💰 Spotting The Gold Early…

What you’ll find in this week’s newsletter:

• 👀 Spotting The Gold Early [True Story]

• 🔥 AWS is Down… Happy Monday to you too.

• 👎 New Fees Coming for 2026

• 🧐 Amazon Begins Reporting Data to Chinese Authorities

• ✅ You’re Writing Prompts Suck [Here’s How to Fix it]

🚨 Reply to this email with by writing #wheelofkelsey for a chance of 1 custom AI-based product image courtesy of Ritu Java from PPC Ninja. Find out the results on Wednesday on the podcast!

 👀 How Spotting a Simple Need Shaped a Decade of Success [TRUE STORY] 

It's 2013, and there I am in Las Vegas with my buddy Riz.

We were there to check out this huge event called the Amazing Selling Machine.

And let me tell you, the hype was off the charts.

Everyone was buzzing about the Amazon gold rush like it was the next big thing.

You could practically feel the energy in the air. 

Most folks there were super excited but also kind of like deer in headlights because they hadn't really dipped their toes into e-commerce before.

Now, I had a bit of a leg up because I'd already been around the block with e-commerce, fulfillment, and all that jazz.

So while everyone else was soaking up the opportunity, I overheard someone say they just needed someone who could handle the whole selling and marketing piece.

And I thought, "Hey, I can do that."

So I jumped in, offered my expertise, and before I knew it, I had a whole lineup of clients.

It was like spotting an opportunity where no one else did and just running with it.

Over the years, that turned into building a managed brand service.

And yeah, it even gave me the chance to work with my sons along the way, which has been a huge bonus.

And here we are in 2025, still doing it.

So the business lesson?

Sometimes the real opportunity is just being able to see what others haven't noticed yet and having the confidence to fill that gap.

And in my case, it turned into a whole family affair.

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter.

— Norm

🇺🇸 AWS is Down!

If today’s Amazon Web Services outage didn’t impact your business directly, it should still be a wake-up call.

Earlier this morning, AWS experienced a widespread disruption bringing down thousands of sites and apps globally.

Snapchat, Lyft, Signal, Fortnite, Slack, Coinbase, and even Amazon’s own retail site all felt the ripple effect.

AWS, the backbone of a massive portion of the internet went down for roughly three hours before recovery signs started rolling in.

It is still not available for everyone.

At its peak, more than 4 million users reported issues.

Key platforms hit:

• Consumer & Social: Snapchat, Signal, Lyft, Reddit

• Gaming: Fortnite, Roblox, Clash Royale

• Financial: Coinbase, Venmo, Chime, Lloyds Bank (U.K.)

• Core Amazon Services: Amazon.com, Alexa, Prime Video

  

Critical enterprise tools like Slack and payment platforms also went dark.

Three companies, Amazon (AWS), Microsoft (Azure), and Google Cloud control roughly 63% of the global cloud infrastructure.

This is the same structural fragility we saw during CrowdStrike’s global malfunction last year, which grounded flights, shut down hospitals, and disrupted banking systems. Today just reinforced that lesson for anyone doing business online.

🚨 New Amazon Fees Coming in 2026!

Amazon just dropped its 2026 FBA fee update, and let’s be real… nobody’s surprised.

Every year, the costs creep higher.

Effective January 15, 2026, Amazon will roll out new fulfillment rates, updated weight calculations, and a fresh batch of surcharges.

Below is a sample of the break down for FBA fees excluding apparel. Check out the full table here

Amazon will now use the greater of dimensional or unit weight for several size tiers (Large Standard, Bulky, Extra-Large). If you sell light but oversized products, brace yourself.

💀 The Hidden Margin Bleeders

The real pressure comes from all the secondary adjustments Amazon is slipping in around the edges.

1. Overmax Handling Surcharges

Extra-large units will get slapped with new overmax fees:

• 0–50 lb: +$17

• 50–70 lb: +$21

• 70–150 lb: +$25

2. SIPP (Ships in Product Packaging)

If your product can ship in its own box, you’ll save on fees. If not, you’ll eat the cost. Getting SIPP-certified is becoming less optional and more strategic.

3. Low Inventory Level Fee (LIL)

Amazon’s changing how this is calculated. Instead of parent-ASIN, it’ll be at the FNSKU level. If your stock dips below 28 days of supply, fees will kick in:

• $0.32 to $2.09 per unit, depending on weight and size.

This is Amazon’s way of rewarding tight inventory control and punishing sloppy forecasting.

4. Inbound Defect Fees

This is where many sellers are going to get burned.

The old misroute and abandonment fees were pennies. Now they’re rolling everything into one bigger fee:

• Standard size: $0.32–$1.74

• Bulky items: up to $5.72

5. Removal, Disposal & Liquidation

Rates are increasing across the board. Orders placed before January 15 will get 2025 pricing, but after that, expect higher costs.

6. Returns Processing Fee

A new category targeting products with high return rates (think electronics, home goods, and impulse buys). This can add up quickly for sellers with fragile or finicky products.

🧭 What Should You Do?

1. Recalculate everything. Update your P&L now using 2026 fee data.

2. Fix packaging inefficiencies. SIPP or smart packaging can make the difference between a profitable SKU and a dead one.

3. Forecast tighter. The LIL fee is Amazon’s way of forcing better inventory discipline.

4. Clean up inbound. A few cents in 2025 is a couple bucks in 2026.

5. Cull weak SKUs. If a product can’t handle these extra costs, it’s not worth keeping around.

🧐 Amazon Begins Reporting Seller Data to Chinese Tax Authorities

Starting October 31, 2025, Amazon will begin reporting Chinese sellers’ transaction and revenue data directly to Chinese tax authorities every quarter.

Amazon will send quarterly reports to China’s tax administration that include:

• Seller identity details

• Transaction volume

• Total revenue

• Platform commission and service fee data

The first report will cover Q3 2025 (July–September). According to Amazon’s Seller Central notice, sellers don’t need to take any action, the reporting will be fully automated.

This change comes after China’s State Council Order No. 810 and Notice No. 15 (2025), which require all platforms including international ones like Amazon to share seller tax data.

For years, many Chinese sellers operated in a murky tax environment.

China’s tax authority will now have a direct line into actual transaction data, meaning:

• Under-reporting income is no longer possible.

• Tax enforcement can be data-driven and automated.

Sellers will need to make sure their filings match Amazon’s numbers exactly.

🚨 Check out the full deep dive from PPC Land!

🌎 Where in the World is The Beard Guy?

🚀 Amazon Sellers Are Moving to TikTok Shop… But Should You? | Ian Page

1. Not All Brands Belong on TikTok Shop

• Ian turns away brands often. Why?

  Because TikTok is a brand platform, not a dumping ground for generic private-label products.

• If you “just slapped a logo on a commodity,” TikTok will likely burn cash without returns.

• The best-performing brands:

  • Have a real brand story.

  • Would confidently “put their product on a Times Square billboard.”

  • Sell high-frequency consumables (supplements, skincare, beauty, apparel).

2. Category Selection is a Make-or-Break Variable

• 80%+ of TikTok Shop revenue comes from 3 categories:

  1. Health & Supplements

  2. Beauty & Skincare

  3. Clothing & Apparel

3. Ian’s bold prediction

• TikTok will overtake Amazon in 5 years.

  • All TikTok needs to close the gap is better fulfillment coverage and a strong search layer.

  • Amazon can’t replicate social virality. TikTok can build logistics.

  • a viral halo effect can spike Amazon by 40–50%

🔥 Why These 7 Figure Sellers Went ALL IN on Retail...

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. Retail Isn’t Dying. It’s Still 85–90% of U.S. Purchases

• Retail is still 85–90% of U.S. Purchases

• COVID temporarily shifted consumer behavior, but retail’s share has returned to pre-pandemic strength (nearly 90% of all purchases).

2. Buyers Care About Data, Proof, and Fit

• Buyers aren’t swayed by passion. They ask:

  • Is your price point realistic for their shelf?

  • Is your product differentiated enough to take shelf space from someone else?

  • Are your Amazon reviews, social presence, and DTC numbers strong?

3. Mom & Pop → Regional Chains → National Rollouts

• The real retail ladder starts small:

  • Mom & pop stores build credibility and cash flow.

  • Regional chains validate demand at scale.

  • National retail follows with leverage.

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

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