You could be getting $51 back from Amazon. 🫢
Certain Prime customers will receive the payment as part of the FTC settlement.
- The tricks seller agencies don’t want you to see 🤫
- Was Amazon misleading with auto-renewing Prime? ⚠️
- Highlights from Amazon Accelerate 2025 🚀
- Are you safe from shipping hiccups? 💰
- Get Looped In and take the chaos out of ecommerce accounting ✉️
- We’ll link your newsletter for FREE. Send your applications here. 🤝
BLACK MARKET
Picture this: millions of shoppers lured by “Get FREE Same-Day Delivery,” only to realize they also got an auto-renewing Prime subscription.
Reuters reported the FTC says Amazon knew and cashed in anyway. Now it faces a civil antitrust trial that could cost hundreds of millions.
🤷 “More members, more money”
That’s the mantra FTC attorney Jonathan Cohen repeated in court, arguing that:
- Amazon resisted making its Prime sign-up and cancellation clearer because it would hurt subscription numbers.
- Customers who tried to cancel faced the infamous “Iliad flow,” a seven-step cancellation maze that tripped up tens of millions of users.
- One former Amazon UX researcher testified bluntly: “It was difficult to get into and difficult to complete.”
😇 We’re not villains here
Amazon’s lawyers fired back, claiming:
- Prime terms were disclosed, cancellation was straightforward, and the FTC is cherry-picking evidence.
- The law governing cancellations (ROSCA) is fuzzy at best: “Complying shouldn’t feel like Goldilocks trying to figure out the right formula.”
💡 This isn’t just about Amazon
The FTC is targeting subscription “dark patterns,” with cases against Uber, LA Fitness, and now Amazon. A win could force tech firms and sellers with recurring models to rethink sign-ups and cancellations.
The trial is set to last a month, with testimony from customers and ex-employees.
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BITES OF THE WEEK
- TikTok Potential Buyers: The potential TikTok buyers club adds Michael Dell, Rupert Murdoch, and Lachlan Murdoch.
- YouTube Shorts Preferred: According to recent data, YouTube Shorts is effective in convincing teens to purchase.
- Accelerate On Demand: You can watch and catch up with Amazon Accelerate content through Amazon's Official YouTube account.
- LinkedIn Important Announcement: Starting November 3, 2025, some member data may be used to train content-generating AI models.
BIG IDEA
What went down at Amazon Accelerate 2025
Seattle buzzed last week as thousands packed into Amazon’s Accelerate conference, the company’s biggest annual pitch to third-party sellers.
Modern Retail listed down key takeaways from the event:
🤖 AI everywhere
From ads to compliance, Amazon’s new AI tools are built to save time (and a few headaches).
- The upgraded Seller Assistant now flags violations, forecasts demand, and manages inventory.
- In one demo, it rewrote a “mosquito killer” tent into a regulation-friendly “bug-blocking” tent.
🏗️ Services pulled in-house
Amazon is baking compliance, ad optimization, and account support directly into Seller Central.
- On paper, it boosts seller margins.
- In reality, it could squeeze agencies built around those services.
🚀 Lowering launch barriers
Active sellers have dropped from 2.4M in 2021 to under 1.9M today, so Amazon is trying to keep new brands in the game with:
- AI-driven product testing
- Regionalized FBA to cut shipping costs
- Faster review collection
🙌 The biggest applause?
Not for AI or new tools, but for the end of commingling. 😄
Accelerate 2025 laid out Amazon’s future: AI-driven everything, streamlined services, fewer barriers. But the cheers made it clear, sellers crave relief from daily pain points.
ACTIONABLE ADVICE
How to protect your profits from FBA delays
According to eComEngine, shipping delays are now 37% worse than pre-pandemic, that’s an extra 23 days in transit on average. For you, that means missed Buy Box wins, late orders, and angry reviews.
Here’s how to keep inventory moving:
- See the future (or at least your sales).Dig into your sales history to anticipate spikes (holidays, Prime Day, viral trends).
- Tip: Automate restock alerts so you’re never blindsided.
- Prep with precision. Labeling and packaging mistakes can cause major delays.
- Tip: Follow Amazon’s FNSKU rules carefully, and send test shipments before scaling.
- Diversify fulfillment. Don’t put all your cartons in one warehouse.
- Tip: Mixing in FBM or 3PL options keeps you flexible when FBA bottlenecks hit.
- Map your logistics. Spread inventory across multiple fulfillment centers to trim transit times and dodge regional slowdowns.
- Monitor and adapt. Receiving times average 2–6 days, watch for creeping delays and reroute stock if needed.
- Work with carriers. Build relationships, forecast pickups early, and always provide accurate tracking details.
- Tip: A reliable carrier can make or break your supply chain.
🦺 Safe and sound shipping
Delays are inevitable, but with a proactive FBA shipment plan, you can cut losses, protect margins, and keep customers happy.
