Latest / Selling on Giants: The eCommerce Marketplace Podcast / Amazon Fees Decoded, LEGO Listings Nuked, and Walmart’s Global Supply Chain Goes Prime Time

Transcript

Amazon Fees Decoded, LEGO Listings Nuked, and Walmart’s Global Supply Chain Goes Prime Time · Selling on Giants: The eCommerce Marketplace Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to Selling on Giants e-commerce news and updates for the week of July 22nd, 2025.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Mr.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Will, host of the Selling on Giants podcast, and every week I break down what's happening across Amazon, Walmart, and Shopify so you don't have to scroll through forums or decode vague press releases.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get into it.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon finally explains its fees, sort of.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: We're starting with something I didn't think I'd say in 2025.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon is helping sellers understand their fees.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: No, seriously, Amazon just rolled out a fee explainer tool inside Seller Central.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: For once, instead of giving you a random$6.97 charge with no context, you can click on a transaction and actually see how they got there.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: The tool covers subscription fees, referral fees, closing fees, refund fees, removal fees, the usual suspects.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: For each, it gives you a definition, the variables involved, and the exact formula used.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Which is kind of like seeing the magician show you how the rabbit gets in the hat.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Why this matters?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: If your finance team's been playing whack-a-mole with unexplained charges, this gives you a fighting chance.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's not everything, but it's a step toward transparency.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Send this one to your bookkeeper.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: They'll thank you.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: But while Amazon's being transparent on fees, their catalog enforcement team is back on its shadow ban behavior.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Over the weekend, a flood of Lego listings were deactivated.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: No warning, no appeal path, just gone.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: The message?
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Sellers not directly connected to Lego through brand registry can't create or relist discontinued sets.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: That includes inventory that's been sold on Amazon for years.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, some of these sellers were previously ungated.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't matter now.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: One seller in the forums called it the back-end AI going rogue and said this could cost Amazon hundreds of millions.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: And that's not hyperbole.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: When you cut off collectible and legacy inventory without a backup plan, that's what happens.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Key takeaway ungating is no longer permanent.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Even if you've got a long sales history, Amazon can flip the switch.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: If you're reselling big brands, especially in toys, start planning now because the brand registry moat is only getting deeper.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: While Amazon's stepping on Lego bricks, Walmart is busy building roads.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: They're taking their US supply chain model, robotics, AI forecasting, automated replenishment, and rolling it out globally.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: First stop, Mexico and Chile.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Next up, Canada and China.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: They're even using self-healing inventory systems to reroute stock automatically when stores are over or under supplied.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: For sellers, this isn't about admiration.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's about preparation.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you're on Walmart Marketplace, your logistics game has to keep up.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Better delivery SLAs, better inventory visibility, and fewer excuses.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart's making it clear, the bar is rising and it's not going to wait for anyone.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: But don't worry, Amazon still wants to help you name your brand like a startup in 2012.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Their AI-powered name generator now includes a brand personality field.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Enter your product category, your vibe, like playful, elegant, or casual, and the tool will spit out name suggestions.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's still very much a robot, but now it's a robot that at least knows you sell luxury candles and not MMA gear.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Use it to brainstorm, but don't forget to check trademarks.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: The AI won't do that for you, and flame and fancy might already belong to someone in Boca Raton.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Still, it's a nice upgrade, especially for new sellers trying to brand before brand registry.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Before we jump into what Amazon quietly fixed in their image uploader, quick sidebar.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you're trying to make sense of all this, that's literally what we do.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: At Bellivix, we've helped brands sell over$500 million on Amazon.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: We're a verified ad partner and we specialize in hands-on growth strategies that turn complex marketplace challenges into clear plans of action.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Whether it's scaling ads, cleaning up your catalog, or prepping for a retail pitch, this is what we do all day.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Head to Bellivix.com if you want a team that actually knows what the inside of Seller Central looks like.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, back to the news.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon Image Uploads.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now slightly less infuriating.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon has finally updated its bulk image upload tool, so one bad image won't tank the entire batch.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Previously, if you uploaded 30 images in a zip file and one had a naming error or wrong format, none of them would go through.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Now, valid images are processed.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Bad ones are flagged.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's the adult version of show your work.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: We won't mark off for spelling.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: For catalog managers and creative teams, this saves hours.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: If you're updating 100 ASINs, that's not a small win.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon's also tweaking the FBA inventory page.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've noticed your numbers acting weird, here's why.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: They've replaced the available column with on hand, which now includes inventory in FC transfer, and reserved no longer includes FC transfer units, only processing and customer orders.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: In theory, this makes the page more accurate.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: In practice, it means the inventory page and downloadable reports won't match until mid-2026.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you heard that right.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Until then, you're living in two parallel inventory universes.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: So if your 3PL starts asking why the numbers don't add up, this is your answer.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Prime Day postmortem retailers miss the moment.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: According to Constructor, most major retailers outside Amazon saw no spike in sale or promo searches during Prime Day.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, customers weren't even trying to find deals anywhere else.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's a problem.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: If you sell DTC or on other marketplaces, don't assume Prime Day traffic will trickle your way.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: It won't.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: You either need to grab attention before Prime Day or go all in on Amazon during the event.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Competing quietly is the same as losing loudly.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Flexible warehousing.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Why 2025 is the year to stop signing long-term leases.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: With warehousing costs rising and Amazon's restock limits getting stricter, more brands are turning to flexible warehousing models.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Think short-term space, regional distribution, on-demand storage, pay for what you use.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's not about going cheap, it's about staying nimble.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: If you've got one warehouse in California and your customers are in Florida, you're not just paying more, you're also delivering slower.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: In 2025, smart fulfillment isn't about size, it's about agility.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: And to close us out, a little philosophy from Shopify.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: VP of retail Arpin Potaturi says we're done with OmniChannel.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Customers don't think in channels, they just think, do you have what I want when I want it?
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: And does it work?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Whether it's TikTok Shop, a pop-up store, or your Shopify site, it needs to feel like one experience, not five disconnected ones with different return policies and mismatched messaging.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: The brands that win now are the ones that connect everything: inventory, loyalty, service, and checkout online and off.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: So if your in-store POS doesn't talk to your D2C backend, you've got a customer experience problem, not just a tech problem.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's your selling on Giants, e-commerce news, and updates for the week.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: We covered fee explainers, Lego takedowns, Walmart's Global Logistics Flex, smarter Amazon tools, and what to rethink in your prime day strategy.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: If this saved you hours of forum scrolls and internal Slack debates, do us a solid, leave a review wherever you're tuning in.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: It helps us keep the lights on and gets us better guests for interviews down the road.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Mr.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: Will, the host of Selling on Giants.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: See you next week.