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80/20 of Ecom: Amazon Delays FBA Reimbursement Change, Tariffs Up, Shipping Down 3/7/25

Temporary relief for FBA sellers, but for how long? Plus, Target warns of tariff-driven profit pressure. Here’s what you need to do now.

Author

Gary Huang
March 07, 2025

80/20 of Ecom – March 7, 2025

Hey guys, we’re already entering the third month of the year, and by now, you should be actively implementing your strategy for scaling your business in 2025.

This week, we’re seeing major shifts on the Amazon side and supply chain side, as well as a new opportunity to assess how well your product could sell in Japan.

Let’s get into it in this week’s 80/20 of Ecom 👇

✅Amazon Delays FBA Reimbursement Policy – How This Affects You
✅📢 Target Warns of Tariff-Driven Profit Pressures – What It Means for You
✅Selling on Amazon Japan Scorecard Evaluation 👍
✅Amazon Sellers: Is Your 3P Service Provider Ready for the New SPP Platform?

Some temporary good news for sellers: Amazon has postponed its controversial FBA reimbursement policy change.

Originally set to take effect on March 10, this policy would reduce the amount of FBA reimbursements sellers could claim—impacting lost, damaged, or unaccounted-for inventory. Now, sellers have until March 31 to prepare before the change is implemented.

🚨 What This Means for You:

✅ This delay gives you a two-week window to maximize your FBA reimbursements before the policy kicks in.

✅ Sellers need to review inventory management practices and be proactive in filing claims before restrictions take effect.

✅ Don’t forget that you can use a reimbursement service like GETIDA or Carbon6 to maximize your money back while you still can!

📌 Action Step: If you haven’t processed your reimbursements yet, take advantage of this window before the new policy goes live.

Tariff Man is back. Trump has slapped another 10% tariff on Chinese imports, and even big-box retailers like Target are bracing for impact.

🛑 Key Takeaways:

🔹 Target expects tariff-driven profit pressure in Q1 and is adjusting strategies to manage rising costs.

🔹 Retailers are re-evaluating pricing and sourcing—expect cost increases to trickle down across industries.

🔹 Amazon sellers will feel this too. If Target is struggling with margins, third-party sellers need to rethink their pricing, COGS, and supplier negotiations to stay profitable.

📌 Question for you: How are YOU handling the 10% tariff increase?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Tariffs Up, Shipping Costs Down—For Now 🚢📉

As the tariff window closes, trans-Pacific ocean container rates are dropping. Months of front-loading by importers have weakened rates from Asia to the U.S. West Coast, and the usual post-Chinese New Year slowdown is also driving costs down.

🛑 Key Takeaways:

🔹 Lower shipping costs could be an opportunity—now may be a good time to restock.
🔹 Volatility ahead—with shifting tariff policies, rates could spike again soon.
🔹 Shipping capacity is adjusting—expect unpredictable rate changes in the coming months.

📌 What should sellers do?

✔ Time inventory purchases wisely—take advantage of lower rates while they last.
✔ Stay flexible—the market is adjusting, and supply chain decisions need to stay agile.
✔ Watch for new tariff developments—import costs may change again overnight.

Earlier this week, I gave a live webinar to 70 U.S. business owners exploring how to expand into Amazon Japan.

Even the U.S. Consulate believes that American-made products have a massive opportunity in Japan—especially since Amazon Japan is the second-largest Amazon marketplace in the world.

But how do you know if your product is a good fit? 🤔

✅ I created a 12-point scorecard to help sellers assess their product’s potential in Japan. Follow along, take the test, and see how well your product could do!

📺 Watch my quick training & download the scorecard here:

📊 How did you score? Reply and let me know!

Amazon is rolling out a major policy shift for third-party service providers (3P tools, agencies, and automation software). By August 2025, all providers must transition to the new Solution Provider Portal (SPP) platform or risk losing access to seller accounts.

🚨 What This Means for Sellers:

✅ If your service providers don’t comply, they will lose access to Seller Central as a secondary user. This means they won’t be able to manage your account as they do today.

✅ Amazon will suspend non-compliant providers—so sellers relying on tools for PPC, listing optimization, or inventory management must ensure their providers are migrating.

✅ This affects all third-party tools and agencies, from PPC software to full-service Amazon consultants.

📌 Action Step: Check with your Amazon service providers to confirm they are transitioning to SPP before the August 2025 deadline—or risk business disruptions.

AI is evolving faster than Amazon's algorithm updates—every week, a new breakthrough drops.

🚀 Scraping Rufus AI Questions
🤯 DeepSeek doing PhD-level research in minutes
🔧 Make.com automations handling the busywork
🤖 The rise of AI agents running entire workflows
🛠️ Custom GPTs tailored for YOUR business

The future of AI in eCommerce is limitless—but I want to make sure I’m covering what YOU actually need to grow and scale your business.

Can you take 2 minutes to fill out this quick AI for Ecom survey? Your input helps shape the next 7 Figure Seller Summit content!

Thanks—I appreciate it! 🙌

📢 In Case You Missed It

📩 Want to be Featured in the 80/20 of Ecom Newsletter?

I work with brands and sellers to help them grow, scale, and succeed. Here’s how we can work together:

💼 Sponsorships – Promote your service to 13,000+ engaged e-commerce sellers.🎯 Consulting – Get tailored strategies for Amazon Japan, sourcing, or profitability.
🤝 Partnerships – Let’s collaborate on webinars, content, or events.
📩 Contact me: gary [at] 8020sourcing.com