You and 2,766 other readers will be enjoying this newsletter or i’ll show you all of the pictures my aunt took on her recent vacation (there are over 300).

Welcome back friend!
And a big welcome to the +163 new readers this week!

✅The Instant Value Section (IVS)✅

(aren't you glad you opened the email now?)

The Review Rating Calculator You Need (download below)

A big thank you to Demian Lazurko from My Real Profit for sharing this week’s IVS. Demian is a great guy and a wonderful educator. He’s always sharing stuff Ive never heard before (and on LinkedIn, that is a huge PLUS). We appreciate you providing our community big value!

If you’re struggling to maintain good reviews (or want a higher rating than your competitors, check out the video below by Demian Lazurko where he breaks down:

1) How to calculate EXACTLY how many 5-Star reviews you need to move up.
2) How to give review requests to only the customers that are more likely to leave you a positive review.

See below.

Holy Week = Get Out of Town!

Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Spanish, the week before Easter in Costa Rica started this weekend.  Schools are off and one of the big traditions is a lot of people from San Jose and other cities all head to the beach town for a few days!  That means our area gets slammed with traffic and visitors of all sorts from the rest of the country. 

One of my Tico friends calls them comehuevos “Egg eaters.” I guess it means frugal Costa Rican families who take cheap vacations on the beach, bringing boiled eggs to eat so they don’t have to pay for restaurants or spend much money in the area. If you stop reading now, at least you can say you learned something today. 😁 

So what did we do?  Head to the city!  Nice and quiet and temperatures are much cooler.  The main reason we are here is our son Jackson is going to compete in his first real FIDE chess tournament and staying with the team on his own. And to push him (and my wife Marsha) even a little more out of their comfort zones he is staying at the stadium with a chess team from the Liberia area who will be speaking only Spanish and sharing a room with his teammates.

SO MUCH FREE CONTENT

I’ve been slowly aggregating GREAT content from the smartest minds in the Amazon space.

…want it? Here you go (no strings, just value).

1. Every single AI tool that Ritu Java has ever recommended in her AI for Ecommerce Newsletter

2. Every hack that Jon Derkits wrote for an entire year in his Best@Amazon Newsletter

3. Every hack that Jon Elder wrote this year in his Amazon Insiders Newsletter

4. Every infographic that Jonathan Tilley made in the last year for Linkedin

Your Favorite Time of the Year - TAX TIME!

Okay, maybe it's not your absolute favorite time of year... regardless - we're here to make it a bit better.

Dive into our top-rated course on mastering GST/HST returns for Amazon sellers. Constantly updated to reflect Amazon's evolving reports and tax collections, it's perfect for DIY enthusiasts. 

Packed with videos, screenshots, and detailed guides on GST/HST, tax invoices, and more, it's your shield against costly GST mistakes that many sellers fall into yearly. 

Facing an audit? We've got you covered with a dedicated section for smooth sailing through audits. Plus, don't forget about our our 1-hour expert calls for a deep dive. 

Andy Jassy’s Annual Letter to Shareholders is Here

Read it here.

TL;DR

1. All in on AI

2. AWS makes a lot of money

3. The faster Amazon delivers, the more customers stick around

4. Growth no longer matters as much as profitability

SFTB Newsletter Recommendation

One of my favorite quick-hitting actionable newsletters is Scott Needham’s Smartscout Insight Newsletter. He writes the entire thing himself and it continually surprises me with useful stuff about Amazon. Join 30,000+ readers today!

The Deep Dive (Premium Content)

If you’re doing ANY off-Amazon Marketing… you need this.

Just found out about Landing Cube.

I’m not an affiliate, I just think it’s cool.

What it does:

1. You paste your Amazon product link into LandingCube.

2. It builds a clean landing page (with product images, reviews, etc.).

3. You can add a coupon (like 20% off) to attract buyers.

4. Shoppers give their email to get the coupon.

5. They’re sent to your Amazon listing to buy with the discount.

6. You collect their email — now you can follow up, remarket, or build a list.

Just like that! Boosts conversions, grows email lists, doesn’t violate Amazon TOS, and analytics tracking. Pretty sweet.

There’s An Organization that Gives out Awards to Great AZ PDP’s (WTF!)

(Go steal what these guys are doing)

Think Oscars but for Amazon PDPs…

Oookay, once you've gotten over the feeling of how silly this is, here are the winners:

1. Finish Jet Dry: https://lnkd.in/geNNnZxC

2. Finish Ultimate: https://lnkd.in/gmV8hM_E

3. DUDE Wipes: https://lnkd.in/gG5tpzha

4. Brita: https://lnkd.in/gYe3-6VU

Looking at the main images, and see what they're doing RIGHT:

(are you doing these things?)

• Front and center branding - very clear immediately what the brand is and what they do

• Clear product type & function - all main images tell you what the product is and what it does

• Fonts - high-contrast, easy to read fonts. ALL are using sans-serif fonts that are clear (except for the Brita logo typeface)

• PACKAGING - in every single image. Allows us to add in more of everything

• Usage/Quantity - every image shows how many uses/quantity you're getting. There's no confusion.

Get a ton of Credit Card Points by using Plastiq to pay your Taxes

(This also works for Americans, just swap out the cards & payment providers - the fees are usually lower)

Did you know you can now pay your Canadian taxes using Plastiq with a reduced fee of 2.49% (normally 2.9%).

​If you're using the American Express Business Platinum Card to pay your Canadian taxes through Plastiq, you'll earn 1.25 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent.

For a $10,000 tax payment, this translates to 12,500 points. With Plastiq's 2.49% fee, you'd incur an additional $249 cost.​

To determine if this strategy is worthwhile, consider the value of your points upon redemption. If you redeem points for statement credits or gift cards at 1 cent per point, you'd receive $125, resulting in a net loss. However, transferring points to airline partners like Aeroplan, where you might achieve redemption values of 2 to 4.5 cents per point, which could yield $250 to $562.50 in value, making it worth it!

Using credit cards to pay taxes via 3rd party payment providers “can” be advantageous if you strategically redeem your points for high-value travel rewards. Oh, and the extra 45 days of cashflow is pretty nice, too.

Don’t Flush the Toilet Paper

If you have spent anytime in Costa Rica, you might have noticed various signs in the bathrooms like the one above. You might also have seen signs that say “Please don't’ Flush toilet paper”.  

Yes, toilet paper. 

Don’t worry you don’t have to take it with you but they want you to toss it in the garbage.  A lot of plumbing systems in Costa Rica, especially in older buildings and rural areas were not built to handle flushed toilet paper.  Pipes are narrow and the septic tanks are not equipped for North American lifestyle.  

If you are staying in an Airbnb don’t be surprised if the host asks this.  Many modern hotels are built to these standards, “butt” don’t be thrown off if you see these signs. If your planning a trip in a rural area, you might want to take your own rolls with you.  Now you know more bathroom etiquette in Costa Rica…

The Facebook Group ← Click here

• Aldrin looks for 3PL Recommendations

• Section 3 account deactivations

• Prime day is now 4 days

I Mean… It Has to be Tariffs, Right?

As Amazon sellers, the latest round of tariffs probably feels like a punch in the gut.

It’s not just the steep costs on Chinese imports: it’s the constant flip-flopping. One day it’s 25%, the next it’s 100%, all depending on whatever Trump decides to have for breakfast. The constant one-upmanship & dick measuring has left me feeling deeply unsettled.

Let’s run some numbers.

(First off, our friends at GEMBAH had a Tariff webinar w/ a tariff expert last week. As we were watching the webinar, the slides actually were already somewhat out of date (and they compiled them the night before). Just goes to show you how fast things are moving now.)

Did you miss it? It was really good. No worries, I got you.

And here’s another 45 minute tariff webinar with Brandon Young. A lot of good stuff in here about “dutiable” and “non-dutiable” expenses. You’ll need to register, but it the entire webinar is released for free.

Anyway, the math. Here’s what a 125% Tariff (at the time of writing) looks like on your product:

Well that didn’t make me feel any better.

Here’s the thing, though. The US can’t make products with the same kind of velocity and at the same price as China can. For example, my COGs are 2x in the USA and take twice and take longer anyway.

So what’s the best next step? Source elsewhere.
What are you going to do? We’d love to know - send us an email!

The UK’s #1 Amazon Sellers Event is here! Seller Sessions Live 

TL;DR

When: May 10, 2025
Where: ​America Square Conference Centre, London, UK
Why: To gain advanced, actionable strategies for launching, ranking, and optimizing products on Amazon. The event focuses on real-world tactics in areas like PPC, conversion optimization, and AI-driven listing creation, aiming to help sellers scale their businesses effectively. If you know anything about Danny McMillan, you KNOW this will be a good event.
Who: The event is tailored for Amazon sellers ranging from emerging entrepreneurs to established 7- and 8-figure brands. Attendees will include international sellers from the US, UK, Australia, and Europe, as well as industry experts and agencies.
How much? £399. Higher prices for VIP Sessions (high value here!)

Speak Up! Community Comments & Questions:

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All the best,

Rob & Max

Answer to Tropical Trivia: False. Free two-day shipping for Prime members applies to items that are fulfilled by Amazon or eligible for Prime shipping, not all third-party seller items.