News Cart for March 13th

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Fear not: It’s back! We’re resurrecting our biweekly e-commerce news roundup to serve you even more business-related tidbits than you already consume.

Please enjoy this ECF News Cart for March 13th, 2019

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In the News:

Amazon Cracks Down on Counterfeit Products and Fake Reviews

• Project Zero tackles counterfeits with automated scanning, self-service removals and serial numbers.  (Invite only)
• Amazon sues the operators of five businesses allegedly selling fake reviews.
• FTC wins settlement in first-ever lawsuit over fraudulent reviews.

Report: Amazon Lifts Restriction on Sellers Criticized as Anti-Competitive

• Company to quit blocking third-party sellers from offering lower prices on competing websites.
• Change follows pressure from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and an investigation by Germany’s antitrust authority

Target Announces Launch of Its Curated, Third-Party Marketplace, Target+

• Vetting allows Target to dodge the PR nightmare of offensive and/or poor quality merchandise.
• Target+ shoppers to receive REDcard discounts, free shipping, in-store returns and other Target perks.

Bloomberg Report: Amazon Purging Suppliers in Push to Boost E-Commerce Profits

• Company wants vendors to sell directly to customers on its marketplace, Bloomberg reports
• Truth may be more nuanced:  Community members report Amazon staff caught off-guard and scrambling
• Many sellers saw POs begin again days later assuming they were part of Brand Registry

Nearly Half WTO Members Agree to Negotiate Rules on Global E-Commerce (hat tip to ECF member Miracle Wanzo)

• The European Union, the United States, China and 46 other WTO members seek to develop more open, predictable regulations on cross-border e-commerce.
• Comprehensive rules to focus on making global e-commerce safer and more reliable for consumers and businesses, especially smaller ones.
• Negotiations set to begin this month.

Call to Action: Help California Treasurer Push Back on Sales Tax Requirements

• California’s treasurer, with the support of state officials, wrote a letter asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to lift sales tax requirements for Amazon FBA sellers. If you’d like to support their efforts, the Online Merchants Guild offers a template letter.
• Community member Alex Oxford breaks it down here.
• State lawmakers have also proposed a bill that would raise annual revenue thresholds in California from $100,000 to $500,000 for out-of-state sellers.

Blow to Bitcoin as Mark Zuckerberg Warns Facebook Payments Are Coming

• Facebook reveals it’s working on its own cryptocurrency for WhatsApp
• Zuckerberg says future communication will “shift to private, encrypted services.”

New ECF Content:

• Even the Gurus Struggle: Ezra Firestone on Building Zipify Apps (Podcast)
• Takeaways From eCommerceFuel Live 2019 (Podcast)
• Profit First: How to Keep More of What You Make (Podcast)
• Losing $500K+ Amid a Counterfeiting Nightmare (Podcast)

Top Forum Discussions:

(Subscription required to access. Not a member? Apply to join our vibrant community of 7-figure store owners today.)

• Ruthless Amazon Private Label Prioritization
• Thoughts on Moving from California -> Texas
• Where in Your P&L Do You Put Your Amazon Fees?
• ECF Live 2019 Presentations Now Live

Off-Topic Reads:

• 15 Lessons From Our First $15 Million – Nathan Barry shares what he’s learned bootstrapping ConvertKit to $15 million in ARR.
• The Future of Work: Wealthy, Successful and Miserable – How a lack of underlying meaning can contribute to professional dissatisfaction despite success.
• The Weight I Carry: What It’s Like to Be Too Big in America – A 460-pound man chronicles his experience with morbid obesity.

Post by Andrew Youderian

Andrew is the founder of eCommerceFuel and has been building eCommerce businesses ever since gleefully leaving the corporate world in 2008.  Join him and 1,000+ vetted 7- and 8-figure store owners inside the eCommerceFuel Community.