Founder, CMO @ AMZ Prep | Fulfillment for Global Merchants | Follow me to watch us build a 100M Company

At AMZ Prep, our daily mission is to work towards our bold vision: To propel sellers and brands to amplify their global eCommerce footprint through the seamless integration of logistics, fulfillment, advertising, strategy, creativity, and growth within a single, unified solution. 

Our vision may seem audacious to some, but at AMZ Prep, we thrive on embracing challenges, particularly the ambitious and audacious ones. It's this unwavering spirit that has catapulted us into becoming a retail powerhouse that's been quietly making waves.

If you're seeking to be part of a team that's committed to achieving remarkable accomplishments, we invite you to join us on our journey. We're constantly on the lookout for exceptional individuals to become a vital part of our team. Whether your expertise lies in Operations, Finance, Customer Experience, Business Development, or Software Engineering, please don't hesitate to connect with us for any career-related inquiries.

Blair Forrest

We are drowning in leads we can’t sign. We are turning away 100+ of high-growth DTC brands every single month.

Small 3PLs, I need your help.

We get thousands of brands reaching out monthly. Many are doing 10 to 1,000 orders per month. 

They are too small for our current infrastructure, but they are the perfect fit for the right boutique warehouse.

It feels wrong to hit "delete" on a brand's dream. We want to help them win.

The last time I posted this, it went viral and we built a bridge for dozens of warehouses.

I’m looking for warehouses that:

1.⁠ ⁠Obsess over service for smaller brands.
2.⁠ ⁠Scale alongside their partners.
3.⁠ ⁠Value transparent tech and communication.

Because here is the truth: Every brand deserves world-class fulfillment, regardless of their starting line. We all started at zero.

Know a solid small 3PL? Tag them below.

Blair Forrest 

2-day “prime-like” fulfillment USA + Canada (22 warehouses)

Amazon is requiring proof your product can survive 155°F inside of FBA.

If you sell consumables, here are your 3 options before April 20th 

For context I compiled the 58,964 flagged ASINs into a searchable spreadsheet and created a 39 page Amazon Meltable Playbook.

Over ~400 brands already grabbed it highlighting what products were recently flagged as Meltable by Amazon.

📍DM me if you want this ASIN list + my Amazon Meltable Playbook.

But the bigger question everyone kept asking: what do I actually do?

Here are your 3 options: 

#1 Dispute the classification.

Amazon lets you submit documentation before April 20th to get your ASIN removed from the meltable list.

What you need:

· A letter on your manufacturer's letterhead
· The specific ASIN flagged (from the list I made) 
· Written confirmation the product can be stored at 155°F for extended periods
· The exact temperature where the product loses integrity
155°F degrees sounds extreme….it is.

Amazon is accounting for the inside of sealed trailers sitting at fulfillment centers during summer.

Those trailers can hit +155°F before they're unloaded (doesn't happen with us, but most Amazon trucks get hit with drop trailers). 

If your product genuinely holds up at that temperature, this is your best path. Get the letter from your manufacturer now. Don't wait until April.

#2 Switch to seller-fulfilled for the summer (FBM) 

Amazon won't accept meltable inbound from April 20 to September 28. But you can still sell the product through fulfillment by merchant. 

That means fulfilling orders from your own warehouse or through a 3PL instead of FBA.

Best practice: use cold-pack shipping or work with a carrier equipped for temperature-sensitive goods. 

FBM isn't ideal for most brands, usually we see a 30%-50% dip in sales if not more depending on delivery time.

Your own other option is seller fulfilled prime (incredibly challenging for most brands given their price point) but we do this now. I'll make a whole other post on this. 

#3 Pull your inventory before May 1st.

Any meltable inventory still in Amazon's fulfillment centers after May 1st may be disposed of at your expense.

Submit a removal order before April 20th. Get your inventory back. Store it at your own facility or with a 3PL through the summer, then send it back in after September 28th.

One thing worth noting: Amazon waives the Low-Inventory-Level fee for meltable products between April 1st and October 12th. 

Curious if you've seen work arounds for this?

I'm on vacation right now.
I took a sales call this morning anyway.

Not because I had to. Because I wanted to.

Here's the thing no one tells you about stepping away from sales:

You can. Anytime you want. You just have to be okay with what happens next.

Slower pipeline. Deals that slip. Prospects who went with someone who picked up the phone. Revenue that didn't close because you weren't there to close it.

Most founders aren't okay with that. So they stay on the calls. Even from the beach. Even from the airport. Even when they swore this trip would be different.

I used to think the goal was to remove myself from sales entirely. Build a team. Hand off the relationships. Finally take a vacation without checking my phone.

Now I think that's the wrong goal.

The real question isn't "when can I step away from sales?"

It's "what kind of sales do I want to stay close to?"

For me, it's the big deals. The ones where the relationship matters. The ones where showing up personally is the difference between winning and losing.

I don't take every call anymore. I have a team for that. But the calls that move the needle? I'm still on those. Vacation or not.

The founders who scale successfully don't remove themselves from sales. They get selective about which sales they stay in.

The ones who try to disappear completely usually watch revenue flatten. Or worse, decline.

Stepping away isn't about freedom from sales. It's about freedom to choose which sales deserve your time.

I chose to take the call this morning. And I'll probably take another one tomorrow.

That's not a failure to delegate. That's knowing where I add the most value.

What's the one part of your business you'll never fully hand off?

Amazon quietly flagged 58,964 ASINs as meltable. Check this list before the April 20th deadline.

If you sell consumables, chocolate, gummies, supplements, or anything wax or jelly based on Amazon, your products might be on this list.

Here's what "meltable" means:

Amazon classifies certain heat-sensitive products that have a high risk of melting at 155°F as "meltable".
 
These products can only be sent into FBA during cooler months between September 28 and April 20.

After April 20th, Amazon will not accept inbound shipments on any flagged ASIN.

That restriction runs through September 28th. 
That's 5 full months.

This matters because most brands don't know their ASINs are on the list of 58,964 products until their shipments get rejected or disposed of for a fee after May 1.

📍DM me if you want this ASIN list + my Amazon Meltable Playbook.

This is what a $1M/month freight mistake looks like.

A brand came to us doing $32M annually on Amazon. Their ops looked fine on paper. Inventory moving. Orders shipping. Revenue growing.

But their inbound was bleeding cash.

Here's what was happening:

They shipped LTL to one location every time. Amazon split the shipment across multiple fulfillment centers. They paid placement fees on every split. And check-ins took 25-35 days because everything routed through National Cross Docks first.

The math:

- Placement fees: $120K/month
- Stockouts from slow check-ins: six figures in lost sales
- Expedited air freight to catch up: another $40-50K

That's real money disappearing into bad routing. Every single month.

The fix wasn't complicated. It was routing.

We split their shipments and targeted Regional Cross Docks directly. Skipped the national sortation step. Controlled the placements instead of letting Amazon decide.

Within 60 days:

- Placement fees dropped to nearly zero
- Check-ins went from 30 days to under 7
- No more emergency air shipments

Same inventory. Same volume. Completely different P&L.

Most brands don't realize Amazon's inbound network has three layers. If you're routing to the wrong facilities, you're paying fees you don't need to pay and waiting weeks you don't need to wait.

The brands winning on Amazon aren't just selling better. They're shipping smarter.

What's your average check-in time?

We grew 318% last year, should we raise… or stay bootstrapped? I am constantly being hit up by VC on LinkedIn and need some feedback.

I recently spent a week in Mexico to truly focus on this dilemma, because offers keep getting bigger and bigger.

Here’s our reality:

Our 318% growth rate proves our value proposition is undeniable.
We have more than doubled revenues every year since launch.
We are profitable and mid-sized.

We get 1000’s of inbound leads every month.
We literally cannot keep up with the demand.

We will be a large company in 36 months at this pace.

At the same time, we are investing millions into: freight into Amazon, a stealth parcel program, our WMS, our OMS, and signing larger enterprise brands.

We are also exploring acquisitions in both technology and warehouses because we see a blue ocean forming over the next 36 months and we want to move fast.

Zero venture capital.
Zero outside investment.
Zero angel investors.

So, here is the real dilemma of choice.

The Case for Raising:
-Injecting fuel into our fire that is already burning hot.
-Scaling at a pace that creates a competitive moat.
-Accessing a network that opens doors we can’t reach yet.
-Potentially a quicker path to a lifechanging big exit.

The Case for Staying Bootstrapped:
-Total creative control.
-No board to answer too.
-Building on our terms without the “exit or die” pressure.
-100% equity in a high-growth proven business model.
-Staying true to our white-glove customer approach.

Both paths win. They just optimize for different paths and outcomes.

QUESTION TO FOUNDERS:

If you were me, what would you do?

Raise and grow as fast as possible?
Stay bootstrapped and compound with full control?

Comment with your experience and advice.

Blair Forrest accepts a brown shipping box labeled Series B Funding handed over by two venture capitalist men in suits while smaller boxes on the table are labeled vc funding, growth capital, seed funding, series a round and strategic advisor.

Stop flying business class. Focus on reinvesting every dollar.

This went viral on Reddit. Here's the story:

Last year I flew economy to Chicago. $400 round trip. Closed a $2.4M annual contract.

While my VC-backed competitors were flying teams in business class, I was eating airport Tim Hortons and answering emails on the tarmac.

They have corporate cards. I have revenue.

Every dollar I don't spend on flights is a dollar I can invest in faster check-ins, better tech, or another warehouse.

That $400 flight? It funded:

- Upgraded warehouse software
- Faster inventory routing
- Better margins for the brand I just signed

The math is simple. A business class ticket runs $2,500+. That's six economy flights. Six more deals I can close in person.

Most founders optimize for comfort. I optimize for compounding.

The middle seat isn't glamorous. But when you own 100% of your company, it feels like a throne.

VC money buys comfort. Bootstrapped discipline buys freedom.

What's one expense you've cut that actually made your business stronger?

Founder AMZ Prep | 2-day global fulfillment for omnichannel brands doing $5M+

I've landed 3 Fortune 500 clients in under 6 months.

Steal my positioning playbook for free:

1. Know their pain better than they do.

I didn’t pitch fulfillment.

I showed them exactly how the 2026 Amazon fee changes would hit their P&L.

Storage in the West up 20%.
Transportation fees up 21%.
Large Standard SKUs doubling in some cases.

For some brands, that meant seven figures in new cost exposure.

When you quantify someone’s risk before they ask, you stop being a vendor.

You become a strategic resource.

2. Give away the insight. Keep the implementation.

I built a full 2026 Fulfillment Cost Update. Every AWD, FBA, and inbound placement change mapped out.

Gave it away for free.

The brands who downloaded it saw the complexity.

They didn’t want to build the solution internally.
They wanted the team who already understood it.

3. Let the work speak before you pitch.

I never asked for a meeting.

I asked if they wanted the breakdown.

The meeting happened because credibility was already established.

Enterprise doesn’t buy from cold outreach.

They buy from demonstrated understanding.

If your positioning doesn’t quantify risk or opportunity, enterprise won’t move.

This was one of the most insane weeks of my career.

Closed a deal I'd been working on for months. Finalized a partnership that's been in the works since last year. And hundreds of 3PLs flooded my inbox after I posted about turning away DTC brands we couldn't serve.

None of it happened by accident.

That deal? Months of follow-ups. Warehouse tours. Calls that went nowhere. Until one day it clicked.

The partnership? Same story. Patience. Alignment. Waiting for the timing to be right instead of forcing it.

The 3PL response? Years of showing up on LinkedIn. Building trust before I needed anything from anyone.

Weeks like this feel like luck. They're not.

They're the result of seeds planted months or years ago finally sprouting at the same time.

Most founders want the breakthrough without the buildup. They want the closed deal without the 47 follow-ups. They want the viral post without the 200 that got 12 likes.

It doesn't work that way.

The wins that feel sudden are almost never sudden. They're just the moment when all the invisible work becomes visible.

If you're in the middle of the grind right now and nothing seems to be moving, keep going.

The compound effect is real. You just can't see it until it hits.

What's something you've been working on that hasn't paid off yet?

Saving $100k: How My Team Rescued a Rival 3PL Failure in 72 Hours.

A new brand founder called me on Tuesday.

He was frantic.

His current 3PL had gone quiet while a massive shipment sat in a carrier yard.

Amazon’s inventory cutoff was 3 days away.

If he missed it, he was looking at a $100,000 stockout.

Most 3PLs tell you to open a ticket and tell you they’ll look into it…..

Usually after the damage has been done in emergency situations.

That is how $10M brands die. They get strangled by slow partners.

We did not open a ticket. We went to work as a team.

In 72 hours, my team:
-Intercepted the freight from a failing carrier.
-Used our cloud platform to reroute the middle mile.
-Secured an emergency dock appointment through our Amazon partnership.

The Result:
The inventory hit the Amazon FC with 4 hours to spare.

The hard truth of scaling to $100M is that your logistics partner is either an engine or an anchor.

If they cannot pivot when their system breaks, they are an anchor.

We built AMZ Prep to anticipate and handle logistics emergencies.

We specialize in the white glove execution that keeps omnichannel brands alive when everyone else freezes.

Don't let a partner's incompetence cap your growth.

We fix the problems other 3PLs can't handle.

💬 Message me and I’ll audit your 2026 fulfillment strategy!

58,964 ASINs lose FBA access on April 20. Here's the SFP math to help you decide if it's worth it.

Here's the math behind SFP for those brands (save this post):

Every week CPG brands selling protein bars, chocolate, gummies are asking us: 

"Can we do SFP?"

YES... But most brands don't understand the economics.

SFP lets you keep the Prime badge while fulfilling from your own warehouse or 3PL.

We run SFP at scale for brands across big and bulky, outdoor, and cold chain, so this is math we know well and how difficult it is. 

The Metrics Amazon Require:

Small and light (example: protein bars):
· 30% of orders delivered next day
· 70% delivered in 2-days
Basically, you need to have overnight shipments. 

The difference for Big and Bulky:
· 10% next day
· 45% 2-day

There is a 3rd-tier which is extra-large but we won't talk about it in this post.

FAIL 3x in 1 year and Amazon revokes your SFP for 1 year.

The Warehouse / 3PL Requirements (baseline):
· 6 days/week fulfillment schedule.
· Extended fulfillment window (we fulfill till 3pm-4pm local time).
· You'll need a proper tech stack behind this and team monitoring seller metrics as there is a ton of variables you need to add into this. 

NOTE: You need to be running FBM actively for 90 days prior to going through the trial

The Carrier Requirements for SFP:
We use Fedex and UPS just given their performance for all SFP accounts. 

Usually, our carrier matrix would be something like this: 
· UPS next-day
· FedEx One Rate
· FedEx 2-day 
· UPS ground
· FEDEX ground

Full cost if we wanted to do SFP for a protein bar brand: 

Zone 1-3 (Ground Can Work):
· Pick/pack/ice-packs/supplies: $3.50
· UPS Ground: $8-$12
· Total: $11.50-$15.50
Ground shipping works for shorter distances, keeping costs lower
for regional distribution.

Zone 4+ (Air Required):
· Pick/pack/ice-packs/supplies: $3.50
· We'd use a FedEx 1 or 2-Day: $14-$20
Longer distances require air shipping, dramatically increasing per-
order costs.

NOTE: If your product sells at $25, shipping alone is 46-62% of the sale price.

Big and bulky is different, we usually are running 4 or 5 facilities. 

When SFP makes sense for meltable brands?
AOV is $50+ (enough margin to absorb premium costs).

Other brands will end up just putting their higher AOV SKU's.
ie. larger pack size, multi-packs, as SFP and leave the rest for FBM. 

That last one is the real calculation.
Brands losing Prime for 5 months typically see a 40-50% revenue drop on those SKUs.

Even if SFP costs $5-$8 more per order, the Prime badge lift can cover it and you put it as a "marketing expense" to keep the algorithm up, ranking and sales velocity. 

For the 90% of brands that have a $30 or less MSRP I'd suggest just run FBM during the meltable months and enroll in premium shipping. 

📍DM me if you want this ASIN list + my Amazon Meltable Playbook.

How are you handling meltable season this year?

FBM?
Seller Fulfilled Prime?
Pulling inventory and waiting it out?

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Founder, CMO

Amazon Meltable Timeline, SFP & FPM Costs + Options

Want to congratulate Arishekar N for his new role as we build the fastest growing logistics company in North America without raising a dollar 🚀

AMZ Prep is proud to announce the promotion of Arishekar N to Vice President of Marketing, recognizing his leadership in scaling our brand and growth engine globally.

As we power 2-day global fulfillment across 22 warehouses in the US, Canada, and EU, Ari will lead the next chapter of our expansion educating, empowering are growing the next generation of modern brands that fulfill with AMZ Prep®

If you don't know your blended fulfillment margin, stop scaling.
Fix this first.

I talk to brands doing $5M, $10M, $15M in revenue. They know their gross margin. They know their CAC. They can tell you their ROAS by channel.

Ask them what it actually costs to fulfill an order across all their SKUs, all their channels, all their shipping zones?

Blank stare.

Here's why this matters:

Your blended fulfillment margin is the true cost of getting product to customers. Not the rate card. Not the average. The actual, weighted cost across everything you ship.

And it's almost always worse than founders think.

That $8 average shipping cost? It's $8 for zone 2. It's $14 for zone 6. It's $22 for that oversized SKU going to Alaska.

That 3PL rate? It doesn't include pick fees on multi-item orders. Or storage overages. Or return processing.

That "free shipping" threshold? It's margin-positive on some orders and margin-negative on others. Do you know which?

Most brands are flying blind on the metric that determines whether growth is profitable or just expensive.

Here's what blended fulfillment margin actually includes:

Pick, pack, and ship fees across all SKUs
Outbound shipping by zone and carrier
Packaging and materials
Storage costs allocated per unit
Return shipping and processing
Damaged and lost inventory write-offs

Add it up. Divide by orders. That's your real number.

The brands that scale profitably aren't guessing. They know exactly what it costs to fulfill every order type. They price accordingly. They kill the SKUs that don't work. They route to the zones that do.

The brands that don't? They grow revenue while margin quietly disappears.

You can't optimize what you don't measure.

If you haven't calculated your blended fulfillment margin, that's the first thing to fix.

Do you know yours?

The Supreme Court just unlocked $160B in eCom refunds. Is your brand on the list?

The era of "fast-twist" policy shifts, where brands went under simply because they couldn’t track unpredictable costs is finally facing a reckoning. ⚖️

The Supreme Court’s recent ruling on "unruly" tariff practices is more than just a legal win; it’s a multi-billion dollar reset for the e-commerce industry. Here is what you need to know:

From Chaos to Regularity: We are moving away from sporadic cost spikes toward a disciplined, transparent trade environment. This allows brands to stop hoarding "emergency reserves" and start reinvesting in product development.

The Refund Opportunity: There are potentially tens of billions of dollars in refunds on the table. If your brand has been hit by volatile tariffs over the last 18 months, you could be looking at a seven or eight-figure recovery.

Data is the Golden Ticket: You cannot claim what you cannot prove. Now is the time to aggregate every import record and tariff payment with your freight partners.

Strategic Resilience: While Section 301 remains, this ruling underscores the need for diversification (India, Pakistan, Taiwan) and localized fulfillment to bypass US-centric trade hurdles.

The Bottom Line: Stability allows for strategy. The most successful brands in 2026 won't just be the ones with the best products, they’ll be the ones with the best data and the most agile supply chains.

I want to hear from you 👇 

Do you think these refunds will actually materialize, or is it just noise? 

#Ecommerce #SupplyChain #Logistics #SupremeCourt #InternationalTrade #Tariffs

Founder @ AMZ Prep | 2-day global fulfillment for omnichannel brands doing $5M+

Amazon just dropped 1-hour and 3-hour delivery.
Here’s what I can’t stop thinking about.

Amazon just changed the rules of the game again.

1-hour and 3-hour delivery are officially live across the US, marking the biggest escalation in the speed war we have seen in years.

· 90,000+ products eligible
· 1-hour delivery live in hundreds of cities
· 3-hour delivery in 2,000+ cities
· Prime members pay $9.99 for 1-hour, $4.99 for 3-hour
· Non-Prime pays $19.99 and $14.99
· Dedicated storefront at https://lnkd.in/egcUh5q2

They're now going head-to-head with Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber Eats.

But that's not what I keep thinking about.

I keep thinking about what this does to EVERYONE ELSE.

If Amazon can get a package to your door in 60 minutes...

What does that mean for Shopify brands shipping in 5-7 days?

What does that mean for Walmart, TikTok Shop, and every other channel trying to compete?

What does that mean for the 3PLs and fulfillment companies (like mine) who built their entire model around same-day and next-day being "fast enough"?

I run an Amazon-First logistics company.

We fulfill over 15 million orders annually.

More than 200 million of items into Amazon. 

And I'm sitting here genuinely unsure how to feel about this.

Part of me thinks this is just Amazon flexing.

A premium tier for people who need toothpaste RIGHT NOW.

Not a replacement for standard Prime shipping.

For context, we usually see ~12% sales lift every day you remove from your delivery.

Moving from a 5 day delivery to 4 day delivery = 12% lift in sales

And then a significant BUMP for prime badge.

But when we get into sub day delivery conversion, we don't have data yet on this. 

Part of me thinks this is the beginning of a new baseline.

Meaning that in 2-3 years, every channel will need to offer sub-2 hour delivery or they'll feel slow by comparison.

I honestly haven't formed my opinion yet.

But here's what I DO know:

Consumer expectations only move in one direction.
Faster.

And whoever can't keep up gets left behind.

I'm genuinely asking.

What do you think this means for brands selling on Shopify, Walmart, and TikTok Shop? 

Or will it not even meaningfully impact conversion.

What works at $1M quietly kills you at $10M.

At $1M, everything runs through you.

You know every customer. Every order. Every problem.

It works because you’re in the middle of it.

At $10M, that same setup becomes the bottleneck.

Here’s what breaks over and over.

The founder is the SOP.

Nothing is documented. Decisions live in your head. When someone asks how to handle something, the answer is still “ask me.”

At $10M, that’s not leadership. It’s a growth ceiling.

One person holds the keys.

Your best employee runs ads. Or the warehouse. Or supplier relationships.

Single points of failure feel fine until they fail.

Hiring stays reactive.

You hire when something breaks. Then you hire fast. Then you hire wrong. Then you’re back in the weeds fixing both the problem and the hire.

Meetings replace systems.

Instead of building processes that run without you, you add syncs. Check-ins. Slack threads.

The business moves. But only when you push it.

The fix isn’t complicated. It’s disciplined.

Document the 20% of decisions that drive 80% of outcomes.
Cross-train before you need to.
Hire ahead of the pain, not behind it.

The brands that scale smoothly aren’t smarter.

They just built systems earlier.

What got you to $1M won’t get you to $10M.

4 controversial lessons I learned about warehouse scaling from fulfilling 20M+ customer orders:

I just argued with a $45M brand’s Director of Operations.

They wanted 5 warehouses to copy Amazon’s speed and I told them NO.

Actually, I didn't just say NO...I told them it was a suicide mission.
 
Operators are sold a dream that more warehouses are the solution to instant fulfillment.

In reality, for brands under $10M, it is often a money pit and they don't have the systems to manage it.

Here's 4 Controversial Lessons I Learned (without burning cash):

1. Shipping from one location is the ultimate form of control MOST of the time.

-You have one pile of inventory to manage rather than chasing stock across the country.
-You don't have capital trapped in safety stock across 5 states just to save a day in transit.
-The only trade-off is you pay higher shipping rates to reach Zone 8 (East Coast to West Coast).

2. The "Two-Warehouse" Sweet Spot: This is where 90% of brands should be.

-One facility West (California or Las Vegas) and one in (PA, Chicago or NJ) covers the vast majority of the population.
-You reach most customers in 3 days without needing complex forecasting software.
-You eliminate a lot of Zone 7 & 8 shipping zones without fracturing your inventory pool.
-Of the past 20 brands we've signed, 15 use 2 nodes. (as you grow to ~50M+, 3 nodes will start to make more sense).

3. Majority of high SKU brands (~2,000+ SKUs, like apparel, shoes, jewelry) should not split their stock.

-You will never forecast size/color velocity correctly across 4 locations and it is impossible to get right unless you're doing serious volume.
-The most common solution is to keep 100% of SKUs in one central node (Texas for example is our largest apparel facility).

-The cost of splitting shipments will kill your margin. If a customer orders a bra (in CA stock) and leggings (in PA stock) you'll pay 2x shipping to get it to the customer.

4. Zone Skipping is a game changer for small products.

-I did a post on this. By zone skipping we pack orders in Texas and fly them to a NY hub to inject them into the local carrier network using regional carriers.
-The customer gets 2-3 day delivery at about the same cost.
-You keep one inventory pool but get MOST of the speed & benefits of a multi-node network.
-This is already huge in Canada, it’s now growing in the US and it'll be a big reason most brands don't need more than 2 facilities (unless it's seller-fulfilled prime).

The Exception: There are cases where 3-4+ warehouses make sense.

-With big and bulky products like mattresses you need to use UPS & FEDEX ground (or seller fulfilled prime as we usually need ~4 locations).
-If you are doing ~10K+ orders a month, inventory forecasting is locked and the freight savings finally outweigh the storage costs + transfer between warehouses.

Curious on your take… How many locations do most brands need?

Growing revenue is not the same as scaling.

Most founders confuse them. Then wonder why things start breaking at $5M.

Growing revenue is adding more on top.

More sales. More orders. More customers. More everything.

It works. Until it doesn't.

Scaling is making the system handle more without breaking.

The difference shows up fast:

Growth without scale looks like this:

- Revenue doubles, but so does chaos
- Every new customer adds more work per person
- Your best people burn out because nothing runs without them
- Margins shrink because inefficiency compounds

Scale looks like this:

- Revenue doubles, but headcount doesn't
- Systems absorb volume without breaking
- The business runs even when you're not pushing it
- Margins hold or improve because the infrastructure supports it

I've seen brands hit $10M and feel like they're drowning. I've seen brands hit $20M and feel like they're cruising.

The difference isn't the revenue. It's whether they built systems before they needed them.

Growth is a vanity metric if the foundation cracks under pressure.

Scale is what lets you keep what you build.

Are you growing or actually scaling?

Boredom is the best sign your system is working.

I used to chase the dopamine. The viral post. The big win. The rush of something new taking off.

But the real growth came when it stopped feeling exciting.

Same cadence. Same process. Same output.

No surprises. No reinventing the wheel every week. Just showing up and doing the thing I said I'd do.

That's when the numbers actually moved.

Most people quit right before this phase. They mistake boredom for stagnation. They think if it doesn't feel hard or new, it must not be working.

It's the opposite.

The exciting part is figuring it out. The boring part is when it compounds.

Systems feel boring because they're working. Consistency feels repetitive because it's building. The lack of drama means the foundation is solid.

If you're still chasing the rush, you're optimizing for feelings instead of outcomes.

The best creators I know aren't motivated every day. They just don't need to be. The process runs whether they feel like it or not.

If it feels repetitive, you're probably building something real.

What's the boring thing that's actually working for you?

I've worked with hundreds of brands. Very few operate like this. 

If you're in CPG and not following Jason Burke, you're missing out.

If you haven't already, follow Jason.

What he's building at New Primal is something special.

Truly textbook founder led go to market.

Jake Karls too.

VERY similar to how I approach growing AMZ Prep® but just two different worlds.

We've had the chance to work with their team, all incredible strong operators 

If you aren't watching them closely to understand their playbook Jason is actively giving away for free online and LEARN...

You're missing out. 

Who else in CPG do you follow that's worth paying attention to? 

Lets give them some love

Built New Primal from Kitchen Counter to 15,000+ Stores | Clean Food Pioneer

Everyone thinks breakout products are luck.

They’re not.

They’re timing + taste + distribution + story…all compounding at once.

This rotisserie chicken stick is one of the fastest-growing items we’ve ever launched.

Not because we got lucky (well, maybe a little).

Really, though, we stacked the deck:

-The category was ready to move beyond beef

-Consumers wanted something familiar (no guessing, no risk)

-Chicken demand is/was exploding

-We nailed a flavor profile people already trust

-We launched into a rising tailwind—not against it

But product alone doesn’t win anymore.

So we went all in:

-Founder-led marketing
-Seeded product to creators before launch
-Activated Amazon’s creator ecosystem
-Built momentum heading into a major trade show
-Let real people tell the story before retail ever did

9 months later:

5,000+ stores
Top 5 SKU on Amazon for us
One of the fastest movers we’ve ever seen

No gimmicks.

Just aligning product, timing, and distribution…then pressing hard.

And next month?

If you live in Texas…you’re going to be very happy 🤠

Innovation is not just about new ideas; it's about transforming vision into measurable growth.

DREAMER 👉 BELIEVER 👉 ACHIEVER 🚀

Director of Marketing & Growth | Global B2B SaaS Growth Leader | Digital Marketing Strategist
15+ Years Driving Transformative Growth Through Data-Driven Marketing Excellence
Results-driven marketing leader specializing in scaling B2B SaaS companies through innovative growth strategies. Proven track record of building high-performance teams and driving substantial revenue growth through integrated digital strategies.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:
Architected growth frameworks driving 400%+ increase in organic traffic and revenue
Achieved 180% year-over-year revenue growth through optimized marketing campaigns
Generated $10M+ in pipeline through strategic partnership initiatives
Led digital transformation projects for Fortune 500 clients
Built and mentored high-performing global marketing teams
Developed proprietary growth models using predictive analytics
Reduced customer acquisition costs by 45% while maintaining quality
Established partner programs generating 40% of new business

CORE COMPETENCIES:
Digital Marketing Excellence:
Search Engine Optimization (Technical SEO, Content Strategy)
Content Marketing & Distribution
B2B Demand Generation & Lead Nurturing
Account-Based Marketing (ABM)
Marketing Analytics & Attribution
User Experience & Conversion Optimization

Paid Marketing & Advertising:
Google Ads & PPC Management
Social Media & LinkedIn Advertising
Amazon Advertising & E-commerce
Programmatic & Display Advertising
Performance Marketing

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE:
Analytics: Google Analytics 4, Adobe Analytics, Mixpanel
SEO Tools: SEMrush, Ahrefs, Google Search Console
CRM & Automation: HubSpot, Salesforce, Customer.io
Testing & Optimization: Optimizely, VWO, Hotjar
Growth Tools: Segment, AppsFlyer, GTM
Development: HTML/CSS, WordPress, API Integration

STRATEGIC FOCUS:
Data-driven decision making and predictive analytics
Multi-channel acquisition strategy
Customer journey optimization
Marketing automation and scalability
Performance marketing and ROI optimization
Strategic partnerships and business development
Building and scaling high-performance teams
Establishing centers of excellence
Cross-functional team collaboration

INDUSTRIES: B2B SaaS | Enterprise Software | MarTech | E-commerce | Digital Transformation
Specialized in driving growth through organic user acquisition, content marketing excellence, B2B demand generation, strategic partnerships, and marketing technology innovation.
📧 arishekarn@gmail.com
📱 +91-9003749744

Arishekar N

Director to Vice President

2 years ago, I joined AMZ Prep® with a goal to grow. Not just the brand, but myself.

Today, I'm grateful to officially step into the role of VP of Marketing.

This journey tested me. Campaigns that didn't hit. Strategies I had to rebuild from scratch. Feedback that forced me to level up. Late nights figuring things out when no one had the answers. But I never stopped. I learned, I adjusted, I kept pushing. Every obstacle made me sharper. Every setback made me more certain I was on the right path.

This didn't happen alone. It happened because of a team that shows up every day, leadership that believed in me before I fully believed in myself, and mentors who pushed me to think bigger.

To Blair Forrest Imtiaz Kermali Rich Pearl Joel den Boer, BSc (BioScience), PMP,ACP Shemira Kermalli Diggy Lalussis Angelo D'onofrio Harishnath Narasimhan Rey Nath Dan Jeo Cavan Anupam Krishna Jaya Gupta Haridha P Nolan Fraser Billy G. Rahul dravid.G Shashi Hiremath Peaula Philip Indhu Krishnan A Neha Vijay Modi Ginny Kaur Trini Baldon Abishek Narayanan Swaminathan B.E., M.Eng  thank you for your trust, support, and for betting on me.

Now, back to work. The best is still ahead.

#Leadership #Growth #Grateful #AMZPrep

No alternative text description for this image

I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as VP of Marketing at AMZ Prep®!

In the last 10 days, searches for "Amazon meltable list 2026" jumped 340%.

58,228 ASINs are on it.

Most sellers are finding out AFTER their shipment gets turned away.

That's the problem.

Amazon flagged these products as meltable. After April 20th, they won't be accepted into FBA until September 28th.

Five full months of stockouts.

I was in our weekly sales standup this morning. Rich shared that almost none of the brands he's talking to have checked the list yet. Angelo told us about a supplement brand with 14 flagged ASINs that didn't even know the classification existed.

The information is out there. Sellers just aren't seeing it until it's too late.

That gap between "the data exists" and "you actually act on it" is where brands lose money.

So we pulled all 58,228 ASINs into one searchable sheet. We added the dispute process and seller-fulfilled options so you know exactly what to do if you're affected.

If you sell consumables, supplements, or anything heat-sensitive on Amazon:

Search your top 10 SKUs before April 20th. Takes 30 seconds.

Comment "MELTABLE" or DM me and I'll send it your way.

Amazon just dropped an AI tool that could change how you run your seller business.

But here's what most sellers are missing.

Amazon launched "dynamic canvas" in Seller Central this week. It's free for US and UK sellers. It builds on Project Amelia from 2024 and lets you ask questions like "What if demand drops 10%?" and see projected impacts on revenue and cash flow in real time.

Sounds great on paper. But let's look at the reality.

The seller forums tell a different story. A recent update got 36 thumbs down vs 5 thumbs up. Sellers complained about broken links, generic recommendations, and AI responses that made no sense.

Amazon claims 90% of sellers accept the recommendations. That stat means nothing if the recommendations are wrong.

Here's what I'm watching:

1. The AI arms race is real. Shopify has Magic and Sidekick. Walmart built Wally. Everyone's racing to add AI to merchant tools. The platforms know independent sellers are the cash cow. Amazon's 3PL seller services generated $172B last year. Over 60% of Amazon's sales come from independent sellers.

2. Scenario planning sounds useful. But it's only as good as the data feeding it. If the AI doesn't understand your actual fulfillment costs, your inventory velocity, your zone distribution, the projections are just noise.

3. This won't replace operational discipline. A dashboard that shows you "demand might drop 10%" doesn't help if you don't know your blended fulfillment margin. You can't optimize what you don't measure.

The platforms are betting big on AI. Amazon's running this on Bedrock with Nova and Claude models. The tech is real.

But here's the hard truth: No AI tool will save a brand that doesn't understand its own numbers.

The sellers who win will use these tools to validate decisions they already understand. Not to replace the work of knowing their business.

Are you using Amazon's AI tools? What's been your experience?

I used Claude to analyze our team's 40K+ emails, 22K meeting calls, and HubSpot notes from the past 12 months.

The goal was to plan our content and marketing. What I found was eye opening.

Even great brands, $10M+ companies with solid operations, keep asking the same questions about Seller Fulfilled Prime:

"How long does it take to get approved?"
"Can we do it with one warehouse?"
"What happens if we miss the metrics?"

Here's what our team mostly says to them:

SFP isn't just about getting the Prime badge. It's a performance contract with Amazon. And the bar is high.

To qualify, you need CONSISTENCY in:

On time shipment rate above 99%
Valid tracking uploaded on 99% of orders
Cancellation rate under 0.5%
Weekend shipping and handling every week
Delivery promises you can actually keep

And here's what most brands overlook:

Inventory accuracy so you're not overselling
Carrier performance tracking across all zones
Return processing that doesn't tank your metrics
Real time visibility into every shipment
A backup plan when your primary carrier fails

Miss any of these? You lose the badge. Sometimes permanently.

The hard truth: Most brands fail SFP because their fulfillment network can't deliver 2 day nationwide.

SFP puts the burden entirely on you. Your 3PL. Your carriers. Your warehouse locations.

If you're shipping from one facility in California, you're not hitting 2 day to Florida. Amazon knows this. They'll reject your SFP application or pull your badge after a few weeks of missed delivery windows.

The surprising part? A lot of brands think SFP is the easier path. It's not. It's harder. You're taking on the fulfillment burden without the infrastructure Amazon has built over decades.

One more thing brands miss: SFP approval isn't one and done. Amazon audits your performance continuously. One bad month can cost you the badge. And getting it back? That's a whole new application process.

Here's what we do at AMZ Prep to keep brands SFP compliant:

We run multi-node fulfillment from East and West coasts.
We track carrier performance daily and switch when needed (we built Prep Parcel for our community and it's getting serious traction)
We process weekend orders without exception
We monitor every metric Amazon cares about in real time
We've maintained SFP status for brands doing $5M to $50M+

The brands that succeed with SFP treat it like a privilege, not an entitlement.

The Prime badge isn't free. It's earned every single day through execution.

This is Week 1. I found 15 great questions from growing brands trying to improve operations and reduce costs. I'll be sharing one every week for the seller community. 

Rich Pearl Nolan Fraser Billy G. Angelo D'onofrio Diggy Lalussis Reghunath S Joel den Boer, BSc (BioScience), PMP,ACP

Are you running SFP or considering it?

Huge milestone for our team 

Excited to have Thomas Gewarges onboard as COO strong leadership at the right time as we gear up for the next phase of growth.  

Let’s build big! Blair Forrest  Imtiaz Kermali Angelo D'onofrio Diggy Lalussis Rich Pearl  Nolan Fraser Billy G. Mohamed (Mo) Datoo

AMZ Prep is proud to announce that Thomas Gewarges has joined as Chief Operating Officer, where he will lead the expansion and standardization of our fulfillment network across North America.

Thomas brings deep experience in large-scale logistics across DTC and retail. At Metro Supply Chain, he supported leading consumer brands through high-volume, multi-channel fulfillment operations.

This marks a continued shift for AMZ Prep. While we started with Amazon, today over 60% of our operations support DTC and retail fulfillment, reflecting how modern brands actually operate.

With 50+ fulfillment centers across North America and Europe, and recent expansion into Las Vegas, Pennsylvania, and Texas, we're building a Prime-like logistics network for modern commerce.

learn more: https://lnkd.in/dv8dJSDM

400 Shopify orders a month.
3 months later: 2,000 orders.
Zero ad spend.

One of our skincare brands started flooding our warehouse with serum orders. 5x the usual volume out of nowhere.

Our customer success team flagged it. They reached out to ask what was driving the spike.

Watching a brand's sales grow is exciting. But 5x month-over-month with zero ad spend? That was unusual. I had to dig deeper.

Here's what I found:

I'm not going to out her product. Beauty is crowded enough and she's crushing it. But let me show you how this works with a different example.

I typed into ChatGPT: "What's the best creatine powder for muscle recovery?"

It recommended a few options. One brand showed up mid-tier. Priced the same as the top picks.

Then I asked: "Where can I get the best deal on this?"

ChatGPT sent me straight to their DTC site. Not Amazon. Their website.

That second prompt is the opportunity most brands are missing.

Here's what made her site easy for AI to recommend:

Competitive pricing that beats or matches marketplaces.
Clean website structure with proper schema markup.
Google Merchant Center integration.
Clear product content and shipping info.
Solid reviews and trust signals.

Nothing fancy. Just the basics done right.

But here's the smart move her agency made:

She kept her base pricing the same on the website so AI would pick it up in recommendations. Then used coupons and cart value thresholds to make the actual checkout price unbeatable.

AI sees competitive pricing. Customers get a better deal at checkout.

We helped on the fulfillment side. Set up shipping cost savings based on cart value so she could keep DTC pricing competitive with Amazon.

The brands winning right now aren't spending the most.

They're making it easy for AI to send customers their way.

Is your site set up to capture that second prompt?

Amazon's stickerless commingling ends March 31.

That's 22 days from now. Not weeks. Days.

I've been fielding calls from brands who missed the January prep deadline and are still scrambling.

Don't be the seller caught off guard twice.

Here's everything that changed and what you need to do before the clock runs out:

The January changes already hit.

Prep and labelling left Amazon on January 1. Your team or your 3PL must deliver FC-ready units. Polybags, bubble wrap, warnings, and FNSKU labels are applied before it hits the dock.

If your 3PL couldn't handle this transition, you already felt the pain in Q1.

Time to evaluate whether they're the right partner going forward.

The March 31 deadline is days away.

Stickerless commingling is done. You can no longer depend on shared barcode pools as a backup.

Barcode discipline at the SKU and FNSKU level is now mandatory.

If you get this wrong, you will be dealing with:

Inventory nightmares
Mislabeled stock
Customer complaints that tank your metrics

This is not optional anymore.

The fee changes are already live.

Europe: Amazon lowered fees slightly and expanded low-price FBA eligibility to €20. If you haven't reevaluated your low-price SKUs for FBA, you're leaving margin on the table.

US: Fees went up. The increase in fees is particularly significant for items priced over $50. If you're selling premium products and haven't adjusted your pricing or channel strategy, your margin is bleeding right now.

What else changed?

Low inventory fees are now calculated at the FNSKU level. Not the parent ASIN.

If your forecasting hasn't shifted to FNSKU level tracking, you're getting hit with penalties you don't even understand.

3 actions before March 31:

Audit every SKU still using stickerless commingling. Get FNSKU labels on everything. No exceptions.

Run a 28 day cover analysis on your top 50 FNSKUs. Use sell through data and seasonality adjustments. Penalties hit at the FNSKU level now.

If your 3PL encountered challenges during the January transition, it would be beneficial to address the issue promptly.

Q2 is coming. You need a partner who can execute.

The multi channel reality check.

Amazon is building more direct arcs and integrating MCF for third party channels.

For many sellers, a hybrid model works best. FBA for specific SKUs. 3PL for DTC.

But you need partners who can actually deliver FC ready inventory.

The sellers who adapted in January are fine.

The ones still catching up are spending Q1 putting out fires.

March 31 is the next cliff. Don't go over it. #amazon

Week 3 of analyzing 40K+ emails and 22K calls. This time: Cold Storage & Frozen Fulfillment.

The questions brands keep asking:

"How do I ship chocolate without it melting in summer?"
"Can you handle frozen products for DTC?"
"What happens when Amazon blocks my meltables?"

Here's what our team mostly says to them:

If your product melts, your revenue melts with it.

The market is way bigger than most people realize:

Supplements. Chocolates. Cosmetics. Pet supplements. Specialty food. Frozen products.

And the pain is real:

Revenue drops of 40 to 60% during Amazon meltable restrictions
Increased return rates from temperature damage
Customer service nightmares when products arrive spoiled
DTC conversion tanks when you can't guarantee freshness

Here's what brands don't understand about cold chain:

It's not just about keeping things cold. It's about the entire journey.

Temperature monitoring from warehouse to doorstep
Multiple zones including ambient, cooled, refrigerated, and frozen
Specialized packaging for different transit durations
Seasonal adjustments because what works in January fails in July

The biggest mistake? Treating cold chain as a summer problem.

Brands scramble every May when Amazon restrictions hit. By then it's too late. The 3PLs with capacity are already full. The packaging lead times are 6 to 8 weeks.

The brands winning in temperature sensitive categories plan their cold chain in Q1. Not Q2.

The hard truth about cold chain economics:

Cold storage and fulfillment costs more. Period. Specialized infrastructure, packaging, and faster transit all add up. Brands that ignore this kill their margins.

The winners think about profitability from day one. They build cold chain costs into their pricing. They optimize packaging to reduce waste. They plan inventory to avoid emergency air freight.

Here's how we help brands protect their margins at AMZ Prep:

We operate temperature controlled facilities and fulfill cold chain for leading brands in supplements, specialty food, and frozen. But the real value is in the middle mile. We optimize inbound routing to Amazon so brands aren't bleeding money on placement fees and cross country freight during peak season.

Cold chain done right isn't just about keeping products cold. It's about keeping brands profitable.

This is Week 3. 13 more questions coming from growing brands trying to improve operations and reduce costs.

Is your brand shipping temperature sensitive products? How are you handling summer?

Amazon killed internal prep services. Here's what I've seen in the last couple months.

If you sell on Amazon and treat logistics as an afterthought, STOP. 

The 2026 FBA changes are not a small billing adjustment. They change how inventory enters the network and how fees are applied.

Ignore them and you will lose time, margin, and control.

Here's what I'm seeing on the ground:

First, Amazon ended internal prep and labeling in the US on January 1, 2026. Units must arrive fully prepared and labeled by you or a third party. I've watched brands get hit with rework fees and rejected inbound shipments because their cartons showed up without correct bagging, warning labels, and FNSKU labels. That safety net is gone.

Second, stickerless commingling will be phased out by March 31, 2026. No more relying on a shared barcode pool. Inventory attribution is now explicit. I've seen sellers lose weeks of sales sorting out misattributed inventory because their SKU labeling was sloppy. So be prepared

Third, low inventory fees are now calculated at the seller FNSKU level instead of by parent ASIN. Brands that kept one buffer for the parent ASIN and ignored variation level demand are getting charged more and stocking out on their highest margin variants.

What you should do this week:

- Map your top 20 FNSKUs
- Confirm exact labeling and prep rules for each unit
- Run a 28 day cover exercise at the seller FNSKU level
- Audit your 3PL and ask if they can handle full end to end FC ready prep

This is not a panic play. It is a strategy play. Clean inbound, accurate labeling, and SKU level forecasting are operational advantages.

Brands that treat operations as a product capability will win on margin and on the shelf.

Week 2 of analyzing 40K+ emails and 22K calls. This time: Inbound Speed.

The questions brands keep asking:

"Why is my inventory stuck in receiving for 3 weeks?"
"How do I get faster check-in times at Amazon?"
"Is there any way to control which FC my shipment goes to?"

Here's what our team mostly says to them:

Inbound speed is where operations quietly break. Everyone obsesses over outbound. Few brands ask the right questions about inbound.

The national average for inbound to Amazon is 18-22 days.
We average 1.8-4 days. Some shipments check in within 24 hours.

That gap isn't luck. It's obsession.

Here's what most brands don't realize:

Every Amazon FC has different congestion levels
Some facilities process in a day. Some take 3 weeks.
West Coast and Southern facilities consistently outperform
Midwest and Northeast locations have the highest backlogs

We track inbound performance per facility across thousands of shipments. We know which ones are fast. We route accordingly.

Right now we're pushing merchants to East Coast facilities. West Coast bottlenecks in Q4. AWD causes national cross-dock delays.

The real cost of slow inbounds:

Stockouts during peak demand
Cash trapped in inventory that isn't sellable
BSR drops that take months to recover
Panic overshipping just to stay alive

Most brands see freight as a cost to minimize.
We see speed as value to maximize.

Yes, strategic routing costs more on freight. But inventory sitting in transit is cash you can't touch. Inventory checked in and selling is cash flow.

Speed is cash. Cash is king.

If you're not tracking facility-level performance on your inbounds, you're flying blind.

This is Week 2. 14 more questions coming from growing brands trying to improve operations and reduce costs.

What's your current inbound-to-sellable timeline?

Amazon just committed $200B in capex for 2026.

That's not a typo. $200 billion. In one year.

The majority is going to AWS. Data centers. Custom silicon. AI infrastructure.

Here's what most people miss:

This isn't about spending more than Microsoft or Google. It's about spending differently.

While competitors buy Nvidia chips at market rate, Amazon is building Trainium. Their own silicon. Their own supply chain. Their own margins.

The math is brutal for everyone else:

- AWS is adding 1+ GW of capacity per quarter
- They have a $244B order backlog
- Q4 revenue hit $35.6B, up 24% YoY
- AI workloads are monetizing as fast as they can deploy

Microsoft and Google are fighting over the same GPU supply. Amazon is building a parallel infrastructure.

This is the same playbook they used in logistics. Control the infrastructure. Control the margins. Let competitors fight over what's left.

The brands winning in any industry understand this: Whoever controls the supply chain sets the rules.

AWS isn't just competing in cloud. They're trying to own the rails AI runs on.

What's your take on Amazon's infrastructure bet?

li_at

JSESSIONID

VP of Marketing @ AMZ Prep

TikTok just reversed their shipping mandate.

If you're a TikTok Shop seller, you can breathe.

One month ago, TikTok announced all US sellers would be forced onto TikTok Shop Logistics by March 31. No more Seller Shipping. No more using your own carriers. No more control.

Brands panicked. We know because we helped dozens of them prepare.

At AMZ Prep, we spent weeks working with brands to restructure their fulfillment. New integrations. New workflows. Contingency plans for a deadline that just got canceled.

Then today, TikTok quietly reversed course—via updates and emails to sellers.

Seller Shipping will NOT be discontinued. At least for now.

The news is still fresh. It's not on major outlets yet. But multiple credible sources in the seller community (including direct confirmations from influencers and tools like GeekSeller) confirmed it today.

Here's the lesson:

Platforms change the rules whenever they want. And they can change them back just as fast.

If you scrambled over the last month, you're not alone. But don't forget how it felt.

This reversal is a relief. It's also a reminder.

You're building on rented land. Act accordingly.

A few things brands were frantically doing before today's flip:

- Rushing to integrate with approved ERPs and 3PLs that support TikTok's logistics flows
- Preparing to send inventory to FBT warehouses or set up Upgraded TikTok Shipping labels
- Building contingency plans: duplicating SKUs, testing carrier integrations, pausing ad spend
- Reviewing performance metrics obsessively to stay above penalty thresholds

All that effort... paused (for now).

Did this feel satisfying or frustrating for you? #tiktok #ecommerce

Timeline showing TikTok's shipping mandate announced in January 2026, reversed in February 2026

$175B in tariff refunds may be coming back to brands.

On February 20th, the Supreme Court ruled that broad IEEPA tariffs exceeded executive authority. Major 2025 emergency tariffs? Invalidated. U.S. Customs is pausing collections.

This matters because brands spent 18 months restructuring everything.

Supplier relocations. Inventory hoarding. Margin compression. Fulfillment network overhauls. All to absorb tariff rates that hit 20-28%.

Now there's a potential refund window. Penn-Wharton estimates $170-175B+ in exposure. More than 1,800 legal filings already submitted to preserve refund rights.

What I'm seeing operationally:

Brands are already rushing inventory back into the U.S. That means port congestion is coming. Fulfillment bottlenecks are coming. Freight volatility is coming.

The brands who win here won't be the ones who wait for clarity. They'll be the ones who:

1. Archive every tariff payment record now
2. Validate HTS classifications before the rush
3. Engage customs brokers and trade counsel immediately
4. Calculate their exposure before guidance drops

This isn't over. Section 301, Section 232, and Section 122 tariffs are still on the table. Volatility continues.

But for brands who paid into IEEPA tariffs? The clock is ticking on refund positioning.

The resolution timeline is months to years. The preparation window is now.

Are you tracking your refund exposure?

Amazon just expanded Grade and Resell. Most brands in these categories don't even know it exists.

If you sell watches, jewelry, luggage, shoes, or apparel on Amazon, this is a direct revenue recovery opportunity you're probably sleeping on.

Here's the deal:

Customer returns don't have to be dead inventory. Grade and Resell lets you list returned items as Used and sell them at a discount instead of eating the loss.

What just changed:

- These five categories are now eligible (they weren't before)
- Automatic pricing adjustments sync your Used prices with your New prices
- ASIN inclusion lets you handpick up to 2,000 SKUs to enroll
- Out-of-stock SKUs get removed automatically so your dashboard stays clean

The pricing automation alone is worth paying attention to.

Before, you had to manually adjust Used item prices every time your New pricing changed. Now it syncs automatically. You set the discount percentage once and it updates across the board.

And the ASIN inclusion feature flips the model. Instead of opting everything in and excluding what you don't want, you can now opt in only the SKUs that make sense.

More control. Less manual work.

Most brands treat returns as a cost center. The ones paying attention are turning them into a second revenue stream.

If you're in one of these categories and not enrolled, you're leaving money on the table.

Are you using Grade and Resell yet?

Amazon just dropped a policy update that could break your automation stack.

Effective March 4, 2026.

Most sellers won't read it. They'll keep running their repricing tools, inventory bots, and listing automation. Then they'll get locked out.

Here's the reality:

Amazon is updating the Business Solutions Agreement with new restrictions on AI and automated systems.

The big changes:

- All AI agents must now identify themselves as automated systems
- Every bot must comply with a new Agent Policy
- Amazon can shut off access anytime they want

They're also adding restrictions on using Amazon data for AI development. No more scraping their materials to train your models.

If you sell in Mexico, that's getting a completely separate BSA now. US and Canada agreements are being cleaned up.

This is what matters:

If you keep selling after March 4, you've accepted the new terms. No signature required.

Most sellers are running some form of automation. Repricing. Inventory management. Listing optimization. FBA shipment planning.

If your tools don't comply with the new Agent Policy, you're exposed.

Brands that scale don't get blindsided. They read the fine print.

Go read the updated BSA. Audit your automation stack. Make sure your tools are compliant before March 4.

What automation tools are you running that might be affected?

48 hours since the Supreme Court ruling. Here's what's already happening.

FedEx filed suit Monday in the U.S. Court of International Trade. They want a full refund of every IEEPA duty they paid over the last year.

Costco and Revlon are right behind them.

IEEPA tariffs stopped being collected at midnight Tuesday. The $175B question now: who gets their money back, and when?

Here's the reality:

No refund process exists yet. Treasury Secretary Bessent said it could take "weeks or months" for courts to figure it out. Senate Democrats introduced a bill with a 180-day deadline and interest on refunds—prioritizing small businesses.

But legislation doesn't mean action. And waiting means risk.

What brands should be doing right now:

1. Pull every import record from the last 18 months. Every entry summary. Every duty payment. If you can't prove it, you can't claim it.

2. Talk to your customs broker this week. They need to know you're pursuing recovery. Get aligned on documentation.

3. Flag your IEEPA-specific duties. Not all tariffs are affected. Section 301 is still standing. Know which payments qualify.

4. Watch the Court of International Trade. That's where FedEx filed. That's where the refund framework will likely come from.

The brands that recover the most won't be the biggest. They'll be the most prepared.

This isn't a "wait and see" situation. It's a "get your paperwork in order" situation.

Are you already working on a claim?

#Ecommerce #SupplyChain #Tariffs #InternationalTrade #Logistics

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