💔 The Day The Trust Died…

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

• 💔 The Day The Trust Died… [True Story]

• 👎 ChatGPT 5 is Here… And it’s Disappointing [Deep Dive]

• 😮 Amazon Sellers Are Making The Move Abroad

• ✅ Amazon PPC Hiring Checklist

• 🔨 Build Amazon Ads Inside Canva

🔥 Have you signed up for BDSS 12? You won’t want to miss this event.

💔 The Day The Trust Died… [TRUE STORY] 

Years ago, my partner and I teamed up with a company that wanted to do business together.

They needed sales, and we needed capital.

It was a perfect match.

Or so we thought…

We agreed all sales went through them, and in return, we'd learn the business.

We were on track to do about $2 million in sales, making them a nice profit while we got commissions.

To be clear, we were separate businesses but we had our own office next to them.

One day, my karate instructor asked for six jackets for us to work on.

I checked with one of the owners' wives of the company, who handled all the orders.

She gave me the green light to make them.

What I didn’t know at the time was that she didn’t want to bother the owner with the paperwork on such a small order.

Anyway, the owner's wife dropped off the jackets about a week later to our office.

Later that night, my business partner and I were coming back from dinner.

We saw the lights on in our office.

Were we being robbed?

As we got closer, we saw the owners were inside.

When we pulled up to the office, they were just as surprised as we were.

They had the six jackets.

The one owner said “The gigs up.”

He was accusing us of doing independent orders and cutting them out.

We started laughing at first, but it quickly turned into anger.

I told him, “I guess you didn’t check with your wife.”

And he rebutted, “What do you mean?”

I told him to call his wife and give us the jackets after the call.

After his call, he apologized but the damage was done.

Next day, we moved out, they lost millions in sales and our respect.

The lesson?

Communication and trust are everything in business partnerships.

Without it, a partnership has no foundation and will never last.

Once the trust is gone it never comes back.

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter.

— Norm

P.S. Have you heard the Amazon Seller Anthem from Intellirank?

They did a great job haha.

😱 📉 GPT-5: The Big Letdown

OpenAI’s long-awaited GPT-5 dropped this week with promises from Sam Altman of “a legitimate PhD-level expert in anything.”

The reality…

Why did we have such high hopes?

This is what Sam Altman told us to expect:

“We think you will love using GPT-5 much more than any previous Al. It is useful it is smart it is fast [and[ intuitive. GPT-3 was sort of like talking to a high school student.

There were flashes of brilliance lots of annoyance but people started to use it and get some value out of it. GPT-4o maybe it was like talking to a college student…. With GPT-5 now it's like talking to an expert — a legitimate PhD level expert in anything any area you need on demand they can help you with whatever your goals are.”

But that’s not what people are experiencing…

Reasoning & Logic:

• Chess failures: Still breaks basic rules mid-game, losing track of legal moves.

• Math/Counting: Initially stumbled on simple tasks (e.g., counting letters in a word). Some were patched quickly, but the fragility remained.

Vision & Spatial Reasoning:

• Image comprehension: Struggled with “parts and wholes” challenges—problems as simple as identifying correct relationships in images.

• Old models for images: Users claimed the vision system still relied on older architectures, undermining the “fully multimodal” promise.

Routing Mechanism:

• GPT-5’s new automatic “routing” (choosing the right sub-model for a task) often misfired, producing irrelevant or wrong outputs.

In Short:

• OpenAI’s perceived lead shrank overnight. Polymarket odds of them having the top model in August plunged from 75% to 14% in an hour.

• Competitors (Anthropic, Google, xAI) are closing the gap.

• A lot of their top talent has walked out, with many going on to launch competing companies.

• Rivals like Elon’s xAI, Anthropic, and Google are moving fast, and their partnership with Microsoft isn’t as solid as it used to be.

• The business side isn’t looking much better. They’re still not profitable and are having to cut prices.

• Public skepticism toward Altman’s AGI claims is growing.

GPT-5 is a moderate upgrade with the same old cracks and a few new ones.

What do you think?

😮 Amazon Sellers Are Making The Move

My takeaways from this episode! (Find the full episode on YouTube):

1. The Biggest Growth Opportunity May Be Outside the U.S.
   The U.S. Amazon market is saturated, CPCs are climbing, and margins are shrinking. In many European countries, online competition is far lower, and sellers can scale faster with less ad spend.

2. Compliance is Non-Negotiable
   VAT setup is just the first step. Sellers also need to be aware of:

   • EPR (Eco Taxes) for packaging, plastics, electronics, batteries.

   • CE/UKCA marks and other category-specific product regulations.

   • Country-specific labeling and language laws.

3. Localize Listings for Cultural Preferences
   Each market responds differently:

   • Germany – Detailed facts, specs, and compliance info.

   • Spain – Lifestyle imagery and emotional appeal.

   • UK – Balanced mix of lifestyle and product details.

4. Look for “Hidden” Demand & Hijacked Listings
   Some sellers discover their products already being resold in Europe without their knowledge. By expanding directly, they reclaim control and capture sales already happening under their brand.

5. Treat It Like Any Major Launch Research, Test, Scale

   • Start with one market (often UK), test sales, then expand to others.

   • Ensure logistics, compliance, and translations are in place before scaling Pan-EU.

🔥 Amazon Launches It’s Very Own AI Assistant for Sellers!

🌎 Where in the World is The Beard Guy?

🚀 Build Amazon Ads Inside Canva

^{Credit to Ritu Java and her newsletter.}

Ritu is one of the very best in the business and she did an excellent breakdown of this new app inside Canva.

There are two new Amazon apps inside Canva, and they make building creatives way smoother than I expected.

To get to them, go to the Apps section in Canva and search for “Amazon.” Two options pop up:

• Amazon Ads App

• Amazon Creatives App

Once you pick one, here’s what you do:

1. Choose a template from the curated Amazon-ready designs

2. Customize it with Canva’s drag-and-drop editor

3. Run real-time compliance checks for Amazon as I build

4. Connect my Amazon Ads account

5. Publish straight to my creative asset library

The best part is you can change anything in the templates, fonts, layouts, colors, images so the final creative still looks and feels like my brand.

There’s also a second app for Amazon Creators that lets me post Canva designs directly to my Amazon Storefront.

Perfect for influencer content, collection updates, or promos.

Both are in Canva under Canva’s Apps > Amazon Ads or Amazon Creators.

If you’re already working in Canva, this cuts out so much back-and-forth.

You can design, check, and upload all in one place.

For more great tips I highly recommend the Ritu’s newsletter below.

🔥 The Dark Truth About the Amazon Supplement Industry

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. Build Differentiation Beyond the “White Bottle”
   Standing out in supplements now requires more than just label design. Successful brands differentiate through form factor (capsules, gummies, strips, patches), colors, sustainability, and unique packaging — not just ingredients.

   

2. Vet Manufacturers Relentlessly
   Before signing, verify NSF certification, FDA compliance, and cGMP standards. Many brand owners skip this step and end up with unreliable partners, missed deadlines, or products that don’t match label claims.

3. Use a Competitive Bidding Model for Manufacturing
   Turnkey Health & Beauty uses a LendingTree-style network: one dialed-in formulation is sent to 7–12 vetted manufacturers for bids, then the best two or three are shortlisted. This saves time, gets better pricing, and ensures higher quality.

4. Focus on Symptom-Based Solutions, Not Generic Evergreen Products
   Instead of launching another turmeric or fish oil, create targeted formulas for specific problems (e.g., “non-melatonin sleep aid” for people who avoid melatonin). This allows niche marketing and community building.

5. Compliance-Friendly Marketing
   You can’t claim to cure or treat diseases on Amazon or TikTok. Instead, talk around the symptom, share personal stories, and use visual metaphors (e.g., “melts like butter” instead of “burns fat”).

6. Trends & Formats to Watch

   • Gummies are still dominant across health, beauty, and pet niches.

   • Alternative delivery systems (dissolving strips, patches) are emerging, though limited by dosage capacity.

   • Pet supplements remain lucrative due to emotional buying, high LTV, and fewer regulatory hurdles.

7. Plan Realistic Budgets for Competitive Entry
   For a serious launch, expect $70K–$90K total:

   • ~$40K for 5,000 units (including influencer seeding & Vine reviews)

   • ~$30K–$50K for website, Amazon optimization, creative assets, and initial marketing
     Small 500–1,000 unit orders rarely compete without deep community engagement or outside traffic.

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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