News Roundup (February 5-11): February Amazon Fee Changes, Valentine’s Day Sales, Free Whole Foods Delivery for Prime Members
February Amazon Fee Changes/Increases
February may be the shortest month of the year, but it's jam-packed with Amazon seller fee changes and increases.
First up is Amazon's twice yearly inventory cleanup which falls on February 15th and August 15th. This kicks off what is called long-term storage fees, so if your items have been in a fulfillment center for 181 to 365 days as of February 15, 2018, your items will incur a long-term storage fee of $11.25 per cubic foot. If they've been in there for more than 365 days, the long-term storage fee climbs up to a hefty $22.50 per cubic foot. Take note, these fees are on top of your regular monthly storage fees.
Then there is the big FBA fee increase on February 22nd. Dave covered this extensively in a blog post which you can read here. Although we've come to expect FBA increases every year, this year's increase is the largest ever and can have a significant impact on your business if you're not careful.
Let's not forget the category-specific fee changes. Those selling eligible jewelry items will benefit from reduced referral fees for a year beginning February 22nd, but those selling clothing and accessories are in trouble. Amazon will increase fees for those categories and the changes will only take effect beginning April 15th.
More shoppers will buy online for Valentine's Day
There will be an increase of online shoppers for Valentine's Day this year according to an NRF survey. The survey found that 29% of Valentine's Day shoppers plan to purchase online, up from 27% last year. With last year's holiday season booming for ecommerce, this is really not much of a surprise.
Amazon now offers same-day delivery of groceries from Whole Foods for Prime members
Amazon Prime members from Austin, Cincinnati, Dallas and Virginia Beach are in luck. Amazon began offering same-day delivery of groceries from Whole Foods on Thursday. For a minimum order of $35, members get a free 2-hour delivery. One-hour delivery is also available, but for a fee of $7.99.
EcomCrew Updates
New Blog Post:
What is Amazon Vendor Central and is it Right for You?
What exactly is Vendor Central and how is it different from Seller Central? Find out its pros and cons, and whether you should be using it for your business or not.
New Podcast Episodes:
E117: How an MMA Fighter Built a Multi-Million Dollar Company Selling Digital Products
Our guest for today's episode is Dan Faggella, a Class A badass guy. He is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu master, an Artificial Intelligence enthusiast, and the first guy to ever break my number 1 rule on the EcomCrew Podcast which is to never bring on a guest I haven’t met in person. Dan and I talk about how he built his first ecommerce company, Science of Skill, into a multi-million dollar venture selling digital products, and how you can do it too.
E118: Under the Hood with Cory Stout Part 1 – Trimming Down SAAS Subscriptions
Cory Stout is living a nomadic lifestyle while running his company, Woodies.com. Since automation is a big part of his business, he has been racking up a long list of SAAS (Software as a Service) subscriptions. Today he and I talk about his subscriptions and evaluate whether or not they're worth keeping.
