Billion Dollar Sellers

Born on Amazon but built everywhere else

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Thursday 11th of June 2026

Summary: Kevin King tells the story of Rhino USA — two brothers who launched a ratchet-strap brand on Amazon and grew it into a 9-figure business by expanding into retail, TikTok Shop, bull-riding sponsorships, and a 182-acre content factory in Texas. He also covers Amazon's new 75-character title cap, the Generation Effect for more memorable listing images, fresh TikTok Shop vs Amazon discovery stats, and the Software Tool of the Day.

Key Points Discussed:

  • Rhino USA: brothers Cameron and Dylan Repic built off-road gear in 2015, listed it on Amazon, and brought in dad Ted Repic as CEO to scale it to 9 figures
  • "Born on Amazon but refused to stay there" — Amazon validated products and generated cash, but the brand expanded everywhere Amazon couldn't follow
  • Retail and category expansion into Walmart, Sam's Club, and AutoZone; over 300 products across towing, camping, boating, and overlanding; sales quadrupled in 3 years
  • TikTok Shop success: joined October 2023, now top seller in Automotive & Motorcycle, 8 figures on TikTok Shop alone, 6,000+ creators driving ~1 billion impressions
  • Brand-building beyond ecommerce: 6-figure Professional Bull Riders sponsorship as Powersport partner of the Austin Gamblers
  • Rhino-World: 182 acres outside Austin with trails, a prototyping lab, retail store, campground, and an 8,000 sq ft live-shopping content studio (opening 2027)
  • Amazon now allows sellers to message customers directly, but only when the customer initiates first
  • Amazon is capping product titles at 75 characters (all categories except media) starting July 27th, with a new searchable 125-character Item Highlights field; Brand Registry sellers get a 14-day review window for AI rewrites
  • The Generation Effect: leaving small gaps in listing images makes them more memorable — open a loop in image 2 and answer it in image 5; keep the main image clean
  • TikTok Shop now beats Amazon for product discovery — 67% vs 57% in a GlobalData survey
  • iOS app releases up ~80% vs 2024 thanks to AI, but usage and reviews are flat or declining — shipping is easy, building something people want is hard
  • New Marketing Misfits episode with Zehra Soysal (Savanah AI) on how AI is disrupting ecommerce photography

    • Links Mentioned:

    • Market Masters 4 registration (August 20–24)
    • Read more about RhinoWorld (Modern Retail)
    • Kevin's AM/PM Podcast episode with Ted Repic
    • Join the AI Amazon PPC Challenge (June 29–July 3)
    • Marketing Misfits episode with Zehra Soysal on AI ecommerce photography
    • Sign up for the Marketing Misfits Newsletter
    • StoreClaw — Software Tool of the Day (try it free)

      • Hot Picks:

      • Amazon PPC optimization is often fake — focus on this instead
      • Stop showing product angles — kill objections with images
      • When will AI be truly transformative?
      • TikTok bans AI voices from live streams

        • Stump Bezos Answer: 62% — according to Bluevine, 62% of small business owners have skipped or reduced their own paycheck.

        Parting Shot: "When Social Media was more social than media, people followed for personality and stayed for topic relevance. Now that Social Media is more media than social, people follow topics and stay for personality." — Kallaway

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        Billion Dollar SellersBy Kevin King