[Crew Review] Amazon sues fake review brokers

Fairness

Reviews are so important on Amazon that people have built businesses around generating fake ones. In an effort to protect consumers, Amazon sued two of these brokers, who operate on multiple marketplaces.

Here’s how they work.

Shipping Discounts (But Not for All)

Sellers who purchase labels through Amazon’s Buy Shipping Program can now get discounts, based on a recent announcement. A blue Amazon Sponsored Discount badge appears next to the discounted price, or if you’re using shipping integrators, the price appears automatically.

This is good news–for some. Unfortunately, it isn’t available to everyone. Amazon says it varies based on carrier performance and its own discretion. So it seems like this is an arbitrary discount.

However, some sellers observed that the discount becomes available only when purchasing shipping labels for individual orders one at a time and not when buying multiple shipment postage. This runs counter to the usual discount offers where you save more the more you buy.

Project W

Although it specializes in physical stores, Walmart has successfully grown its ecommerce arm over the pandemic. It’s not as seller-saturated as Amazon, and the company is spending billions of dollars to fuel its ecommerce front.

Our friends at Helium 10 realize this potential, so they came up with Project W–a video series that teaches brand owners to sell successfully on Walmart.com.

Seven-figure sellers Carrie Miller and Tim Jordan will take you through the step-by-step process of launching and growing your business on the site. Check out Project W.

Walmart’s Online Sales Up by 11%

Speaking of Walmart, here’s another proof that the king of brick and mortar is doing well online. 

For the fiscal year 2022, Walmart’s ecommerce sales grew 11% YoY. But compared to two years ago (before this whole corona thing started), it’s a 90% increase. Here are other important numbers from the report:

• Sam’s Club sales went up 9.8%
• Walmart International sales decreased 16.8% (due to divestitures)
• Membership revenue and other income were up 27%

If you’ve been reading the Crew Review for a while now, you’d know about Walmart’s ecommerce efforts. They’ve turned some of their physical stores into local fulfillment centers (LFCs), they’ve started their drone delivery projects, and they’ve allowed non-US sellers to sign up in the marketplace.

United States of Amazon

Whatever Amazon is doing to be Earth’s Best Employer is not entirely effective because now, its workers are accusing it of unfair labor practices as more warehouses are preparing to vote for unionization. You may remember the first failed attempt last year that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) junked because of alleged interference from the company.

The new set of ballots for the Alabama warehouse has been mailed to workers earlier this month and counting will begin on March 28. Workers from other warehouses in New York and Canada are planning to follow suit.

But while workers are busy campaigning for a more unified voice, Amazon is apparently busy removing pro-union literature from breakrooms and conducting mandatory anti-union meetings. However, it’s important to note that these meetings are not illegal under US laws, but it does show you Amazon’s stand on the matter.

Unionization efforts have become more prevalent nowadays. Starbucks workers are doing it, and so are tech workers at The New York Times.

Etc.

Accounting on eBay. Managing your eBay business has gotten easier with its new integration with Quickbooks, an accounting software package.

Unrealistic demands? Amazon is being sued for demanding a lot from their delivery drivers after a motorcyclist lost a leg during a collision with an Amazon delivery truck.

Profitable. A Jungle Scout study reveals that 76% of Amazon sellers are still profitable in 2022, despite COVID and supply chain issues.