This Issue's TLDR...

• I found Amazon's secret database of suppliers, and I'm sharing it with all of you
• Q4 dates that matter
• How to take a brand concept and put it into words

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SPONSOR Riverbend Consulting Click In Case Of An Amazon Emergency

You know how Amazon, for a long time, was adamant that it didn't use third-party seller data for its own private label brands?

Uncle Jeff even testified in front of Congress that Amazon has "certain safeguards" in place to prevent such espionage:

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Well, as we've learned over the years:

So, Amazon has been "stealing" third-party seller data for years, using it to fuel its private label ambitions.

I'm the type of person who believes in justice and fairness. In righting wrongs.

Now, reasonable people can disagree on how the scales of justice get balanced.

But, in this case, and in my particular view of justice, "justice" for Amazon inappropriately using third-party seller data to compete with third-party sellers would be for third-party sellers to have data on Amazon's suppliers...

...And that's exactly what I have for you all today.

Amazon's list of suppliers (full list on Amazon Private Label Pathway):

(Before you ask...Relax. I didn't "steal" this supplier list. It's actually public information; just hard to find.)

Now, knowledge of Amazon's private label suppliers is just...knowledge.

Whether they would work with you and offer costing similar to what they offer Amazon are two different, but important, questions.

I'm sure that 99% of you won't do anything with this information other than browse it and find a few interesting supplier names. (Truthfully, that's all I'm doing)

But, if you end up being the 1% that actually sources a product from an Amazon supplier, I'd love to hear about it!

FRIENDS OF B@A GB Media George Reid @_GeorgeReid_ Here's my secret link to every secondary image (infographic) that I save on Amazon with AmzDesignKit. https://app.amzdesignkit.com/experts/332?tags=Content%3A1 Since launching the chrome extension at the start of this month I've personally captured 106 fantastic ideas for you to be inspired by. This enabled my… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1815655192525983815 2:48 AM • Jul 23, 2024 0 Retweets 0 Likes ​ ​ My good friend George Reid has probably spent thousands of hours collecting, curating, and thinking about best-in-class designs on Amazon. And, here's the best part... He's basically exposed his brain like an API endpoint with his AmzDesignKit. I love browsing it on a regular cadence for design #inspo. My designers love it because it saves them time. You'll love it too. ​ Get Inspired Amazon Designs

BEST from LinkedIn

I've mentioned James McConnell before in this newsletter.

He's my "Big Brain Amazon Logistics Friend."

If I have an edge case Amazon logistics question, he's who I go to.

He runs a brand accelerator down in Texas and absolutely knows everything there is to know when it comes to getting products into FBA.

He recently raised the alarm about Amazon's restrictions on inbounding this coming Q4:

Many people mistakenly believe that Amazon's Capacity Limits and shipping timelines are about warehouse space, or (lack of) labor.

But, they are actually about THROUGHPUT.

I've actually written about this before.

The short version is:

• Any given Amazon FC has a fixed number of Docks.
• A given Dock, at any given time, is either Inbounding/Receiving products or Outbounding/Shipping products.
• During normal times, Amazon FCs operate on roughly a 1:1 Inbound-to-Outbound ratio.
• In Q4, when customers are shopping more, Amazon FCs reserve more Docks for Outbounding. The ratio becomes something like 2:5 Inbound-to-Outbound.
• Because of this, Receiving times get extended.

Anyway, if you're not planning SPD or LTL shipments in the next 6-8 weeks to cover 90% of your expected Q4 demand, I highly advise you do so.

Thanks, James.

BEST from X

This is an incredibly powerful framework, and I've started to use this in conversations with brand clients as I aim to get to the CORE of what the brand is, or aspires to be.

Like design concepts, brands can sometimes be too abstract for communication.

With this framework, you can speak in concrete terms with a brand owner or, better yet, do a self-audit and determine where your "brand" might not actually be a brand (yet).

Lenny Rachitsky @lennysan Best explanation I've seen of what makes a "brand" By Scott Thomas, via @jessicahische 12:52 PM • Jul 22, 2024 116 Retweets 1364 Likes Read 18 replies

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There's a cognitive bias called the "Baader–Meinhof phenomenon" (also called Frequency Illusion) whereby, once you learn or become aware of something, you start to see it everywhere.

I try to be mindful of this cognitive bias...but, at the same time, when I see "ETA" on every Amazon van that comes to my house...well, it's very hard to NOT think about Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition.

Clint Fiore 🦬 DM for Biz Deals @ClintFiore Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) has gone mainstream. Seeing it everywhere right now. 6:35 AM • Apr 23, 2024 0 Retweets 69 Likes Read 10 replies

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