Brands are betting on rich shoppers right now

Before you log off, here’s a quick roundup of the weird, wild, and wallet-worthy seller news you don’t want to miss.

• Retail's new favorite customer 🛒
• Your sales: PAUSED ⏸️
• Top 3 rankings rigged 😱
• FBA fees are about to get micro 👀

SOCIAL PULSE

As everyday consumers start watching their wallets a little closer, brands aren’t panicking, they’re pivoting. Quietly. 

Instead of fighting for shrinking middle-class spend, more brands are shifting attention (and ad dollars) toward higher-income shoppers.

🍪 Quick bits

• Luxury is carrying retail: Apparel, beauty, and accessories remain resilient among affluent buyers
• Brands leaning premium:
  • Estée Lauder introduced higher luxury pricing tiers
  • Ralph Lauren doubled down on long-term brand investment
  • Tapestry boosted marketing spend by 40%
• Middle-class pullback: Rising prices and tariffs are pushing more households into paycheck-to-paycheck mode
• High-income resilience: Strong markets are keeping affluent U.S. shoppers active in 2026
• Pricing confidence: Brands like Ralph Lauren continue raising prices, betting premium buyers won’t flinch

💬 SellerBites’ take

We’re in a two-economy market, and ignoring it is costly.

Chasing shrinking middle-class volume with blanket discounts is the trap. The smarter move: segmentation, premium SKUs, sharper positioning, and offers built for buyers who can still spend.

In 2026, winning isn’t about more units. It’s about the right products for the right wallets.

TOGETHER WITH SELLER INTERACTIVE

What if one call could change how you sell on Amazon?

Not another sales pitch.

Not a generic “audit.”

We’re talking about an actual strategy session with people who live and breathe Amazon.

At Seller Interactive, we’ve helped brands in categories like supplements, beauty, home, and wellness scale with data-backed strategies and hands-on execution. No cookie-cutter playbooks here—just honest insights into what’s working, what’s not, and what you’re leaving on the table.

On your free Discovery Call, we’ll break down your storefront, your numbers, and your growth potential. You’ll walk away with clarity—and a next step that actually makes sense for your brand.

📞 Book a free Discovery Call

 Let’s find out what your strategy’s missing.

BITES OF THE WEEK

• ChatGPT Ads Launch: OpenAI requires $200K commitments from advertisers to test in-chat promotions during ChatGPT beta launch.
• FedEx Expansion: FedEx plans 1.6M sq. ft. Memphis ecommerce sorting center to boost automation and global package handling.
• TikTok Bounces Back: TikTok U.S. daily active users rebound to 90M after ownership change, though privacy concerns temporarily dent usage.
• Online Payment Scam: Boerne Police warn of luxury car scam, urging buyers to verify sellers and avoid upfront online payments.

SELLERBITES INBOX

Black-hat listings hitting Amazon's top 3

Have you ever scrolled past a listing and thought, “There’s no way this should be ranking”?

One Amazon seller spotted multiple supplement listings hitting top-three rankings with zero reviews, no social presence, and sloppy product pages, all tied to China-based accounts.

The seller forums had a near-unanimous take: this smells like classic black-hat behavior.

🍪 Quick bits

• Instant visibility and conversions despite zero listing history, no influencers or off-Amazon traffic, and broken copy with mediocre images.
• They pull it off with churn-and-burn launches, artificial traction, and algorithm spikes before enforcement catches up.
• It works thanks to near-zero COGS, aggressive ad spend, and prioritizing short-term wins over brand longevity.

💬 SellerBites’ take

This is where sellers fail: speed isn’t strategy.Chasing velocity without a foundation leaves a clear audit trail. Copying these tactics risks suspension, Amazon hits hard. Non-domestic sellers can vanish and reappear; homegrown brands can’t.

AMAZON NEWS

Amazon is now charging removal fees per unit

Starting February 15, 2026, Amazon is shaking up removal and disposal fees. Instead of hitting you with one lump sum at the end, they’ll charge per item as it’s removed. Yep, line by line.

🍪 Quick bits

• Per-unit billing: Fees charged as each item is removed or disposed
• Gradual charges: Multiple line items instead of one total
• Applies to: Removal/disposal orders created on or after Feb 15
• Visibility: Charges show up automatically in Payments → Transaction View
• Seller reactions: Mixed, some love easier dispute tracking, others hate the notification overload

💬 SellerBites’ take

Transparency is nice, but for high-volume sellers, small bookkeeping errors snowball fast. Track removals, tighten reconciliation, and use batch monitoring or tools to stay ahead.