From the linked LinkedIn post:
So when you get one of these emails, don’t ignore it. It might be good for them to hear your story. This is not a seller vs Amazon moment. But it is a moment to be sharp.
“Amazon’s seller outreach suggests it may be preparing to recalibrate categories, roll out new pricing tools or adjust seller fee structures based on what it learns.”
Revising the seller fee structure would make a significant difference. As I see it, tariffs alone don’t make selling Chinese goods unworkable -but Amazon’s current FBA fee structure comes close to making it nearly impossible.
It makes cheap, low margin imports not worth selling.
Take fidget spinners. The manufacturer makes a few pennies per unit, so does the importer and the retailer. But if the price goes up on a fidget spinner, the market disappears completely. Nobody needs one, most people don’t even want one. People buy them because they are there, and cheap enough that they won’t notice buying it. As soon as an item like that costs more than the change on morning coffee, sales drop to nothing.
An item worth actually having, on the other hand, can absorb cost fluctuations at various points in the supply chain much more easily.
Amazon wants input?
Amazon does not need to charge a 15% or more commission on each sale. I guarantee with the volume of business they do it costs less than 1% for the credit card charge. They add a ton of fees to FBA.
If you try to raise prices (even to MAP) you get a warning for violation of the fair pricing policy.
We stopped selling many items because we could not compete with the cheep Chinese garbage. Our emergency vehicle lights are all made in the USA our cost alone is 5x what I can get a Chinese version of. However the ones I sell will last DECADES. The Chinese ones start going bad after 3 months. One of the people I work with kept saying he would just get a new one. 1 year later he came to me, yeah I got sick of buying one every 2 months and have now spent more than I would have if I had gotten it from you.
Too bad most people don’t understand you pay more for shotty work in the long run.
First thing Amazon should do is to stop taking the BB (or possibly even deactivating a listing for High Price) when a seller has to adjust pricing due to tariffs. Already seeing reports of this on NSFE.
You would think that would be pretty simple; but nothing is simple for Amazon.
This was my first prediction and biggest concern. The price bot is going to crush more business on Amazon than anything else.
>How are you managing increased costs? Are you absorbing them or passing them on to customers?
Of course passing them on to customers. Who can absorb 145% tariffs after already absorbing tons of increased fees that Amazon has put upon them?
>Have you noticed any changes in Amazon’s policies or fees related to tariff impacts?
What kind of question is this?!
How about you tell me instead? Aren’t you from Amazon?
Or did you change anything secretly that affects us without telling us? (like the Send To Amazon error that prevents us from replenishing inventory)
>Are there any specific markets that have become more challenging or opportune?
>Have you explored new shipping routes or methods to mitigate cost?
This just sounds like Amazon wants to extract trade secrets from sellers for its gain. Why would people tell you that? Just for you to come and ■■■■■■ that out of their hands like how you made Amazon Basics items?
Yeah, no thanks…Amazon is only concerned about how this affects their bottom line. They could care less how it affects their sellers.
Like…have there been any actual tariff-related changes that I’m supposed to notice? Or does Amazon want to brag about a change they previously made that had nothing to do with tariffs, if even just one Seller cites it as positive? 
Just got an e-mail from a Manufacturer I used to use (till I started to realize their items died after at most 2 years) They sourced all their items from china. There will be a minimum 15% to 50% increase in dealer prices across the board starting May 1st.
Can’t wait to see Amazon deactivate all the items for violation of the fair pricing policy lol.
Singing my song.