News Cart for March 13th

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Fear not: It’s back! We’re resurrecting our biweekly e-commerce news roundup to serve you even more business-related tidbits than you already consume.

Please enjoy this ECF News Cart for March 13th, 2019

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In the News:

Amazon Cracks Down on Counterfeit Products and Fake Reviews

• Project Zero tackles counterfeits with automated scanning, self-service removals and serial numbers.  (Invite only)
• Amazon sues the operators of five businesses allegedly selling fake reviews.
• FTC wins settlement in first-ever lawsuit over fraudulent reviews.

Report: Amazon Lifts Restriction on Sellers Criticized as Anti-Competitive

• Company to quit blocking third-party sellers from offering lower prices on competing websites.
• Change follows pressure from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and an investigation by Germany’s antitrust authority

Target Announces Launch of Its Curated, Third-Party Marketplace, Target+

• Vetting allows Target to dodge the PR nightmare of offensive and/or poor quality merchandise.
• Target+ shoppers to receive REDcard discounts, free shipping, in-store returns and other Target perks.

Bloomberg Report: Amazon Purging Suppliers in Push to Boost E-Commerce Profits

• Company wants vendors to sell directly to customers on its marketplace, Bloomberg reports
• Truth may be more nuanced:  Community members report Amazon staff caught off-guard and scrambling
• Many sellers saw POs begin again days later assuming they were part of Brand Registry

Nearly Half WTO Members Agree to Negotiate Rules on Global E-Commerce (hat tip to ECF member Miracle Wanzo)

• The European Union, the United States, China and 46 other WTO members seek to develop more open, predictable regulations on cross-border e-commerce.
• Comprehensive rules to focus on making global e-commerce safer and more reliable for consumers and businesses, especially smaller ones.
• Negotiations set to begin this month.

Call to Action: Help California Treasurer Push Back on Sales Tax Requirements

• California’s treasurer, with the support of state officials, wrote a letter asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to lift sales tax requirements for Amazon FBA sellers. If you’d like to support their efforts, the Online Merchants Guild offers a template letter.
• Community member Alex Oxford breaks it down here.
• State lawmakers have also proposed a bill that would raise annual revenue thresholds in California from $100,000 to $500,000 for out-of-state sellers.

Blow to Bitcoin as Mark Zuckerberg Warns Facebook Payments Are Coming

• Facebook reveals it’s working on its own cryptocurrency for WhatsApp
• Zuckerberg says future communication will “shift to private, encrypted services.”

New ECF Content:

• Even the Gurus Struggle: Ezra Firestone on Building Zipify Apps (Podcast)
• Takeaways From eCommerceFuel Live 2019 (Podcast)
• Profit First: How to Keep More of What You Make (Podcast)
• Losing $500K+ Amid a Counterfeiting Nightmare (Podcast)

Top Forum Discussions:

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• Ruthless Amazon Private Label Prioritization
• Thoughts on Moving from California -> Texas
• Where in Your P&L Do You Put Your Amazon Fees?
• ECF Live 2019 Presentations Now Live

Off-Topic Reads:

• 15 Lessons From Our First $15 Million – Nathan Barry shares what he’s learned bootstrapping ConvertKit to $15 million in ARR.
• The Future of Work: Wealthy, Successful and Miserable – How a lack of underlying meaning can contribute to professional dissatisfaction despite success.
• The Weight I Carry: What It’s Like to Be Too Big in America – A 460-pound man chronicles his experience with morbid obesity.