Keepa is the price-and-rank history that serious Amazon sellers live by — but its graphs look intimidating the first time you see them. Once you know what four lines mean, a Keepa chart becomes the fastest lie-detector for a resale deal: it tells you whether today's price is normal or a fluke, whether the product actually sells, and whether Amazon is a competitor. Here's the plain-English version.
The lines that matter
Keepa can show a lot, but four things carry most of the decision:
- Amazon (the "Amazon" line) — shows when Amazon itself is selling the product. If this line is present and continuous, Amazon is on the listing, which usually makes the Buy Box hard to win. Gaps mean Amazon was out of stock.
- Buy Box / New price — the price the product actually sells at over time. This is your reality check: is today's price normal, high, or a dip?
- Sales Rank (BSR) — how well it sells. A line that repeatedly drops (rank getting lower) then ticks back up is the signature of steady sales; each drop is roughly a sale. A flat line high up means slow. (New to this? See Amazon BSR explained.)
- Offer count — how many sellers are on the listing. More sellers means the sales are shared more thinly.
Reading the price history: is today's price real?
The single most valuable use of a Keepa graph is answering "is this price normal?". Look at the Buy Box line over 90 days:
- Today's price well below the 90-day average → a genuine dip, potentially a good buy — if it isn't falling further.
- Today's price at the top of a spike → dangerous; buy here and the price may drop back after you've committed stock, erasing your margin. This is the classic beginner loss.
- A steadily falling line → you'd be buying into a declining market; your resale price may keep sinking while your stock sells.
Pair this with the sell-through question: even a real price dip is a trap if the product barely sells.
Reading the BSR line: does it actually sell?
The Sales Rank line tells you demand. You want to see frequent drops — a "sawtooth" pattern — because each drop marks a sale. A product with a beautiful price but a flat, rarely-moving BSR is a slow seller that will sit in storage racking up fees. A jagged BSR at a low number is what you're hoping for.
Spotting Amazon and heavy competition
Two red flags a Keepa graph reveals instantly:
- Amazon on the listing (the Amazon line is present) — winning the Buy Box against Amazon is hard, so factor that in even when the numbers look good.
- A rising offer count — more sellers piling in usually means price competition ahead, squeezing margins.
Neither is an automatic "no", but both should make you stricter on the buy price.
You don't have to read it manually
Keepa graphs are powerful, but interpreting four lines in a shop aisle is slow. This is exactly the reading Axivelo does for you: it uses Keepa-style price and BSR history and turns it into plain signals — "16.5% below 90-day average", "Amazon is selling this item", steady vs slow demand — right next to net profit, ROI and your maximum buy price, from a single scan. So you get the conclusion of the graph without decoding it live. If you'd rather learn the manual read first, this guide plus do you actually need a Keepa subscription will get you there. Sanity-check any product's profit with the free UK FBA calculator.
Check any product before you buy
The free UK Amazon FBA calculator applies the 2026 fees and VAT to show net profit, ROI and margin. Axivelo does the same from a barcode scan in the aisle — free to start on Android.
Open the free FBA calculatorFAQ
What do the colours on a Keepa graph mean?
Each line tracks a different data series over time — typically Amazon's own price, the Buy Box/marketplace price, and the Sales Rank (BSR), with an optional offer count. Colours are set in Keepa's settings, so read by what each line represents: is Amazon present, what's the usual price, and does the rank drop often (steady sales)?
How do I know if Amazon is selling a product on Keepa?
Look for the Amazon price line. If it's present and continuous over the period, Amazon is a seller on that listing, which usually makes the Buy Box harder to win. Gaps in that line show when Amazon was out of stock.
What does the BSR line on Keepa tell me?
It shows the product's Sales Rank over time. Frequent drops (the rank getting lower) indicate frequent sales — a jagged, sawtooth line is a good sign of steady demand. A flat line high up means the product sells slowly.
Do I need to read Keepa graphs to do retail arbitrage?
You need the information Keepa graphs contain — price history, demand and competition — but you don't have to interpret the raw chart yourself. Scanner apps like Axivelo read Keepa-style data and hand you the plain-English conclusion, though learning to read the graph makes you a sharper buyer.
UK Amazon FBA sellers — we built Axivelo after one too many trips juggling Keepa, a calculator and a spreadsheet halfway down a B&M aisle. Now it shows profit, ROI, MAX PAY and demand on every in-store scan.