Father | Husband | 3rd Party Amazon Seller | Consultant | Entrepreneur |
Ohio, USA
Joined May 2021
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Do you have a moat? Less and less sellers are willing to go in store and shop. Retail arbitrage is alive and well. If you want professional support, 250+ fresh leads monthly and LIVE content RA Leads Gold is the place for you.
ra-leads-gold.thrivecart.com…
Steve French retweeted
A big takeaway from Ready Player One is the society wide nostalgia for a time most people didn’t even experience
As we get deeper and deeper into this bizarro AI world the nostalgia is going to boom. Trading cards, action figures, old videogames/movies etc are going to boom
Steve French retweeted
"Capitalism created the possibility of the win win win. It used to be a zero sum game where somebody won, somebody else lost.
The biggest mistake people make they still think we're in a zero sum world. They're obsessed with some billionaires because Bernie Sanders thinks that @JeffBezos and @elonmusk somehow stole the money from the people.
They don't understand that it's this prosperity machine that's creating more, not just for those billionaires, but for everything that they're touching. They're creating value for their customers, they're creating value for their employees. Their suppliers are flourishing, their investors are seeing their capital go up. It can be reinvested and compound.
All philanthropy ultimately comes from business. That's where the profits are.
Where does all the taxes come from? It ultimately comes from business as well.
This is the engine that's lifting humanity out. The entrepreneurs are the drivers of that engine. Somebody like Elon Musk, he gets a very, very, very tiny sliver of the value that he creates for the whole world."
— @iamjohnmackey
Steve French retweeted
Every day you get up, you are healthy, and have a packed day ahead, Be Excited.
You *get to do this*...You have an opportunity.
You have the ability to work hard, make money, and build your life.
You are one of the luckiest people on earth.
Steve French retweeted
Tired of everything becoming a blind box gacha game slot machine sports bet.
Tired of prompt monkeys with no original thoughts posting rage bait for impressions.
Tired of everyone trying to automate and outsource things they don’t even understand themselves then selling it.
This new age of the internet is not sustainable.
There’s no way.
Yes. We need way more of this.
After 15 yrs, I think this will be my last year selling on Amazon. It has now become a DEN OF THIEVES. Buyers purchase an expensive item, receive it, claim it's damaged, return it (but what the buyer returns is usually some broken junk they had laying around their house, while they keep what was in the box they received). Amazon issues a refund to the buyer and the seller can be out thousands of dollars. And Amazon ALWAYS sides with the buyer, rarely the seller.
It is also now overrun by Chinese sellers hijacking small mom & pop listings & getting take down orders on the mom & pop listings as I outline in my post below from 2025. And there is literally nothing the small US businesses can do to rectify it.
And now the fees they charge almost make it impossible to make a profit. One absurd fee they rolled out is a "Low inventory fee". If you run out of stock of an item because it sells fast, you get charged a fee FOR BEING OUT OF STOCK. Heaven forbid your supplier is out of stock, or you just don't have any extra inventory of that item, they'll still whack you with a fee each month for not having inventory at their fulfillment center for them to ship out. Coupled with all the other fees they charge, you can easily hit 40% of your sales revenue going straight to Amazon in fees now. That doesn't include YOUR costs, like cost of goods, packaging, etc.
After 15 years, to me, it's just really not worth it anymore. It's been a good run but they've made it almost impossible for small third party sellers to make a profit. They prioritized the low cost Chinese knock offs years ago and now seem to prioritize complete thievery all in the name of Bezos' original mission of being the "Earth’s most customer-centric company.” The first and most important principle of Amazon's Leadership Principles is "Customer Obsession".
But I'll add one tweak: "Customer Obsession: Even if the customer is a blatant thief"
(A recent screenshot of a discussion on their seller forums)
Steve French retweeted
Walmart exclusively announced on "Good Morning America" that it is combining its Walmart+ and Sam's Club Plus memberships into a new $120 annual offer, a move the retailer says could save shoppers nearly $100 a year.
Read more: abcnews.link/KOfm8pF
Steve French retweeted
For my Amazon FBM Sellers:
In the last 60 days we have seen a massive uptick in Amazon adding shipping charges after shipment.
Some of these items we have sold before paying $24 a label are now being upcharged to $50 a label.
Started in August and continues into October.
All shipping purchased through seller central, is adding 7% to the total label costs this year.
Opening tickets now, but to check this yourself:
sellercentral.amazon.com/man…
Then look for "Chargeback due to under charging postage label purchased"
You can also grab your entire year report and send it to your LLM of choice to see the full damage.
Steve French retweeted
If "everything's gated" is one of your biggest Amazon frustrations. Check this out.
I just recorded a walkthrough of a method I call the New Seller Brand Finder.
The idea: if a brand shows up across thousands of brand-new seller storefronts, it's very likely open to new sellers.
So we find those brands with Keepa and a couple of AI prompts, then source the profitable ones.
Link to the guide in the next post.
Steve French retweeted
hi everyone who hates inventory labs
Amazon literally publishes a first party agentic skill to help you manage shipping to amazon with your agent
You're welcome
Use the money you save to join my newsletter
github.com/amzn/selling-part…
Steve French retweeted
Lessons and reminders to myself this Q4:
• Don’t buy something just because it’s heavily discounted. I’ve lost money thinking it’s cheap enough and eventually it’ll go back up
• Take notes on BOLOs, pumpkin spice, holiday and limited edition products that people want year round
• The fomo is real. You’re going to miss out on deals and leads. Don’t waste your time chasing it. There’s always another
• It’s easy to spend money. Look for reasons not to buy it
• Watch your cash flow. Don’t spend it all early. You don’t want to be strapped when another deal hits
• Someone else’s buy ≠ a good buy for you
• Amazon might restrict one of your listings. It’s out of your control. Don’t waste energy getting worked up. Find another platform to move it
• Have boxes, tape and supplies ready to go now
• The right group and leads list can be extremely helpful this time of year. I can’t be everywhere. Having leads and BOLOs sent to me saves a ton of time and you can use those sources to rabbit trail other leads
• January is still a great month to sell. What do a lot of people get for Christmas? Gift cards
• You’re going to be tired. Do it anyway.
• It might not ever be as good as it is today so take advantage of it