The Ecomcrew Ecommerce Podcast

Dave and I discuss the delays to the New "Low Inventory" fees, how you can be exempted from those fees, and the impending FTC Investigation into Amazon.

After months of complaints over the new fees, it seems like Amazon's heard (or read, in this case) the message that people aren't happy about being charged for having too little in FBA Warehouses. To gain some brownie points, they've decided to delay the effectivity date of these new fees. But what does this mean in the big picture?

We all know that Amazon's being investigated by the FTC for their monopolistic practices. With that being said, why would Amazon choose to apply new fees that effectively erodes profit margin from third party sellers?

We discuss that, and more in today's episode. Here's some timestamps below to get you started:

• Intro - 0:00
• Going to China and experiencing sandstorms - 0:31
• The Great Wall of China - 1:53
• Big Amazon News & Official Announcement - 2:46
• Exceptions for AWD Users - 5:46
• "There are nuances to every business..." - 6:55
• Amazon's Monopoly - 8:59
• Investigating Overseas Sellers on Amazon - 10:52
• FTC's Investigation into Amazon - 13:03
• Why would Amazon announce new fees while being investigated by the FTC? - 16:32
• The FANG Companies vs. TikTok - 22:02
• Making sure you're still profitable - 26:04

The big takeaway here is to make sure that you're still profitable.

Go into your Amazon account, check out how much you are going to be charged in April for these fees, and adjust your pricing accordingly to make sure that you're still having a healthy and profitable business.

If any listeners would like to have a discussion about this, let me know by emailing us directly at [email protected].

Also, if you have any questions or any topics you'd like us to discuss on the podcast, you can email us directly as well!

Also, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes.

Thanks for listening!

Neil Twa from High Voltage Business Builders joins us on the podcast to drop some massive value bombs. He breaks down how you can increase brand awareness on Amazon, his approaches to Product Development, and how you can restart the Honeymoon Period on Amazon. Listen in for some great lessons from Neil!

Amazon's only getting tougher and tougher.

It seems like the laundry list of things that you need to do to ensure success keeps getting longer and longer after each year, but what exactly are the things to do?

I've asked Neil Twa to join me on the podcast today to talk about this very topic. Neil has actually given me a lot of high value thoughts during this recording that I think you should probably listen to on repeat over and over, as there are some things that just come off as surprising.

Here are just a few:

Lesson #1: Below the $50 retail price point, you'll be competing against a lot of brands. There isn't as much increase in competition in the price point of $50 - $150 retail.

Lesson #2: Get more than 1 manufacturer just so you don't have all your eggs in one basket.

Lesson #3: Never get started with electronics.

If you want to skip to certain parts of today's episode, here are some timestamps!

• 0:00 - Intro
• 0:32 - Neil's Podcast
• 1:20 - What you need to do to be successful on Amazon
• 2:06 - Con #1: Platform Risk
• 2:56 - Con #2: Increased competition
• 4:38 - How to Increase Brand Awareness on Amazon
• 8:43 - How to approach Product Development
• 12:46 - Why oversized products have to be priced correctly
• 14:54 - Never start with electronics
• 15:45 - Neil's product rules
• 16:38 - How to increase your product's perceived value
• 24:03 - How to restart the Honeymoon Period
• 24:49 - Google Cosmo
• 29:15 - How would you start an ecommerce business today?

Neil, I can't thank you enough for coming on the podcast. It was great having you on and these lessons are surely going to be valuable for a ton of listeners.

If you guys want to hear more from Neil, check out the High Voltage Business Builders podcast!

Don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions or any topics you'd like us to discuss on the podcast, you can now email us directly at [email protected]! Also, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes.

Thanks for listening!

Steve Chou makes an appearance on today's episode to discuss some key takeaways he and Mike learned while attending EcommerceFuel Live 2024.

It's conference season for eCommerce!

I just got back from ECF Live 2024, which was a great experience where I got to meet old friends and discuss a few of the issues that's been going on in the industry like Amazon's new fees, the recent Google update, and the ever-eroding margins.

As always, I like to get someone who was at the conference with me to discuss some of the things that we've learned, and who else better than Steve Chou! Steve is a good friend of mine for several years now who runs My Wife Quit Her Job and is also hosting this year's Seller Summit, so we're live today to talk about the things we've learned.

We talk about the 4 key takeaways that we came away with, and how we can apply it to our businesses. Here's some timestamps to get you guys going:

• Intro - 0:00
• Catching up with Steve - 0:30
• Mike's favorite time of the year - 1:15
• Mike and Steve's ECF Live experience - 2:42
• Steve's first takeaway #1: Google Update - 3:54
• The future of Search and AI - 4:29
• How fast things change - 9:25
• Second takeaway #2: Tiktok Shop - 10:37
• Third takeaway #3: Higher profit margins are the key to success - 15:11
• Fourth takeaway #4: Amazon's New Fees - 18:01
• What's happening in Seller Summit this year? - 23:06
• Seller Summit's Mastermind Day - 23:45
• Sign up for Seller's Summit - 27:07
• Why Mike hates flying - 30:03

Steve, it was great recording with you as always! I really appreciate you coming on and doing this podcast with me. If you guys would like to learn more about Steve, check out MyWifeQuitHerJob to learn more about him!

Seller Summit is on May 13th and 14th this year, so get your tickets here and you can put in a special request to get Mike as your Mastermind Leader.

Don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions or any topics you'd like us to discuss on the podcast, you can now email us directly at [email protected]! Also, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes.

Thanks for listening!

With Amazon's most complex fee increase ever going live, Mike and Dave talk about what this means for sellers, the pros and cons for each change, and how you can avoid the most detrimental fees to your bottom line.

Amazon today announced its biggest fee increase ever, and more aggravatingly, the most complex fee increase ever.

Dave and I will try to walk you through exactly what fees are changing and how it affects you. Warning—it's complex (probably deliberately by Amazon) and there's a lot to absorb.

If any listeners would like to have a discussion about this, let me know by emailing us directly at [email protected].

Also, if you have any questions or any topics you'd like us to discuss on the podcast, you can email us directly as well!

Also, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes.

Thanks for listening!

In today's episode, Dave and I discuss why there are so many sellers on Amazon losing money on each product? Because the lower prices do not make any sense at all.

Today's topic is something that I've been thinking about for awhile: how many people are losing money selling on Amazon?

You're probably thinking that this question sounds ridiculous, but if you think about the increasing amount of competition and the higher platform fees, there does seem to be some basis for the question.

Which begs the question: how many people are losing money selling on Amazon? Are they selling old inventory that isn't profitable anymore? Is the competition everywhere at this point?

I thought this would be a topic that my partner Dave could chime in on from his perspective as a Canadian Seller, and also as someone who frequently visits China.

Timestamps:

• Intro - 0:00
• Catching up with Dave - 0:30
• How Many People are Losing Money Selling on Amazon? - 1:55
• The Types of Sellers Losing Money & Competition on Amazon - 3:57
• Sacrificing Margins for Brand Equity - 6:04
• Fishy Practices to Avoid Paying Duties - 8:00
• The Chinese Government is Providing Subsidies for Exporters?? - 8:51
• The Numbers Don't Make Sense - 11:02
• Every Seller Has an Unprofitable SKU - 16:26
• The Problem with Product Research Tools - 19:53
• Bad Business People - 20:52
• What Amazon's Q4 Earnings Report Tells Us - 23:09
• Legacy Sellers Who've Suffered Through Events - 26:01
• Shortened Product Life Cycles - 30:47
• What should happen to old products? - 32:27
• Prices are 20% lower than they should be - 33:37

If any listeners would like to have a discussion about this, let me know by emailing us directly at [email protected].

Also, if you have any questions or any topics you'd like us to discuss on the podcast, you can email us directly as well!

Also, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes.

Thanks for listening!

In this episode, Dave and I go through our list of business goals for 2024 for Ecomcrew, our personal business brands, and more!

Its been awhile since we've done an episode like this, but Dave and I thought of bringing it now since it was one of our more popular episodes from 2019.

Some of these goals were aimed for ourselves personally and for the company. In this episode, we'll go through each goal and our plan for achieving each one.

If you have any questions or any topics you'd like us to discuss on the podcast, you can now email us directly at [email protected]! Also, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes.

Thanks for listening!

Leslie Pierson, Shark Tank Winner and founder of GoodHangUps, joins Mike on the podcast to talk about how she got started in eCommerce, how one unexpected night eventually lead her to appear on Shark Tank, and how she is technically her son's employee.

Shark Tank is one of the biggest reality TV shows that almost every business owner knows about. It's not everyday that we get to interview a winner on the podcast.

But Leslie Pierson isn't just a typical business owner: she's an Ecomcrew Premium member.

In this episode, we get to talk about the multiple things that led to how she built a Shark Tank Winning Business. From starting with selling laptop skins, to building a business out of a 7 year old's idea, Leslie covers her ecommerce journey from start to present.

Leslie, thank you for the absolutely delightful conversation, it's been my favourite episode to record out of all 500 or so episodes. I hope to see you more in person, and I wish you and your family all the best with Tacos vs. Burritos.

If you have any questions or any topics you'd like us to discuss on the podcast, you can now email us directly at [email protected]! Also, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes.

Thanks for listening!

Mike Beckham, a 9 Figure Business Owner, is on the podcast with Mike today to talk about what he'd do differently if he were to start building a 9 figure business all over again. We dive into how and why brand story is so important, and the uncommon mindset Mike Bekham uses to perpetuate business growth.

Its hard enough trying to start an ecommerce business.

Being a solopreneur means you'll have to be on top of your inventory levels, your PPC Campaigns, while also writing blog articles, making Youtube videos about your product and not to mention getting UGC from influencers.

But what does a 100+ person company look like? Better yet, what did it take to get to be able to sustain that level of overhead?

We've invited Mike Bekham, the co-founder of Simple Modern and 9 Figure Business Owner, to the podcast to ask him the golden question. If he had to do it all over again, what would he do differently?

We talk about how being part of a community and choosing the right niche can open up more growth opportunities than you realize, and how building a brand starts internally.

Here's some timestamps to help you along:

• 0:00 - Introduction
• 0:31 - Podcast Start
• 1:39 - Being a Part of an Amazon Community
• 6:55 - "What Would You Do Differently?"
• 7:44 - Playing to your strengths
• 8:34 - Choosing a product niche
• 14:53 - Product Differentiation
• 17:07 - Differentiation without millions in capital
• 24:13 - How Mike makes sure everyone's winning
• 30:42 - What Mike's learned over the years

Mike, thank you for coming on the podcast and sharing all of the things you'd consider heavily when starting over. I hope that everyone who listens enjoyed the episode as much as I had recording it with you, and wish you well for the rest of the year.

If you want to get in touch with Mike, you can find him at Linkedin or you can check out his Twitter.

If you have any questions or any topics you'd like us to discuss on the podcast, you can now email us directly at [email protected]! Also, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes.

Thanks for listening!

John Terry joins Mike in today's episode as a follow up from his Under the Hood Episode 417 where he talks about how COVID & the political climate affected his business, and how going into retail ultimately killed his consumer packaged goods (CPG) business.

Today's episode is one that left me absolutely speechless during recording.

It's a hard topic to talk about when listing down a bunch of mistakes, but it's infinitely more difficult to talk about when the list of mistakes eventually lead to the death of your business.

Nevertheless, I commend John for coming on today to talk about how his business ended up this way, the "trap" of going into retail, and advice for those looking to expand into selling in any big box retailer.

Here's some timestamps to help you along:

• 0:00 - Introduction
• 2:47 - Podcast Start
• 3:03 - Under the Hood Overview
• 4:31 - Meeting with Walmart
• 7:16 - The Second Mistake
• 7:48 - Kroger Reaching Out
• 9:13 - Ordering Inventory for Retail
• 11:34 - Kroger Privacy Around Logistics
• 12:35 - Kroger's Costs
• 13:41 - Backing out from Kroger
• 14:42 - First Warning
• 15:10 - Skyrocketing costs
• 18:27 - Poor performance in Walmart
• 20:24 - The goal moving forward
• 21:36 - Buying back inventory from Walmart
• 22:25 - Why the product failed in retail
• 25:39 - Where to go from here
• 28:00 - Mike's advice
• 32:02 - John's advice to entrepreneurs
• 37:21 - John's public adjusting business

John, I can't thank you enough for coming on the podcast and sharing all of the painful things you went through. I hope that someone listens to the episode and knows not to get into retail for the prestige of it.

We hope today's episode was useful to you. If you want to get in touch with John, you can find him at Linkedin or you can check out his company, Crossroads Insurance Recovery. If you want to check out John's previous episode, click here.

If you have any questions or any topics you'd like us to discuss on the podcast, you can now email us directly at [email protected]! Also, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes.

Thanks for listening!

Chris Duty is back on the podcast as a special guest to talk about all the types of add backs you need to know when selling your ecommerce business. The inspiration for today came from a listener submitted question, which asked "what type of add backs can I negotiate when selling my ecommerce business?"

When selling an ecommerce business, its important for owners to be compensated for the stressful one-time events that was experienced in the last 12 months when going to sell.

These are called "Add Backs", but what are they exactly?

I've invited Chris Duty, an advisor from Quiet Light Brokerage, to talk about the various types of Add Backs that you need to know about, why they matter, and how it can significantly impact the valuation of a business to potential buyers.

Here's some timestamps for your convenience:

• 0:00 - Introduction
• 0:31 - Ad Spot
• 2:46 - Background of Today's Subject
• 4:50 - What is an Add Back?
• 7:16 - Accrual Accounting
• 11:04 - Owner Salaries
• 13:20 - Value of Working Less
• 16:13 - Payroll Taxes / Income Taxes
• 17:53 - Trademarks, Copyrights, Patents and Other Legal Fees
• 19:44 - Change in Service Provider Costs
• 20:26 - Employee Removal Costs
• 22:21 - How Mike Views Add Backs
• 27:33 - Cash Back / Points Credit Cards
• 30:26 - What if you use a regular credit card?
• 31:51 - Masterminds & Ecommerce Courses
• 32:27 - Lowered COGS
• 37:46 - Negative Add Backs
• 39:51 - Price Changes
• 43:33 - Conclusion

We hope today's episode was useful to you. If you want to get in touch with Chris you can find him at Linkedin or you can check out the company at QuietLight.com. If you want to check out Chris' previous episode, click here.

If you have any questions or any topics you'd like us to discuss on the podcast, you can now email us directly at [email protected]! Also, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes.

Thanks for listening!