🤯 EXPERT GUIDANCE for YOUR BUSINESS

The Think Tank sessions at BDSS Market Masters next month have all sold out.

Sitting in the think tanks are everybody from a new seller just starting out to a $75 million seller flying in from Shenzhen, China.

However,  I'd still love to invite you join us in Austin for the BDSS Market Masters Think Tank Sept 12-16 as a networking guest!

I've added some shorter hot seat sessions plus some attendee-only network and mingle passes (don’t have to sit in hot seat but you can observe others).

THINK TANKS - 100% SOLDOUT

SHORTER OPTIONAL HOT SEATS and NETWORK ONLY PASSES

• Optional mini hot seat or just come to network and learn

• Not as in-depth or detailed as a Think Tank, but still very valuable

• 25-minute less formal sessions for those who choose to participate

• Attend rest of event, massive networking and enjoy the mansion

• Price includes food, drinks & accommodation in nearby Airbnb

Over 50 of the world’s top Amazon minds will be at The Gatsby Mansion in Austin the weekend of Sept 12-16, including many members of the BDSS Dream 100.

There are no presentations. It is an immersive and actionable learning environment in an incredibly fun and fully loaded mansion. It also is not a mastermind. It is a Think Tank - a brand new concept to this industry.

Even if you don’t want to sit in a hot seat or think tank, this is a great opportunity to be around some of the brightest in the industry.

Secure a Hot Seat or networking-only pass

Amazon Gen-AI is gonna start changing non-compliant listings this Thursday.

Today’s BILLION DOLLAR TIP for VIPs shows you how to quickly fix ALL your listings to be compliant by August 15, even if you have 1,000s of them!

The Billion Dollar VIP tip section only appears in a yellow box below for subscribers who have referred at least 2 other active subscribers (use referral link further down email below to get free future VIP access).

⚠️ BE CAREFUL BUYING/SELLING AMAZON ACCOUNTS

There are brokers who specializing in buying and selling Amazon seller accounts. These are often accounts sellers no longer need or use, such as one I had for Germ Shark that we stopped using during the pandemic.

The account was in good standing with 1,000+ seller feedbacks, but we shut down the company after losing $1 million+ on hand sanitizer, so it was no longer needed.

3P accounts usually sell for $500 to $20K based on age and number of seller feedbacks, and 1P accounts can go as high as $100K to a broker.

Aged accounts can help sellers gain an advantage by getting a running start with “borrowed” previous history. However, some buyers use them nefariously.

While most buyers have good intentions, once your old account is sold it can end up in the hands of bad actors and come back to haunt you as the original owner, especially if you continue to sell on Amazon.

This happened to me. Last February I sold three accounts to AIA Assets for $12,000. In June, I had one of my current seller accounts I actively use for one of my brands deactivated by Amazon, saying it was linked to one of the accounts AIA Assets purchased and re-sold. 

The store name given by Amazon was one I had never heard of. I appealed to Amazon using their option for unrelated accounts, but was denied reactivation.

The new account owner got into serious trouble with Amazon, and Amazon linked the account back to me, shuttering everything it thought was related.

An Amazon account health rep told me there was data in the account that was not properly removed before selling it onward that linked it to some of my other active accounts in good standing.

Amazon denied all appeals despite proof of sale contracts and bank deposits, and told me all related accounts are permanently banned.

If you ever sell or transfer one of your accounts, be very careful and make sure you are using a reputable company and the process is thoroughly done correctly by the broker, removing ALL linking evidence from the account.

Even so, if the future user your account is sold to gets into trouble, it could backfire and cause problems with other accounts you may be operating.

Amazon does have a process in place to prove you sold the account, but in my case it was useless and all appeals were denied.  Be careful out there. You could lose millions of dollars by brokering your old seller accounts.

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💒 AMAZON and TIKTOK GET ENGAGED

Amazon has followed up its partnership with Meta and is now testing certain categories of products on TikTok with direct to Amazon purchase integration, without ever leaving TikTok.

Here are the highlights:

1. Groundbreaking Partnership: Amazon has formed unprecedented partnerships with TikTok and Pinterest, allowing users to purchase Amazon products directly within these social media apps.

2. Seamless Integration: Users can link their social media profiles to their Amazon accounts, enabling frictionless purchasing without leaving the apps. This includes access to real-time pricing, Prime eligibility, and delivery estimates.

3. Strategic Expansion: This move is part of Amazon's broader strategy to extend its e-commerce reach across popular digital platforms, tapping into vast user bases and high engagement rates.

4. Competitive Edge: By integrating with major social media platforms, Amazon is positioning itself ahead of competitors in the rapidly growing social commerce space.

5. Data Sharing and Personalization: The partnerships involve data sharing, potentially leading to more targeted advertising and personalized product recommendations.

6. Advertising Implications: This development opens new possibilities for brands to run Amazon ads on TikTok, potentially including attribution for sponsored content and creator partnerships.

7. Shift in TikTok's Strategy: The partnership suggests a pivot in TikTok's approach, favoring ad revenue over its own TikTok Shop initiative.

8. Future of Social Commerce: This move solidifies the growing importance of social commerce, indicating it's becoming a central part of the e-commerce landscape.

These partnerships represent a significant shift in the e-commerce and social media landscapes, potentially reshaping how consumers discover and purchase products online.

📅 BUNCH of DATES and SH*T AFFECTING YOUR $$$

1) Those selling in Canada get to join those in France, Italy, Spain, the UK and other marketplaces when the Digital Services Tax (DST) is introduced this Thursday.

You’ll start paying a 3% tax on every ad click in Canada (that $1 bid is now $1.03) and in October on your Amazon referral fees too (that $3.00 FBA fee is now $3.09 - effectively making a 15% referral fee 15.45%).

The tax is being levied on large businesses like Amazon, and Amazon is passing it on to its sellers.

2) If you want to expand globally, check out Amazon’s new Global Demand Dashboard in Seller Central under “Growth > Marketplace Guidance.” It will show you the demand for your products in international markets.

3) Starting November 1, 2024, Amazon will proactively reimburse you for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) items that are lost in its fulfillment centers.

Remember the eligibility windows for filing claims shrink on October 23 as well.
Now is the time to grab all the money you are owed that you can.

4) Peak holiday fulfillment fees go into effect from October 15, 2024 to January 14, 2025

5) Inventory must arrive to Amazon’s fulfillment centers by October 19, 2024, to guarantee it’s Prime badge-ready by Black Friday. There will be limited slots to accept shipments at Amazon fulfillment centers during November and December.

Estimated capacity limits for October, are now available, and November limits will be available starting August 20.

6) Gen AI is will start taking over non-compliant product listings on Amazon this Thursday, August 15. Get ready for more headaches. VIP BDSN newsletter readers should scroll up to the VIP section above for how to get ahead of this.

🇨🇳 CHINESE SELLERS ADVANTAGE over USA SELLERS 🇺🇸

As BDSS Dream 100 Chad Rubin wrote on Linkedin …

The Chinese have always had a leg up on US sellers:

1️⃣ Home-court advantage with factories

2️⃣ They don’t pay taxes in the US

3️⃣ USPS bankrolls their shipping - ePacket makes it cheaper to send a package from China to the US than from Philly to NYC. FEDEX now joining in.

4️⃣ Flawless American English via ChatGPT

And now, Amazon is gearing up to roll out a Temu look-alike.

Expect a flood of products (let's face it, mostly junk) from China—under $20 and lighter than a pound—landing on your doorstep in 9-11 days.

Here’s the “new” economy for you:

- Made in China
- Sold by China
- Marketed by China
- Shipped straight from China
- Delivered and subsidized by the US Postal Service
- Approved by Amazon

The deck is stacked against US companies.

Amazon has cranked the faucet, evolving into an even more expansive gateway for products exclusively sold by Chinese vendors.

It’s an outright disaster for American brands 🇺🇸

🇨🇳 SOURCE with EXPERTS in CHINA this OCTOBER

Connect with over 80,000 exclusive suppliers in a venue as expansive as three major airports.

Discover unique vendors and build strategic partnerships to transform your business.

Navigate it all with renowned industry experts like Amy Wees, Yulia Blinova, Brandon Young and more.

It’s a China Sourcing Trip like no other from Dream 100 member Amy Wees.

See the full details + schedule for the trip this October/November

✌🏼 I’ll roll back into your in-box Thursday …

The answer to today’s STUMP BEZOS is
Electronics (35% for college, 26% for schools)