Plugged-In: The best Amazon conversations to power your hustle

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Welcome to Plugged-In—your shortcut to the smartest Amazon convos out there. Get wired into sharp takes, bold claims, and can’t-miss moments to power your hustle.

No endless scroll, no playback fatigue, we already did the digging. Pop in or skim the takeaways. We won’t judge.

• Sellers are footing the trade war bill 💸
• Toronto gets bold with a seller-first summit 💥
• The costly mistake founders keep repeating 🧠

Tip: Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom for bonus records.

LUNCH WITH NORM

Amazon sellers are paying for trade politics

First up: Can you negotiate your way out of tariff hell?

Like a bad sequel no one asked for, Trump-era duties are creeping back into the Amazon seller playbook, and they’re targeting sellers’ margins.

In a no-fluff sit-down on Lunch with Norm, Atlas Network CEO Karim Kafouri dropped hard truths: most Amazon sellers are dangerously underprepared.

💸 Hits harder than you think

• 70% of Amazon products are China-sourced—which means you don’t have much leverage when tariffs hit.
• The big myth? That overseas suppliers will “just eat” the extra cost. Reality check: most won’t.
• If you can’t pass costs to customers (and many can’t), you’re the one footing the bill.

“The U.S. makes up less than 20% of Asia’s exports. We’re not exactly the power player here.” 

🧠 Smart sellers diversify

• Don’t get comfy with one supplier, it’s risky and shortsighted. Instead, have backup plans (yes, plural) and explore new vendors.
• Review your HTS codes. 70% of sellers use the wrong ones. 
• Try cost engineering by tweaking your product design or materials to lower expenses (without sacrificing quality).

🤝 Relationships matter (still)

• Visiting your suppliers can literally save you 20–40% in negotiation.
• In China, the concept of guanxi (relationship-based trust) rules the game.
• Face time = better deals, better terms, and better outcomes.

“Things get done in person. And some of it is very intentional and some of it ends up being very situational... You're having a nice drink with someone, the conversation is flowing, and then everybody's kind of happy to bend over to assist you and to do a better job.”

🚨 Don't cheap out too much…

If your “cheaper” version of a product starts generating 1-star reviews, you’ll lose way more than just money. The real pro move is to balance smarter sourcing with maintaining quality. It’s not about making the cheapest product—it’s about making one that still sells.

TOGETHER WITH ECOM NORTH

These brands aren’t guessing — they’re scaling

You’ve seen the headlines. Now meet the people behind the growth.

At Toronto Summit: Be Bold, the stage isn’t packed with self-proclaimed experts. It’s filled with operators who’ve actually built something.

Here’s who’s bringing the fire:

• Ezra Firestone — founder of BOOM! by Cindy Joseph and Smart Marketer
• Tony Yu — CEO & co-founder of Vessi
• Sarah Segal — CEO of David’s Tea, turning retail nostalgia into DTC muscle
• Lezlie Karls, Jake Karls & Nick Saltarelli — the trio behind Mid-Day Squares’ wild ride
• Kaleigh Moore — ecommerce writer + brand voice whisperer
• Kristi Soomer — founder of Encircled and vocal advocate for sustainable DTC
• Moiz Ali — Native Deodorant founder (and Twitter truth-teller)

No vague motivation. No fake playbooks.
Just tactical lessons, hard-won wins, and what they’d do differently if they had to build it all again.

💥 20+ hours of real talk
🧠 Zero-fluff, founder-led strategy
🎤 Candid convos you won’t find on YouTube

🎟️ And yep — SellerBites readers still get 15% off with code Sellerbites15.

Grab your pass here

P.S. It's all happening Sept 23–24 in Toronto. We’ll be there — ears wide open, probably live-Slacking hot takes.

ECOMMERCE PODCAST

The most expensive mistake founders keep making

Next up: Are you burning cash... or building a business?

Matt Edmondson sat down with Jodie Mercer, a fractional CFO who’s seen it all—wild optimism, reckless spending, and founders who don’t know when to quit. And spoiler: It’s not about working harder.

💰 Discipline > hustle

Hard truth: Most founders fail because they wing it, not because they’re lazy. Mercer’s seen it time and again:

• No revenue plan, just vibes
• Big marketing spends with no ROI tracking
• PPC campaigns that boost sales but kill margins

If you can’t answer how many units you need to sell per day to stay afloat…you’re already in the danger zone.

🧠 Optimism is expensive

Entrepreneurs are great at believing in themselves. Sometimes too great and that is not a good strategy. Smart founders:

• Build revenue projections from the bottom up (units/day, not guesses)
• Map out downside scenarios (“what if I sell half of what I expect?”)
• Set a clear “stop” point before they start

If you don’t set a drop-dead point, you’ll always find an excuse to “try one more thing”—and that’s how money vanishes.

📊 Know when to walk away

The toughest move? Shutting it down. But sometimes, that’s the smartest play. Mercer recommends:

• Define the quit line before you start. 
• If your plan says month six is the cutoff and results aren’t there, stick to it. 
• Don’t let sunk-cost bias drag you into a longer (and more expensive) failure.

“Because I’ll use my resources more wisely than trying to keep something going that clearly isn’t viable anymore.”

🧍‍♂️ Get a grown-up in the room

This is the kicker. Founders need:

• A CFO, board member, or advisor with no emotional attachment
• Someone who can say, “This isn’t working” External accountability to protect you from your own blind spots

🎯 Founders love to talk about growth

But the unsexy stuff—cash flow, quit points, discipline? That’s what separates the survivors from the burned-out.

Mercer’s message is clear: You don’t have to be a financial wizard. You just have to stop pretending vibes are a strategy.Because in ecommerce, staying in the game is the game. And that takes a plan.

BONUS RECORDS

THE AMAZON WHOLESALE PODCAST

How the TikTok ban affects Amazon Sellers with Todd and Danan

Amazon's review policing is like airport security confiscating shampoo while ignoring smuggled grenades. U.S. sellers get nuked for policy slip-ups, while mega Chinese brands like Vivor allegedly rack up 1,500+ violations—unchecked. 

But hey, as long as the $500 million keeps flowing, who needs marketplace integrity?

Listen here

CLEAR THE SHELF PODCAST

How to run an Amazon FBA business from a small space

If you can’t run an FBA business from a closet, you’re probably doing it wrong. The big boys chase warehouses—real hustlers hang poly bags on pegboards and print Fulfillment Network SKUs from a wall mount. 

Amazon may sell at scale, but some of us scale from a shelf.

Listen here

CLEAR THE SHELF PODCAST

How to build your network as an Amazon seller

Amazon says 'build your network'—but good luck networking with a monopoly. Bezos moves to Florida, dodges billions in taxes, and bankrolls robots to replace the workforce… Meanwhile, sellers just want a heads-up before their 75-unit shipment gets split across seven warehouses.

Who’s really in the driver’s seat here?

Listen here