[Crew Review] Amazon storage fees up 30% in 4 months

Amazon rolled out Capacity Manager earlier this year. Four months later, the storage-bidding feature proves to be more costly to sellers.

We monitored the numbers so you don’t have to.

Amazon Top Terms

Let's delve into the last two weeks and look at which Amazon's top 10 search terms experienced a significant surge in popularity between April 2nd and 15th. Let’s discover more about the terms that are generating substantial revenue on Amazon!

In this week's Amazon top terms, taking the spot #6 and #8 are "plantifully lean kiki cookbook" and "kristin cavallari cookbook."

We've seen products related to these keywords earn a drastic increase in sales of 603 units per day for the former and 817 units per day for the latter. These impressive sales indicate a strong demand for culinary literature among Amazon's customers during the last two weeks.

If you're looking to sell textbooks on Amazon, our article How to Sell Textbooks on Amazon in 2023 provides valuable insights and tips on maximizing your sales potential on the platform.

Amazon Aggregator Closes Series C at $88M

E-commerce aggregators, also known as rollups, were big during the pandemic as brands were raking in more profits than usual and owners were more than happy to exit the business. However, as with most businesses that experienced significant growth during the pandemic, the industry experienced a slowdown, even forcing some aggregators to go bankrupt or to stop acquiring.

Despite this, Razor Group remains strong, increasing its valuation up to $1.2 billion after its recent Series Funding of $88 million.

The company now has over 200 brands under its name and continues to acquire brands and competitors. Its recent competitor acquisitions include Stryze as well as Factory 14 and Zeelos.

FTC Warns Against Misleading Claims

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is on a mission to crack down on deceptive advertising. As a caution, it sent a letter to almost 700 companies to alert them of potential penalties for violating the law.

This is in connection with the Commission's updated Health Products Compliance Guidance.  However, the warning was not limited to health claims. It includes practices that are generally related to unsubstantiated claims. Among the companies warned were Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop, AstraZeneca, and General Mills.

While the warning was addressed to mostly established and big name brands, the move shows the FTC is taking a more aggressive approach towards false advertising that may sooner or later be applied to smaller businesses. Recently, an Amazon seller was fined $600,000 for misusing Amazon’s product variation feature that misled consumers into thinking an underperforming product received the same number of reviews and ratings as a more popular one.

First Full Ban on TikTok in the United States?

If you live in Montana, you better start binge-watching your favorite TikTokers because you might not be able to see them soon.

The state is the first in the US to approve a bill that would ban the download and operation of the popular social media app. SB0419 penalizes entities for each discrete violation by $10,000 plus an additional $10,000 for each day thereafter if the violation continues. However, it should be noted that the “entities” referred to means a mobile application store or TikTok itself, and not TikTok users.

According to the bill in its whereas clauses, TikTok “gathers significant information from its users, accessing data against their will to share with the People's Republic of China,” and that it remains a valuable tool “to conduct corporate and international espionage in Montana.”

The Chinese-owned app has recently come under fire for data and privacy issues. Although the US government has an overall distrust of the app, TikTok remains popular among its users and an indispensable marketing tool for e-commerce businesses.

Etc.

Pinduoduo is in Canada. Temu is becoming popular not only in the United States. Now, it’s also the no. 1 app in Canada.

Poor Andy. As Amazon continues to tighten its belt, it’s not only the ordinary workers who are at a disadvantage. Even the company’s CEO “suffers” as his compensation plunges from $212 million to $1.3 million.

Still no. 1. Despite massive layoffs and alleged labor law violations, Amazon continues to be the most desirable workplace in the United States according to LinkedIn.