Seller Sessions Amazon FBA and Private Label

Amazon AntiTrust Lawsuit Roundtable with Steve Simonson, Tim Jordan, Adam Hiest, Liran Hirschkorn and Paul Rafelson Today, I am joined by Steve Simonson, Tim Jordan, Adam Hiest, Liran Hirschkorn and Paul Rafelson. The topic of this roundtable is the lawsuit filed by the FTC which has been gaining momentum over the last few days. Key parts of the lawsuit Anti-Discounting Measures: Amazon's fair pricing policy makes it impossible for sellers to offer lower prices on competing platforms. Prime Eligibility: It's claimed that Amazon conditions a seller's ability to have their products marked as "Prime" on using Amazon's fulfilment service, which can be costly. Search Result Biases: There are concerns that Amazon might be prioritising its own products in search results, even if other products are of better quality. High Fees for Sellers: The FTC points out that Amazon charges various fees to sellers, which can amount to nearly 50% of their total revenues. Degrading the customer experience by replacing relevant, organic search results with paid advertisements—and deliberately increasing junk ads that worsen search quality and frustrate both shoppers seeking products and sellers who are promised a return on their advertising purchase. Amazon's surmised response? Amazon is contesting a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), arguing that the lawsuit is misguided and would, if successful, harm consumers and the many businesses that sell on Amazon. 1. *Customer-Centric Innovations:* - Amazon believes its innovations and customer-centric focus have benefited consumers through low prices and increased competition in the retail industry. - The company has cooperated with the FTC in the past and respects its role in protecting consumers and promoting competition. 2. *Misguided Lawsuit:* - The current lawsuit by the FTC is seen as a radical departure from its role, with Amazon arguing that it is misguided and would force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and businesses, such as featuring higher prices and making Prime more expensive and less convenient. 3. *Allegations of Anticompetitive Practices:* - The FTC alleges that Amazon's pricing practices, Fulfilment by Amazon offering, and Amazon Prime are anticompetitive, revealing a fundamental misunderstanding of retail by the Commission. - Amazon argues that its model is pro-competitive, and the lawsuit could negatively impact consumers and businesses selling on Amazon. 4. *Low Prices and Competitive Offers:* - Amazon is proud of the low prices and competitive offers it provides to customers and has enabled third-party businesses to sell their products alongside Amazon's. - The company invests in tools and education to help third-party businesses offer competitive prices and does not highlight or promote offers that are not competitively priced. 5. *Support to Independent Sellers:* - Amazon has lots independent businesses selling on its platform and provides support and services to help them succeed. - The company has invested billions in resources and services to support sellers at every stage of their journey, providing them with data, insights, and various features to manage their businesses effectively. 6. *Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA):* - FBA is an optional service where Amazon handles product storage, packaging, shipping, returns, and customer service, allowing sellers to focus on growing their businesses. - Amazon argues that FBA is competitively priced and offers significant benefits to independent businesses, contributing to job creation and investments in the economy. 7. *Innovation and Amazon Prime:* - Amazon continues to innovate to delight customers, with Prime being a prime example, offering more than just free shipping. - The company has invested in making Prime better for customers, achieving faster shipping speeds and allowing sellers to offer Prime shipping on their own sites, which has been beneficial to both consumers and sellers. 8. *Thriving Retail Industry:* - Amazon operates in a vibrant and varied retail industry where over 80% of all retail products are still bought in physical stores. - The company argues that the FTC's complaint grossly mischaracterizes the retail industry and ignores the dynamic competition that benefits consumers, with numerous options available to consumers and sellers. - Amazon sees itself as a part of a massive and robust retail market and not as a monopolistic entity, with the FTC attempting to narrowly define markets to make Amazon appear more dominant than it is. 9. *Commitment to Consumers and Sellers:* - Amazon is proud of its role in spurring low prices, innovation, and competition across retail. - The company fundamentally disagrees with the FTC's allegations and approach to antitrust, vowing to contest the lawsuit and continue inventing to put consumers and businesses first. - Amazon believes that the FTC's approach, if successful, would harm consumers, hurt independent businesses, and upend long-standing and well-considered doctrines. Final Summary: Amazon is defending its practices and innovations, asserting that they have always been in favor of consumers and sellers, providing low prices, options, and competition in the retail market. The company sees the FTC lawsuit as fundamentally flawed, misrepresenting the retail industry and Amazon's role in it. Amazon is committed to contesting the lawsuit, maintaining that the success of the FTC in this case would result in anti-consumer and anti-competitive outcomes, harming both consumers and the independent businesses selling on Amazon.

Amazon OG Frankie Thorogood's Near Fatal Crash To Spectacular Exit in 18 Months - - *About Frankie*: Not commonly found in traditional FBA circles like Facebook groups or events, Frankie is an old-school seller who's carved out his unique path in the FBA community. ### The Early Years: Starting on eBay - Frankie shares that he got his start in 2012 on eBay. - Frankie recounts how eBay served as his starting point before Amazon became the juggernaut it is today. - He believes eBay offered essential lessons in understanding marketplace dynamics. ### Frankie's Iconic First Product: The Snood - Frankie reveals he started by selling football snoods that gained popularity among Premier League players. - A spike in sales occurred when the Football Association banned the product. ### Tackling Marketplace Dynamics - Frankie discusses the challenges of maintaining a business amidst stiff competition. - He notes that these hurdles encouraged him to look for more sustainable, unique products. ### Transitioning into Compression Sportswear (early years) - Frankie shifts focus to compression sportswear, a booming category. - Shares his experience visiting the Canton Fair in China to source quality suppliers. - Talks about how he broadened his product range and brand. ### The Jump to Amazon - Frankie initially was hesitant about moving to Amazon due to its complex Flat file process. - Decided to take the leap, which coincided with Amazon becoming a dominant marketplace. ### Building a Brand - Danny questions Frankie about his journey in brand building. - Frankie admits initial resistance to Amazon but couldn't ignore its market significance. - Frankie summarises his journey and the unique aspects of his compression sportswear brand. - *Lemon Market Concept*: A marketplace scenario where product quality is unknown until after the purchase. - *Focus on Sportswear Fabric*: Quality relies heavily on fabric and fit. - *Customer Feedback*: Importance of involving customers in product development. - *Pitfalls of Rapid Scaling*: Discusses how expanding too quickly nearly led him to bankruptcy. - *Decision to Sell Business*: Explored selling the business after a near-decade in operation. - *Brand Milestones*: Overcame cash flow issues between 2014 and 2018. #### The Exit Strategy and Beyond: - Frankie and Danny discuss exit strategy planning, valuations, and Frankie's new ventures post-exit.

Entrepreneur Michael Fenech shares his journey from a high-achieving family to becoming a successful Amazon seller. He discusses the influence of his professional athlete brothers and his entrepreneurial father. The podcast also explores the transition from golfing to entrepreneurship, challenges in dropshipping, and the success of the Endgame Network for the Amazon community. Additionally, it introduces the 'skew drop' supply chain model and highlights the thriving Amazon seller community in Australia.

The podcast explores the fascinating world of product packaging, discussing 13 different types including paperboard boxes, OPP bags, shrink wrap, foil-sealed pouch bags, mailer bags, and more. They emphasize the importance of packaging as a differentiation strategy and provide tips on finding a great graphics designer for packaging design.

In this episode, Erin Graybill, the founder of Nire Beauty, shares her advice for Amazon sellers. She talks about the challenges she faced and how she overcame them. She also shares her tips for success. • Erin Graybill is the founder of Nire Beauty, a beauty brand that sells on Amazon. • She started her business in 2016 with no prior experience in the beauty industry. • However, she has also had a lot of success. She has grown her business to over $4 million in sales and has been featured in publications such as Forbes and Vogue.

Channing Dyson, founder of Daxx Eyewear, discusses her eyewear brand targeted at moms who want style and affordability. Daxx Eyewear focuses on affordable, stylish sunglasses under $40 and has seen significant revenue growth. They initially used micro-influencers for promotions but shifted to a wholesale model. Daxx Eyewear attracts boutiques starting with small unit counts, offers adaptive eyewear for year-round wear, and engages with local communities. Channing only requires 5-10 hours per week outside of market events and attends trade shows five times a year. They started with Shopify and word-of-mouth marketing before shifting to wholesale.

Former Amazon employee and e-commerce expert, John Derkits, shares 15 hacks to supercharge your Amazon business. Topics include leveraging Amazon posts, optimizing for mobile shoppers, avoiding stock-outs with ShipmentmakerPro, post-sale support for consumer electronic brands, customer support mechanisms, increasing PPC ad spend limit, challenges of obtaining loans for sellers, and valuable Amazon business tips and resources.

Mina Elias, known for his work in content with PPC and his own brand, joins the show to discuss his Amazon journey, challenges he faced, and the transition to starting an agency. He emphasizes the importance of hard work, innovation, and execution in the Amazon industry. Mina advises sellers to focus on learning, paying for expertise, continuous improvement, and taking accountability.

Exploring the Future of Product Research: A 2023 Perspective for Amazon Sellers with Sharon Even. In this episode, host Sharon Even, a seasoned Amazon seller and innovative product developer, provides her approach and strategies governing product research in 2023 and beyond. Sharon delves into her main approach, focusing on the guiding question: "How can I build a brand?" rather than merely seeking opportunities in a single product. By pivoting towards brand creation, she explores the broad spectrum of possibilities in today's dynamic marketplace. Sharon shares her strategies to uncover starting points for product research, each illustrated with practical examples. Though casual in tone, this chit-chat-style episode is rich with hidden golden nuggets and tangible examples, offering valuable insights for both aspiring and established Amazon sellers.

A New Hybrid Model For Financing Your Amazon Business In this episode of the Seller Sessions Podcast, Danny McMillan and returning guest Fe Soutter dive into a discussion on a groundbreaking hybrid model tailored for Amazon sellers aiming for exponential growth. Fe Soutter, seasoned Amazon seller, opens up about her own experiences grappling with cash flow constraints and the intricate complexities of managing her brand. At a critical juncture, she confronted the tough choice between sourcing funds for expansion or selling her business altogether. Traditional avenues like a standard business sale or going through an aggregator came with the heavy baggage of tax implications, prompting Fe to explore uncharted territory. Enter the hybrid model – a game-changing approach that would see Fe not only retain her role as the managing director but also actively collaborate with a partner company. The crux of this innovative pact involved granting a calculated percentage of her company to this strategic partner on only the new revenue and profits generated. Fe walks us through the intricacies of this model, highlighting how this strategic affiliation allowed her to tap into unparalleled expertise and structural reinforcement. Central to this hybrid model's success is the relentless pursuit of scalability and methodical systematisation. While relinquishing partial ownership, Fe seized the opportunity to channel her energy into the facets she's most passionate about – nurturing creativity, fostering vision, and fortifying the brand's presence in the market. Fe dishes out advice drawn from her profound journey, emphasising the immeasurable value of learning from skilled team members. As the episode unfolds, we glean insights into the roadmap ahead. Fe's target? Steering this model towards a strategic exit in the coming years, with aspirations to hit the eight-figure mark before the final curtain call.