[Crew Review] Is Amazon using forced labor?

Stronger forces

A non-profit watchdog reports that Amazon is working with suppliers that were linked to forced labor in China. These companies have been associated with “labor transfer” programs before, and they’ve helped Amazon manufacture some of its private-label products.

Some of your competitors might be using them too.

Amazon Top Terms

Every week, we give you an edge by providing the hottest terms on Amazon. We’ve run the numbers and have come up with the top 10 trending terms that have jumped in popularity from February 20th to March 5th.

Iodine sales skyrocket in Europe over concerns of nuclear war. Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Putin's comments that Moscow's nuclear deterrent is on high alert have unleashed a wave of anxiety in Europe, with people rushing to buy iodine, which they believe may protect them from radiation.

In the wake of the war raging in Ukraine, sales of iodine tablets are through the roof. That’s why keywords like “potassium iodide tablets for radiation exposure,” “iodine pills radiation protection 130 mg,” “potassium iodine,” and “nuclear mask” are among this week's top terms.

Amazon Case Referred to DOJ

Amazon third-party sellers provide a lot of data to the company in order to sell their products on the platform. Last year, Congress was looking into whether Amazon was using this data to promote its own products. But because of alleged acts used “to influence, obstruct, or impede” the investigations, they thought it would be better to bring in the big guns.

The US House Judiciary Committee has referred Amazon’s case to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for further investigation for “potentially criminal conduct.” This is because of Amazon’s alleged engagement in a “pattern and practice of misleading conduct” that suggests it was acting to impede the Committees investigation and inquiries.

In 2021, the House Committee accused Amazon’s executives of lying about their business practices. In particular, Amazon said it did not use the data it had collected from its third-party sellers, but investigations belied this.

In a 24-page letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Committee pointed out several acts by Amazon’s employees that used 3P seller data.

This may come as no surprise to experienced sellers. However, in an email to Reuters, an Amazon spokesperson insisted that there is no factual basis for these accusations.

Amazon’s Not-So-New Deal

This news is a few months late, but you can’t blame us because Amazon was very hush-hush about it.

Last November, the company acquired Veeqo, a start-up company that develops seller management tools. These tools help ecommerce business owners sell products on and off Amazon. This acquisition can lead to more integrations in its Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) program as Veeqo allows sellers to manage their businesses across multiple platforms, including Walmart and eBay.

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How to Lower Your PPC Expenses

Marketplace Pulse reports that Amazon is burying organic search results. Sponsored products flood the first page. This is why paid ads are soaring in popularity and so are their prices.

To keep your business profitable, you need a sustainable approach to getting people to your product pages. We’ve developed a strategy that’s content-based, sustainable, and repeatable. It’s a strategy that worked for all of our brands and for many of our EcomCrew Premium members—and we’ve condensed it into one full-length course that’s part of our Premium subscription.

That’s just one of our six HD courses, though. And our courses are just one part of EcomCrew Premium. Going Premium will also give you access to:

• Unlimited 1-on-1 email support from Mike and Dave who have decades’ worth of ecommerce experience between them
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• Live Q&A webinars so you can get your questions answered in real-time
• Our very active and private Facebook group where you’ll get to interact with like-minded ecommerce sellers
• All our recorded webinars so you can catch up on what you’ve missed

In 2022, we’ve decided to cap off our members to just around 200 to ensure they get more than their money’s worth. There are only a few slots left, and we’ve got some people already signed up for the waitlist. We’ll open enrollment on Monday, but you can reserve your slot today.

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