Persist or change career? The "double-sided" life of cross-border sellers

Compared with previous years, this year's cross-border circle has a lot of negative news. From the time the account was blocked to now, we often hear about big sellers restructuring, bankruptcy, and service providers running away. The successive attacks on big sellers have made small and medium-sized sellers, who already have mediocre performance, even more nervous. The decline in the number of orders on Black Friday this year has added some anxiety to them.

"Team disbandment" sparks heated discussion

Some time ago, the cross-border e-commerce company Mocan announced its bankruptcy, "peacefully" signed a resignation agreement with its employees , disbanded the team, and the office was deserted. There was also news that the resigned employees only received a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan with a sales volume of more than 1 million yuan. The dissolution of large companies such as Huancheng Yiguo, Zhiyu, and Mocan has made many small sellers sigh. Is "team dissolution" popular this year?

In recent times, tight supply chains and high freight rates have been major issues that have troubled many sellers. Coupled with the decline in consumption levels this year, the resulting cost increases and decline in order volumes may be the "last straw" that breaks the camel's back for sellers .

Among these factors, inventory backlog is the most fatal one . If not handled properly, this part of the inventory may become the "root of all evil", directly leading to team turmoil, and then producing a series of chain reactions. Clearing inventory has become a topic that sellers often talk about recently.

In line with the principle of speaking out when you have a hard time, many sellers have complained on major websites↓

One of the sellers said that the company's distribution department was directly disbanded, and several people left the product selection, operation, and FB departments one after another. The design department, which originally had about 20 people, finally had only two people left, and even the general manager and legal representative resigned... Seeing colleagues leaving the company one after another, those who still held on to their "dreams" began to waver. Is Amazon the right choice? Some even questioned, "Is the end of Amazon only solo work and management?"

Complaints are endless, and the recent dismal performance on Black Friday has caused another round of complaints from sellers:

Seller A: In previous years, Black Friday sales could be four or five times higher, but this year’s sales are just mediocre.

Seller B: I am tired of staring at the computer every day, but the number of orders has not increased.

Seller C: In previous years, I was happy to work overtime and stay up late. Although my dark circles became darker, I had more money in my hands. Now I just enjoy the night.

Under the background of the big industry, all walks of life seem to be in a state of internal competition. Combined with the number of applicants for the civil service examination this year, it really proves the saying "Is the end of the universe a government?" There must be quite a few cross-border sellers among them, and many sellers in the seller group are complaining about wanting to change careers.

Some people change their careers , but some choose to stick with it. What is the reason that keeps these people insisting on doing business on Amazon? Many sellers have spoken out about this issue.

Stay or exit? Where should sellers go?

Some sellers said that they entered the Amazon industry by chance, and someone told them that it was easy to make money from foreigners, so they would not give up until they made a lot of money; some sellers said that they have been insisting on doing business on Amazon, not for anything else, but because they are "poor" and want to support their families.

There are also sellers who initially started working on Amazon because they wanted to buy a house, but now they no longer want to do that. They are still insisting on working on Amazon just to prove their abilities.

Among those who stick around, not all of them succeed, which is related to many factors.

Amazon has not been doing well this year. There was a wave of account bans in the first half of the year, and the platform rules have become increasingly strict. Many buyers have taken advantage of the platform rules to request malicious refunds. Problems have continued, and most sellers have been complaining.

Entering the second half of the year, the epidemic has resurged in some parts of the world, container shortages have occurred, sea transportation has been blocked, freight rates have soared, and logistics costs and exchange rate losses have made sellers exclaim: We can’t bear it anymore!

Some sellers said that they started doing cross-border e-commerce because domestic e-commerce platforms were basically saturated and the competitive pressure was high. They needed to constantly find people to place orders and promote their products, making it really difficult for small and medium-sized sellers to continue.

However, Amazon, a cross-border e-commerce platform, is relatively easier to operate. The platform prohibits fake orders and there are fewer returns. In addition, I learned that Amazon has a higher average order value, so I entered the cross-border e-commerce industry because I wanted to make money.

However, the industry is bleak this year and performance is poor. As an Amazon operator, I can only get a meager basic salary from the company every month. I thought about how I originally wanted to buy a house in Shenzhen by working for Amazon, but I had no choice but to switch to delivering food.

Relevant personnel said: Although it is very hard to run around every day, the rewards of such efforts are visible to the naked eye. As long as you take many orders every day, it is not a problem to earn more than 10,000 yuan a month in Shenzhen.

Many sellers said frankly: What they care most about is the profit.

Sticking to its "original intention", Amazon has huge profit attraction behind it!

According to the relevant survey , the top factors are motivation to make money, time, ambition, industry enthusiasm, information channels and product innovation , accounting for 52%, 48%, 44%, 42% and 41% respectively . Many people agree with this, and in fact, these are also the reasons why the industry can continue to attract newcomers.

Seller A, who has been working on Amazon for more than ten years, summarized his cross-border e-commerce development history. He said that in addition to opportunities, he should also thank his own efforts.

Seller A said that the market competition is so fierce now that he might be eliminated one day. He also thought about giving up, but the profits behind cross-border e-commerce are too attractive. He worked overtime until late at night, learning operations and recruiting teams all by himself.

In the past ten years, Seller A has bought a house, a car, and saved a lot of money. He is very satisfied with his life now. Because of this, he said that it is impossible for him to give up easily. The seller believes that although he is not a big seller, he has achieved some success.

Previously, the team only had three or four operators, but now the number of operators has exceeded ten. When things are good, the monthly performance can reach nearly 100,000 US dollars, and the performance in the non-peak season is also relatively stable.

Seller A said that his ten years have not been smooth sailing, but he has persevered and finally gained something. However, this is not the case for all sellers.

Seller B has been involved in cross-border e-commerce for less than two years. He complained about why he had to start doing cross-border e-commerce out of the blue. Then he was beaten up by various big players in the south every day. He was crushed by his peers and this year's "low-price spiral". His profit dropped by more than 7%. Seller B, who didn't make much money to begin with, suffered a greater impact from the internal circulation and said he could not do it any longer!

2021 is a difficult year for Amazon sellers. Some are catching up, while others are falling from the top. Some quit and look for a new path that suits them, while others stick to it and wait for the day when they will come out on top.

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