E662: Amazon Panicking? Could fee DECREASES be coming?

Eugene Khayman, co-founder of Million Dollar Sellers (MDS), who leads the "Gimme Five" campaign aimed at pushing Amazon to give sellers some fee relief after years of rising costs.

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With changes to DD+7, Subscribe and Save, and the additional seller fees tacked on this year, third-party sellers on Amazon are quickly discovering that it might be more profitable to take their products elsewhere. And Amazon has noticed.

Eugene also talks about what he's noticed after years of being in MDS, like the shifts toward DTC and Tiktok Shop and how smaller operators have been the most creative in growing their business.

Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction 00:58 - Eugene Kaiman and the MDS seller community 06:34 - Eugene's 15-year e-commerce path from sneakers to brands 09:39 - Why MDS became a seller advocacy hub 10:09 - What the Gimme Five campaign is asking Amazon to do 11:31 - How SOS campaigns formed in response to fee pressure and policy changes 13:28 - Survey data: 52 cents of every dollar goes to Amazon fees 14:42 - Does Amazon actually have room to give some margin back? 16:16 - When fees make sense versus when they feel punitive 18:25 - Why higher fees can also hurt customer value and price competitiveness 20:25 - Which fee changes could realistically help sellers 22:43 - The Subscribe and Save top-up change and why it matters 23:32 - Return fees, removals, and launch risk 24:02 - MDS data: launches needed for growth have doubled 25:48 - Fees are only acceptable if growth is keeping pace 27:23 - Rising risk from competitor attacks, faster cloning, and shorter product life cycle 30:54 - Why many sellers are rethinking Amazon as their top channel 33:00 - The problem of not knowing the true cost to sell on Amazon 34:51 - Two asks for Amazon: centralized communication and a centralized fee committee 36:12 - DD plus 7, account reserves, and the hidden bookkeeping cost 38:59 - What MDS is, how big it has become, and where it's headed 42:57 - Why smaller operators often spot the best n