guidance warns that MAP can be an illegal “price influence” unless it is issued unilaterally and leaves retailers free to choose their actual selling price. This requires you to document that freedom and apply penalties uniformly.
- Australia and New Zealand: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has made vertical price restraints a priority. On April 16, 2025, an apparel company Hard Rock admitted RPM violations after threatening retailers who advertised below its preferred price. Authorities treat MAP floors similarly. This means any advertised-price mandates must either get ACCC authorization or be clearly framed as non-binding recommendations.
- Asia (China, Japan, India): China’s antitrust regulator State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) named vertical price restraints a top enforcement priority in 2024. And it has continued issuing fines into 2025. Since MAP is treated as a vertical restraint, multinational brands in this region typically rely on advisory “price guides” and marketplace takedown requests rather than formal MAP enforcement.
MAP enforcement trends and success stories
- Brands are replacing manual spot checks with AI crawlers from platforms like Dealavo and 42Signals. These tools can scan hundreds of marketplaces every hour, bundle screenshots, and trigger templated notices, which reduces takedown cycles.
- When automation is combined with a clear three-step penalty ladder, results follow quickly. For example, Rev-A-Shelf, a home storage cabinets and accessories manufacturer, reduced daily MAP violations by 87% and increased average advertised prices by up to 47% within a year.
- Quality of retailers is more important than quantity. For instance, Earthbath, a biodegradable pet grooming products manufacturer, filtered out 42% of sellers who were consistently violating its MAP pricing policy. However, this led to a 93% drop in daily violations and a 30% increase in retail margins.
MAP pricing FAQ
How does MAP pricing benefit my brand?
Minimum advertised price helps maintain brand integrity by setting a floor price for products sold by retailers. It prevents price wars and protects your brand’s perceived value in the market. Clear communication of MAP policies to retail partners is essential for ensuring compliance and fostering a healthy retail environment for your products.
Is MAP pricing illegal?
The legality of MAP pricing depends on the country or region where you operate. For example, MAP pricing is legal in the United States under antitrust laws but is prohibited under current competition laws in the United Kingdom.
Can you sell below MAP pricing?
Yes, you can sell products below MAP pricing, but you cannot advertise products below the MAP price, whether online or in a brick-and-mortar store. One way retailers work around this advertising restriction is by using a “see price in cart” tactic.
What are the tips for creating a MAP policy?
- Avoid involving retailers when setting your MAP policy.
- Enforce MAP policy consistently across all sales channels.
- Implement an automated MAP monitoring system to alert you when products are advertised below the MAP price.
- Consult experienced legal counsel to ensure your MAP policy complies with applicable laws.
Is the MAP lower than MSRP?
Yes, the MAP price is usually lower than the MSRP for a given product. MSRP is the brand’s suggested selling price, while MAP is the minimum advertised price, often set below MSRP to allow for controlled promotions.
What happens if a retailer violates MAP?
Typically, the manufacturer will issue a written warning. If pricing violations continue, they may withhold promotional support and product supply, and ultimately terminate the contract or take legal action.
