AI agents just ran their own marketplaces and the results are wild.

Three quick stories this week. All point to the same thing: Amazon is changing fast, and the sellers who notice early win.

• Sell your products on Walmart.com 🛍️
• Amazon is quietly killing unauthorized ASINs—and the Buy Box is bleeding too 🔺
• 3P shares just fell two wuarters in a row—the first time in 22 years 📉
• 83% of sellers use AI. 25% can’t tell if it’s working 🤖

AMAZON NEWS

Last December, Anthropic (the company that makes Claude) tried something weird. They told 69 staff to list personal stuff for sale — old bikes, snowboards, even a bag of ping-pong balls. Then each person got an AI helper to do all the buying and selling for them.

No people in the loop. Just AI talking to AI.

🤝 They ran 186 deals. And here's what they found:

• The smarter AI got better prices — about $3.64 more per item.
• A broken bike sold for $65 with the smart AI, $38 with the basic one.
• People who told their AI to "be tough" or "be nice" got the same results. The instructions didn't matter. Only the AI's brain did.
• Worst part: the people stuck with the weak AI had no idea they were losing money. They felt just as happy as the winners.

Why this matters for you: Amazon already has Rufus, Auto Buy, and "Join the chat"—all AI tools that help shoppers decide. Soon, the AI is the shopper.

🖊️ Three things to do:

Your customer list is your only safe ground. Build direct relationships through email, SMS, your DTC site—anywhere Amazon's algorithm isn't the gatekeeper.

Your listing is your sales pitch to a robot now. Clean specs, clear bullets, and full product details matter more than your brand story. If the AI can't read it fast, it skips you.

You can't control the AI your buyer uses. A free-tier shopper might miss your better warranty just because their AI didn't dig deep. That stings, but it's the new game.

TOGETHER WITH WALMART MARKETPLACE

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Walmart Marketplace sellers get access to: 

• a network of millions of customers 
• innovative programs that help you scale 
• Walmart’s omnichannel advantage 

It takes just a few steps to start selling.

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ECOMMERCE NEWS

Two Amazons are forming—make sure you’re on the right side

Two stats hit the same week. They look like they cancel each other out. They don't.

Stat one: Amazon's seller count is going down. Sales are piling up at the top.

Stat two: 75,000+ sellers crossed $1 million in 2025—up 36% from 2024. US sellers in that group averaged $375K per year.

So fewer sellers, but the survivors are getting bigger. The middle is getting squeezed out.

What's the difference between the two groups? AI tools. Amazon's Seller Assistant has 230,000 users a month, and they say yes to its tips more than 90% of the time. The sellers using AI for pricing, listings, and ads are pulling away. The ones still running on guesswork are quietly falling behind.

If you're over $500K and not using AI for at least one part of your business, that's the gap. Close it this quarter.

TRENDING TOPIC

A court case could change how you price

Last month, a California court told Amazon it couldn't escape the price-fixing lawsuit brought by Attorney General Rob Bonta. The trial starts January 19, 2027.

The case asks a simple question: do Amazon's pricing rules unfairly stop sellers from offering lower prices on other sites?

Right now, if you sell something cheaper on Walmart or your own site, Amazon can punish you on the Buy Box. The court is deciding if that's legal.

In April, California unsealed real emails showing Amazon pressuring big brands to make competitors raise their prices. One example: Amazon flagged that Walmart was selling Levi's khakis cheaper, and pushed Levi's to get Walmart to bump the price to $29.99. That's the kind of detail the case is now built on.

Why you should care:

• If sellers win, Amazon may have to back off. You'd get more freedom to sell on other channels.
• A preliminary injunction hearing is set for July 23, 2026 — months before trial. That ruling alone could shift Amazon's behavior.
• Expect more documents to leak as the trial gets close.

If you've been afraid to expand to Walmart or your own DTC store because of Amazon, watch this case before locking in your 2027 plans.

QUICK HITS

• Cash flow is tight. Amazon's DD+7 hold is forcing sellers to keep about 15% more cash on hand. A new 3.5% fuel fee just hit FBA. Stress-test your 90-day cash now.
• Win for sellers: Amazon paused the no-credit-card rule for ads after pushback.
• X-ray scanners now check some returns. Could help with fake return claims.
• Postage going up. USPS Forever stamp jumps to 82¢ on July 12. Package rates rise too.
• Demand is strong. Amazon's Q1 unit growth was the best since the lockdown days.
• TikTok Shop tip: Portland Leather Goods ran a 7-day creator blitz and hit $1M in 20 days. Speed and creators win there.

DO THIS WEEK

• Pick one product page and clean it up. Pretend a robot is reading it. Clear bullets, full specs, good reviews.
• Try one AI tool for pricing, listings, or ads. Use it for 30 days. See what changes.
• Check your cash buffer. If DD+7 holds got 3 days longer, would you survive? If not, fix that first.