China sellers 'exploit' Amazon while you grind

Imagine spending months perfecting your listings, then seeing weak, no-review products from elsewhere hit six figures overnight.

• Turn clicks into $350K in sales 💸
• Lazy listings make more than yours 😬
• Thought of the Day 🍴

SELLERBITES INBOX

An Amazon seller (OP) asked: How are China-based supplement listings with zero reviews pulling in six figures, and hitting top-three rankings in days?

The pattern made OP pause because none of this lined up with how supplements usually work.

Here’s what stood out immediately:

• Instant visibility: Listings popped up out of nowhere and ranked aggressively with zero history.
• No external buzz: No socials, no influencers, no off-Amazon traffic, nothing.
• Low-effort presentation: Broken copy and mediocre images that should tank conversion… but didn’t.

🧩 The hidden strategy

Seasoned sellers chimed in fast: supplements are brutal to break into. If you’re playing by the rules, there’s usually a long, expensive grind. These listings skipped all of that.

This is what they believe is happening:

• Churn-and-burn launches: These listings aren’t built to last, they’re built to cash out fast.
• Artificial traction: Brushing, rebate groups, or coordinated buying to juice early sales velocity.
• Algorithm shock: Sudden volume spikes force rapid ranking gains before enforcement can react.

One commenter summed it up bluntly: they’re not building brands, they’re cycling accounts.

💸 Why the math works

This isn’t about better marketing. It’s about cost structure.

Sellers highlighted the real advantage:

• Near-zero COGS: Factory ownership or direct control crushes manufacturing costs.
• Unlimited ad burn: When margins aren’t real, you can light PPC money on fire and keep going.
• Short-term thinking: Profitability is optional, as long as ranking hits before the plug gets pulled.

As one seller put it: Western brands plan for years. These operations are planned for months.

🚨 What OP should actually take from this

Trying to copy this playbook is a fast way to lose your account.

Community consensus was clear:

• Velocity without foundation draws scrutiny.
• Artificial traction leaves clean audit trails.
• Supplements + enforcement = zero forgiveness.

If your strategy depends on speed over compliance, Amazon eventually catches up, and when it does, it’s rarely gentle.

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THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Some sellers will jump into a category, burn through accounts, and hit six figures in days while the rest of us grind for months. But here’s the catch, short-term wins leave a long trail. Velocity gets visibility, compliance keeps you in the race.

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