Amazon wants your ad budget. USPS almost lost Amazon's business. And sellers? They've had enough.
Chaotic week. Let's break it down.
- Sell better. Sell more. Sell with Walmart. 🔹
- Why sellers are turning off Amazon ads tomorrow ❌
- Amazon-USPS deal holds… for now 📦️
AMAZON NEWS
A group of seven-figure sellers is boycotting Amazon advertising for one day—and it's not just about the ads.
Eugene Khayman, co-founder of Million Dollar Sellers (800+ founders, ~$15B in combined Amazon revenue), organized the action. Participating sellers will turn off all ad spend on April 15 and post screenshots proving zero spend. He hit 100 members in support.
The date isn't random. April 15 is exactly when Amazon starts automatically deducting ad costs from seller proceeds instead of billing to a credit card.
💸 Three changes. Same week. All hurt.
This isn't a reaction to one policy. It's three landing at once:
- DD+7 payout delays—since March 12, Amazon holds funds for 7 days after delivery before releasing them. Real-world delays are running 10–15 days for most sellers
- A new 3.5% fulfillment surcharge on top of the FBA fee hikes that already hit in January
- Ad costs pulled from proceeds starting April 15 — no more billing to a credit card first
💳 The credit card change is bigger than it looks
Previously, sellers could charge ad spend to a card with a 30-day window while Amazon held proceeds on a separate 30-day cycle. That created roughly a 60-day working capital buffer — one many sellers deliberately managed as part of their cash flow strategy.
That window closes April 15.
On top of the liquidity hit, sellers running meaningful ad budgets lose credit card rewards entirely. A brand spending $500K/year on Amazon Ads could lose tens of thousands in cash back annually.
A poll of 100+ MDS members doing at least $1M/year found:
- 52% said the combined cash flow impact exceeds $100K
- 28% said over $250K
- 79% said recent policy changes affect more than 25% of their free cash flow
🏢 What Amazon says
Amazon told Modern Retail the April 15 change affects only a small portion of advertisers—those still using credit cards as primary payment. They say most advertisers already pay from proceeds, and frame this as standardization. Pay by Invoice (30-day terms) remains available, and Amazon is offering a one-time $2,500 promo credit to affected accounts.
⚙️ What sellers are actually doing
Beyond the boycott, operators are already adjusting:
- Pulling ad spend from mid-teens down to low-teens as a percentage of revenue
- Concentrating budgets on top performers, cutting lower-margin products
- Restructuring packaging to reduce fulfillment costs — multi-packs, smaller sizes, same price
⚖️ What happens next
Amazon reversed a controversial inventory fee in 2024 after seller backlash. The April 15 organizers are likely betting on a similar outcome. Whether the participation is broad enough to move the needle is still unclear — but it's one of the most coordinated seller responses to Amazon policy in recent memory.
Roughly 60% of Amazon's retail sales come from third-party sellers. That relationship is under real strain right now.It’s evolving fast, and this is another signal that the rules are changing.
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BITES OF THE WEEK
- Shopify integrated its merchant catalog into ChatGPT [read more]
- Automatically Sync Shopify Promotions to TikTok Shop [read more]
- Meta testing AI shopping with one-tap checkout [read more]
- Google Merchant Center expands loyalty program [read more]
- Google Gemini doubled its referral traffic to websites [read more]
TRENDING TOPIC
Amazon-USPS deal holds… for now
Last month, Amazon accused USPS of walking away from negotiations at the eleventh hour. USPS responded by opening its last-mile network to outside bidders and launching a new delivery platform. Amazon threatened to cut its business entirely.
Then they shook hands.
📦 The deal
Amazon—USPS's largest customer—will continue using the postal service for around 80% of its existing deliveries. That's over 1 billion packages a year. Amazon put out a statement Monday:
"We're pleased to have reached a new agreement with USPS that furthers our longstanding partnership and will let us continue supporting our customers and communities together."
⚖️ What this means for sellers
USPS handles a massive share of last-mile delivery for Amazon orders—especially rural addresses that UPS and FedEx charge a premium to reach. A breakdown would have pushed costs up and slowed delivery times in markets Amazon has been working hard to crack.
For now, that risk is off the table. But the fact that it got this close to falling apart is worth noting—Amazon's delivery infrastructure is more negotiated than it looks.
