Policies
MAP policies
What a MAP policy is in MapProtector, what it covers, how the rules engine applies it to an observation, and who may create or end one.
Last revised
A MAP policy states the minimum price at which a scope of products may be advertised, from a date. In MapProtector it is the reference every evaluation is made against: an observation is below policy when its price, after the policy’s tolerance and treatment rules, is under the effective MAP at that instant.
What a policy is made of
| Part | Fixed or versioned | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Fixed at creation | The brand; whether it covers the whole brand, a product group or one product; the marketplace; the condition (New, Used, Refurbished or Any). |
| Version | Appended over time | The MAP amount and currency, the instant it is in force from, the tolerance, and the shipping, coupon, cart-price and out-of-stock rules. Each version is immutable once written. |
The scope cannot be edited afterwards. A policy for a different marketplace, condition or set of products is a different policy. What can change is what the floor says, and that is always a new version — see Policy versions.
Which policy applies
When more than one policy could cover an observation, the narrowest scope wins: a policy for the product beats one for its product group, which beats one for the brand, for the same marketplace and condition. A product no policy covers is not evaluated, and each of its observations says so rather than reading as compliant.
How an observation is judged
- Find the policy in force for the product, marketplace and condition at the observation’s instant, and the version in force at that instant.
- Apply any approved promotion whose window and scope cover the observation. The promotion’s floor replaces the version’s MAP for that window.
- Check for an active exception. Exempt from policy stops the evaluation here with the outcome Not applicable. Monitor only lets it continue but bars enforcement.
- Apply the treatment rules: whether shipping is included, how a coupon is treated, whether a cart-only price counts, whether an out-of-stock offer is judged.
- Compare the resulting price with the floor using exact arithmetic in the currency’s minor units. A price exactly at MAP is compliant; a price inside the tolerance is compliant; anything lower is below policy.
Tolerance
Tolerance is how far below the floor a price may fall before it is treated as below policy. None means the floor is the floor. An amount is a fixed sum in the policy’s currency. A percentage is evaluated exactly — by cross-multiplication rather than by rounding to a threshold price — so a boundary never lands a cent to one side depending on a rounding mode.
Who may do what
| Action | Role |
|---|---|
| Read policies and their history | Viewer and above |
| Create a policy, append a version, end a policy | Brand Admin |
| Draft a promotion | Compliance Manager and above |
| Create or revoke an exception | Compliance Manager and above |
| Approve or cancel a promotion | Brand Admin |
Creating a policy puts a floor in force immediately, which changes what every seller is measured against from that instant — so it sits with the role that owns the workspace.
Ending a policy
A policy is ended by appending an end version: from that instant the policy states nothing, and observations for its scope are not evaluated unless a wider policy covers them. Ending is visible in the version history as an event; nothing is deleted. Open cases under the policy are not closed by ending it — a brand withdrawing its own floor is not a seller raising a price.