Thread by @Molson_Hart

OPEN LETTER TO @JeffBezos & AMAZON (🧵):

I am writing you this letter because your company, particularly the retail side, is turning to shit.

If I don’t say this, no one else will.

I'm writing it publicly because I don't think there's another way for you to receive this information...

I have been selling on Amazon for over 10 years, my company has paid yours well over $24 million dollars, and your attorneys have deposed me for 8 hours.

The problem with Amazon turning to shit is that you're taking us and countless other Amazon sellers down with you...

What I'm going to do with this letter is tell you the things that no one else is telling you, the stuff that you probably don't want to hear.

People tell me I'm autistic, but I'd like to see you and Amazon thrive and real talk is necessary to do that, so here goes:

1. Amazon retail is increasingly logistically incompetent.

Not day 1, not day 2, but day 3 stuff.

Example 1: Amazon shipped out thousands (exact number unknown) of our products (which are gifts) like this for months after we told them not to and Amazon said they wouldn't.

Example 2: the roll out of inbound placement fees and 5 way shipment splits wasn't just bad for the environment, it was inefficient and costly to amazon

We went from shipping everything to one nearby location which split it across the country to splitting it 5 ways and then having each one of those locations split it across the country.

The details are complicated, but Amazon completely screwed it up

Example 3: Amazon Warehouse Distribution is not replenishing your fulfillment centers on time and is totally mispriced (which is why it had to be increased 20% or so recently).

Amazon missing its prime delivery date is the new norm.

Maybe this is all designed to be a clandestine way to raise prices...which brings me to point 2

2. Amazon has transitioned from a company which seeks to lower prices to one that seeks to raise prices

The price increases in 2024 were the largest we have ever seen from Amazon. And they weren't just big and financial, but they greatly increased the work and complexity sellers must deal with in order to sell on the platform.

These price increases for sellers who are barely scraping by in 2024 are translated into higher prices for consumers.

3. Amazon lost its monopoly lawsuit with the FTC.

For those who don't know:

If you price your products less OFF-Amazon than ON-Amazon, your products disappear ON-Amazon.

This is a big problem for sellers because Amazon is the place that has the most sales.

Amazon uses algorithms to watch pricing on Walmart, Target, eBay etc. and if they catch you selling for less there, the products disappear on Amazon.

For obvious reasons, this is bad, but Amazon insisted on not changing the policy and the FTC sued Amazon.

Here's how they lost that case, they stopped checking prices on Temu.

And then Temu got rid of all their fees for US sellers.

So now everyone who is selling on Amazon and Temu is selling the EXACT SAME PRODUCT on Temu for significantly less than Amazon.

And the products are not fake, they are real.

Actually, it's harder to list products on Temu than it on Amazon

Here are our prices on Temu temu.com/-m-63551772727…

Here are our prices on Amazon

You will notice that they are way more expensive on Amazon. amazon.com/stores/VIAHART…

But the same on Walmart (because if they're lower, our products get suspended on Amazon).

As I said earlier, I was deposed by your attorneys for 8 hours, which was not pleasant and in the wake of that I wondered if Amazon was self-sabotaging.

I just don't understand why the company was so obstinate about this policy.

If I'm right and you lose the case, Amazon will likely end up like Microsoft after it lost its antitrust case, paralyzed by the fear of more litigation.

I understand why you'd want to fight such cases to send a message, but this was not a winning hand one that should have been folded, not called.

It raises prices for consumers, it's unfair, and sellers hate it.

The best time to get rid of this policy was 5 years ago, the second best time is now.

4. The incompetence is not just in logistics, it's in support.

Last week Amazon threatened to take down 126 of our products for infringing on the trademark VIAHART

Our company name is VIAHART LLC, our seller name on Amazon is VIAHART, we own the trademark VIAHART, and its in Amazon's brand registry

We told Amazon this

And we received this response wherein they explained that they would suspend our products for using the term VIAHART, which we own.

And then Amazon did this for 48 hours, costing us $10s of $1000s on the biggest sales weekend of the year for us and those products.

Seller support has been broken for years and years and it never gets fixed. I'd rather have AI than whoever replied to that message.

5. Because of Amazon's newfound greed, the shopping experience keeps getting worse for prime members.

First it was just Cyber monday, then Cyber weekend, and then prime day, and then two prime days, and then cyber weekend became a week and this year it was 12 days.

Every time Amazon does this, Amazon sellers have to pay Amazon deal fees and lower their prices.

Now this lowering of prices would seem good for prime members but the only way for sellers to survive is to raise their prices the rest of the year (or use tricks) to be able to sell products on these deal days.

The list prices on Amazon are completely fake.

It's impossible to find the brand you want on Amazon

7 out of the 8 of the results are oftentimes ads and if brands don't pay $100,000s like we have competitor brands show

In the below image Amazon is awarding Amazon's Choice for our brand to a company that I can't even discuss because of a settlement agreement.

How is that fair?

How is that good for customers?

You think if someone searches Nike they want to see dozens of chinese brands ranked ahead of them unless Nike pays $1,000,000s which results in higher prices for consumers?

No.

If you want to advertise other brands, put it in a different section, don't confusingly mix and match, irritating the brand and the prime customer.

I'd also love to know how a competitor brand wins Amazon's Choice for a trademark we own, Brain Flakes® when we have;

1. more sales
2. higher reviews
3. lower return rates
4. best seller in its category
5. AND we own the trademark for the search

Are you just trying to destroy our business?

Because that's honestly what it feels like

And our sales on Amazon are way down!

It's horrible

What is the thinking behind Amazon Haul?

That the customers who have been trained to love 1-2 day shipping with prime will love buying from China at slower shipment speeds?

That Amazon is going to beat Temu, which has a first-mover advantage and lower cost basis than Amazon?

And US Amazon sellers cannot even sell on Amazon Haul?

It's such a slap in the face and an odd cannibalization of your own business and the rollout is garbage.

6. Sellers on the Amazon platform are despondent about Amazon

Our sales are down.

Our costs are skyrocketing because of Amazon's policy changes.

We actually have more options than ever (Temu, TikTok, Shein, Shopify).

The price raises Amazon has been doing look smart in the short-run but every Amazon seller I know is making big moves to get off the platform in a way that I have never seen before.

In the long-term the price increases won't look so smart.

SOLUTIONS

Amazon retail is a mess right now.

You've had 3 retail heads in 3 years and we, as AMazon sellers, can really feel that.

Here are some ways to fix that:

1. Get back involved. Whether its AI or just getting your hands dirty in the logistical operations or sending those "?" emails, we need you back at the wheel here

2. Hire sellers in executive positions at Amazon. Generally, sellers are more knowledgeable about how Amazon works than Amazon employees and there many of them available for hire, either because their businesses were sold in the boom or because they've been wiped out by unfair Chinese competition

3. When you were CEO, you had two separate people reporting to you, one for AWS and one for retail. I think you should bring back that structure with them reporting to the board if you dont' want to be CEO again.

YOU, JEFF BEZOS

What do you want to do with the rest of your life?

What do you want your reputation to be?

Are you a footnote in the biography of Elon Musk "there was this other rich guy with rockets" and Lauren Sanchez's boyfriend or are you one of the greatest entrepreneurs of all time?

Someone who democratized retail through the marketplace and brought low prices, customer happiness, and convenience that no one ever thought was possible?

Amazon is one of the greatest companies of all time and you built it and it is a lever for whatever you want to do next and it seems foolish for you to spend all your time on some yacht.

You're a great mind and the world will be better for you getting back involved at the company and leading its next transition to something new and great.

You recently said:

"My heart is in Amazon, my curiosity is in Amazon, and my fears are there and my love is there"

I speak for a lot of people when I say that we'd like to see you back.

THE END

Thanks for reading

You can compare our prices and shop our products below:

Amazon: amazon.com/stores/VIAHART…
Temu: temu.com/-m-63551772727…
Our websites (where the prices are lower and we make the most money): tigerharttoys.com
brainflakes.com