A group of old sellers began to "say goodbye" to Amazon...

As the world's largest e-commerce platform, Amazon can be said to be the first choice for newcomers to the industry.

According to recent media reports, data shows that an average of 3,700 new sellers will join Amazon every day in 2024; by the end of the year, the cumulative number of new sellers is expected to reach 1.3505 million. While new sellers continue to pour in, many old sellers have started to "escape from Amazon".

5+ Years of Sellers Say Goodbye to Amazon

“ I am closing our Amazon business after 8 years in business ; (even though) we were in the top 50% of sellers for 3 of those years… but I have no regrets (about leaving).”

“ We’ve been on Amazon for 9 years , and we’ve been doing over a million in sales for several years… We’re going to be winding down the business in our final quarter …”

" After 14 years, we have decided not to work with Amazon anymore . I know a lot of people have felt the same way recently. It was fun before, but not anymore."

In addition to the sellers who are planning to or have already said goodbye to Amazon, many other sellers who continue to "stick to" Amazon have also said that "the competitive pressure is getting greater and greater."

One seller bluntly stated that from the suppression of listings, to the withholding of funds and inability to pay, to being accused of reducing prices for shipments (which has never happened), " Amazon's sales pressure has reached its peak ... We want to say, we quit."

Another old seller, after experiencing various changes such as algorithm adjustments and fee increases, asked, "Am I crazy (starting to have a negative feeling about the platform), or does Amazon no longer want third-party sellers?" - Of course, this idea was denied by other sellers.

“I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, but Amazon’s recent policy changes are very unfriendly to third-party sellers,” said another seller. Apparently, many veteran sellers have begun to feel “frustrated” with Amazon .

Why do veteran sellers have this idea? One seller directly pointed out the problem:

Changes to product detail pages, stolen FBA shipments, increased fees, nightmare AI, “other” charges on accounts, seller support “from another planet,” and an abused return policy are just some of the issues mentioned, the seller said.

Another seller, while not pointing out Amazon’s “problems,” believes that “sellers are at the bottom of the pyramid…are treated horribly, and are getting worse every year without them realizing it.” He said he has “worked” here for 20 years, “We have built this into the largest online trading venue, but we are treated like this.”

Some sellers also said, "They (Amazon) want to turn us into Temu and let Chinese factories supply FBA," and "Their long-term business strategy is to turn us into Temu." Marketplace Pulse, a well-known e-commerce intelligence company, also published an article stating that Amazon and Temu are "exchanging strategies."

Regarding the current situation of Amazon, a rational seller said, " In the long run, Amazon is helping sellers... Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly difficult to sell only on Amazon ." He believes that for any business - not just Amazon sellers, " it is safest to always explore diversified revenue channels ."

  Amazon Can’t Be “The Only One”

"You can't put all your eggs in one basket," this is the experience of a "veteran". After being blocked, this seller spent 8 months to unblock his Amazon store, which was his only source of income at the time. But now, Amazon only accounts for about 25% of his total business revenue . In his words, even if Amazon suspends his business again, he will not worry about it because he has business from other channels.

Another seller also said that Amazon is a third or even fourth platform for him (his business), rather than a primary sales channel , because it has too many risks - such as potential policy violations, and there is no effective way to appeal or seek help.

Many other sellers also said they were planning to try other e-commerce platforms . In the words of one seller, "I need to give it a try, it's better than waiting to die."

When asked "What platforms do people sell on?", someone responded, "It all depends on what you sell": for example, Abe (owned by Amazon, but sellers say it operates differently than Amazon) sells books, eBay can sell anything, and Walmart is good for brands.

Another toy and game seller who is "about to be squeezed out of the (Amazon) market" agrees completely. He believes that in addition to Amazon, the two largest e-commerce companies are eBay and Walmart; as the seller above said, the choice of platform depends on the type of goods the seller has. He uses his own business as an example, "For this kind of small-volume but rare goods, we have good results on eBay, and Walmart is also getting better and better."

Regarding the clothing category, he said, "I heard that Mecari is very good"; in addition, "If you are good at using social media, Whitnot is also reliable"; don't neglect the construction of your own website (independent site), "Although it is not cheap, it is controllable."

In addition, some sellers mentioned other channels such as Etsy, Shopify, Big box, and Wix.

However, like Amazon, each channel is not perfect and has its own advantages and disadvantages , such as platform popularity, fees, logistics issues, etc. In addition, according to the current market situation, it is not easy for the value brought by Amazon to be fully covered by other platforms, so "multi-faceted" has become a better choice for sellers .

Domestic big sellers have already deployed multiple channels

Perhaps influenced by Amazon’s previous wave of account bans, many big sellers in China realized early on that they cannot rely too much on a single channel.

Take Huakai Yibai as an example. In addition to Amazon and Walmart, the company has also developed channels such as Temu, TikTok, Mercadolibre, Allegro, and Ozon. The company's financial report shows that Huakai Yibai's total revenue from these channels reached 3.026 billion yuan in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 13.73%. TikTok, in particular, has become a key channel for the company's boutique business growth.

Savi Times also performed well in emerging channels. In the Temu channel, which was only launched this year, Savi's revenue has exceeded 60 million, accounting for 1.46% of the total revenue; in the TikTok channel, revenue also increased from 219,800 yuan to 23.74 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10,700.2%.

In addition, Zhiou Technology also has outstanding performances in OTTO and Anker's six independent sites (Anker, eufy, soundcore, Nebula, AnkerWork, and AnkerMake).

Lian Youkeshu has also publicly stated that while the company is deepening its presence on mainstream third-party platforms such as Amazon and AliExpress, it is also actively developing emerging platforms such as Shopee and Lazada, and is trying to expand into new platforms such as Temu, the overseas version of Pinduoduo.

It can be seen that multi-channel layout has gradually become a consensus among both domestic and foreign sellers. In fact, no matter which platforms are deployed, the core concept is not to over-rely on a single channel . From the experience shared by foreign sellers, it can also be seen that diversified layout can enhance the seller's ability to resist risks while making the seller's business more stable and reliable.

Amazon

Seller

Multi-channel