Here's what changed this week while you weren't looking:
Amazon's CEO just admitted higher prices are "coming soon."
Container freight rates are sliding after a short January rally.
And in 72 hours—January 26—Amazon's new FBM refund rules kick in. Miss the 4-day window, lose your SAFE-T protection. Translation: eat 100% of return fraud with zero recourse.
Question: Have you raised your prices since tariffs hit?
If not, you're subsidizing your customers' purchases with your profit margin.
Second question: Do you have a return inspection process?
If not, you're about to fund fraudulent returns you'll never recover.
This week's newsletter is your action plan for both. Everything below costs you money if you ignore it. Everything below makes you money if you act on it.
Here's what's inside:
→ The Jan 26 FBM deadline and what changes for SAFE-T claims
→ Why a recent study says consumers absorbed 96% of tariff costs
→ The freight rate opportunity window
→ Why AI shopping agents need structured product data
Quick Diagnostic Reply with ONE word:
PRICING = I'm raising prices in Q1
PRUNING = I'm killing underperforming SKUs
EXPANDING = I'm adding SKUs or marketplaces
STUCK = I don't know where to start
I'm compiling results and sharing the data next week—along with what the top 20% are doing differently.
👉 FOR FBM SELLERS ONLY (FBA-only sellers: skip to tariffs section below)
What Happens January 26 If You're Not Ready
In 72 hours, Amazon changes how FBM refunds work.
You get 4 calendar days (up from 2 business days) to process returns.
Sounds generous, right?
Here's what Amazon didn't emphasize:
Miss that 4-day window → Amazon auto-refunds the customer → You lose SAFE-T claim eligibility → Zero reimbursement for fraud, wrong items, or damaged returns.
What You're Losing:
Customer returns wrong SKU → You eat the loss
Customer damages item → You eat the loss
Customer runs empty box scam → You eat the loss
Delivery says "received" but you never got it → You eat the loss (UNLESS it's truly lost in transit)
The ONLY exceptions where SAFE-T still works:
Return package lost in shipping (tracking proves non-delivery)
Carrier marked it delivered to wrong address (not your fault)
Everything else? If you miss the 4-day deadline, you're subsidizing return fraud.
DO THIS WEEKEND:
Action (takes 2 hours):
Saturday morning: Set up automated email alerts in Seller Central for return deliveries (Orders > Manage Returns > Set email notifications)
Saturday afternoon: Create a tracking system with these columns:
Order ID | Return Delivered Date | 72-Hour Deadline | Inspected? | Refund Status | Notes
Sunday: Train whoever opens packages on this:
Photograph UNOPENED package (show label)
Photograph OPENED package (show contents)
Photograph ITEM vs. original order (SKU match?)
Photograph ANY DAMAGE (close-ups)
Upload to shared folder: Returns/2026/[Order ID]/
Sunday night: Set calendar reminder for every Monday/Wednesday/Friday at 9 AM: "Check returns delivered in last 24 hours"
Tool you need: Amazon's Guided Refund Workflow (GRW)
Go to Seller Central → Help → Search "Issue a partial refund" → Follow setup instructions.
GRW lets you grade returns, apply restocking fees, and upload evidence when customers return damaged/wrong items.
The 72-Hour Rule:
Inspect and process within 72 hours (gives you 24-hour buffer before 4-day deadline).
Don't wait for day 3. Packages arrive Friday night, you're already at risk if you wait until Monday.
Sources:
Amazon Seller Central: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discussions/t/11268c92-5a5c-4125-9e59-49e433d0d151
EcommerceBytes: https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2025/12/23/amazon-to-change-refund-policy-for-fulfilled-by-merchant-orders/
But before you fix your return process, there's a bigger margin killer you need to address...
👉 FOR SELLERS DOING $10K+/MONTH (Sub-$10K sellers: bookmark this for when you scale)
Six months ago, Amazon leadership downplayed tariff impact.
Last week at Davos, CEO Andy Jassy admitted: "Higher prices are coming soon in 2026."
Here's what matters:
A recent study found U.S. consumers absorbed 96% of tariff costs during the last round.
Translation: When your costs go up 10%, customers historically paid 9.6% of it. Sellers only absorbed 0.4%.
But only if you actually raise prices.
The Three Options:
Pass through costs → Raise prices to cover tariff increases
Absorb costs → Keep prices same, kill your margins
Split it → Small price bump, eat some cost
Most sellers default to #2 without realizing it.
The Amazon Challenge:
Amazon monitors price competitiveness. Raise prices too aggressively → risk losing Buy Box or competitive positioning.
But here's the opportunity: Test pricing incrementally on lower-volume SKUs first.
DO THIS WEEKEND:
Action (takes 90 minutes):
Friday night:
Export your top 20 SKUs by revenue (last 90 days)
Calculate current margin per unit (price - landed cost - fees)
Calculate new margin if you raised price by 5%, 7%, 10%
Identify which SKUs have margin pressure from tariffs
Saturday morning:
Pick your #15-#20 SKUs (lower volume, lower risk)
Test a 5-7% price increase on these SKUs
Monitor Buy Box retention for 48 hours
Monday morning:
Still holding Buy Box on most SKUs? → Consider testing increases on higher-volume products
Lost Buy Box on most SKUs? → Roll back to smaller increase, test again
The Tool Option:
If you're doing 7-figures and want automated price optimization, check out Profasee: https://profasee.com/?via=gary
It's built for sellers who need to test pricing systematically without manual spreadsheet work.
And if you're about to raise prices, you need to know this shipping window is opening...
👉 FOR IMPORTERS WITH FEBRUARY+ SHIPMENTS (Domestic-only sellers: skip to AI section below)
Container freight rates are sliding after a short-lived January rally.
According to Global Trade Magazine, weak demand is pressuring spot pricing.
This creates a booking opportunity for Q2 inventory shipments.
Why rates are soft:
Chinese New Year approaching (Feb 10) - factories slow, shipping capacity exceeds demand
Post-holiday demand weakness
Oversupply in container capacity
The timing risk:
Demand typically picks up in early February when importers realize Q2 inventory needs. Geopolitical issues can spike rates overnight.
DO THIS MONDAY:
Action (takes 45 minutes):
Monday AM: Email your freight forwarders
Request quotes for Feb 15-March 15 shipments
Specify: Origin port, destination port, container size (20'/40')
Ask: "Can I lock this rate for 30-45 days?"
Monday PM: Compare quotes, evaluate rate lock options
Tuesday: If rate lock isn't available, ask for spot rate validity period
The Staggered Booking Strategy:
Don't book all your Q2 inventory at one rate.
Book 40% now (if rates are favorable), 30% mid-February (if rates stay low), 30% late February (absorb any increases on smaller volume).
This hedges your bet.
Speaking of competition, here's how the big retailers are preparing for AI shopping...
👉 FOR PRIVATE LABEL SELLERS (Resellers: this matters less for now, but bookmark it)
Why AI Shopping Agents Need Machine-Readable Catalogs
At NRF 2026 last week, retailers made one thing clear:
AI shopping is no longer a "when" question—it's a "how" question.
What's happening:
Retailers are building "agent-ready" catalogs
Cleaning up product data so AI can understand what they're sellingRetailers are launching AI shopping tools
Example: Ralph Lauren's "Ask Ralph"—AI creates shoppable outfit combinations based on customer promptsMicrosoft and Google are building AI commerce experiences
Your product data needs to be machine-readable for these platforms
The quote from NRF:
Ralph Lauren exec: "Nobody needs a flannel shirt. Showing a customer how to put it together is what makes us unique."
Translation for Amazon sellers:
If an AI agent can't parse what makes your product different from dozens of similar listings, it won't recommend you effectively.
The Structured Data Problem:
AI agents need clear, specific data to make recommendations. If your listing says:
❌ "High-quality stainless steel mixing bowl"
AI doesn't know:
What size?
What gauge steel?
Dishwasher safe?
Nesting design?
But if your listing says:
✅ "10-Inch Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl - 18/10 Gauge, Dishwasher Safe, Nesting Design, Non-Slip Base, 3-Quart Capacity"
AI can now:
Compare specs to competitors
Match to user queries ("dishwasher safe mixing bowl 3 quart")
Make confident recommendations
DO THIS NEXT WEEKEND:
Action (takes 4-6 hours for 20-50 SKUs):
Saturday morning (2 hours):
Pull your top 20 SKUs by revenue
For each listing, ask: "If I spoke this title out loud to a stranger, could they visualize the exact product?"
If no → Rewrite title with: [Material] [Size] [Product Type] - [Key Feature 1], [Key Feature 2], [Benefit]
Saturday afternoon (2 hours):
Check Amazon product attributes (Backend > Edit listing > Vital Info)
Fill in ALL available fields: Material, Size, Color, Weight, Dimensions, Care Instructions
Most sellers leave many fields blank. Fill in 100%.
Sunday morning (2 hours):
Rewrite bullets as "Feature + Benefit" format
❌ "Made with high-quality materials"
✅ "18/10 Stainless Steel Construction - Won't rust, warp, or react with acidic foods like tomatoes or citrus"
The Tool:
Use ChatGPT or Claude to audit your listings. Prompt:
"I'm an Amazon seller. Here's my product title, bullets, and description. Audit this for AI readability. Tell me: 1) What's missing, 2) What's vague, 3) How to make it machine-parsable."
Paste your listing. It'll tell you what to fix.
Amazon Rufus is driving 31% higher conversion rates for optimized listings.
The problem? Most sellers don't know what "Rufus-ready" even means.
Here's what Rufus needs:
Structured product attributes (not just keywords in titles)
Clear feature-benefit mapping in bullets
Backend search terms that match customer language
A+ content that answers common questions
The manual way: Audit each listing, research competitor keywords, rewrite everything. Takes 2-3 hours per SKU.
The fast way: DataDive's Rufus optimization tool scans your catalog and tells you exactly what's missing in 10 minutes.
It identifies:
Missing attributes that Rufus can't parse
Weak bullets that don't answer common queries
Backend keyword gaps
A+ content opportunities
Takes 10 minutes. Free to try.
The Vital Few - In Case You Missed These
Love to help when you’re ready
💼 Sponsor this newsletter – Promote your service to 13,000+ engaged e-commerce sellers.
🎯 Coaching – Get help to grow your business on Amazon, Expanding to Japan, sourcing, profitability, or using AI in your ecom business - Apply here.
🤝 Partnerships – Let’s collaborate on webinars, content, or events =>Contact me: gary [at] 8020sourcing.com
Last Time the Market Was This Expensive, Investors Waited 14 Years to Break Even
In 1999, the S&P 500 peaked. Then it took 14 years to gradually recover by 2013.
Today? Goldman Sachs sounds crazy forecasting 3% returns for 2024 to 2034.
But we’re currently seeing the highest price for the S&P 500 compared to earnings since the dot-com boom.
So, maybe that’s why they’re not alone; Vanguard projects about 5%.
In fact, now just about everything seems priced near all time highs. Equities, gold, crypto, etc.
But billionaires have long diversified a slice of their portfolios with one asset class that is poised to rebound.
It’s post war and contemporary art.
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You can invest in shares of artworks featuring Banksy, Basquiat, Picasso, and more.
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My subscribers can skip the waitlist.
*Investing involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Important Reg A disclosures: masterworks.com/cd.
How was today’s newsletter?
Talk soon,
Gary
P.S. January 26 is in 3 days. If you're doing FBM, get your return inspection process sorted this weekend. The new 4-day window eliminates SAFE-T protection if you miss it—meaning you'll absorb return fraud with zero recourse. Don't wait until Monday.