Why did the seller stop telling jokes?
Their margins were too thin for laughs. š
Hereās whatās cracking sellers up (or down):
- The tricks seller agencies donāt want you to see š¤«
- Shein and Temuās duty-free days are over š¬š§
- $215B in tariffs hits U.S. sellers, not China šø
- AI now decides Amazon shopping š
- Join our Facebook group for FREE āØ
ECOMMERCE NEWS
After the U.S., fast fashionās favorite loophole may finally be getting stitched up in the U.K.
The Industry.fashion reported that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is gearing up to scrap the ālow-value importsā exemption in her November 26 Budget, a rule thatās long let ultra-fast fashion brands dodge taxes on small orders.
š§¾ Goodbye, Ā£135 tax break
Right now, anything under Ā£135 can breeze through customs without duties.
- Local retailers call it a rigged game, paying taxes while competitors go duty-free.Ā
- Reevesā fix could save local retailers Ā£600M a year, leveling the playing field just in time for the holiday rush.Ā
- The Treasury says itās reviewing the rule amid growing pressure from retail leaders.
š Following the global trend
Reeves isnāt the first to tighten the screws. The U.S. scrapped its $800 āde minimisā exemption earlier this year, and the E.U. plans to bring customs duties to low-value imports by 2028.
Without similar action, experts warn the U.K. could become a ādumping groundā for low-cost China-based goods, a wave already worth Ā£3 billion in imports this year alone.
TOGETHER WITH SELLER ALLIANCE
Run Your Amazon Brand Like a ProāWithout the Overhead
Seller Alliance gives you the tools, templates, and strategies Amazon agencies use to grow brandsāwithout locking you into an expensive contract.
Whether you’re just getting started or looking to grow faster, you’ll get the exact resources used to optimize, scale, and win on Amazon.
Built by the team behind Seller Interactive, this membership gives you access to:
- āļø High-impact SOPs and checklists that streamline operations
- āļø Expert video trainings that show you how to actually implement
- āļø Live calls and updates on whatās working now (and whatās not)
- āļø Real-world insights from the people who do this for a living
If you’re tired of guessing, Googling, or wasting time on outdated adviceāthis is your shortcut to doing it right.
You run the business. We hand you the playbook.
Click to learn more and get started
BITES OF THE WEEK
- Full-Funnel Force: Walmart expands retail media across CTV, influencers, and in-store screens for measurable reach.
- Content Meets Commerce: Amazon blends entertainment, AI, and data to turn streaming into measurable brand impact.
- Convincing Walmart: China urges Walmart to expand sourcing and procurement, a possible warmer cooperation.
- Down No More: After overnight DNS hiccups, all AWS systems have recovered and running smoothly again.
HOT TOPIC
Tariffs hit American sellers $215B harder than China
The U.S. is collecting record customs revenue, just not from who youād think.
According to Marketplace Pulse, U.S. customs revenue hit $215B in FY2025āup $120B from last yearābut experts say American businesses, not foreign sellers, are bearing the cost.
šø Whoās really paying for tariffs
Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen says the system is broken, foreign firms can ship goods to the U.S. without a local presence, often filing false declarations with little consequence.
Meanwhile, U.S. retailers pay inflated costs while their overseas rivals skate by.
- Nike expects $1.5B in tariff costs, up from $1B earlier this year.Ā
- Apple racked up $1.1B in just one quarter.
āļø The uneven playing field
China-based sellers now make up over half of Amazonās marketplace, giving them both scale and a loophole advantage.
Many undervalue goods on customs forms while U.S. importers pay full freight. The result?
- Foreign sellers: lower or no duties
- U.S. retailers: higher compliance costs
- Consumers: higher prices
Trump plans to double tariffs on China-based imports starting November 1, just weeks before peak retail season. Importers are scrambling to reroute, reprice, or hope the plan changes.
š« Policy fix or profit drain?
Tariffs meant to curb Chinaās dominance are instead squeezing U.S. sellers already hit by rising fees, shipping costs, and ad spend.
TECH MARKETING
Amazonās AI now decides what shoppers buy
No more doom-scrolling through 200 nearly identical listings. Amazon just rolled out its latest AI-powered shopping assistant āHelp Me Decide.ā
š¤ Your new AI shopping buddy
Help Me Decide uses AWS-powered LLMs to analyze your shopping behavior and explain why a product fits your style, budget, and past purchases.
- It highlights key features, surfaces review insights; andĀ
- Acts like a personal shopper, if your shopper had all your Amazon data.Ā
š§ Where to find it
The feature is now live for millions of U.S. shoppers on the Amazon app and mobile browser.
Youāll see āHelp Me Decideā under Keep Shopping For or on product detail pages after comparing similar items.
If Amazonās AI decides what shoppers see first, visibility rules are changing fast. Sellers should:
- Sharpen listings with clear, benefit-driven copy and high-quality images (AI reads both).
- Encourage authentic reviews, they directly influence AI recommendations.
- Prioritize niche relevance over keyword stuffing; personalization now drives discovery.
In the age of Help Me Decide, sellers must optimize not just for humans, but for algorithms that already know what those humans want.